Garden design and layout Soil Health Water Management

Garden design and layout üSoil Health üWater Management üCrop protection üYear around productive home garden

After choosing the garden site: • Mark out the border to be cleared. • Good starting site 4 m x 4 m (16 m²). • Clear the area down to bare ground. (rocks, grass, weeds and debris).

Garden design and layout • Locate the highest point of the garden (slope). • Plan the beds for double digging across the slope. (1 m wide x 4 m long). • Plan and dig swales. Swales are built along the contour lines of a slope. ( Same elevation using A-Frame). • Dig a berm. Use the swale as a basis. (1 m – 4 m long beds).

Berms : are raised beds that can be used to direct water to swales. Swale : is a shallow trench dug along the land’s contour, with a berm on the downhill side.

Local soil amendments • Manure (nitrogen, Phosphate, beneficial microbes). • Wood ash (Calcium, potash, magnesium) • Charcoal dust (Carbon) • Decomposed organic material. • Compost.

Making of compost • Compost pile.

Double Digging Bio-intensive soil preparation.

Double digging • Use soil amendments (local resource). • Soil fertility and depth = higher yields from smaller areas. • Allows closer plant spacing. • Reduces moisture loss, weed germination. • Breaks through the compact soil allowing healthy plant roots to go much deeper. • Can be done using local tools.

Bio-intensive planting • This technique uses sticks and string to plant seeds in “triangle spacing. ” • Plants should form an equilateral triangle. Plant seeds or seedlings where sticks have been placed. • Once planted, water in seeds and mulch the garden well.

Cont.

Cont.

Cont.

Cont. • When the leaf canopy closes, the soil will not be exposed to direct sunlight. This will help prevent weed growth and loss of soil moisture. A scaffold of sticks and string can support the growth of bushy plants and keep them from falling over.