The vegetable garden in the tropics - Journey to Forever

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ferent type of manuring (e.g. manure, compost, street sweepings, chemical fertilizer, control plot without manuring). Plant the same vegetable (e.g. amaranth) on all plots and wait for the results. It is also a good idea to plant small plots of the local staple crop and to plant a small orchard. These points also apply to demonstration gardens. These must have a simple design so that everyone can easily understand what is demonstrated. From here on we will pay attention to gardening for family use, be it in the form of a “homesite farm” or intensive cultivation in plant beds. However, many of the techniques mentioned are also applicable to other kinds of gardening. In the following chapters we will describe a wide variety of techniques; you will have to make a choice according to the characteristics of your own garden. It is not necessary to apply every technique in each garden. 14 The vegetable garden in the tropics
4 Garden tools A family garden requires very few tools. You can usually manage with a hoe and a machete, and a bucket or water container where the climate is dry. Figure 2 shows the most practical tools: ? Hoe: used to loosen the soil and build up hills or ridges. Small hoes are also used for weeding. ? Machete: used for clearing the land and harvesting produce. ? Bucket: (can, gourd) used for transporting water. ? Spade: (or shovel) used for turning the soil, digging irrigation and drainage ditches. ? Dung fork: used to transport and spread manure and compost and to collect plant waste. A fork with flat solid prongs can replace a shovel when working in wet and sticky clay soil. (Use shoes!) ? Swan-neck hoe: used to crumble the hard crust formed on the soil surface, to make seed drills and to weed. There are two types: bow hoes and push hoes (Dutch hoe). The angle between the shaft and the blade is about 60 and 120 degrees respectively. ? Rake: used for breaking clods, levelling seed beds, covering up seeds and removing pebbles and waste. ? Planting peg: (dibble stick) used to make holes in the ground to plant out seedlings. The seedlings are dug out with a garden trowel or a machete. Other useful tools are a pick, a mallet (to firm the earth), stakes, string (to draw straight lines), a saw and a wheelbarrow (the axle of which must be oiled frequently). By piercing the bottom of a gourd or can with tiny holes one can make an adequate watering can. Be sure to make small holes - if the drops are too big they can damage the seedlings and cause erosion. A balance is useful to weigh chemical fertilizers or harvested produce. In a family garden it is better to control plant diseases and insects without using chemical products (see Chapter 8). Therefore you are unlikely to need any kind of sprayer. Garden tools 15
Page 1 and 2: Agrodok 9 The vegetable garden in t
Page 3 and 4: Foreword This Agrodok does not pret
Page 5 and 6: 7.3 Sowing in a nursery 41 7.4 Tran
Page 7 and 8: 2 Fruit and vegetables in the diet
Page 9 and 10: Table 1: Composition of different t
Page 11 and 12: 3 Which type of garden? There are s
Page 13: watered plant beds makes it possibl
Page 17 and 18: For a family garden only absolutely
Page 19 and 20: 5.2 Size and design of the garden R
Page 21 and 22: struction and firewood. Waste wood
Page 23 and 24: Figure 7: Hoeing and spading 5.5 Pr
Page 25 and 26: ? a cassava hedge provides edible l
Page 27 and 28: ten, and in the largest quantities,
Page 29 and 30: newed often enough to be able to ab
Page 31 and 32: microbes. A simple way to use house
Page 33 and 34: acid. N and K fertilizers in the fo
Page 35 and 36: 7 Sowing and propagation by cutting
Page 37 and 38: Figure 14: Grading the seeds It can
Page 39 and 40: Figure 16: Sowing methods The sowin
Page 41 and 42: 7.3 Sowing in a nursery Some vegeta
Page 43 and 44: 7.4 Transplanting The plants sown i
Page 45 and 46: quickly, sprinkle them after a few
Page 47 and 48: ter is sprinkled over the plants. Y
Page 49 and 50: chase away birds you can make noise
Page 51 and 52: Figure 26: Soil disinfection using
Page 53 and 54: When diseases and parasites cause s
Page 55 and 56: Earthing up This is heaping earth a
Page 57 and 58: 9 Choosing the right crops You shou
Page 59 and 60: Further reading Bunnik J. (1990) Fr
Page 61 and 62: E-mail: ove-enquiry@hdra.org.uk, We
Page 63 and 64: English name Scientific name Family
Page 65 and 66:
(1) ++ = very suitable climate + =
Page 67 and 68:
English Francais Nederlands Espanol
Page 69 and 70:
Appendix 4: Pictures of common vege
Page 71 and 72:
Figure 34: Black nightshade Figure
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