LIRAPA 2008 English Version | Mahlathini Development Foundation

LIRAPA:

HOW TO GET THE BEST

FROM YOUR GARDEN

LIRAPA:

HOW TO GET THE BEST

FROM YOUR GARDEN

A handbook for intensive food production in Lesotho

CONTENTS

Living and eating well ......................................................................................................1

Vegetable production and nutrition ...........................................................................13

Farmer experimentation ..............................................................................................17

Seedling production .......................................................................................................25

Mulching ...........................................................................................................................33

Improving your soil ........................................................................................................37

Bed design ........................................................................................................................57

Planting vegetables .........................................................................................................67

Wind and frost protection ..........................................................................................91

Pest and disease management ...................................................................................101

Growing fruit trees ......................................................................................................111

Seed saving .....................................................................................................................137

Saving and using water ................................................................................................151

Conservation farming .................................................................................................165

Homestead irrigation techniques .............................................................................173

LIRAPA: How to get the best from your garden

A Handbook for Intensive food production in Lesotho

Second edition

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security would like to thank Care-Lesotho and other

Organizations for their participation and contributions. Many different individuals gave their

time and advice over the period of production. Their input is highly appreciated.

Specific thanks goes to the following:

Nutrition & Home Economics division and Horticulture division of the Ministry of Agriculture

and Food Security;

United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID)

Maluti Hospital Wellness Centre

These materials have been produced by:

Authors: Erna Kruger

Illustrations: Kathy Arbuckle

Layout and Design: John Bertram, Tangerine Design

Translations: L. Makoae and N.Martins, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security

Editor: Sello Thulo, Priority Support Programme

Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security

Nutrition and Home Economics Division

PO Box 14915, Maseru, Lesotho 100

Tel. +266 22 320673 / 22 314230

Horticulture Division

PO Box 7260, Maseru, Lesotho 100

Tel. +266 22 322971 / 22 324827

Fax: +266 22 310517

Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’LIVING AND EATING WELLpage 1

WHAT IS NUTRITION?

We all need to eat. Our bodies

need food to stay alive, for energy

and to grow and recover from

illness. The food that we eat is

used by our bodies in many

different ways. Different parts

of the food are used for different

things like giving us energy

and helping us to get better.

We need to eat lots of different

and healthy foods so that our

bodies get all the things that they

need. If we eat well we have a

better chance of feeling good and

living a better life.

LIVING AND EATING WELL

It is

best for babies

to drink breast milk only.

Babies get all the things that

their bodies need from their

mothers’ milk.

Children need to eat vegetables and fruit to

keep them healthy. They also need to eat

foods that will help them to grow like egg,

cheese, meat, peanut butter, beans, lentils

and soya. Small children need to eat five

times a day.

Adults need to eat lots of different kinds

of food to keep their bodies functioning

well. It is most important to do

this if you are sick or if you

are pregnant.

page 2 LIVING AND EATING WELL Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’

HOW CAN WE EAT WELLTO BE IN GOOD HEALTH?

To eat well means to eat lots of different kinds of food so that our bodies get all the good

things that they need. This does not mean that you need to buy expensive food. By thinking

carefully about what you eat, and what you prepare for your family, and choosing food well

you can eat in a healthy affordable way.

There are three main types of food:

Go foods, grow foods and glow

foods. You should eat things from

each of these types of food every day.

You should also drink about eight

glasses of water every day.

Good Energy/

Go Foods:

Sweet potato

Boiled, baked or mashed potato

Brown or white rice

sorghum

Macaroni, spaghetti or other noodles

Bread

Dried beans and peas

Oatmeal

Cereal

Bananas

Avocados

These foods give you energy.They are

important foods to eat, but remember

that you need to eat food from the

other two groups every day as well.

Go Foods

These foods help you to grow well.

They help to build your body and to

make it strong.

Grow Foods

These foods keep the body healthy.

They have lots of vitamins and

minerals which your body needs to

stay well.

Glow Foods

Try to have a fruit

or vegetable with

each of these meals.

It is also good to add

beans, meat, chicken

or fish if you can.

Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’LIVING AND EATING WELLpage 3

Good grow foods

These are the foods that contain a lot of protein.

These foods help to maintain your body and

muscles. They also help to prevent infections. It is

important to eat some grow foods every day,

especially if you are ill. Children need extra protein

because they are growing. So do pregnant women.

Below is a list of some grow foods:

Beans

peas

soyabeans

groundnuts

chicken

chicken livers

fish

meat

eggs

cheese

maas (sour milk)

peanut-butter

nuts

sunflower seeds

Eggs

are especially

good for children and

pregnant women, as they

contain protein, vitamins,

fat and calcium.

Children can also eat beans or

peas every day.

It is good for children to

eat small meals more

often.

Food safety tip

Always wash your hands with soap and water before you touch

food, and after using the toilet. Wash both sides of your hands

for a long time – count to 15 while you wash!

Cover any wounds or sores that you have when you are

preparing food.

A meal of

brown rice and

beans is more nutritious

than meat! Brown rice is

the same as white rice,

except that the husks have not

been removed. This means

that it contains much more

proteins, minerals and

vitamins than white

rice.

page 4 LIVING AND EATING WELL Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’

oranges

grapefruit

grapes

bananas

granadilla

yellow peaches

apricots

apples

pears

lemons

pineapple

spinach

tomatoes

potatoes

broccoli

pumpkin leaves

carrots

green beans

peas

mealies

beetroot

avocado

samp

moroho

rapa

Good glow foods

The foods that help to fight infections are glow foods. These are foods with lots of vitamins and

minerals. You need to eat lost of different kinds of glow foods as they all have different good

things in them.

Below is a list of good glow foods:

Dark

green leafy

vegetables and yellow

fruits and vegetables are

very important for children.

Children and pregnant

women should eat some

of these foods

every day.

SELECTION AND PREPARATION OF FOOD

Drink lots of water

You need at least 8 glasses a day. You may

not think that you need much water. But you

can try and experiment on yourself. For three

days drink 8 glasses of water. This does not

include cups of tea and coffee. After those

three days, how

do you feel? Do

you have more

energy and do

you feel good?

Food

safety tip

Water from a tap is safe. If

you get your water from a river

or a well you must boil the water

or add 1 teaspoon of bleach to every

25 litres of water before you drink

it. Store your water in a clean

covered container.

Remember

to wash the

fruit and

vegetables well in

clean water

before you eat

them.

Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’LIVING AND EATING WELLpage 5

Make sure you keep the goodness in …

Fresh fruit and vegetables have lots of vitamins and minerals in them. But these vitamins and

minerals can disappear very quickly if you are not careful about how the food is prepared and

cooked. Here are some tips to help you keep the goodness in:

✔Eat raw fruit and vegetables whenever it is possible.

✔Eat as much of the fruit or vegetable as possible – including the skin.

✔Most of the vitamins are in the outside parts of the fruit and vegetables. Try not to peel.

✔Try to buy and eat fruit and vegetables as fresh as possible.

✔Cook the vegetables in big pieces. Small pieces will lose more vitamins.

✔It is best to steam vegetables.

✔Cook vegetables very slowly over a low heat until they are just cooked. Use the vegetable

cooking water to cook other foods in or to make soup or gravy.

✔Eat the vegetables as soon as they are cooked.

Eat each day:

• Grow foods – three of the following:

One cup of beans or peas (plus one tablespoon of uncooked sunflower oil); two eggs; a large

piece of meat, chicken or fish; one tablespoon of sunflower seeds; nuts such as almonds or

brazil nuts; one cup of milk or maas (sour milk); a big piece of cheese.

• Glow foods

Three whole fruits and one and a half cups of vegetables. Eat more vegetables if you do not

have fruit.

• Go foods – any or all of the following:

Bread; half a cup of pasta, rice (preferably brown rice), potato, maize; a cup of cereal such as

oats or sorghum porridge or maize meal.

ngekoebeans and sorghum/mabele leaves

likhetsounpeeled pumpkin portions with seeds

lepuyoung pumpkins with pumpkin leaves

lithotsiroast, cooked pumpkin seeds

lehalalesheleshele – maize or sorghum porridge made with milk

legebekoanasteamed wheat bread

motohofermented maize/sorghum porridge

likhobemaize/maize with peas/maize with beans

setampo tša koro whole wheat

mabele a tša batsoenghalf opened sorghum, ground and cooked to make buns

Some common traditional foods

page 6 LIVING AND EATING WELL Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’

Herbs, spices and medicinal plants

• Spices, especially sweet spices like cinnamon, can help to make

food taste better. You can buy cinnamon sticks which you add

to food while it is cooking.

• Eating parsley after you have eaten will help to freshen your

mouth and it is good for you. Its easy to grow at home too.

• Ginger helps if you are feeling nauseous and for colds. You can

make a ginger tea.

• Garlic helps to fight infections. Make a tea or add garlic while

you are cooking.

• Thyme helps with digestion. You can add thyme leaves to food.

• Other good herbs to eat are sweet basil, coriander, oregano and

fennel. They are all easy to grow and can be added to your

food.

Food safety tip

You must eat meat on the day that you buy it if you cannot keep it in a fridge. You can only

keep meat in the fridge for two days. After two days it must be frozen.

Cook all types of meat well. Don’t ever eat raw eggs, meat, chicken or fish. Don’t use eggs

that are cracked.

WHAT TO EATWHEN YOU ARE SICK

Often when you feel sick the last thing on your mind is eating, but it is very important to eat

well when you are sick. Good eating will help you to:

✔keep up your body weight and strength.

✔fight the infection.

✔Take in enough vitamins and minerals to get better.

If you do not eat well when you are sick, it will take longer for you to get better.

What happens to your body when you get sick?

When your body is trying to fight off an illness it has to work harder than usual. This means

that you need to take in more good food than usual for your body to have enough energy,

vitamins and minerals to cope.

When you feel sick though, you may:

• feel too tired to prepare food and to eat,

• the medicine you are taking might make food taste strange, or

• have nausea, vomiting or diarrhea which make it difficult to eat.

• have sores in your mouth which make it difficult to eat.

Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’LIVING AND EATING WELLpage 7

Even though it is difficult, you should try to eat well when you are sick.

The best way to eat well when you are sick is to:

• Have small meals often.

• Make sure you get extra energy.

Fever and night sweats

Fever is the natural way your body will fight an infection. They are good as the heat destroys

the germs. You need to be careful that the fever does not become too high, as this can cause

damage as well. Make sure that you drink lots of water. Eat lots of glow foods and grow foods

to get back your strength.

Stomach problems

A very common kind of stomach problem is diarrhea. Diarrhea is very dangerous because our

bodies lose a lot of the water we need. It is especially dangerous for babies, children and

people who are sick.

What causes diarrhea?

• Drinking dirty water

• Not washing hands well before eating and after using the toilet

• Not washing fruit and vegetables and cooking utensils well.

• Some medicines

• Infections in the stomach

• Stress

• Food that is rotten or bad

• Some types of food cause stomach problems in people whose bodies

cannot cope with that food.

Why is it important to eat well if you have diarrhea?

Diarrhea can cause weight loss. The body loses too much water and salt and becomes weak. It

is very important to drink a lot of fluids when you have diarrhea. Eat more after you have

diarrhea. A baby with diarrhea should be fed often.

Water is important

If you have diarrhea you

should drink about 3 litres of

fluid during the day and the

night. It is

best to drink

something

with salt and

sugar in it.

A good drink to have is to add ½ teaspoon salt

and 8 teaspoons of sugar to 1litre of water.

You can also have fruit juices and soups that

will help replace the water as well as some of

the other things your body has lost.

page 8 LIVING AND EATING WELL Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’

Good foods for diarrhea

✔Eat soft, mashed, moist foods like soft fruit and vegetables,

porridge and stews.

✔Peel and cook vegetables and fruit.

✔Eat warm food.

✔Eat small meals often

throughout the day.

✔Drink diluted fruit juice

✔ Soups

✔Unripe Banana, Mangoes,

Orange, Grapefruit

✔Potato, Pumpkin, Tomato,

Carrots

✔ White rice

✔ Mealie meal

✔ White bread

✔ Pasta (macaroni)

Nausea and vomiting

• If the medicine you are taking causes the nausea try to take it at a time when it will not

affect meals.

• Eat small amounts of food often throughout the day. Even if you eat a small amount of

food it might help to settle your stomach.

• Try eating cold food.

• Some people find fried foods, fatty food and cheese difficult to digest. Try cutting out one

food at a time and seeing if it makes a difference.

• Don’t eat beans. Eat only small amounts of onions, green peppers, broccoli, and cauliflower.

• Only use a small amount of margarine or oil when you are cooking.

• Try dry foods like toast, biscuits or dry cereals.

• Avoid food that has a strong smell. Sometimes the smell of food can make you feel sick.

Some foods can make diarrhea

worse. Avoid: Cereals like

bran flakes, raw vegetables,

fruit and vegetables with the

skin on, mealies, spicy foods

with chillies or curry powder,

dried fruits or fruit with small

seeds like berries, tea and

coffee. You can also try and

have less milk, milk powder and

milk drinks and see if it helps.

Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’LIVING AND EATING WELLpage 9

Good food to help with nausea and vomiting

Nausea:

Lemon juice in hot water or soda water

Rooibos tea with sugar and lemon

Puddings and custards

Rice or pasta

Boiled eggs

Diluted fruit juice

Bananas

Boiled chicken

Baked or mashed potatoes

Toast

Well cooked vegetables

Vomiting:

Water

Soups

Soft foods like bananas, pumpkin and

avocado

Mouth problems

Sometimes we don't eat well because of sores in our mouths, or because food tastes different or

strange. You might not enjoy your meals as much as you used to, or find it too painful to eat.

If this happens you don't eat enough to give you energy and to help fight infection.

What can I do about it?

Taste change

• Try rinsing your mouth with ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

dissolved in a cup of warm water before you eat, or with

lemon added to water.

• Food should be warm, not too hot or too cold.

• Eat foods that you like. Experiment with new foods and

spices until you find foods that you like.

• If red meat tastes bitter, try chicken, fish and eggs.

Dry mouth

• Rinse your mouth with salted warm water, or lemon water.

• Drink lots of water between meals to keep your mouth moist.

• Don't eat dry, rough and crumbly foods. Eat soft, mashed, moist foods like avocados,

pumpkin, bananas, soups, minced food or food with sauces and gravies.

• Don't eat sugar. It will make your mouth more dry.

page 10 LIVING AND EATING WELL Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’

Mouth sores

• Eat soft, mashed, moist foods like avocados, pumpkin, bananas,

soups, minced food or food with sauces and gravies.

• Use a straw to drink liquids, and a cup to drink porridge and

soups.

• Drink soups, vegetable and fruit juice.

Good food for sore mouths

✔Try soft, smooth foods like soup and

mashed potatoes.

✔ Minced meat

✔Pasta dishes like

macaroni

and cheese

✔ Soups

✔ Custard

Foods to avoid

• Spicy food like chillies and curries.

• Sour food like tomatoes, oranges and

pineapple

• Food and drinks that are too hot or

too cold

• Foods that need to be chewed a lot

like raw vegetables, or food that sticks like peanut butter.

• If you have thrush cut down on sweet food, sugar and

bread.

Eating well to gain weight

Why do we lose weight?

There are many reasons why someone can lose weight. If

you do not eat enough food you will lose weight. Sometimes

people don't really feel like eating. We say that they have a

poor appetite. This can happen if you are very tired or you

feel depressed or sick. It can also happen if eating is

difficult because of things like nausea or sores in the

mouth.

Cinnamon Tea

Make a tea with ¼ teaspoon of powdered

(ground) cinnamon in a cup of boiling water.

Garlic tea

Make a tea with 2 chopped cloves of garlic in

a cup of boiling water.

Use this to rinse your

mouth.

Lemon tea

Add the juice of a lemon to ½ cup of boiling

water.You can add sugar, and try to drink it

when it is very hot.

Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’LIVING AND EATING WELLpage 11

You might also lose weight because you are sick with infections, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting.

When you are sick your body does not take in the goodness that it needs from food very well.

At the same time, it needs more of this goodness to get well again.

Tips for gaining weight and increasing appetite

✔Try to eat 5 or 6 small meals every day even if you don't feel like

eating.

✔Try lots of different foods until you find those that you like.

✔Exercise will improve your appetite. Try to have a short walk before

a meal.

✔Don't eat lots of fried food or fatty meats.

✔Add flavour to food to make it look and taste

interesting. Try things like lemon juice, and

sweet spices like cinnamon. Or add herbs like

parsley, thyme, oregano and sweet basil.

✔Try rinsing your mouth out with bicarb or lemon

juice in water before you eat to help the food

taste better.

Examples of good foods for weight gain

• Eat more samp, rice, brown bread, oats, potatoes

and bananas.

• Eat chicken, fish, eggs, meat, beans and soya as

often as possible.

• Eat snacks like fruit, carrots, maas and peanut butter or jam sandwiches between meals.

How to improve what we eat at home

Here are some ideas to add 'weight gain food' to things you eat at home.

• Add sugar or jam to your porridge

• Put 1 teaspoon of margarine into your porridge.

• Cook beans and mix in with rice. Add a teaspoon of margarine

as well.

• Add margarine or oil to potatoes.

• Add meat or chicken whenever you can. Even a small amount in soups and gravies is good.

• Eat beans with pap, sorghum and samp.

• Add teaspoon of dry milk powder to any porridge, soup or stew.

The most

important ways to

gain weight are:

• Stop diarrhea.

• Treat any infections you

might have

• Make sure that you are

eating enough of the

right things.

page 12 LIVING AND EATING WELL Content adapted from the CINDI booklet ‘Living and Eating Well’

LIVING WELL BY GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD

One of the ways to make sure you always have plenty of cheap, fresh food available at home is

to grow your own vegetables.

What can I grow?

You can grow nearly all kinds of vegetables and herbs.

These vegetables and herbs are all good for you and

are easy to grow:

If you have enough space you can also plant some fruit

trees.

carrots

cabbage

spinach

onions

garlic

potatoes

tomatoes

broccoli

pumpkin

mealies

beans

parsley

thyme

sweet basil

fennel

coriander

beetroot

cauliflower

kale

rape

mustard greens

turnips

leaks

peas

Remember

that you should

be eating some of

these foods every day. It

is easier to make sure you

do this if you can pick the

vegetables from your

garden, rather than

buy them from the

shops!

The other leaflets in this series will explore how you can grow your own food well!

VEGETABLE PRODUCTION AND NUTRITIONpage 13

HEALTHY EATING

This involves eating a variety of foods that can provide all the essential nutrients. Increasing

the intake of foods rich in protein such as beans, peas, lentils, milk, eggs and meat and of fruit

and vegetables is important for everyone. It is even more important for young children and

vulnerable people including people living with HIV/AIDS.

Poor nutrition increases the risk and progression of disease. Here vegetables and fruits are

particularly important to protect against such conditions. A variety of vegetables and fruit

needs to be eaten regularly – every day if possible!

VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

AND NUTRITION

page 14 VEGETABLE PRODUCTION AND NUTRITION

WORKING WITH HIV/AIDS WITHIN NUTRITION

DIVISION

The Nutrition Division is the key Division within the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security

of Lesotho for mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS into agricultural programmes. The aim is to reduce

the negative impact of HIV/AIDS and related diseases in the country. This section shows some

of the ways in which the Division helps people to do this.

Food gardens are promoted to increase the nutrition security of vulnerable families and

individuals. These include households headed by orphans women and the elderly. Food

gardens can provide year round food to households, supplementing the food bought, both in

terms of diversity and in terms of providing much needed nutrients – specifically Vitamins A

and C, calcium and iron.

Specific gardening techniques that can increase soil fertility, water holding in the soil (rain

water harvesting) and production capacity are promoted.

These include:

Keyhole gardens:

Keyhole gardens are small built up gardens

that are easy to maintain and are very

fertile. They catch rain water through the

“key” where run off is caught. The basket of

decaying organic matter in the middle of the

garden provides food to the soil and plants

and assist with water holding. Mulching of

the vegetables planted further assists with

using water efficiently, as does the use of

grey water (recycled or previously used

water) on the bed. These gardens have been

introduced in many regions of Lesotho and

work very well!

Double digging:

Double digging is a method of

increasing the soil fertility in a

garden. It entails digging soil

to a depth of 30-60 cm and

incorporating organic matter

such as manure and compost

in the whole bed.

VEGETABLE PRODUCTION AND NUTRITIONpage 15

Drip irrigation kits:

Drip irrigation is used on

larger gardens. It uses less

water and can save time.

Other income generation

activities are supported by the

division through assistance

given to groups or societies.

Knitting Society:

These women at Mt Moorosi

are in corporate, which

enables them to buy their

materials in bulk and spend

less in terms of monetary.

page 16

FARMER EXPERIMENTATIONpage 17

In farming, we will face new problems all the time and we need to try different ways of solving

them. We may also want to try out new ideas. We need to try these new ideas without taking

risks and without making more problems or difficulties for ourselves. We can do this by

experimenting.

An experiment is a test to see if an idea or a solution works. When we have worked out what

our problem is and the causes of this problem, we can come up with ideas or solutions to this

problem. We can then do an experiment to see if our ideas really do work. We do the experiment

on a small scale at first, in case the experiment does not work, and the whole crop is ruined.

Here is an example of Mrs Mathabo Taole from Phamong (Mohales’Hoek, Lesotho). She decided

to experiment with methods of controlling aphids on her cabbage crop. She has heard of two

things she could try. The first was to put ash on the leaves of her cabbages, and the other was

to spray chilli-soap on her cabbages. These were solutions to aphid control that she could try

by herself, without spending a lot of money.

FARMER

EXPERIMENTATION

Text from Farmer-to-Farmer, Farmer Support Group

page 18 FARMER EXPERIMENTATION

Mrs Taole took a small piece of her garden (1/10th) as the experimental plot. She divided the

plot into 3 sections and marked them out very carefully.

1. On the first one she sprinkled ash on

her cabbages.

2. On the second one she did a control.

This means she did not try out one

of her solutions here because she

was trying to see if her solutions

really worked. In other words, she

wanted to make sure that the

solution was better than doing

nothing.

3. On the third one she sprayed a chilli-soap solution.

Then she monitored and looked at her experiment. Every week she checked her cabbages and

wrote down how many aphids the cabbages had. She did this so that she could remember exactly

what happened, and at the end she could decide which method was better.

Here are her results:

Experimental plot Ash Control Chilli

soap

Garden planted with cabbages

Week 1 2 3

Ash Control Chilli-soap

1, 2 and 3 No aphids No aphids No aphids

4 Sprinkled ash when Aphids appeared; about Sprayed chilli-soap when

aphids appeared 10 on each plant. Only aphids appeared

some plants have aphids

5 Still some aphids, about Now aphids on all the Aphids seem to have

5 per plant leaves; about 100 disappeared

per plant

6 More aphids.Aphids Aphids on the plants that More aphids.Aphids

appearing on plants that did not have aphids appearing on plants

did not have them before.before that did not have them

Sprinkled ash again before. Sprayed chilli-

soap again

7 Fewer aphids. Some Aphid infestation now on Fewer aphids, some

plants free of aphids. Hot all the plants. Hot plants free of aphids.

weather, leaves look weather, no scorching Hot weather, no

scorched.Was it the ash? scorching

8 The scorched/burnt Plants not growing well.Few aphids, but

leaves have been pulled Aphids seem to move increasing

off and plants are still from here onto the ash

growing – few aphids and chilli-soap plots.

FARMER EXPERIMENTATIONpage 19

9 Aphids increased slowly Decided to pull out the Aphids increased rapidly

after heavy rain. Did not control plants, as they after heavy rain.

use more ash were not growing and Sprayed again.

they were infesting the

other two plots

10 Some aphids on all plants,Very few aphids. Plants

but not too many are starting to head

11 Suddenly more aphids.More aphids. Plants are

Difficult to use ash with starting to head.

plants now heading, but Sprayed again.

did try to sprinkle some

12 Harvest Harvest

RESULTS Some aphids, heads now No heads. Plants Very few aphids on

have ash on them and destroyed by aphids plants, good heads on

some do not look that them.

good.

She thought that another way of checking to see whether her experiment had worked was to

weigh some cabbages at the end of the experiment. She weighed 10 cabbages from each

section.

She wrote down her results in the table below.

WEIGHT IN KGs

PER CABBAGE

10.

TOTAL

Ash

Cabbage number

0.85kg

0.56kg

0.55kg

0.81kg

0.33kg

0.76kg

0.54kg

0.59kg

0.62kg

0.88kg

6.49kg

Control

Cabbage number

10-

Chilli-soap

Cabbage number

0.75kg

0.82kg

0.59kg

0.62kg

0.86kg

0.88kg

0.45kg

0.73kg

0.55kg

0.65kg

6.90 kg

page 20 FARMER EXPERIMENTATION

At the end she wrote down what she thought about each method: Which way of controlling

aphids worked best for her. This was her final outcome. From this experiment Mrs Taole knows

which method of aphid control works best for her. In future, she will use this method on all of

her cabbages, not just a few of them.

ASH

What do I think:

There is still some ash on

the cabbage heads, as some

ash got into the folds of the

leaves. I think that the ash

might have scorched the

cabbage leaves.Also the ash

gets washed off in the rain,

and I have to apply it again.

CONTROL

What do I think:

There were so many aphids

that I had to take out all the

cabbages in the control

section, and so they cannot

be weighed. I think they

would not even have formed

heads. Using ash or chilli-

soap is definitely better that

doing nothing at all.

CHILLI-SOAP

What do I think:

The cabbages from this plot

look the best and weigh the

most. I had to spray the

solution every two weeks,

especially if it had rained.

Chilli-soap seems to kill the

aphids, which is good

because then they cannot go

on to other plants. I will use

chilli-soap in future.

Let’s think more about what Mrs Taole did. You can use her example to plan experiments in

your garden.

We will use this picture to help you with your experiments.

Whenever you see this picture, it will be time to think about how

you can experiment in your garden to get better results.

In doing her experiment, Mrs Taole asked herself some questions, and then answered them.

1. First of all, she asked what her problem was. The answer is that she had aphids on her

cabbages and she thought this was bad.

2. What is a solution to this problem? Mrs Taole thought one solution was to sprinkle ash on

her cabbages, and another solution was to spray her cabbages with chilli-soap mixture.

3. Why will this solution solve the problem? Mrs Taole thought that these solutions would

get rid of the aphids.

4. How will I test this solution? Mrs Taole put ash on some cabbages, and chilli-soap on other

cabbages, and did nothing at all on the rest of her experimentation plot. She then counted

the number of aphids.

5. How will I check my results. What will I look for? Mrs Taole checked the number of aphids

on her cabbages every week, and she wrote down what she found. She found that her control

plot had many, many aphids and that with ash and chilli-soap she could reduce the number

of aphids, as long as she applied this every two weeks.

FARMER EXPERIMENTATIONpage 21

6. How else will I check my results. What will I measure? Mrs Taole weighed 10 cabbages

from each section at the end of the experiment at harvest time. She found that the 10

cabbages with ash treatment weighed 6.49 kilograms and the 10 cabbages with chilli-soap

treatment weighed 6.9kg. This means the cabbages treated with chilli-soap weighed more.

She did not keep her control cabbages to weigh.

7. How will I measure the results or outcomes? The cabbages with the fewest aphids or the

cabbages that weigh the most will be the best.

How will I compare my experiment to my usual way of farming? Mrs Taole’s usual way of

farming was to do nothing about aphids, like she did on her control section. From this

experiment, she has seen that both ash and chilli-soap mixture reduces the number of aphids

on her plants. She has seen that she needs to re-apply both, especially when it rains. Now

she thinks that chilli-soap mixture is the best way of controlling aphids on her cabbages.

In the following table you will find the questions for planning your experiments, and space to

write your answers.

SMALL SCALE EXPERIMENTATION PLAN

1.What is the problem

2.What is a solution to this problem?

3.Why will this solution solve the problem?

4. How will I test this solution?

5.How will I check my results.What will

I look for?

6.How else will I check my results.What will

I measure?

7. How will I measure the results or outcomes?

8.How will I compare my experiment to my

usual way of farming?

page 22 FARMER EXPERIMENTATION

When doing experiments it is important that you can measure your results, and judge whether

the experiment has worked or not. If you try too many things at once, without thinking about

how you can measure the results, you might not know which solution has worked. This is what

happened in the following story.

FARMER EXPERIMENTATIONpage 23

The same thing would have happened to Mrs Taole if she had sprinkled ash and sprayed chilli-

soap on her cabbages at the same time. She would not have known which method was better at

controlling aphids.

One good thing about doing experiments is that you can share your knowledge with your

friends and neighbours, and this might help them. If they do experiments, they can also share

their knowledge with you, so that you do not have to do the experiment yourself. In this way

your community can decide what is best practice, and everyone can use that method of

farming.

from Farmer-to-Farmer, Farmer Support Group

page 24

SEEDLING PRODUCTIONpage 25

SEEDLING PRODUCTION

Golden

rules with water

•Water must be close by

•Water must be clean –

very muddy and dirty water

will make it hard for

seedlings to grow.

Golden

rules with seed

• Seed must be fresh: Keep seed for

only 1-2 years. Look on the packets you

buy for a date.You can do a germination test

on seeds to see how well they grow, before

planting them (see below)

• Seed must be kept cool, dark and dry. If you buy

from a shop, look to see whether the seeds are kept in

a cool, dry place. If the packets are in the sun – do not

buy them

• If you keep your own seed, make sure you plant

seed without any mould, scratches or holes

• If you buy seed, write the month and year

you bought it on the packet, so you

can check the dates

later

TO START

• Make sure you have good, fresh seed

• Make sure you have clean water close

by (really muddy water is not good)

• Make sure you have fertile, soft,

smooth soil (see also Improving

your Soil in this book).

• Make sure you have some

shade.

ABOVE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A SEEDBED. THE COVER OF REEDS THAT ARE TIED TOGETHER

PROVIDES WIND AND SUN PROTECTION FOR THE SEEDLINGS

Before planting seeds they can be

tested for germination.You will test

how many of your seeds will grow.

• Take 50 seeds and place them on top

of some damp paper, cloth or toilet

tissue. Do not let the seeds stand in

water or dry out.

• Place the paper or cloth with the

seeds inside a plastic bag and blow air

into the bag, before closing it.

• Check the seeds regularly to see how

many germinate.This should take

3-10 days.

• Then count the seeds that have

germinated.

Here for example 40 out of 50 seeds germinated.This is a germination rate of 80% (80/100).

This means that only 80 out of 100 seeds that you plant will start to grow.

EVAPORATED MOISTURE INSIDE

THE BAG FROM THE DAMP CLOTH

MEASUREMENTS

ONE METRE

30 cm

ONE FINGER = 1.5 cmTWO FINGERS = 3 - 4 cmONE HAND = 20-30 cm

EXPERIMENTATION

GERMINATION TEST – you might want to try this if you are unsure

of the quality and freshness of your seeds

page 26 SEEDLING PRODUCTION

SEEDLING PRODUCTIONpage 27

PREPARING THE SEED BED

A seedbed is a small part of the garden with very rich soil and a roof to shade the growing

seeds. The roof also provides frost protection.

Dig a trench about 30 cm deep (about as wide as a spade) and 1metre wide (about as long as a

spade). The trench can be 1 or 2 metres long.

Separate the more fertile soil on the top (which is usually darker) from the rest of the soil.

Loosen the bottom of the trench with a fork or a spade.

LIGHTER SUBSOIL

DARKER TOPSOIL

THE TRENCH IS

1 METRE WIDE

page 28 SEEDLING PRODUCTION

Then mix the topsoil with an equal part of manure and ash mixture or compost (see also the

section on Improving Your Soil in this series to find out more about preparing manure and

compost).

Sieve this as you put the mixture back into the hole. If you can not sieve the mixture, make

sure it is free of anything that can stop the seedling from growing, such as sticks, leaves,

stones, pebbles and hard clods of soil. It is important never to step on your bed once you have

prepared it.

SEEDLING PRODUCTIONpage 29

The width of the seed bed should be about

1 metre (or the length of a spade). This is

because it makes it possible for you to reach

the middle of the bed from both sides,

without having to walk or step on your

seed bed. Stepping on soil especially

when it is wet, will spoil its soft, smooth

texture, and make it hard. This hardness

will make it difficult for seeds to grow.

An inexpensive shade structure for the

seedbed can be made with poles/reeds/

bamboo and thatch grass.

PLANTING SEEDS

Different seeds need to be planted in different ways.

1. Direct sowing

Some seeds need to be planted where the crop

will grow, as the small plants do not like

being moved. This is known as direct sowing.

This includes beans, beetroot, carrots,

cucumbers, garlic, maize, peas, potatoes,

pumpkins, radishes and turnips. The furrows/

holes into which seed will be planted need to

be fully watered beforehand.

Small seeds like carrots, radishes and turnips

are not planted very deep. Make a furrow

about 1.5cm deep (1 finger width) Sow the

seed carefully with your finger and thumb

into the furrow. Make sure you do not sow the

seeds too thickly. Seeds need to be spaced one

finger width in the furrow. Spread the seeds

out as evenly as possible. Cover the seeds

with a layer of fine compost, manure or soil. Press

down with your fingers.

Larger seeds such as beans, are

planted at a depth of 1-2 times their

size. If they are planted too deep, they

will not grow. If they are too shallow,

the small plants will fall over.

PLANTING

FURROW IS

1.5-2 cm DEEP

PLANTED AT ADEPTH OF

ONE BEAN

GROUND LEVEL

SEEDS ARE SOWN THINLY AND EVENLY

page 30 SEEDLING PRODUCTION

2. Sowing into seedbeds first

Some plants grow a lot better if they are first planted in seedbeds and then transplanted

when the seedlings are strong. This includes broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, chillies,

eggplant, green peppers, leeks, lettuce, okra, onions, spinach and tomatoes.

Some plants can be sown directly or in seedbeds and here it is your choice which works

best for you. This includes spinach, onions, garlic and potatoes.

Caring for seedlings in the seedbed

For small seeded vegetables like cabbages, kale, tomatoes, turnips and onions, do not plant the

seed so thickly that they emerge as a dense mass. Seedlings will be weak and diseased. They

need to compete for space and light. Sow thinly and evenly. Sow the seeds about one finger

width apart.

Once seed has been sown, it is important to keep

them moist at all times. It may be

necessary to water twice a day in hot

weather. It is better to water in the

evenings in summer and in the

mid-mornings in winter.

Water carefully, with a soft

spray. Otherwise you can

wash your seed out of the

planting furrows, or

compact the soil. You can

use a home made

watering can. You punch

very small holes in the

bottom of a tin with a

nail and a hammer.

Mulch the seedbed. Here

you can mulch between

the rows of planted seeds.

Or you can cover the whole

bed and then remove the

mulch as soon as seedlings

start to appear. If you do not

take the mulch off the seeds it

can make it hard for them to grow

well. It is also possible to mulch the

edges of your seedbed with flat stones.

This ensures that the water stays inside

the bed and does not evaporate out the sides.

WATERING CAN

MADE FROM

A TIN

SEEDBED MULCHED

WITH STONES AND

GRASS

SEEDLING PRODUCTIONpage 31

• It is important to weed well and often in a seedbed.

• Thinning is taking out some of the plants so that others will grow better. When the plants

come up, you will see which ones are stronger and which ones are weaker. Take out the

weak plants. Make sure each strong plant has enough space around it, about 3-4 cm

(2 fingers wide).

Transplanting seedlings

Before transplanting your seedlings it is a good idea to harden

them. This will make the shock of being transplanted less.

Hardening means that you make the conditions for the seedlings

a bit more difficult. The shading is removed and watering is

reduced. This is done 3-5 days before transplanting.

The time to transplant a seedling is when it has 2-6 true leaves,

a well developed root system and a nice strong stem. The first

two leaves that pop out of the ground are usually not true leaves

– so wait for the plant to develop.

Transplant in the late afternoon or on an overcast day. This

gives the seedlings a bit of time to recover before the next

warm day. If it is really cold, plant them mid-morning, once

the soil has warmed up a little.

• Prepare and water your planting holes

• Make sure the soil is soft and contains some organic

matter, like manure and ash or compost.

• Lift the seedlings carefully, using a tool (DO NOT PULL

THEM OUT BY HAND) and try to leave as much soil

around the roots as possible. Handle the seedlings by

their leaves and not their stems.

PULLING UP SEEDLINGS WITHOUT

A TOOL IS NOT GOOD

WITH A TOOL, THE

ROOTS REMAIN

INTACT

SEEDLING WITHTWO

TRUE LEAVES

HOLD THE SEEDLING BY

THE LEAVES

page 32 SEEDLING PRODUCTION

• When planting, the roots should be kept straight and not be squashed into the hole. The

hole must then be filled with soil, which should be packed firmly around the roots. Press

the soil down around the seedling, so that there is no air around the roots.

MULCH

ROOTS ARE

STRAIGHT

• Water the seedlings as soon as they are planted

• Mulch them in their bed

• Provide some shade for the seedling, using a leafy branch or a piece of cardboard. This can

be removed after 4-5 days, once the seedling has settled in.

PRESS

NO AIR AROUND

THE ROOTS

MOISTENED SOIL

BRANCH

FOR

SHADE

WATER AFTER

TRANSPLANTING

MULCHING page 33

MULCHING

Mulching is the spreading of a layer of material over the surface of the soil. It covers the soil

and keeps it moist and cool in summer. It keeps the soil warm in winter.

WHY MULCH?

Mulching has two main effects:

• It saves water, because it will stop the sun and wind from drying out the soil. That means

that you will need to give less water to your plants, because it is not lost through the

effects of sun and wind.

TRANSPIRATION

WIND SPEEDS UP

WILTING PROCESS

EVAPORATION

SUN AND WIND TAKES WATER

WILTING

DEHYDRATED

SOIL – LESS

MOISTURE

EVAPORATION

DAMP SOIL

CALM AIR

THE EFFECT OF SUN AND WIND ON BARE SOILFrom: Production without Destruction.

Natural Farming Network, Zimbabwe

TRANSPIRATION

WIND

page 34 MULCHING

• It keeps the soil temperature more even. Mulching reduces too much heating and too much

cooling of the soil. This makes it easier for plants to grow.

RUN OFF

HIGH

EVAPORATION

DRY, HOT AND CAPPED

SOIL

NO SOIL ORGANISMS

BAD SOIL STRUCTURE

WEEDS

VERY LOW

INFILTRATION

BARE SOIL

LITTLE

EVAPORATION

HIGH

INFILTRATION

WEED CONTROLSOIL ORGANISMS

GOOD SOIL STRUCTURE

From: Production without Destruction.

Natural Farming Network, Zimbabwe

Negative

• It is sometimes hard

to find enough material to

mulch with

• Sometimes mulching on seed beds

can effect the growth of carrot

seedlings. They can become spindly

and weak

• Some people think it looks untidy

• Mulch can encourage slugs

and snails

Positive

• It stops loss of minerals/

nutrients from the soil

• It encourages soil organisms

• It reduces weed growth

• It prevents capping: that is the formation of a

hard layer of soil on the surface.

• A stronger root system develops closer to the

soil surface. This makes more nutrients and air

available to the roots

• Break down of mulch will add to soil fertility

• Breaks the impact of heavy rains and

splashing of soil on plants – that

can spread diseases

MULCHED SOIL

More effects of mulching

MULCHING page 35

Usually we use:

• Crop residues (stalks and leaves of harvested crops). NEVER use diseased crop residue. You

will infect the soil and your new crops!

• Weeds that have been pulled out and left to dry out

• Grasses from the veld. Make sure to use DRY grass. GREEN grass will take nutrients from

your soil and your crops will have less nutrients.

• Flat stones. These will cover but will not add nutrients. They are good around larger plants

and fruit trees.

• Newspaper. This will cover and add a little bit of nutrients/ plant food to the soil. Wet the

newspaper when you put it on the soil, so that it does not blow away.

• Manure; use DRY or OLD manure for this.

• Leaves collected under trees.

• Old thatch grass.

• Black plastic sheeting.

HOW DO WE MULCH?

1. It is best to chop up your mulching material (weeds and grass) to be

about the length of your hand (10-20 centimetres)

2. Use a thin layer of mulch for seedlings and small plants – about one

finger width deep (1.5 cm)

3. For larger plants use much thicker mulch – about 2-3 finger widths

(3-4 cm)

4. For trees, a really thick layer, one whole hand or more

(10-20 cm) can be added

When the mulch has broken down, you need to add more! You will be

amazed how quickly this happens. Usually mulch is added at least once

a season, or once every 3 months. In areas with extremely cold winters,

it may be an idea to make sure your mulch is compact or squashed

down once the frosts are heavy and the ground starts to freeze. Loose

mulch can make the effects of frost more severe.

ORGANIC DRY MATERIALALL REDUCE EVAPORATION

STONES

SHEETS OF PAPER

WHAT TO USE AS MULCH?From: Production without

Destruction. Natural Farming

Network, Zimbabwe

ONE FINGER =

1.5 cm

TWO FINGERS =

3 - 4

ONE HAND =

10-20 cm

EXPERIMENTATION

Here are some questions that you can use to experiment

with adding mulch

• Did you use mulch on all of your plants, or only some?

• Were the plants that you mulched bigger and better than the ones that had no mulch?

• Did you use less water on the plants that were mulched?

• What did you use for mulch? Was it good? What will you use for mulch in future?

SMALL SCALE EXPERIMENT PLAN

1. What is the problem?

2. What is the possible solution?

3. Why will this solution solve the problem?

4. How will I test this solution step by step?

5. How will I check my results? What will I look for?

6. How else will I check my results? What will I measure?

7. How will I measure the results or outcomes?

8. How will I compare my experiment to my usual way of farming?

9. Make a drawing of the experimentation in the field.

Remember to use your experimentation plan for every new thing that you try.

page 36 MULCHING

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL page 37

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

THE LIVING SOIL

Healthy soil is living soil. It contains many living organisms. It is deep, loose, easy to dig and

full of air and water.

Living soil is a mixture of many things:

• Bits of sand, silt and clay, which are types of soil;

• Bits of organic matter, like leaves, grass, manure;

• Inorganic matter, like rocks and silica;

• Minerals such as potassium;

• Air and water;

• Micro-organisms: These are tiny bugs or creatures

that are too small to see and live in the soil. They

make the soil fertile by eating organic matter and

changing it into rich plant food or humus. Small

creatures like earthworms, other worms and

beetles also live in the soil.

From: Lessons from Nature

page 38 IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

SOIL TYPES

Soil is made through the breaking up of the basic elements or minerals of the earth. These are

initially found in the form of rocks. Over a very long time, these rocks are broken down into

small particles through rain, wind and sun and mixed with air and water. This becomes soil

that can support plants and micro-organisms to grow. Like people, plants cannot live and grow

without water, air and food.

All soils are a mixture of sand, silt and clay. The difference in the amount of sand, silt and clay

will determine how the soil holds water. Examples of types of soil are sandy, sandy loam, loam,

clay loam and clay.

Sand makes the soil loose.

Silt is very fine sand. It holds water and plant food better than rough sand, but it is easily

washed out of the soil.

Clay is the sticky part of the soil that holds it together. It holds water like a sponge.

The best soils are called loams and they are an equal mixture of sand, silt and clay.

Characteristics of soils:

SANDY SOIL

Good things about this type of soil Bad things about this type of soil

• It is easy to dig and work with • It gets dry quickly

• It warms up quickly in spring after winter • It does not keep much fertility

• It is good for root crops • It does not hold water well

• Water and air can get into the soil easily

LOAM SOIL (Mixture of sand and clay)

Good things about this type of soil Bad things about this type of soil

• Holds water well • This soil can be hard when dry

• Best for root growth

• Contains organic matter, like …..

CLAY SOIL

Good things about this type of soil Bad things about this type of soil

• Holds water well and for a long time • Hard to work; heavy

• Holds fertility well and for a long time • Slow to warm up in spring

• Sticky when wet

• Hard when dry

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL page 39

HOW TO TELL YOUR SOIL TYPE

You can tell how much sand, silt or clay is in your soil by how it feels. Wet some soil and roll it

into a ball between your hands. Then roll this little ball into a sausage. You can tell what kind

of soil it is by looking at the table below.

It is important to

know which soil

type you have. This

will give you some

ideas about what

you need to do to

make your soil

crumbly and loose.

Crumbly and loose

soil holds the most

water and the most

air, which is what

plants need to grow.

To make your soil

more crumbly

(whether it is sandy,

loam or clay) you

need to keep adding

lots of manure,

compost and mulch.

Never walk on the

planted areas,

especially if they

are wet.

Sandy soil needs to

be given organic

matter to increase

its ability to hold

water and plant

food. Clay soil needs

to be given organic

matter to increase

its ability to hold air

in the soil and to

release the plant

foods that are there.

All types of soil

need organic matter

to increase their

fertility, or plant

food.

page 40 IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

SOIL FERTILITY

All living things are composed of the basic elements of the earth. Plants consist mainly of

hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and smaller quantities of

magnesium, sulphur and calcium as well as many other elements in very small amounts (these

are called trace elements).

Plants need three main kinds of food:

• Nitrogen (N) – for healthy leaf and stem growth;

• Phosphorus (P) – for healthy roots and fruit formation;

• Potassium (K) – for general health and healthy flowers and fruit.

The capital letters in brackets (N, P, and K) are called the chemical symbols. If you buy fertiliser or

other chemicals, they may use these letters instead of writing out the name in full.

All three of these foods are found in good compost or manure. You can also increase the

amount of these foods in the soil by mulching with leguminous leaves (like beans, peas, pigeon

peas and Acacia (thorn tree leaves)) or comfrey, using liquid manures, earthworm castings and

effective micro-organisms. You will need to make the earthworm castings and effective micro-

organism brews and add them to your soil. These are different ways of improving fertility that

you will need to be shown.

NITROGEN

1. How do you know if your soil needs more

nitrogen?

You will know your plants need nitrogen when the leaves are

turning yellowish, instead of a strong bright green.

2. How can you add nitrogen to your soil?

This element is found in most manures (cattle, sheep, pig,

goat, chicken and rabbit). There is more nitrogen in chicken

and goat manure. These must be dried before being used in the

garden. Otherwise they can be too strong and ‘burn’ the plants.

3. Nitrogen is also found in legumes

These are plants that form nodules or little knots on their

roots. These nodules ‘fix’ nitrogen from the air, so that the

plant can take it up through its roots. There are micro-

organisms (bacteria) in the roots that help to ‘fix’ the nitrogen.

After the roots of the plant die the nitrogen is released into the

soil and can be used by surrounding plants.

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL page 41

Examples of legumes that we often grow:

• Ground nuts

• Cow-peas

• Beans (including soya beans)

• Peas

There are less common crops and also many

long living plants and small trees that also fix

nitrogen. Some examples are chickpeas, mung

beans, lentils, pigeon peas and tree lucerne.

Some legumes are grown only as green manures,

and are not used for food. These include lucerne,

clover, hairy vetch and lupins. These give a lot

more nitrogen to the soil than our food plants,

because we dig them into the soil when they are

still green. This is why we call them green

manures. We can also plant our food crops in

between these legumes (see the Planting Crops

leaflet in this series for more information on

intercropping).

You can also mulch with the leaves of legumes. This will add nitrogen to your soil.

SOYA BEANS

ALL REDUCE EVAPORATION

STONES

SHEETS OF PAPER

From: Production without

Destruction. Natural Farming

Network, Zimbabwe

page 42 IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

PHOSPHOROUS

1. How do you know if your soil needs more phosphorous?

You will know your plants need more phosphorous when they do not grow fast, as they should.

The leaves may also start to show unusual red or pinkish colours, especially around the edges.

If your plants are small and will not grow, even when compost is added, then you almost

certainly have a severe phosphorous deficiency. This can also be caused by acidity in the soil.

We will discuss this a bit later in this pamphlet

2. How can you add phosphorous to your soil?

Most of the soils in Lesotho are poor in phosphorous. It is also a bit difficult to add

phosphorous to the soil in an organic way, as most of the sources of phosphorous are tricky to

work with. They include urine, bones, hair, feathers and blood. Usually we add these as

ingredients to compost.

Natural rock phosphate can be added directly to the soil. This is also not easily available.

Another good source of phosphorous is bonemeal. You can usually buy this from an agricultural

supply store – but it is not cheap.

One other way of adding phosphorous is to place bones in a fire, for a few hours. You can then

grind them into a powder more easily.This powder can be spread on your garden beds or your

compost heap.

The manure from animals grazing in areas where there is not much phosphorous will also

have little phosphorous. You may need to bring in phosphorous in the form of chemical

fertilizer. The usual source is called Superphosphate. Another chemical fertilizer known as DAP

(Di-ammonium Phosphate) can also be used.

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL page 43

POTASSIUM

1. How do you know if your soil needs more potassium?

You will know your plants need potassium when the plants become brittle and the leaf edges

become brown and dry. When fruit do not form properly, you should also suspect a lack of

potassium. Other signs can be hard to distinguish. One of these is a yellowing around the veins

of the leaves. This could also be caused by diseases – so it is difficult to know.

2. How can you add potassium to your soil?

Good sources of potassium are chicken manure and fresh woodash. Never use ash from coal, as

this is very poisonous to the soil and plants. Another good source of

potassium is a plant known as comfrey. This plant has large hairy

leaves and grows in wet shady places. The leaves contain a lot of

potassium. These can be used to mulch your

vegetable beds and also to make liquid feeds

for your plants (We will look at liquid feeds

later in this section).

The other elements or minerals needed in

smaller quantities, such as Magnesium, Zinc

and Iron, are found in most manures and in

compost.

Comfrey is also a good spinach and

medicine. A tea made from the leaves is

good for high blood pressure and arthritis.

SOIL ACIDITY

1. What is soil acidity?

The minerals or nutrients needed by plants to grow, are dissolved in the water inside the soil.

This is a bit like salt or sugar dissolved in a glass of water.

Soil acidity is when the soil is sour. It is a bit like a glass of water that has vinegar dissolved

in it. In places where it rains a lot, some of the minerals can be washed out of the soil. The soil

then becomes acidic. The use of chemical fertilizers over a long period of time, can also make

the soil acidic.

If there is too much acid in the soil, some minerals or plant food will dissolve too quickly and

the plants cannot use them. Other minerals will not dissolve at all, so again, the plants cannot

use them. Phosphorus is one of the minerals that cannot be used by plants when the soil is

acidic – even if it is in the soil.

2. How do you know if your soil is acidic?

You will know your soil is acidic if you provide compost or manure and water for your plants,

but they do not grow. The plants remain small and stunted. This is a common problem.

COMFREY From: Useful Plants for

Land Design, Pelum

page 44 IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

3. How will you solve the problem of acidity?

The only practical way of dealing with soil acidity is to add lime to the soil. Lime can be

bought and is a white powder, or grey granules.

It needs to be dug into your soil, at least as deep as the roots of the crop you are growing. For

vegetables this is between 30-60 cm. This is the width of 1 or 2 spades. You will need to add

1 kg of lime for every square metre of soil. 1 Kilogram of lime is a spade full. It needs to be

heaped high.

For field crops like maize and sorghum that have deep roots this is from 60 cm to 1 metre deep.

1 metre is the length of a spade.

Usually Lime is added 2 or 3 months before planting, as it is slow acting in the soil. If you add

Lime at the same time as you are planting your crop, you will only see the main effect of the

Lime in the next season.

ONE METRE

30 cm

TWO METRES

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL page 45

OTHER WAYS OF IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

Manure

Most kinds of animal manure can

be used. This includes cattle,

sheep, goats, pigs and chickens.

Handling manure

The best manure to use is manure

mixed with straw and urine, from

a kraal. Sweep this into piles at

least once a week, and then cover

it with grass or plastic.

Manure can be added to

your soil in a number of

ways:

• It can be used when you are planting your seedlings, by mixing in two to three handfuls of

manure into your planting holes for seedlings.

• It can be dug into a whole bed to increase the fertility. Here you will need to use one

wheelbarrow load (around 50 kilograms) to a bed size of 1 metre by 5 metres.

page 46 IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

• It can be used in hotbeds. Here the bed is dug out to a depth of about 30 cm, which is the

width of a spade. It is then filled with a layer of fresh manure about 10 cm deep at the

bottom. This is about the same as the width of your closed hand. Some grass, weeds and

organic matter can be placed on top of this before filling your trench with top soil only.

Some manure or compost can be mixed into this soil before planting.

These are called HOTBEDS because the manure heats up as it decomposes in the ground.

This will heat up the soil in your bed. This is very good for cold winter areas.

• Manure can be spread over the surface of the ground as a mulch. It then has the added

advantage of providing food to plants.

• Manure can be added to compost heaps to make the BEST COMPOST

COMPOST

Compost is a combination of wet and dry plant material and manure that has decomposed

together to form a rich plant food. Compost also helps the soil to hold water and keep plants

free from diseases.

What do you need to make a compost heap?

You need to collect a lot of the following:

• Maize stalks or leftovers from other crops. These are called crop residues;

• Grass (without seeds!) – it can be green or dry;

• Cabbage leaves and weeds (green or dry) with no seeds;

• Animal manure;

• Wood ash.

Some other things that can go into a compost heap are: kitchen waste, washing water, yard

sweepings, dead animals, bones, wool, horns and feathers. It is a very good idea to add

comfrey to compost heaps.

advantages

• Compost is ready as plant

food, without the need to be

broken down by soil micro-organisms

first

• Compost does not cause a lot of

weed growth, like most animal

manures do

• You can get good crops without

spending lots of money

on fertilizers.

Some

disadvantages

• Compost requires a lot of

work to prepare and use

• The value of compost depends on

how it is made and what you used. If it

is not made well, it will not be a good

plant food.

• It may be difficult to find the

organic material you need to

make compost.

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL page 47

THINGS NOT TO ADD:

Plastic, glass, metal, wood,

old batteries or anything that

cannot decompose (that

means to break down in the

soil).

Where to make a

compost heap

• In a shady place but not

too close to the trunk of a

tree.

• Protected from too much

wind.

• On flat ground.

• Close to your garden and

to a source of water.

• Away from animals (especially pigs, goats and chickens).

How to make a compost heap

Step 1:

Choose your site and turn the soil over with a fork or a

hoe. The area should be about 1 metre by 2 metres

(1 spade length wide and 2 spade lengths long).

page 48 IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

Step 2:

Chop the stalks and leaves of your crop

residues, grass and weeds into small

pieces. This includes comfrey, cabbage

leaves, weeds and maize stalks.

They need to be chopped into

pieces about 10 cm long. This is

the width of your closed hand.

This will make the composting

process go faster.

Step 3:

Lay some small branches and twigs on the soil that you have turned over.

Step 4:

Cover these with a layer of your chopped mixture, about 30 cm deep.

This is one open hand deep. If you have kitchen wastes, they are added

in this layer.

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL page 49

Step 5:

Spread manure on top of this about 4 cm deep. This is the width of 2 fingers.

Step 6:

Spread some soil on top of the manure aoubt 2 cm deep – the

width of 1 finger

Step 7:

Sprinkle wood ash on top of the soil. If you are also going to

add lime, bonemeal or rock phosphate, this can be sprinkled

on now.

page 50 IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

Step 8:

Water these layers until

the water soaks through

at the bottom of the pile.

Step 9:

Continue to build the

heap, repeating the

layers as before, until it

reaches the height of

your chest.

Step 10:

It is best to cover

your pile, either

with a thick layer

of straw or grass

or plastic. This

helps to keep the

water and heat in

and helps your pile

decompose. It also

stops animals from

scratching in your

heap and

destroying it.

It is best to turn your compost heap every two weeks. If your heap is dry,

you will need to add more water. If you do this your compost should

be ready in about 6 weeks in

summer and about 8-9 weeks in

winter. In very cold areas that

experience snow, your heap

will have to be well

covered – otherwise

nothing will happen

at all.

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL page 51

When is compost ready to use

When there is still steam coming out of your heap it is VERY busy decomposing. The compost

will be ready when it has turned blackish in colour and looks like moist soil. It will have almost

no smell. (If it is smelly and warm, it is definitely NOT compost!)

Handling compost

1. Plant each seedling with 2-3 handfuls of compost

2. Dig compost into the soil: Turn over the soil and

loosen it to a depth of at least one spade head.

Spread 4 full spades of compost in an area of

1 square metre. Dig this lightly and then plant.

3. Use compost as a mulch by spreading it over the

surface of your beds.

PLANT AND ANIMALLIQUID MANURES

Liquid manures are a simple way of giving your plants a boost. They can be made from plant

material or animal manures. The aim is to provide plants with natural plant foods quickly

during their growing season. It is useful for heavy feeders like cabbages and to give seedlings a

boost.

How to make liquid manures from plants

A good plant for liquid manure is comfrey. Most soft green leaves

and stems can also be used and weeds are ideal. Avoid plants

which are very strong smelling. Plants are made of different

quantities of nutrients and take up different nutrients from the

soil. So it is best to use a range of plant materials to make your

liquid.

1. Make sure your container is clean before you use it.

2. Collect the plant material and fill up the container. You must

keep on adding material to the container every week

3. Place the rock on top of the plant material in the container and put the lid on. Do not add

water. The plant material will make its own liquid.

4. Place it in a sunny position and two weeks later check to see if the leaves have turned

black. If you tilt the container you should find a black juice. This is the concentrated plant

liquid manure.

5. This liquid is very strong and should be diluted as follows:

Seedlings: 1 tin of liquid manure for every 4 tins of water

Bigger plants: 1 tin of liquid manure to 2 tins water. If you make the mixture too strong it

can burn the leaves of plants.

You

will need:

• A container; any

plastic or metal container

from 5 litres-50 litres

• A lid of some sort

• A rock

1 SQUARE

METRE

1 metre

From: Vikela, May 2003, FSG

page 52 IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

Every two weeks pour the mixture on the soil around your plants, after you have watered them.

You should pour at least one tin of this diluted mixture around each seedling or plant. The tin

should be the size of a big jam tin.

How to make liquid manure from animal manure

Manure can be used from chickens, rabbits, cows, goats and sheep. A mixture of manures is

best.

1. Put your fresh manure mixture into the bag and tie the

top of the bag.

2. Put the bag in the container and attach it to the

stick or the rope. Then fill the container with

water. For every 1kilogram of manure you will

need 10 litres of water. This means an orange

sack full of manure in a large bucket, or half

the bag in a normal sized household bucket.

This is a way of keeping the manure and the

water separate, because you should not put

the wet manure on your plants.

3. Cover the container with a lid. Stir every few

days.

4. After two weeks the mixture will be ready to be

used. It should look like weak tea. Before using the

liquid, stir the mixture well.

5. This liquid will be very strong and should be diluted.

Seedlings: 1 tin of liquid to 8 tins of water (or buckets or bottles)

Bigger plants: 1 tin liquid to 4 tins of water

If you make the mixture too strong it can burn the leaves of plants.

Every two weeks pour the mixture on the

soil around your plants, after you have

watered them

Again, use at least one big jam tin full for

each seedling or plant. Avoid applying

your mixture in the middle of the day or

on very hot days.

You

will need:

• A large container: 10 litre

or bigger

• A bag of some kind; either an

orange sack, a feed bag or a cloth bag

• A strong stick or rope

• Something to tie the bag with

• Some type of lid for the

container, or loose

cover.

EXPERIMENTATION

AN EXPERIMENT TO TESTWHETHER YOUR SOIL

HAS ENOUGH LIME AND PHOSPHATE

In this experiment, you will need to measure out 4 plots of the same size. Make these plots

about 1 metre long and 1 metre wide. This is the length of one spade.

Be sure to mark your plots out with sticks, so that you will know throughout the season where

your plots are. You will then be able to do your experiment.

Plot 1:

Prepare and plant in your normal way

Plot 2:

Prepare the soil in your normal way and then add 2 big spoon fulls of Superphosphate. This is

spread evenly over your soil and then dug into the soil. Then plant in your normal way.

Plot 3:

Prepare the soil in your normal way and then add one big tin (jam tin) full of Lime. This is

spread evenly over the soil and then dug into the soil. Then plant in your normal way

Plot 4:

Prepare the soil in your normal way and then add 2 big spoon fulls of Superphosphate and one

big tin of Lime. This is spread evenly over your soil and then dug into the soil. Then plant in

your normal way. Below is picture of what your experiment could look like.

Now you will monitor or look

at this experiment. Every

week you will check and write

down which plants look

better. You will look at the

plants’ growth, their colour

(whether they are green or

yellowish), and their health

(whether they are healthy or

diseased).

Here is an example of how you can record your results: You can start with this table and write

in your results from week 3 onwards. Or use this table to draw your own table on a piece of

paper.

Experimental plot

Garden planted with cabbages

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL page 53

Control

Phosphate

Lime

Lime and

Phosphate

Plot 1 Plot 2 Plot 3 Plot 4

Control Phosphate Lime Lime +

Phosphate

Week 1

Seedlings look Seedlings look Seedlings look Seedlings look

good good good good

Week 2

Seedlings growing,Seedlings growing;Seedlings growing Seedlings

but yellowish. No not yellow. No well. No disease growing well;

disease disease dark green. No

disease

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Final result

Growth

Colour

Health

Number of

plants that

look good

Let’s go to the Small Scale Experimentation Plan that is in the Farmer Experimentation leaflet.

You can use this plan to think about how the phosphorous and lime experiment will help you

improve your soil fertility.

page 54 IMPROVING YOUR SOIL

SMALL SCALE EXPERIMENTATION PLAN

1. What is the problem? My plants are not growing well, even when I

add compost or fertilizer

2. What is a solution to this problem? I will add phosphorous and lime to see if that

makes a difference

3. Why will this solution solve the problem? My soil may need phosphorous or lime, or it

may need both of these things

4. How will I test this solution? I will add phosphorous to one experimental

plot, I will add lime to another experimental

plot, and I will add phosphorous and lime to

my third plot. I will also keep one plot free, as

a control, to make sure that what I am adding

is really making a difference

5. How will I check my results. What will I will look at the leaves to see if they are a

I look for? good bright green colour. I will also look to

see if my plants look healthy or diseased

6. How else will I check my results. What will I will measure the growth of my plants using

I measure? a piece of string

7. How will I measure the results or outcomes? The plants that grow the most, and look

the most green or the least yellow, and look

the most healthy will be the best plants.

8. How will I compare my experiment to my I will know that where my results were good, I

usual way of farming? should add that thing to my soil. So if I get the

best results by using phosphorous and lime

together, then I should add that to all my

soil.

In these materials there are many suggestions for improving your soil. You can experiment with

any of them to see whether your plants will grow better if you use them.

1. You can test what kind of soil you have, and add compost.

2. You can add nitrogen, by adding manure.

3. You can add nitrogen, by planting legumes.

4. You can add phosphorous (which is called Superphosphate when you buy it).

5. You can add potassium, by adding chicken manure.

6. You can add potassium, by adding fresh woodash.

7. You can add lime, which you can buy, to make the soil less acidic.

8. You can add manure.

9. You can add compost.

10. You can add a liquid manure made from comfrey or animal manure.

11. You can mulch with leaves of legumes.

For each of these suggestions, you can do some experimenting, to see which works best for you.

Remember to keep a record of all your experiments, so you can look back on them in a few years

time. You should also keep records so that you can share the information with your neighbours

and community, and compare your results with other people’s results.

IMPROVING YOUR SOIL page 55

page 56

BED DESIGN page 57

BED DESIGN

It is useful to lay out your garden in beds. You can keep on improving the soil fertility in the

beds with organic matter, compost, mulch and manure. You can stop your soil from getting too

hard by not walking on the beds and only walking on the pathways. The beds also make it

easier to plan crop rotation.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE YOUR BEDS?

If the ground is

sloping, make your beds

along the slope and not down

the slope. In this way, the paths and

trenches will catch run-off water when

it rains.

Try to lay out your beds in the same

direction as the sun passes over your

land. This is in an east-west direction.

In this way the sun reaches all your

plants, but it does not shine so

much on the soil and dry

it out.

Leave a border

between the edge of

your garden and the nearest

pathway. Here you can grow a

hedge, which is a row of plants

that can protect your vegetables

from wind. The hedge will also

keep insects away, especially

if you use strong smelling

plants and herbs.

page 58 BED DESIGN

DIGGING THE BEDS

Long narrow beds are a good idea because you can reach to the middle of the bed from either

side without walking on it. These beds are usually 1 metre or one spade length wide. You can

make them as long as you want to.

MACHOBANE SYSTEM

This is a system of planting that was started by Mr Machobane. He used it for field crops but

you can use it in your vegetable garden. The idea is that in one place you plant different plants

every year. If you plant the same plants every year in the same place, the nutrients in the soil

get used up very quickly. By planting a variety of crops different nutrients are used and the soil

remains healthy for longer.

1. Start by digging over the soil with a spade or a fork. Make your bed about 1 metre wide

and as long as you like.

2. Mark your planting rows about 30 cm apart (the length of the head of a spade). This means

you can have three long rows along your bed, or many short rows across your bed. If your

bed is on a slope try to think about how your plants will best catch the rain water as it

flows down the slope. You want to make as much use of this run-off as you can.

3. Before planting, take wood ash and kraal manure and mix them in equal parts.

4. Now put your seeds in and cover them with a little bit of soil. Then put the ash manure

mixture on top. Put a little soil on top of this.

5. The rows can have a mixture of plants in them, or be of one kind, but each row is different

from the next. So you might have one row of cabbages, and the next row might have

carrots and the following row might have swiss chard. Next year, plant different things in

the rows to what was planted there before.

A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF

A “MACHOBANE”STYLE

PLANTING IN A TRENCH

BED. DIFFERENT

VEGETABLES ARE

PLANTED IN

DIFFERENT ROWS.

PEAS

CABBAGE

ONIONS/LEAKS

SWISS CHARD

CARROTS

From: Door Size Gardening; The Valley Trust

BED DESIGN page 59

TRENCHES

Trenches are a way of improving your soil. The trench holds more plant food and water. You

can make trenches in different ways. We will discuss four types, that is shallow trenches,

double-digging, fertility trenches (deep trenches) and hot-beds.

SHALLOW TRENCHES

1. Dig a 30 cm deep trench (this is the length of the head of a spade). Gather the earth into a

heap and remove any stones, roots and grasses. Your trench should be about 1 metre wide

and it can be as long as you like.

2. Fill the bottom with cut branches. Arrange them and stamp

them down as much as possible to fit in as much woody

material as you can, up to a level of 5 cm. You can add about

4 old tins (NOT MORE) to provide iron. This means the woody

material will be about 5 cm deep, which is the width of three

fingers. Water well.

3. Add another 5 cm of dead or green leaves or grass. Stamp it

down again and then water it again.

4. Now add a layer of compost about 15-20 cm deep. This is the

width of your hand. Do not stamp this down.

5. Cover with the earth from the trench. Make your bed level on

top. Add mulch.

6. Your bed is now ready for planting.

7. You will need to water your bed REALLY WELL before you plant to make sure the

water goes right down to the bottom. If you only water the top layer, the organic

material in your trench will not decay to form compost!

COMPOST

LEAVES OR

GRASS

BRANCHES

5 cm

30 cm

3-4 cm

15-20 cm

page 60 BED DESIGN

A different way to make up your trench is described below

You can use this method if you do not have compost or if you do not have much soil (that is if

you live in quite a rocky, or eroded place):

Fill the bottom of the trench with branches and tins (4 only). Then fill the rest of the trench

with layers in the following way:

Grass – soil – manure – soil – ash – soil – sweepings – soil – kitchen waste – soil.

Each layer is about 5cm thick. This is repeated until your trench is nearly full. Now fill the rest

up until you are above the level of your path with good soil (the top soil you dug out of your

trench). It can be finished in a curved profile and does not have to be flat on top. Add mulch

and water well before planting.

Shallow trenches are useful for people who cannot do much digging, like sick people or older people

or children. But one problem is that you plant your vegetables straight after you have made the

trench, so the organic matter at the bottom does not have time to break down or decay. This

means that all of the nutrients from the decayed organic matter are not ready for the plants to use

in the first year. Another thing you should think about is that you might have to re-do your shallow

trench again in 3 years time, because all of the nutrients will have been used by the plants.

TOPSOIL

30 cm

DEEP

TRENCH

MANURE

SOIL

SWEEPINGS

SOIL

ASH

SOIL

MANURE

SOIL

TWIGS, BRANCHES

AND TINS

SUB-SOIL

AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF MAKING A SHALLOW TRENCH

BED DESIGN page 61

DOUBLE-DIGGING

Double digging is another way

to increase the fertility of your

soil. These beds are ready to

use once made.

1. Mark out your bed, about

1 metre wide and as long

as you like. Divide the bed

into sections of about

50 cm wide, which is half

a spade length.

2. Starting with the first section, dig

out the top soil (the darker, richer

looking soil) and place it to one

side.

3. Turn over the soil at the bottom of

the trench, but leave it in place. Now

add half a wheelbarrow of compost

or manure to this sub-soil and dig it

in.

4. Move to the next section. Dig out

the top soil, and put it onto the sub

soil and compost mixture of the

first section. Turn over the sub soil

of the second section and again dig

in compost or manure.

page 62 BED DESIGN

5. Move to the third section. Repeat the whole process of moving the top soil and then

turning and composting or manuring the sub-soil. Do this until you reach the end of the

bed.

6. When you get to the last

section, use the top soil

from the very first

section to cover the sub

soil of the last section.

7. Place a layer of compost

or manure over the whole

bed and lightly fork this

into the top soil. Your bed

will be quite a lot higher

than the path.

8. Now your bed is ready to plant.

9. Mulch the whole bed.

10. Make sure you water the bed REALLY WELL

before planting so that the whole depth of

the bed is wet and not only the top.

FERTILITY TRENCHES

(also known as Deep Trenches)

Making deep trenches is the hardest work, but the

result is also likely to be the best.

1. Mark out your bed, about 1 metre wide and as

long as you like.

2. Remove the top soil to a depth of 30 cm (the length of the head of a spade). Place the soil

next to the bed on the long side.

3. Now dig out the sub soil to a depth of 30 cm again, and make it in to a separate pile.

TOPSOIL

SUBSOIL

USE ON PATHS, AROUND

FRUIT TREES, ETC.

TOPSOIL 1 m

30 cm

You should use

this double digging

method if your soil gets very

hard and compacted. It is also

good if you do have some manure

or compost, but not very much

other organic matter. But you

should not use it if you have

sandy soil, because the effect

of it is not very good in

sandy soils.

BED DESIGN page 63

4. Fill the bottom of the trench with organic matter (like branches, leaves, grass, manure,

maize stalks, cabbage leaves, sweepings from your homestead, kitchen waste). This does

not need to be composted, but make sure you have a good mix of different things such as

twigs, grass, leaves, kitchen wastes and manure. The more organic matter you put in the

bed, the better your harvest will be and the longer it will last. If there is a lot of grass and

manure, the garden will be rich. If all you have is sticks, tins and newspaper, it will not be

so fertile. Do not use glass or plastic.

5. Make sure you stamp down your layer of

organic matter until it is quite firm.

6. Then place the top soil back on top of the

organic layer. You can fork some manure

or compost into this layer. If you do not

have enough, you can plant your seeds or

seedlings with manure.

7. Your bed is now ready to plant.

8. Mulch your bed.

9. The sub soil that you have left can be

spread around fruit trees or along the

paths.

HOT BEDS

These are shallow trenches. The bottom of the trench is filled

with some rough organic material like small twigs and grass.

Then you place a layer of about 20 cm (the width of your open

hand) of fresh cow manure on top of this. This layer is covered

with the topsoil that you have dug out. Plant your seedlings with

old manure or compost. Make sure you water this bed really

well, so that all the soil and manure is wet through. Then

mulch the bed. It you do not have grass, use plastic or paper.

If the manure does not get wet, it will not decompose and heat

up and the whole idea of having a hot bed will be lost!

Now wait for the bed to heat up.

Fertility

trenches are good

if you have sandy soils that

loose nutrients quickly. Making a

deep trench is lots of work, and you

need to have all the organic matters

and compost. But once you have done

it, it will last for 5 years, and all you

need to do when you are planting is

add one handful of compost to your

seedlings. It also holds a lot more

water than a shallow trench

or double-digging.

This is

a very good

idea if you are

planting in winter in a

very cold place. Your

seedlings will love

the warmth.

TOPSOIL

ROUGH ORGANIC

MATTER

TOPSOIL

50 cm

1 m

page 64 BED DESIGN

DIFFERENT SHAPED BEDS

KEYHOLE BEDS or

PIT BEDS

These beds are made in the

shape of a keyhole or a

horse-shoe. They are very

good if you live in a dry area

and your ground is sloping.

The beds are placed so that

the hole faces up the slope.

This helps to catch rainwater

as it runs over the ground.

You can also place these beds

below a tap (if you have

one), so that the extra water

can run into the keyhole.

This helps to water the bed.

1. Loosen the soil of a

circular area about 2.5 m

wide with a pick or a

fork. This is the length

of 2 and a half spades.

2. Dig a round pit about

60 cm wide and 60 cm

deep (the length of

2 spade heads) in the

middle of this area. Then

dig a pathway leading to

the pit. This path must

point up the slope.

You can make it about

10-20 cm deep (the

width of your hand).

3. Spread the top soil you

have dug out evenly

around the pit. You will

end up with a raised bed.

Add compost or manure

to this and fork it in.

4. Fill the pit with organic vegetable material (grass, kitchen wastes, leaves, manure and

ash). This is just like a small compost heap.

KEYHOLE PITBED

SIDE VIEW

KEYHOLE PITBED TOP VIEW

From: Pitbeds For Home Production; The Valley Trust

ORGANIC

MATTER

MULCH

CIRCULAR

BED FOR

PLANTING

VEGETABLES

PIT WITH

ORGANIC

MATTER

MULCH

POLES FOR

CLIMBING BEANS

LOWER GROUND

HIGHER GROUNDPATH

BED DESIGN page 65

5. Cover the pit and the bed with a thick layer of mulch.

6. Pour any spare water or waste water from the kitchen into the pit. You can also direct

water from a slope, road or a roof into the pit. The water keeps the soil around the pit

moist. It also helps to decompose the organic matter and improves the surrounding soil

fertility.

7. Once the organic matter has broken down, you can dig this out of the pit and use it for

planting seedlings.

8. The space for planting can be increased by building a frame of poles above the pit, which

will help to shade the compost heap in the middle. Climbing vegetables such as runner

beans, pumpkins, tomatoes and cucumbers can grow up the poles.

RAISED KEYHOLE

BEDS

These beds are good in places

where you have very little

soil or rocky ground.

1. Build a circular or round

rock wall straight onto

the ground, about one

arm's span all around.

This means that you hold

your arms out straight

from your sides. This

wall is built about

1 metre high (the length

of a spade). The wall has a notch or keyhole in it, into which a person can walk to pour

water or more manure into the basket in the middle.

2. Make a basket or column of sticks (black wattle

is good) in the middle and we fill this up as we

are filling up the inside of the rock wall. Fill the

basket with manure and ash in layers.

3. Fill the inside of the rock wall with layers of soil

– ash – leaves or grass and manure. These

layers should each be about 5 cm thick. Repeat

the process until your bed is full, ending with

the addition of soil on top. Mulch the bed and

water well before planting.

The idea is that

waste water from the

house can be poured onto

the basket of manure and ash.

This water seeps out of the

basket into your bed. These

beds, being raised so high are

extremely easy to maintain

by the elderly

or sick.

page 66

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 67

Here we will consider time of planting (a planting calendar, crop variety and crop rotation),

growing different crops together (inter-cropping and companion planting) and succession

planting.

It is important to plant vegetable crops at the time of year that is suited to them. If you plant

them out of season, they will not fruit well, are likely to go to seed, or they will not grow at all.

Some plants will not grow in the cold and some do not like heat. The length of daylight also

affects how plants grow.

CLASSIFICATION OFVEGETABLES

There are many ways to classify vegetables. Here we will group crops with the same general

shape and characteristics together as follows:

• Leafy crops;

• Cole crops or Brassicas;

• Legumes;

• Root, bulb and tuber crops;

• Solanaceous crops;

• Cucurbits.

PLANTING VEGETABLES

page 68PLANTING VEGETABLES

LEAFY CROPS

With leafy crops, we grow and eat the leaves of the plants. Generally, these crops grow fast and

need to be irrigated frequently.

Swiss chard

Not killed by frost, but grows very slowly or not at all in

very cold weather, which also induces seed formation when

the weather heats up (This is called bolting; as the plant

will seed rather than form leaves).

Swiss chard will grow throughout the year, but prefers

cooler weather.

Time of planting: From beginning of September to mid

November or from the beginning of January to end of March.

Seed: Use 7-10 Kgs / ha

Method of planting: Row spacing: 45 cm between rows

Plants: 5cms between plants in rows

Depth of seed: 2cm

Pests and diseases: In the hotter months a disease called leafspot often develops. These are

small light brown spots with dark edges, that develop on the leaves. You can reduce or slow

down the spread of this disease by removing the most diseased leaves from the plant. Burn

these leaves or feed them to animals. Do not put them in your compost. The disease can then

be spread through your compost.

Harvesting: Cut off the outside leaves with a sharp knife about 4 cm above the ground (this

is the width of 2 fingers). Work in some compost around the plants every 2-3 weeks while

you are harvesting. You can also use liquid manure. It is possible to keep on cutting leaves

for 3-4 months.

Rape

A good leafy green crop tolerant to cold and mild frost.

Time of planting: January – April; August - November

Method of planting: Rape is grown like any other leafy crop.

Spacing: 30 cm between rows and 10cm between plants within

rows.

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 69

Cabbage

Cabbage is popular in Lesotho as it grows well countrywide.

Method of planting:

• Cabbage requires soil that is high in organic matter, as it is a

heavy feeder.

• Seedlings are sensitive to frost and need to be protected.

• Cabbages are prone to disease build up in the soil. It is

important not to plant them in same place over and over.

• Using well rotted chicken manure is specifically good for

cabbages. It provides them with the nutrition they need. It

also helps to balance organisms in the soil and to reduce

diseases in the soil.

• Cabbage seed are planted in seedbeds. Cabbage seeds are planted out at the four leaf stage.

Row spacing: 60-90 cm between rows

Plants: 40-70cm between plants in rows

Depth of seed: 1.5cm Seed: 250g/Ha.

Lettuce

Lettuce is a familiar leafy vegetable. The

leaves are eaten raw. It is a cool season crop

that is easy to grow and quite frost tolerant

depending on the variety.

Method of planting: Lettuce can be grown

from the seedbed and be transplanted when

there are three to five leaves.

Spacing: 45 cm between rows and 30 cm

between plants within rows. Plant seeds about 2 cm deep.

Time of planting: Lettuce can be grown any time of the year but preferably from August to

end of April.

Seed: 500g/Ha. Pests and diseases: Mildew

Harvesting: Lettuce will be ready for harvest after 60 -110 days after planting.

Lettuce

is a good

source of

vitamins, is easy to

grow and is an

excellent source of

fresh green

food.

BRASSICAS

Brassicas grow well in well-drained, fertile loam soils. The crops of this family are produced

from seedlings that are transplanted when they have 3-5 leaves. Brassicas can tolerate cool and

cold weather conditions. They need a lot of nutrients.

Popular types of Brassicas: Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Chinese cabbage and Mustards.

page 70PLANTING VEGETABLES

Mustards Greens

Mustard is a fast growing leafy green that can be used in stead of cabbage and Swiss chard.

Mustards can be planted every 2 weeks for a constant supply.

They belong to the same family as cabbage. They are both warm and

cool season crops and can tolerate some light frost. They can be

planted every 2 weeks for a constant supply. They need a good and

constant water supply to grow well.

Time of planting: January-April, August-November

Method of planting: Row spacing: 30 cm between rows and 10 cm

between plants within rows.

Cauliflower

They are heavy feeders and need a lot of compost. Seedlings are

frost sensitive. Plants are generally large and need space. The

developing heads can be protected by

folding the plant’s leaves over them. Leaves

can be eaten like kale.

Cauliflower is planted like cabbage.

Time of planting: January-April

Method of Planting: 60-90 cm between rows.

45-50 cm between plants within rows.

Broccoli

This crop prefers cool, moist weather and is not affected by

frost, but does not like heat. They need to be picked when the

heads are firm and compact. If left on the plot the heads will

go to flower and seed. It is possible to cut the main head and

leave the plant to produce some smaller side shoots.

Time of planting: January-February.

Method of planting:60-70 cm between rows

45-50 cm between plants within rows.

Time of Planting: Cabbage can be cultivated throughout the year. Seed germinates when the

soil temperature is warm and leaves grow faster. Cabbage is fairly resistant to frost. Winter

cabbage is planted in February and transplanted in March. Summer cabbage is planted in

April to May under cold protected environment.

Pests and diseases: The most common pests are aphids and cutworms.

Harvesting: Cabbage can be harvested from 65 to 160 days after planting.

good

source of

vitamins A and

C, iron and

calcium.

excellent

source of

vitamin A as well

as vitamin C,

calcium and

iron.

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 71

Beans

Broad beans

These are the only winter beans that can withstand quite severe cold and

frost. They have thick, fleshy pods that are not eaten. Generally these beans

are eaten green; peeled out of their pods and cooked. They can also be dried.

Broad bans are very nutritious.

Time of planting: They can be planted from March to mid-May.

Method of planting: Broad beans are planted like any other beans. They

need to be staked with sticks, as they tend to fall over easily.

Bush beans:

Very frost sensitive but heat tolerant crop. Some

varieties are good as green beans and others are

eaten dry.

Method of Planting: Row spacing: 40-60 cm

between rows and 25 cm between plants within rows.

Chinese cabbage

These greens look like a mixture between a cabbage and swiss chard

and form an elongated head. They grow quickly and are not heavy

feeders like cabbage. They are easy to cook and have a mild cabbage

flavour. They can be eaten raw as well.

Time of planting: Chinese cabbage is a cool season crop that is

planted in autumn. They are reasonably frost resistant.

Method of Planting:

Chinese cabbage is planted in a well prepared bed with manure or compost. They need plenty

of water. Plant the seeds in seedbeds and transplant the seedlings when they have 5-6

leaves.

Row spacing: 60 cm between rows and 45 cm between plants within rows.

LEGUMES

Legumes are crops with nodules on the roots that produce nitrogen for the plants. They include

beans and peas of different kinds.

good

source of

vitamin B, iron,

calcium and

protein.

Kale

These are hardy plants. They can withstand frost. They take about 2

months from planting before outer leaves can be harvested. They are

usually planted in seed beds and are later transplanted. Harvesting

can continue for a long period.

Best planting months: August-April

page 72PLANTING VEGETABLES

Time of planting: Bush beans can be grown from mid-October to end of January.

Climbing/Runner beans

Very frost sensitive but heat tolerant. Good in summer. These are mostly

dry beans. Plants need to be staked.

Runner beans can be grown in October to early January.

Time of planting: Runner beans can be planted from October to early

January.

Soil preparation: Beans can grow in soils that vary from sandy to relatively clay. The best

results come from a medium loamy soil. Soil should be properly cultivated and be kept soft.

Pests and diseases: A disease known as rust is common on beans. It causes a speckly

brown or rust coloured discolouration of the leaves. Plants do not grow well and may not

produce pods. It is worth looking for varieties of

beans that are resistant to rust.

Harvesting: Climbing or runner beans generally

grow more slowly than the bush varieties. They

produce beans over a longer period of time. So it

may be better to grow climbing varieties of green

beans. Then you can harvest beans for some time.

Soyabeans

These are a warm season crop. They take about 5

months to grow and must be planted as early in

spring as possible. Plant and grow them like other

beans.

Lucerne

Lucerne is a legume that helps to enrich your

soil. Lucerne can be chopped up and cooked

as spinach. Lucerne is also a good food for

cattle, sheep, pig and chickens.

You only have to plant lucerne once every

5-10 years. You can harvest it every summer.

Planting: Lucerne is planted during the

summer months. Prepare the land well. Add

compost/manure and ash. Work into the soil.

Lucerne needs a lot of potassium (K) and

phosphate (P). The seed is quite small. Seed

can be scattered over the land and covered

using a hoe or a rake. Seed can also be

planted in little furrows like carrots.

Soya

beans are a very

nutritious food. They

are extremely high in

protein and calcium. It is

possible to make your own soya-

milk. Keep the white milky water

in which you have cooked the

beans. This can be used to

make a sweetened drink or

to cook porridge in.

Lucerne

is very useful in a

vegetable garden. It can

be planted as small patches

or beds in the garden and left for

3-5 years before digging over the

bed to plant vegetables again.

Lucerne can also be planted as a

ground cover and intercrop with

vegetables. Here lucerne is

planted in between the

vegetables. Lucerne is also

used as a green

manure.

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 73

Harvesting: Lucerne can be cut and used green.

Lucerne can also be dried to be stored as winter food

for animals. Dry lucerne in flat piles in the sun.

Keep on turning these piles over. Otherwise the hay

at the bottom may rot. Drying takes about 3 days.

Peas

Peas can be divided into two main groups of

green and dry peas. They are a cool season

crop although sensitive to low minimum

temperatures. Peas generally need to be staked

to ensure a healthy plant and good podding.

They may be protected against birds.

Time of planting: Peas harvested in winter are

planted in January and peas to be harvested in summer are planted

during mid winter.

Method of planting: Peas need deep, well drained, fertile soil. Row spacing recommended is

30-40 cm and plants 10 cm.

good

source of

vitamin B, C,

iron and

protein.

ROOT VEGETABLES

These are vegetables that mostly produce underground and the roots or bulbous stems are

eaten. They are produced differently.

Carrots

It is a crop which is not susceptible to winter cold and frost.

Although frost can severely scorch the leaves, they usually regrow.

Soil preparation: Carrot seeds are small and are sown directly in

beds. Carrots need well prepared soil with enough moisture. They

thrive best in deep, loose, well-drained sandy loam soils. Carrots

should be irrigated so that the soil will never dry out.

Time of planting: Carrots are planted from August to end of

November or from January to end of April. In late summer, such as

February, the soil can be too hot for carrot seeds to germinate. It is

also too cold in mid winter. The best planting times are spring and autumn.

LUCERNE HAS DEEP ROOTS

DO NOT CUT

SHORTER THAN 10 cm

page 74PLANTING VEGETABLES

Parsnips

Parsnips look like long white carrots. They

have a distinctive sweet flavour.

Time of planting: Plant seed in spring or

autumn. Seed take quite a while to germinate.

Be prepared to wait 2 to 3 weeks and do not

stop watering them.

Method of planting:

Parsnips are planted like

carrots. They like soft,

deep, reasonably fertile

soil.

Row spacing: Spacing

is 30-50cm between

rows. Plants are thinned

out to 5-10 cm apart,

within the rows.

Parsnips

are a good

staple in places where

the weather becomes too

severe to grow other crops. It

is hardy and frost tolerant. It

gets almost not diseases and is

not easily attacked by pests. It is

easy to keep your own seed. So

if you live in a very cold area

and do not know what to

grow in winter try

parsnips!

Method of sowing: Seed should not be sown

deeply. Once the seed has been sown, they

should not be allowed to dry out – not even a

little bit. Once they have dried out, even just

for a short while, they will not germinate or

come up. Spacing between rows is 30-50 cm.

Seedlings should be thinned-out to 5-10 cm

apart within rows.

Pest and disease control: Carrots and onions

are good companions. This combination repels

both carrot fly and onion fly. These flies lay

eggs on the plants, close to the ground. These

hatch into small larvae/worms. The larvae

burrow into the ground and feed on the roots

of the plant. This forms small holes and

tunnels on your carrots and leads to deformed,

rotten bulbs in onion.

Carrots and beans are also good companions.

Harvesting: Carrots take 3-3.5 months to mature. They can be lifted with forks or hand

picked and stored in a cool, dry place.

It is possible to

plant the top of a

carrot that you cut off. It

will grow into another carrot.

Make sure that there is a small

disc of carrot still attached to

the leaves.

Carrot tops can be dried and

used in times when greens are

scarce. They add a great

carrot flavour to sauces

and stews.

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 75

Onions

There are short, medium and long day varieties of onions. In Lesotho, it is

best to plant short day varieties. The other varieties will bolt a lot more easily.

This means that the plants start to form seed heads and produce seed in stead

of making bulbs.

Time of planting: Sow seed in autumn from March to the beginning of April.

Methods of planting:

1. Direct sowing: The seed can

be sown directly into the beds.

This will produce more onions

than using a seedbed. The

onions will also be ready sooner.

But it is more work, because you

will need to prepare the soil very

well. Thin out the small plants

until they are about 8 cm apart

(this is the width of 4 fingers).

Rows should be about 30-40 cm

apart (the width of a spade).

2. Planting in seedbeds:

Transplant the seedlings when

they are about as thick as a

pencil. Plant them 8 cm apart.

Beet root

Beetroot is a cool weather crop and can grow well in warm weather

although its quality is better when cultivated under cool and wet

conditions. It is not killed by frost, but grows very slowly or not at

all in very cold weather.

Time of planting: August to March.

Method of planting: Beetroot should be planted in sandy,

sandy loam or loamy soils. The seed can be sown direct in

the field or transplanted. They should not be sown in

recently heavy fertilized soil because they often form side

roots. The seedbed must be free of old plant material and

should be kept moist enough to allow the seed to germinate.

Row spacing should be 30-60 cm and plants are 5-10 cm.

Row spacing: Spacing should be 30-60 cm between rows and

plants are thinned out to 5-10 cm apart within rows.

Harvesting: Beetroot can be harvested at 2-3 months after planting.

The crop should be lifted by hand.

good

source of

vitamin A and C,

calcium and

iron.

• You can cut off

the ends of the roots and

the tips of the leaves when

transplanting. This will give you

bigger onions.

• Bunching onions/shallots are a good

idea. They are not so specific in terms of

when you need to plant them. They are

eaten green, to give you a fresh source

of onion throughout the year. If they

start to bolt, the seed heads can be

nipped off, so that the plant can

continue to grow. They do

not form large bulbs.

page 76PLANTING VEGETABLES

Garlic

Garlic is a strong smelling, strong tasting bulbing

plant. It is used for spicing of food and

has many medicinal properties.

Time of planting: Garlic is a warm

season crop, but it is very adaptable. It

does however make bigger bulbs in

summer when the days are long and hot.

Plant this crop in Spring or March to

April.

Seed: You can use garlic that you have

bought at a supermarket, that has

started to sprout. Each “clove” of the

bulb will send out one green shoot or

sprout. Each clove is then carefully

separated. It is planted so that the

green sprout just sticks out above the

ground.

Garlic is planted and grown like onions.

Harvesting: This is

usually possible about

8 months after

planting. Onions are

ready to harvest when

the leaves turn yellow

and fall over. Pull out

the plants and leave

them to dry in the sun

for 3 days. Cover each

onion with the leaves of

another onion, so that

they do not get

sunburnt. Then tie the

onions in bunches by

the leaves and hang

them up in a cool, dry

place.

KNOT 4 ONIONS

TOGETHER BY TYING

THEIR STALKS

PLAIT THE KNOTTED

STALKS AROUND THE

END OF A LONG PIECE OF

STRING

Garlic

is a great

medicine. It can be

used to treat – high

blood pressure, colds

and flu, throat and

stomach infections and

parasites such as

worms

Garlic is

also good for crop

protection. A spray made

from the crushed bulbs

protects against aphids (hoaba),

mites, worms, termites and ants. It

also protects against diseases such as

leaf-spot on swiss chard, blight on

potatoes and tomatoes, rust on beans

and damping off of seedlings.

NOTE: Do not spray garlic on

legumes. It reduces the

nitrogen fixation of

these plants.

CONTINUE ADDING

INDIVIDUAL ONIONS TO

THE BUNCH

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 77

Groundnuts

Groundnuts grow well in hot, dry places. They are easily

killed by frost. They take 4 months to grow. Groundnuts are

legumes and will make their own nitrogen in the soil.

Time of planting: October

Harvesting: Harvest groundnuts when the leaves turn

yellow. Dig around the plants with a hoe and then pull

them out. Leave the plants to wilt for 2-8 hours, and then

stack them to dry, Leave the stack for 6 weeks and protect

it so that the plants do not get wet and rot. In dry weather,

you can lay the plants out in rows.

Make groundnut hay from the stalks and leaves. This is

very good for cattle.

Potatoes

Potatoes are a good staple crop. They can also be stored for some

time. When you start to grow potatoes, you need to buy “seed

potatoes”. These are tubers/ potatoes that are “certified” to be free

of pests and diseases. If you use potatoes that you bought in the

shop to eat, you can introduce diseases into your soil, without even

knowing it. This is important for potatoes, as there are very serious

diseases that are carried inside or on the skins of the tubers.

Different kinds or varieties of potatoes exist. Each variety has its

own specific characteristics. Below are a few common examples that you may want to choose

from.

Time of planting:The leaves of potato plants are killed by frost. The plants will re-grow after

frost, but not too many times. Good times to plant potatoes are late July or early August.

Depending on the weather and the variety you choose, planting can continue until November. If

frosts do not start before the end of May, you can also try a late planting in January. If you only

plant potatoes after the last frost, there will be no frost damage. You will get fewer tubers,

because with hot weather the plants make more leaves and stems. They only start making

tubers when the nights get a bit cold again.

Pests and diseases: Most varieties of

potato will get blight. These diseases

are common in the mid to late

summer months when the weather is

either humid and wet or cool and wet

(with misty, cloudy weather).

Method of planting: Potatoes need to

sprout before they can be planted. TOO YOUNGCORRECTTOO OLD

GROWING POINT

page 78PLANTING VEGETABLES

Spread the tubers you will plant in shallow boxes in the house 2-3 weeks before planting. Only

plant those that have sprouted.

Sprouting means that the tubers are ready to grow and start to produce small shoots from

“eyes”/growth points on the tuber. The tubers need to be in a warm, dry, dark place to start

sprouting. If they grow too fast and are thin, long and white, put the tubers in the light. This

will slow the growth down and turn them green and tougher.

When you are ready to plant, sort the potatoes into small and large sizes. Some people cut them

in half if they are big, but they get more diseases if you do this.

Plant the seeds in furrows that are 20-25 cm deep (the width of a spade). Make the rows 1m

apart. Small seed must be about 20-25 cm apart , and big ones about 50-60 cm apart (2 spade

widths), in the rows. They will come up in 10 -12 days.

Caring for the plants: Ridging means making a heap of soil around the plants. You usually

make these heaps while you are weeding. If you do not ridge around the plants, the sun will

turn the potatoes green. Usually you do this 2-3 times during the plants’ growth; after 1, 2 and

3 months. If you are watering potatoes, it is best to let the water run along the

furrows. Wetting of the leaves attracts diseases. Water twice

weekly from planting until the shoots appear. Continue watering

twice weekly for some time, but gradually water less as the

plants become big. Stop watering when the plants start to

die.

Harvesting: Harvest the potatoes when the plants are

completely dead. This gives the skins of the tubers time to

become hard and thick. Lift the plants out of the soil using

a fork or a spade. Push the fork or spade upright into the

soil some distance away from the plant and lever it

From: The People’s Farming Workbook, EDA, 1995

Rows 1 m apart

25 cm apart for

small seed

50-60 cm

50-60 cm apart

for large seed

Sprouted seed

potato

HARVESTING

POTATOES

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 79

backwards. This will reduce harvesting damage to the tubers. Do not throw the potatoes on

heaps, as they can bruise.

If the weather is dry, the potatoes can be left in the soil for some time. They should be kept

covered with soil. Do not water them.

Storage: Potatoes need to be stored in a

dark, COOL, dry place. Choose only the

whole, unbruised, healthy tubers to

store. Do not store tubers with scars,

scratches and soft spots.

Potatoes can be stored in a dark room,

or in a pit in the ground. In a room,

make sure that the area where you will

place the bags is covered with dry grass.

Otherwise the storage bags can be

placed on wooden stands. Line the bags

you will use with grass and then layer

the potatoes and grass inside the bags.

If you do not do this, the potatoes can

bruise and squash each other, because

they are heavy.

For pit storage, you need a pit 2 m deep, 2 m wide and 2 m long (2 m is 2 spade lengths) for an

amount of 100 kg of potatoes. Line the pit with dry grass. Place four bags or pockets in the first

layer and then place grass on top of that. Repeat this as many times as you need to. Cover the

pit with a water tight sheet.

It is possible also to store vegetables like cabbages and carrots in this way. These vegetables

will wilt and lose water after a while. They can be stored in this way for 1-2 months only.

Make sure that you check the pit from time to time, to make sure the stored food is not rotting.

Remove any rotting tubers and vegetables as soon as possible.

Keeping your own seed tubers: Choose plants that have been strong and healthy for the whole

season. The plants must not look different from the plants around them. Mark them with little

stakes when the plants are flowering. This way you will know which tubers to keep once the

plants have died back.

Tubers themselves must also be clean, without scars,

scratches or spots. The skin must be hard and thick.

Leeks

Leeks are very similar to onions

except that they do not form bulbs

that dry out. They are grown exactly

like onions.

They are strong smelling plants used

to flavour stews and soups. You can

chop up and use the whole plant.

PIT STORAGE

OF POTATOES

The

main advantage

of leeks is that they

can stand severe cold and

can withstand repeated frost.

So you never need to be

without a basic green onion

flavour again! They contain

vitamin C and trace

elements.

page 80PLANTING VEGETABLES

SOLANACEOUS VEGETABLES

These are vegetables where the fruits are eaten.

Peppers

Peppers include green peppers and chillies. There are

many different kinds with different colours of fruit. They

range from sweet to very hot.

Time of planting: Peppers are a warm season crop. The

fruit can get sunburnt in really hot weather. Plants die

back with frost. Green peppers will die completely. Some

chilli varieties will re grow from the ground once the frost

is over. Peppers must be planted early (August to

September). They will need to be protected until the last

danger of frost is over. Then they can be transplanted

into the garden.

Method

of Planting: Peppers are planted in seed beds

and are transplanted later. They are special

plants because they like lots and lots of

compost and lots and lots of water. Peppers

are planted 30 cm apart in rows (this is the

width of a spade. Rows are made 50 cm

apart (half the length of a spade).

Peppers

are planted

early in spring and are

protected from frost. This

is important, because they

take a while to grow. If you

plant them late, you may not get

ANY fruit before the cold

weather starts again!

Fruiting starts 3-4 months after

transplanting. The situation is

similar for brinjals/

aubergines.

Egg plant

Very frost sensitive. The plants are heavy feeders and need a

lot of compost. Fruiting occurs 3 months after planting. Prune

out the first flowers for a more robust plant.

Time of planting: Sow seed with good frost protection from

August to October, but not later than December. Transplant

when there is no more risk of frost.

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 81

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are warm season plants. They are very sensitive to cold

and frost. They also get a disease known as blight easily in hot, wet

weather. In this way, they are similar to potatoes.

Time of planting: Plant them as early as possible in spring and then

plant them out as soon as the danger of the last frost is over. It is

also possible to do a planting of tomatoes in autumn.

Method of Planting: Tomatoes are grown as seedlings and are transplanted at the 4-leaf stage.

Long stems on seedlings are not good. These seedlings will take a long time to recover when

you plant them. All weak seedlings are better thrown away.

Staking:It is a good

idea to stake the

seedlings when you

plant them. This way

you will not disturb

their roots later.

Staking is done to

keep the fruit away

from the soil.

Feeding: Add compost

or manure and ash

into the top layer of

soil when the plants

start to fruit.

Watering: Do not water on the leaves! Pour the water on the ground around the plants, or lead

the water in furrows. If the leaves get wet, they will get diseased easily. Do not move between

or touch plants when they are wet. This will spread diseases among your plants.

12-14 cm

TOMATO SEEDLING AT

4-LEAF STAGE

STAKE

STAKING A TOMATO

PLANT

MULCH

page 82PLANTING VEGETABLES

Pests and Diseases: Do not plant tomatoes where potatoes, peppers, brinjals and tobacco was

grown before. These plants all belong to the same family and will get similar diseases.

Most tomatoes get diseases easily and are attacked by many kinds of insects. They are difficult

to grow. Cherry tomatoes grow more easily and do not get many diseases. The fruits are small

and about the size of cherries.

Always wash your hands before handling tomato plants. This is very important if you smoke

tobacco. You can spread a viral disease known as Tobacco Mosaic Virus from your fingers onto

the plants. A virus is a very small disease causing organism that we can not see with our eyes.

Tobacco often contains this virus.

Pull out any diseased plants. If you leave them in-between healthy plants, they will infect these

as well. Do not leave these plants lying around and do not put them on your compost. The best

way to deal with these plants is to burn them. This will kill the disease causing organisms and

make sure that the rest of your plants can not be infected.

Tomatoes are attacked easily by nematodes. These are very small

worms that live in the soil. They feed on the roots of the plants. This

feeding causes knots or knobs to form on the roots. These nematodes

will build up in the soil if tomatoes are planted over and over in the

same place. Swiss chard is also attacked easily by nematodes.

Marigolds secrete a chemical from their roots that kills nematodes.

They also repel insects such as leaf eating pests. It is a good idea to

plant tomatoes and marigolds together.

Harvesting: Tomatoes can be picked green. They need to turn from

dark green to a pale green before you can pick them. Otherwise they

will not ripen off the plant. Do not ripen green tomatoes in the sun!

Tomatoes taste better and are of a better quality when they are left to

ripen on the plant.

Pruning: It is possible to remove the side shoots from the plant as it is growing. This will leave

one main stem to grow. The tomatoes will be larger (but fewer in number) on these bushes.

KNOTS ON TOMATO

ROOTS, CAUSED BY

NEMATODES

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 83

PUMPKINS AND MELONS

Pumpkins/Squashes/Butternuts

There are many types of pumpkins and their

production is the same. Early plantings do much

better than later ones provided there is full frost

protection. Generally seeds are planted directly, but

you can produce seedlings as long as they are

transplanted VERY CAREFULLY. When watering,

make sure to wet the entire root zone. It is possible

to harvest leaves and small, young fruits to

prepare vegetables. Removing too many leaves will

interfere with the growth of the plants.

Time of planting: Pumpkins should be sown from September to end of December.

Method of planting:Spacing is 1.5 -2 metres between rows and 50 cm between plants

within rows. Plant seeds 2-3 cm deep.

Pests and diseases: Pumpkins are susceptible to Powdery mildew and pumpkin fly.

Melons

There are different types of melons such as Sweet melon or

Spanspek and water melons. They are planted in the same way.

Water melons need a lot of water to grow large.

Time of planting: Melons need warm temperatures and can be

planted from October to the end of December.

Method of planting: Generally seeds are planted directly but

melons can be produced from seedlings as long as they are

transplanted VERY carefully. Seeds are planted 5cm deep.

Spacing is 1.5-2 metres between rows and 1metre between plants

within rows.

page 84PLANTING VEGETABLES

INTER CROPPING/COMPANION PLANTING

Intercropping is the growing of different crops for different reasons on the same piece of land. It

can also be called companion planting.

We mix plants that help each other to grow together. We can also mix plants that help to

improve the soil fertility, with other plants. These plants improve the soil through fixing of

nitrogen in the soil.

Some examples are:

• Nitrogen fixers with other plants.

• Fast growing plants with slow growing plants.

• Tall, thin plants with short or wide plants.

There are different ways in which intercropping can be done;

Some examples are:

• MIXED CROPPING: Here for example you can broadcast (sow together in a mixture)

mustard, rape, onions and peas. They will all grow together in one bed.

• RELAY CROPPING: Here one crop is planted first and another crop is planted in- between

later. An example is to plant garlic in a bed and wait until it has grown about 15- 20cm.

This is about the width of your open hand. Then sow mustard and carrots in rows in

between the rows of garlic.

• MULTI-CROPPING: This is like the Machobane system, where different rows of for example

onions, carrots, peas, lettuce and swiss chard can be planted.

There are many different ways in which to plant crops together. A lot will depend on your

specific situation. So, it will be good to experiment. Plant different combinations of crops

together and keep records of how they grow.

You may want to monitor (or look at) the following things:

• Size of plants.

• How well are they growing

• What pests and diseases are present

• Are they fruiting well or better.

Remember you will need a control. Here your control will be a

patch of one crop only, not mixed or inter cropped.

Below are some ideas of plants that grow well together and plants that do not grow well

together.

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 85

SOME PLANTS WHICH GROW WELL TOGETHER:

Beetroot – Onions

Carrots – Peas, Lettuce, Onions, Tomatoes

Onions – Beetroot, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Lettuce

Eggplant – Beans

Cabbage – Potatoes, Beetroot, Onions

Green Peppers – All vegetables

Lettuce – Carrots, Radishes, Strawberries, Cucumbers

Pumpkin – Mealies

Swiss Chard – Strawberries

Tomatoes – Onions, Carrots

Mealies – Peanuts, Peas, Beans, Cucumber, Pumpkins, Potatoes

Sunflowers – Cucumbers

Beans – Potatoes, Carrots, Cabbage, Most other vegetables

PLANTS THAT DO NOT GROW WELL TOGETHER:

These are some plants which do not grow well together.Try to avoid putting them in the same

beds.Try and experiment for yourself.

Beetroot – Pole Beans

Onion – Peas and Beans

Cabbage – Strawberries

Pumpkin – Potatoes

Tomatoes – Potatoes and Cabbage

Beans – Onions

Sunflowers – Potatoes

page 86PLANTING VEGETABLES

CROP ROTATION

Here you do not plant the same crop in the same place year after year, but you make sure that

a different crop is planted in each space. This is a good idea because:

• It prevents or stops the accumulation of insects and diseases. If the same crop is planted

some insects and diseases will become more every year!

• Different crops use different nutrients or plant food stored in the soil. In this way you do

not overuse some of the plant foods, while not using others.

• The soil can be covered all year round.

• Some crops add nutrients or nitrogen to the soil. Examples are beans, peas, broad beans,

soyabeans and vetch (a green manure)

• It prevents the soil from building up bad or negative reactions to specific plants. An

example here is nematodes on tomatoes and swiss chard. Nematodes are very small

worms, that we can not see with our eyes. They live in

the soil and feed on the roots of your plants.

• There is no build up of specific weeds.

We will discuss two different systems here. You may want to

try both and then choose the one that works best for you.

SYSTEM 1:

Crops are rotated in the following order:

Again,

there are

different ways in

which crops can be

followed on one another.

You will have to

experiment and see

what suites you

best.

➊

Heavy feeders

Examples: Potato, maize

pumpkin, tomato

➌

Nitrogen fixers

Examples: Beans,

broad beans,

soyabeans, peas,

cowpeas, lucerne,

vetch

➋

Light feeders

Examples: beetroot,

carrots, parsnips,

onions, leeks

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 87

Alternatively, crops could be rotated in the following order:

Applications of manure for these cycles are recommended as follows:

The manure is placed in the furrows that are to be planted only.

1 kilogram of manure is a heaped spade full of manure.

1 metre of row is the length of a spade.

Potatoes:

one kilogram (kg) manure/1 metre (m) row.

Maize:

0.5 kg manure/1m row

Light feeders such as carrots or onions:

0.4 kg manure/1m row

Beans:

0.3 kg

Peas:

0.2 kg

➊

Nitrogen consumers

Examples: cabbage, cauliflower,

broccoli and mustard

➌

Nitrogen fixers

Examples: Beans,

broad beans,

soyabeans, peas,

cowpeas, lucerne,

vetch

➋

Light feeders

Examples: beetroot,

carrots, parsnips,

onions, leeks

1 metre

page 88PLANTING VEGETABLES

SYSTEM 2:

➊

➋

➌

➍

Fruit crops

Leaf crops

Root crops

Legumes

➊

eggplant,

tomato,

pepper, squash,

pumpkin

➍

beans

and

peas

➋

cabbage,

lettuce,

cauliflower,

broccoli

➌

carrots,

beetroot,

onions,

leeks

➍

beans ...

➌

carrots ...

➋

cabbage ...

➊

tomato ...

Prepare the land or bed well. Put a lot of

compost or manure in your bed (4 full

spades/square metre). Then, start by

planting a fruiting crop. These plants need

the most food. Leaf crops need less and

can follow fruit crops. Then root crops can

follow leaf crops without much addition of

plant food. Root crops like fertile soil, but

do not like fresh manure or compost. It has

to be well rotted.

Then, nitrogen fixers can follow, with

addition of little or no plant food.

Then you need to prepare the land well

again. Start once more with fruiting crops.

A SIMPLE ROTATION: DIVIDE YOUR GARDEN INTO FOUR EQUAL PARTS.

THE NEXT TIME YOU PLANT, MOVE EACH FAMILY OF VEGETABLES TO

THE NEXT PLOT.

From: The People’s Farming Workbook, EDA, 1995

Preparing

the land or bed:

This would mean trenching or

double digging or addition of a lot

of compost/ manure forked into the

top 30 cm. You will need at least 4 full

spades for every square metre.

A general recommendation is to place 30

tons of compost or manure to a hectare

of land. This comes to about one half

of a wheel barrow load for every

square metre. This is about

the same as 4 full

spades!)

PLANTING VEGETABLES page 89

PLANT SUCCESSION

Basically this means that we plant a little, but often. We do this to make sure that we have

some crops to harvest over a long period of time. If we plant the whole packet of seed in one

go, we will harvest a lot of one crop all at once!!!

An idea is to divide a standard size packet of seeds into 4 portions. We can then plant each of

these portions every 2-3 weeks.

If we grow small quantities of seed at a time, we can grow these in containers such as shallow

dishes or boxes. Make sure your container has some small holes in the bottom. Water needs to

be able to drain out of these.

➤Take 1 part sand, 1 part sifted compost and 2 parts good sifted top soil. Mix them together.

➤Sterilize this mixture by pouring boiling water over the dry mixture before you plant the

seeds. This will kill weed seeds and disease causing organisms in the soil.

➤Plant your seeds in the same way as you would in a seed bed.

tin clay pot

wooden box

old tyre

basket woven

from reed

plastic bags

bamboo

From: Production without Destruction, 1995

page 90

WIND AND FROST PROTECTION page 91

WIND AND FROST PROTECTION

Shelter belts or rows of different plants and trees grown together can protect your garden from

wind and frost. A windbreak/shelterbelt is a physical barrier that we place across the path of

the wind. It serves to slow the wind down and to make the negative effects of heat, cold and

dust less. Above is an example of such a shelter belt that contains fodder species for livestock;

the plants grown in these rows can all be used as feed for goats, cattle, sheep and chickens.

Shown here are cow peas climbing up the trees, napier fodder (grass), pigeon pea (the small

tree) and Acacia karroo. These plants are also good for improving your soil fertility. The leaves

of all these plants can be used as mulch. The leaves can also be included as green material in

compost. They can be used in the making of trench and keyhole beds. (See Improving your Soil

in this book).

WIND PROTECTION

The movement of air is important to plants. It prevents diseases caused by too much moisture/

wetness and lack of air. It also helps to spread pollen (the male part of a fertilised seed) and

seed themselves.

Wind can affect your plants in negative ways:

• Strong winds can blow over or break your crops and trees

• Dry winds cause the soil and plants to dry out.

page 92 WIND AND FROST PROTECTION

• Very hot or cold winds can destroy crops.

• Dust carried by the wind scratches plants

like sandpaper.

• Wind can also cause soil erosion, especially

in the dry months. Your top soil can be

blown away by the wind, leaving you with

the less fertile sub soil.

WHERE TO PLACE A

WINDBREAK

Windbreaks are planted across the path of the

main hot, cold and dry winds in your area.

Windbreaks are good around homesteads. They can also be planted along roads and paths and

also as boundaries around your fields and gardens.

HOW TO MAKE AWINDBREAK

It consists of rows of trees and shrubs, usually of various kinds and heights. They are planted

as a semi-solid barrier. This means that some air can still move through the windbreak, but it

will be slowed down. The best windbreaks consist of at least three rows of shrubs and trees of

different heights.

The trees and shrubs can also be planted in 1 or 2 rows, if you can make sure that branches

and leaves still grow close to the ground. With tall trees only, the lower branches die back over

time. The wind will then “tunnel” past these bare stems and damage your crops.

The shorter shrubs and plants can be planted on the side the wind is coming from as well.

Some extra

advantages of

windbreaks

• Can provide firewood

• Can provide fruit

• Can be thorny for protection

• Can provide fodder of animals

• Can provide medicine

From: Production without Destruction.

Natural Farming Network, Zimbabwe

WIND BREAKHEDGEHEDGECROP CROP

STRONG WIND

WIND AND FROST PROTECTION page 93

Here are some examples of plants, shrubs and trees that you can use! Small plants

• Aloes

• Comfrey

• Wormwood

• Herbs such as

rosemary, thyme,

lavender, ….

• Marigolds

• Fennel

• Runner beans

• Vines such as grapes

and passion fruit

Shrubs

• Napier fodder

• Pigeon pea

• Buddleja or Sagewood

• Halleria or Tree

Fuchsia

• Dovyalis or Kei-Apple

• Carrissa or Num-Num

• Euclea or Blue Guarri

Trees

• Casuarina or

Beefwood

• Acacia or Sweet thorn

• Mulberry

More about some of the suggested small

plants, shrubs and trees

Aloe

These are good for protection as they often are thorny. They also

provide some protection against fire, as the leaves are fleshy and

hold a lot of water. They can be used for medicine. A good kind to

use, is Aloe maculata. This is a low growing aloe with white

speckles on the leaves. The gel in the leaves is very good as a

medicine for constipation and contains a trace element known as

selenium. Selenium is a very important supplement for your

immune system.

The aloe often grown around homesteads, Aloe striatula, which has

long, thin leaves, can be a bit invasive.

Marigolds and Fennel

These are small strong smelling plants that

help to protect your garden from insect

attack. The white umbrella like flowers of

fennel help to attract insects (predatory

wasps) that eat the pests in your garden

(worms and aphids). Marigolds can be used

to make a poison that will kill small worms

(nematodes) in your soil.

SMALL, DENSE

PLANTS

SHRUB CROPTALL, LEAFY

TREE

From: The People’s Farming Workbook, EDA, 1995

page 94 WIND AND FROST PROTECTION

Napier fodder

This is a though, hardy fodder grass that can be used for hay and silage. It

is also good for mulching. It grows fast. It is propagated by taking small

rooted clumps from a “mother” plant. It is also possible to lay the canes/

grass stems in shallow furrows. These will grow from the nodes/notches in

the stem. In cold areas the plants will die back in winter (the dry leaves

remain as a windbreak). They will re-shoot in spring.

Buddleja salvifolia; Sagewood; Lelothwane

These are tough, fast growing, evergreen shrubs. This means they do

not lose their leaves in winter. They are frost resistant. They will need

to be protected when young, but are robust when older. The flowers

attract birds and bees. The leaves can be used as tea or as a medicine

for eye complaints.

Halleria lucida; Tree fuchsia; Lebetsa

This is a shrub, but can also grow into a small tree. It grows up to about

3-10 metres high. It has multiple stems that can be cut for firewood, garden

stakes and fencing. It has tubular orange/red flowers that attract birds and

bees. The fruit is edible.

Euclea crispa; Blue guarri; Mohlakolo, Motsoetla

It is a shrub or bushy evergreen tree that grows between 1 and 5 metres

high. It has small, black pea-like berries that are edible. It grows wild in

Lesotho.

Carissa bispinosa; Num-num

It is a branched, spiny evergreen shrub. The leaves are small, shiny and

thick. Fruit are small oblong red berries that are good to eat and for making

jams.

Cajanus cajan; Pigeon Pea

This is a small tree that is native to Africa. It fixes nitrogen in the soil and

has deep roots. It can be used for firewood. It is frost tolerant, but needs to be

protected when young. The young leaves can be eaten as spinach and the

seeds are eaten as beans or “dahl”. The leaves are also good fodder for

animals; especially cattle and goats.

Dovyalis caffra; Kei Apple

This is a very thorny small tree with fleshy leaves. It makes a good

protective hedge. It grows a bit slowly. It is resistant to drought and frost.

It needs to be protected from frost when young. The fruit is good to eat and

can be made into jams and jellies. The flesh needs to be washed off the

seed before planting.

WIND AND FROST PROTECTION page 95

Mulberry

These are large deciduous trees. This means they lose their leaves in

winter. The leaves are good animal fodder. The small black berries are

very sweet and can also be used for making jam. Mulberries are easy to

grow from cuttings. They can be pruned and these branches can be used

for fences, stakes and firewood.

It is possible to plant fruit trees

together with some of the trees

and plants mentioned here.

This helps to protect your fruit

from pest attack and wind and

frost damage. On the left is an

example of a peach tree

planted with runner beans,

marigolds, fennel and Pigeon

Peas. Different combinations of

plants can be used.

Casuarina Cunningham; Beefwood

This tree originally comes from Asia and Australia. It is a large shady

tree with leaves that look like pine needles. It grows very fast and can

grow in poor soil. It provides good timber and firewood. It can be

planted easily from seed. It is moderately frost resistant and should be

protected when young.

Acacia karroo; Sweet Thorn

These are very hardy, fast growing, very

thorny trees. They are frost and drought

resistant. They fix nitrogen into the soil.

The tree provides good firewood. Leaves,

flowers and pods are good animal

fodder.

RUNNER BEANS

MARIGOLD

FENNEL

PEACH

PIGEON PEA

page 96 WIND AND FROST PROTECTION

You can also use other materials as small

windbreaks around your garden:

• A fence made of many thin sticks can help. You

can use old maize stalks or even black jack stalks.

• It is also possible to grow vines or creepers on a

fence to give more protection. It may be difficult to

find vines that are highly resistant to frost.

Passion fruit or granadilla can take some frost.

This is called frost tolerant. It means that if you

are expecting very heavy frost and your vine/plant is still young

it will need some protection from the frost. Later, when the plant

is older and stronger it will be able to tolerate the frost better.

Other vines are deciduous. This means they will lose their leaves

in winter. They can still offer some protection.

Examples are: Grapes, Kiwi fruit and climbing beans such as

lima beans, seven year beans and red runner beans.

• Bundles of thatch grass or maize stalks for example can be tied to the fence,

across the path of the main winds.

• Animal feed sacks or plastic orange pockets can be sown together and sown

onto the fence to provide a screen.

FEED OR

FERTILISER

BAGS

METAL

DRUM

(200 l)

AIR

FLOWS

From: Introduction to Permaculture

PREVAILING WIND

MULCH

OLD TYRES

TALL GRASSES AND

SHRUBS FORM A

WINDBREAK

CLODS/STONES

PLASTIC

SHEET

‘PLASTIC TENT’

ROCK CAUSES

CONDENSED

WATER TO

DRIP ONTO

THE TREE

OLD

TYRES

It may be difficult to find some of the plants described above. They will also need some water

when they are young and some protection against frost. Below are some examples of how you

can protect individual trees and plants in your windbreak.

Questions to think about:

• Do your plants seem more healthy because they have not been bent and damaged by

wind?

• Do you have to water less because the wind has not taken so much moisture from

the soil?

• Do you think you have put your windbreak in the right place? Is it in the path of the

wind? Should it be closer or further away from your garden?

• What have been the advantages and disadvantages of a windbreak? You may want to

make a list. But remember, some advantages might be hard to see at first. Maybe you

are watering your plants less, or there is less soil erosion. (Mulching is also a good

way of stopping soil erosion.) Other advantages of growing a windbreak are the wood

for stakes, firewood, fruit and natural pest repellents that you get from them.

• What will you make your windbreak from? If you are going to use plants and trees,

which ones will be best? Which ones can you get hold of easily? When they are fully

grown, will they give rows of protection to stop the wind getting through, like in the

picture on page 91? Think about how tall each will grow, whether it will lose its

leaves in winter or not. Will the wind be able to get through? You need to plan your

windbreak carefully.

You need to decide how much you need a windbreak and what it should be made from.

Growing rows of plants and trees will take a few years, but it is the best kind of

windbreak. It can also provide fruit, food for animals and firewood.

But perhaps you only need a windbreak for your seedlings or a small part of your garden.

You may want to experiment by using a temporary windbreak, like animal feed sacks

sown onto a fence. If you do this, it will be hard to have a control for your experiment,

because there will be nothing that you can compare your experiment with. But you may

be able to see some differences between having a windbreak or not having one.

EXPERIMENTATION

WIND AND FROST PROTECTION page 97

page 98 WIND AND FROST PROTECTION

FROST PROTECTION

Frost is like cold water, as it flows downhill and collects in the lowest points. This freezing air

is usually less than 1 m (the length of a spade) deep. It is coldest closest to the ground.

Early frosts are usually only ground frosts. That means that the temperature only goes below

freezing at ground level, but not at, say, 30 cm (the width of a spade) above ground, so only

tiny seedlings will be damaged. Fully grown plants like peas, especially if staked, will survive.

But later frosts will be air frosts, which means that the temperature drops below freezing at

even 1,5 metres above the ground, thus affecting all crops. These are the killer frosts and are

usually seen as coating everything with a crust of ice instead of dew.

In the Lowlands and Foothills in Lesotho, the first killer frosts are expected between 5-15 May

and the last killer frosts usually occur around 15-25 August in the Lowlands. In the foothills

this can be as late as 15 September.

Dealing with frost

The only real way to deal with both kinds of frost is to protect your plants. There are a number

of ways you can do this. All of them will need you to plan in advance. Some may even need

you to design your garden in a different way.

1. COVERING YOUR SENSITIVE CROPS

For the early frosts, you can cover your sensitive young plants with anything you can find

which will act like a thin blanket. You can use grass, newspaper weighed down with stones, or

old onion and orange pockets tied together. You can also use old livestock feed bags. It is

possible to buy frost cover from your local nursery or Co-operative. This “cloth” is not very

expensive and works very well. It can just be draped over your beds and pegged down using

clothes pegs. Make sure to put this “blanket” over your plants in the late afternoon.

Crops damaged or killed

by frost

tomatoes

green beans

peppers

sweet potatoes

chillies

pumpkins

Crops affected by frost

leaves of potatoes (but not the

plant, which can regrow)

young peas (the flowers and

pods)

Crops that can withstand

frost

spinach

swiss chard

some

mustards

carrots

beetroot

lettuce

broad beans

cabbage

kale

turnips

garlic

leeks

onions

WIND AND FROST PROTECTION page 99

It is also possible to cover your crops with structures made from greenhouse plastic or netting,

placed over a wooden frame. This will protect your crops also from the severe winter frosts. One

can buy shade cloth or special netting to deter frost from a garden centre or agricultural

co-operative. This however is quite expensive.

2. SITING/PLACING YOUR GARDEN

The best place to have a garden is on the top part of a north facing slope. It will get the most

sun and will not be so cold at night as land at the bottom of a slope.

If your land is on a slope, put plants which may be affected at the top of the slope.

A low wall of stones, built roughly east-west across your garden and on its southern edge will

catch the sun during the day and warm up. It will then act like a stove at night giving off the

day’s heat.

WIND FLOWING DOWNHILL

WIND IS

DEFLECTED BY

TREES

LOW STONE WALL ON THE

SOUTH END OF THE GARDEN

WALL RUNS FROM

EAST TO WEST

EAST WEST

A-FRAME STRUCTURE COVERED

WITH PLASTIC PROTECTS YOUR SEEDLINGS

page 100 WIND AND FROST PROTECTION

3. HOTBEDS

These will help in autumn and into winter. Put soil back on top of a trench full of rotting

weeds, grass and manure and then plant on top of that, keeping the whole bed well wetted.

(See Bed Design in this book).

4. TREES and BUSHES

Trees and bushes help to

prevent frost by trapping the

heat as it is lost from the

ground. They will also radiate

some heat into the air at

night.

5.MOVEMENT OF WATER

AND AIR

If there is a lot of water on

and around your plants, it is

sometimes less likely that frost will form. Here you can try watering your plants well, late in

the afternoon. This will sometimes reduce the amount of frost formed on your beds and plants.

You can also make little conical hats from paper for each seedling. This involves quite a lot of

work, but may be worthwhile in protecting sensitive plants and seedlings.

Then, it can also help to

water the frozen plants in

the morning early, before the

sun comes up and heats up

the environment. This

reduces the damage to plants

that have been frosted.

Some people make fires in their gardens at night. The movement of the air reduces the settling

of frost on plants.

If you have a nice big rock that faces the sun, you can use this as a “heater” for a small

seedling bed. Make the small bed in front of the rock. Make a small structure of wattle sticks

around your bed. Then drape some clear plastic over your structure. It is easy to get large

pieces from furniture shops in the area. This will create a small “greenhouse” for your

seedlings. It will be much warmer inside the structure than outside.

WARM AIR IS TRAPPED BY THE TREE CANOPY,

PREVENTING FROST FORMATION

PUT PAPER HATS OVER THE SEEDLINGS IN THE LATE

AFTERNOON AND TAKE THEM OFF AGAIN THE NEXT MORNING

PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENTpage 101

DIVERSITY IS GOOD

• Work with nature and copy the natural ways in which plants grow. Insects and “weeds”

are a part of nature. We can learn to encourage those insects and plants that help us in

the garden. Ladybirds, praying mantis, lacewings, wasps, frogs, lizards and birds all eat

the insect pests that harm our gardens. They are called predators. If you leave them in

your garden, they will help you!

• We have talked of planting different vegetables together (companion planting) and of

rotation (See the Planting Crops leaflet in this series) It is also possible to mix

vegetables with other plants- strong smelling plants that deter pests and attract

predators

In the picture above, nasturtiums and peppermint are planted with the vegetables.

PEST AND DISEASE

MANAGEMENT

ABOVE IS A PICTURE SHOWING SOME OF THE USEFUL INSECTS, PREDATORS AND ANIMALS

IN YOUR GARDEN. ALL THESE CREATURES ARE OUR FRIENDS AND HELP TO CONTROL PESTS

NASTURTIUM

AND MINT

pest repelling

plants

PAR ASITIC

WASPS

lay their eggs

in the larvae/

worms of pests

CENTIPEDES

eat slugs’ eggs and

are a gardener’s

friend

BIRDS, FROGS,

LIZARDS AND

CHAMELEONS

are insect eaters

PRAYING

MANTIS

eats all kinds of

insects

LACEWINGS

AND THEIR

LARVAE

feed on aphids

page 102 PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Below are some strong smelling plants that you can grow

with your vegetables:

Pyrethrum and Feverfew

These plants belong to the Chrysanthemum family. They have small

white flowers, which are also very decorative in the garden and contain

a poison for insects. They can be planted as borders along your beds, or

dotted throughout your garden.

You can buy seeds for these plants. Write to the following address:

Mahlathini Organics, PO Box 807, Richmond, 3780, KZN, South

Africa.

Marigolds (Tagetes spp)

Can be used in the same way. They have the

added advantage of deterring nematodes

(tiny worms that attack the roots of plants)

in the soil.

Fennel

Fennel is a great plant for attracting wasps. Wasps

lay their eggs in caterpillars and can kill many of

them in one day!

Wormwood (Artemisia affra) or Lengana

These plants grow as large bushes and should be placed at the edges of your

beds, or given their own space to grow. A tea made from the leaves is also a

good medicine for fevers and colds.

Khakibos/senkhane and blackjacks

These weeds are useful to deter pests. Keep a few in the garden!

DIFFERENT KINDS

OF NEMATODES

WASP

PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENTpage 103

An inter-crop of cauliflowers, lettuce, fennel and onion can give complete

control of aphids (hoaba) and diamondback moth. This means you will

have no attacks!

GROW STRONG, HEALTHY PLANTS

Pests and diseases do not attack healthy plants.

• Fertile soil, fed each year with compost and manure will produce healthy plants. Make sure

that your plants are not short of water.

• Select the best plants at harvest time from which to collect seeds.

• Use strong, healthy seeds and seedlings. If your plants do not have a good start, they will

not get better later! Rather start again.

• Plant the vegetables in the correct season. (See Planting Crops leaflet in this book). Early

planting of some crops can protect them from the worst attacks. Examples are stalk borer

in maize and blight in potatoes.

• Mulch! (See Mulching in this book)

• When you are weeding, do not let the rubbish lie around your garden. The smell attracts

pests. The best liquid manures are made from weeds (See Improving Your Soil in this

book). Otherwise, place the weeds on your compost pile.

If prevention does not totally succeed in a pest and disease free crop, then there are a number

of ways in which to control these problems.

PHYSICAL CONTROLS

Birds:

Bitds can be kept away from your crops

in the following ways:

• Use 4 sticks and some netting to

make a cage

• Cover seedlings with netting or wire

stretched across a hoop

• Or make a mesh of string wound

around wooden pegs.

• Scare crows still work well, as long

as you move them quite often. The

birds will get used to them after a

while.

SEEDLINGS AND PLANTS ARE PROTECTED

BY NETTING AND STRING

From: The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency

DIAMOND BACK MOTH

AND ITS LARVAE

page 104 PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Cutworms:

These are fat brown or grey worms that live just under

the surface of the soil and cut the stems of small plants

as they are feeding.

• Cutworms can be collected in the early morning by

digging with your finger in the soil, around the small

plants that have been cut. The worm can be removed

and fed to your chickens or destroyed.

• Collars can be made for the seedlings. These are placed

around the seedlings when they are planted. Be sure to

press the collar quite deep into the soil (at least 3 cm,

which is the width of 2 fingers), otherwise the worms will

burrow underneath the collar. Collars can be made from

stiff paper, cardboard or rings of plastic cut from bottles.

Many worms/caterpillars have the following life cycle:

A moth lays eggs, which hatch into larvae/worms/ caterpillars. They feed on the plants. They

then turn into pupae, which do not feed. The pupae turn into moths, which do not feed, but lay

eggs. And so on.

It is possible to attract many different kinds of moths

with light traps. These are put out at night. Using a

light trap will reduce the egg laying of many different

moths.

CUTWORM

AND MOTH

CUTWORM

COLLAR AROUND

SEEDLINGS

ADULT MOTH

EGGS

LARVAE/CATERPILLARS

PUPA

From: Production

without Destruction, 1995

LIGHT TRAP FOR

MOTHS AND OTHER

INSECTS

From: Production

without Destruction, 1995

LIFE CYCLE OF

SOME INSECTS

PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENTpage 105

Snails and slugs:

• They can be picked off by hand

and placed in a bucket of

water, or feed them to your

chickens. They will love to eat

them.

• A saucer or shallow dish with beer or any fermenting

liquid can be placed so that the rim is level with the

ground. Slugs and snails will be attracted to this

liquid. Here they will either fall in, or they can be

collected and fed to your chickens, or destroyed.

HERB AND PLANT

TEAS

Many different plant mixtures can be

used to control insects and diseases.

These remedies should only be used if all

the other methods fail. The main

advantage of natural remedies is that

they are cheap. They can be prepared at

home.

General points for making plant sprays

• Soap (green bar soap only!) can be added to the

mixture to make the spray stick to the plants and

insects. Do not use liquid soap or soap powder.

• The mixtures can be filtered through thin

cloth to remove the bits of plant material.

They can be applied using a home made

brush from grass or twigs.

• These sprays act as contact poisons. So

make sure you cover the insects or disease

symptoms well.

• Some sprays can burn the plants if they are

too strong. First test your spray on a few

plants.

• The best time to spray against insects is in the

late afternoon.

• The sprays are washed off in rain and have to be re-applied.

SNAIL

DISH SET IN THE

GROUND WITH FERMENTED

LIQUID, TO ATTRACT SLUGS

AND SNAILS

CONTROLLING

PESTS AND

DISEASES

IMPORTANT:

These sprays are still

poisons. Make sure that

children cannot reach your

preparations. If you boil up your

mixtures, use an old pot, no longer

used for cooking.Wear gloves if you

can!

From: The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency

From: Production without Destruction, 1995

page 106 PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Below is a listing of some of the plants, how the remedy is

prepared and what it is used for:

Aloe

Any kind of aloe can be used.

• Crush the leaves in water (1:5). This means use 5 times as much

water as you use leaf material. Filter through a fine cloth and use

as a spray.

• OR Dry the leaves and grind them into a powder. This can be dusted

onto seeds and plants.

CONTROL:

• Insects in general; grasshoppers, aphids, caterpillars;

• Pests in stored grains such as maize, wheat and sorghum;

• Termites and ants.

Wormwood (Lengana)

Cut up the leaves into water (1:4) and stand for 2-7 days before

using. Add some soap to the mixture.

CONTROL:

Insects in general and snails.

Amaranthus

Extract the juice from 1kg of leaves (1 kg is about one plastic shopping

bag full of leaves). This can be done by cutting the leaves and then

pounding them with a stone. Then mix this juice with 3 litres of soapy

water and spray.

CONTROL:

Various spotty diseases caused by fungi such as leaf spot and blight.

APHIDSANTS TERMITEGRASSHOPPER

SNAIL

Blackjack

Cover a cupful of seeds with water and boil for 10 minutes, or let

it stand overnight. Add 1 litre of soapy water and spray.

CONTROL:

Insects in general; aphids, ants, beetles, caterpillars, cutworms,

mites, termites and whitefly.

WHITEFLY

MITES

TERMITE

PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENTpage 107

Chilli

• Chop up one cupful of hot red chillies. (Be really careful not to rub your

eyes!)

• Add 2 litres of water.

• Either leave this to stand in the water for 2-3 days or boil for 15 minutes.

• Add half a cup of soap shavings and mix until this has dissolved.

• Filter the solution to remove the pieces of chilli.

• During dry weather, apply once a week.

CONTROL:

Caterpillars, aphids

and ants.

This

mixture

can burn the

leaves of plants

if it is too

strong!

APHIDS

ANTS

CATERPILLAR

Garlic and onion

Crush 3 big bulbs of garlic (or 1-2 onions) and soak them in 2 spoons

of cooking oil or paraffin for 2 days. Filter and mix with 1 litre of

soapy water. Dilute this mixture 1:10 with water and use as a spray.

CONTROL:

Insects in general: aphids, mites, wireworms, termites and ants.

Diseases such as leafspot, blight and damping off. Examples are bean

rust and tomato blight.

Marigolds

Use the whole plant. Take 2-4 plants and crush the leaves, roots

and flowers. Pour on 1 litre of boiling water and soak for one

day. Then add 1 litre of cold soapy water and spray this on your

plants. The coarse plant materials remaining behind can be used

as a mulch around your plants.

CONTROL:

Insects in general: ants, aphids, beetles, stalk borer.

Disease in general: leafspot and blight (early blight and late

blight).

APHIDS MITES ANTS TERMITE

page 108 PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Wood ash

• Mix one heaped spoon of

wood ash in 1 litre of soapy

water. Leave it overnight.

Spray against insects in

general

• Mix one heaped spoon of

wood ash in 1 litre of soapy

water. Mix in one cup of sour milk and add 3 litres of water.

CONTROL: Mildew on plants and most insects.

• Spread the wood ash in a circle around the base of your

plants and water it into the soil a bit.

CONTROL: Snails, slugs and cutworms

ORGANIC REMEDIES

These remedies are made from organic materials, not from plants. Some examples are given

below:

Tobacco

WARNING:

Tobacco is very poisonous to

all insects and to people. Be

very careful with these

preparations.

• Take 2 handfuls of dry leaves or cigarette

ends. This is the same as one cup full.

• Add 5 litres of water and boil for 30

minutes. Filter. Then add soap, mix and let

your remedy cool. Apply once a week.

CONTROL:

Cutworms, caterpillars,

aphids, flies and weevils.

1 CUP CIGARETTE

ENDS

5 LITRES OF WATER

BOIL FOR

30 MINUTES

STRAIN AND ADD SOAP

Poison

Green

soap

BEAN AND

MAIZE

WEAVILS

Larva

CUTWORM

WOOD

ASH

APHIDS

POWDERY MILDEW:

Fine, white floury powder

mostly on the uper

surface

Greyish-white mould

Yellow spots and dead tissue

PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENTpage 109

Flour

Mix one big spoon of flour into 1 litre of water. Brush

this on the underside of leaves where mites and aphids

are. Apply in the morning of a sunny day.

CONTROL:

Spider mites, caterpillars and aphids.

MITES

CATERPILLAR

APHIDS

Milk

Spray a mixture of 1 litre of milk and 10 litres of water to control spider mites and diseases

such as mildew on pumpkins, blight on tomatoes and potatoes and mosaic virus on peppers.

Do this every 10 days.

Liquid manures/compost teas

See the Improving Your Soil leaflet in this series. This explains how to make liquid manures.

• Mix one spade full of compost or manure in 10 litres of water.

• Let this mixture stand for 10-14 days.

• Dilute animal manures 1:4. Use compost tea as is.

• Spray these onto your plants every 7-10 days.

CONTROL:

Generally protects against insect and disease attacks. Can repel aphids, caterpillars,

grasshoppers, beetles, mites and cutworms.

CATERPILLAR

APHIDS

MITES

GRASSHOPPER

CUTWORM

page 110

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 111

It is possible to grow many different types of fruit trees around your homestead. You can

acquire your trees by growing them from seeds or cuttings or buying grafted trees from

nurseries.

CHOOSING A SITE

Different trees grow better in different climates. The table below will give you some ideas of

which trees will grow in your area.

GROWING FRUITTREES

VERY COLD AREAS:

Has frost often in winter and sometimes snow

NOT SO COLD AREAS:

Has frost sometimes in winter and rarely snow

Apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, almonds,

grapes, cherries, apricots, pecan nuts and walnuts

Apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, almonds,

grapes, cherries, apricots, pecan nuts and walnuts

Also; figs, granadillas and citrus fruit (lemons,

oranges, naartjies and grapefruit)

page 112 GROWING FRUIT TREES

Your trees will grow for a long time; so it is important to choose the right place.

You need an area with:

• well drained and deep soil

• that has enough sun (preferably a north facing slope)

• where fruit trees can be protected from wind.

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 113

As is becomes colder in Autumn deciduous trees and vines shed

their leaves and go into a state of rest. They all need a certain

period of cold weather to break this rest. The degree of

coldness needed varies for different varieties of trees. In some

cases when the temperatures in June/July are not low enough

the rest periods are insufficiently broken, which results in a state

called “delayed foliation”. In spring some buds and leaf blossoms

drop of and some branches remain dormant and die back. The

trees do not grow or produce well. It is thus important in

warmer areas to choose varieties that do not need very cold

winters.

CHOOSING A VARIETY

Each type of tree has many different varieties and you will need to choose a variety that is

suited to your area and climate.

Some varieties grow better in very cold areas and others in warmer areas.

Another consideration for choosing a variety: Pollinators

Here you will need two different varieties of the same type of tree (and two specific ones!) For

example; you will need to plant both Granny Smith and Golden Delicious varieties of apples.

• They will help each other bear fruit, as they pollinate each other. The blossom of the one

cultivar/variety will need to be fertilized by the pollen of the other cultivar/variety. They

need to flower/blossom at the same time and they need to be compatible, so that both

types can bear fruit.

• These trees must not be planted more than 30meters apart, so that the pollen can be

transported from tree to tree with the help of bees and the wind.

• You can plant 1 tree of one type (cultivar/variety) and 4-5 of the other; depending on

which variety you prefer. This means that you can have more of one variety of tree, than

another.

Which trees need pollinators?

It is

also important

to know when a tree

flowers. Late frost will kill

early blossoms on a tree and

badly damage the fruit

production for that tree.

You will need to choose a

tree that flowers after the

threat of frost has

passed.

YES

APPLES

PEARS

PECANS

SOME PLUMS

PAWPAWS

CITRUS

MANGOES

GRAPES

page 114 GROWING FRUIT TREES

Different varieties/cultivars you can choose from

There are many, many varieties and cultivars and new ones are always being produced. It may

help to ask the nurseries in your area which varieties are suitable. In the table below some

varieties are mentioned to give you an idea.

CULTIVARS FOR VERY COLD AREASCULTIVARS FOR NOT SO COLD AREA

NAMEPOLLINATORFRUIT

RIPENS

NAMEPOLLINATORFRUIT RIPENS

APPLES

Granny

Smith;

green apple

Yes: Golden Delicious or

Starking /Top Red

April Granny

Smith;

green apple

Yes: Golden

Delicious or

Starking /Top

Red

April

Golden

Delicious;

yellow

Yes: Granny Smith or

Starking /Top Red

15 FebruaryGolden

Delicious;

yellow

Yes: Granny

Smith or

Starking /Top

Red

15 February

Starking/

Top Red:

Red

Yes; Golden Delicious or

Granny Smith

March Starking/

Top Red:

Red

Yes; Golden

Delicious or

Granny Smith

March

PEARS

Packhams;

Light green

Bon Chretion and

Forelle

Mid

February

Packhams;

Light green

Clapp's

Favourite

Mid February

Bon

Chretion;

yellow

Self pollinatorMarch

Forelle;

yellow with

red blush

Packhams and Bon

Chretion

Early April

PLUMS

Santa Rosa:

red skin and

flesh

Self pollinating15

December

– Begin

January

Pioneer;

red skin and

flesh

Self pollinating20 November

Songold:

yellow skin

and flesh

Santa Rosa, Laetitia15 FebruarySongold:

yellow skin

and flesh

Santa Rosa,

Laetitia

15 February

Laetitia; red

skin and

flesh

Songold30 JanuaryLaetitia;

red skin and

flesh

Songold30 January

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 115

CULTIVARS FOR VERY COLD AREASCULTIVARS FOR NOT SO COLD AREA

NAMEPOLLINATORFRUIT

RIPENS

NAMEPOLLINATORFRUIT RIPENS

PEACHES

Elberta;

yellow

freestone

Self

pollinating

25 August1 FebruaryDe Wet;

yellow

freestone

Self pollinating25 July25

October

Kakamas;

yellow

clingstone

Self

pollinating

15 August15 JanuaryOom

Sarel:

yellow cling

Self pollinating5 August15

December

Early

Dawn:

white

freestone

Self

pollinating

15 August20

November

Boland;

White

freestone

Self pollinating15 August15

December

NECTARINES

Flavortop;

dark red kin,

yellow flesh

Self

pollinating

20 August5 JanuarySunlite;

dark red

skin, yellow

flesh

Self pollinating5 August5

December

APRICOTS

Peeka; dark

orange

Self

pollinating

September

December

Palsteyn;

dark orange

Self pollinating30 August30 Nov

PLANTING FRUITTREES

It is a good idea to prepare the planting site/hole a few weeks before you want to plant the tree.

The soil will settle in the hole that you dug and the manure will not be too strong for the roots.

Preparing the hole

1. Dig a square hole that

is at least 80 cm

wide and 80 cm

deep. A big hole

means a good tree.

Put the top soil in

one pile and the

subsoil in a separate

pile.

page 116 GROWING FRUIT TREES

2. Now put 1 bucket (10 litres) of manure in

the hole. Mix it with a few buckets of

subsoil.

3. Mix in 500 g of

superphosphate or 1kg

of crushed bone.

4. Next, put in two more buckets of

manure and some topsoil and mix

them together.

5. Now fill up the rest of the hole

with topsoil. You may need to dig

up some topsoil from somewhere

else.

PLANTING THE TREE

Caring for the little tree before you plant it

• If it is in a plastic bag, water it every few

days.

• If it has bare roots, put moist sandy soil over

the roots and wrap it in a wet sack until you

are ready to plant it. You can place the trees

in a bucket of water for 2-3 hours before

planting them.

PLACE BARE-ROOTED

TREES IN A BUCKET

FOR TWO HOURS

BEFORE PLANTING

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 117

Planting a tree that is in a plastic bag

These trees are usually planted in spring and will have leaves on the trees when you plant

them. (September-November)

1. Water the tree in the bag without breaking the soil bundle

2. Make a hole in your planting hole (which you prepared earlier) the same size as the

plastic bag

3. Take the tree out of the plastic bag

4. Plant the tree and make sure the roots are covered with soil. The planted tree should be

the same depth as it was in the bag.

5. The join or graft/union on your tree must be 10cm above the soil level

• DIG HOLE THE SAME SIZE AS

THE BAG.

• CAREFULLY CUT BAG AND

REMOVE IT WITHOUT

DISTURBING THE SOIL

AROUND THE ROOTS.

NOTE:

GRAFT UNION MUST BE 10 cm

(HAND WIDTH) ABOVE THE

SOIL LEVEL.

KEEP TREES IN A

SHADY PLACE

BEFORE PLANTING.

COVER THE ROOTS

WITH GRASS,

SAWDUST, OR MOIST

SANDY SOIL.

Graft unions:

Wild fruit trees grow in many different soils and climates and have very strong roots. The fruit from these

trees however are not very big or tasty. Other trees that are not so strong may bear good, tasty fruit. To

obtain a tree with both strong roots and good fruit the roots of the wild tree are joined to the branches of the

tree with tasty fruit. The process is called grafting; This is done by cutting the stem just above the roots of a

wild tree and binding a branch that has been cut from a good fruit bearing tree. The two trees grow together

to form a single tree.

The graft union can be seen as a large lump just above the roots. It should always be above the ground when

the tree is planted.

page 118 GROWING FRUIT TREES

Planting a tree with bare roots

These trees are usually planted in the middle of or towards the end of winter (July- August).

1. Make a hole in the soil you have prepared for planting. It should be a bit bigger than

the roots of the tree.

2. Cut cleanly any broken roots to avoid

disease.

3. Hold the tree in the hole so that it is a

little bit higher out of the ground than it

was before.

4. Carefully place the soil around the roots.

Make sure the soil gets right in between

the roots so that there are no air spaces

left. The planted tree should be the same

depth it

was before

in the soil.

5. The join (bud union) must be at least 10 cm above the

soil.

6. Once the tree is planted (bagged or bare rooted), you

should prune it. Trees are weak after you plant them,

because their roots take time to get used to the new

place. It helps the roots to

grow strong if you prune the

tree after planting. You need to

cut off the top and all the side

branches.

GRAFT UNION

MUST BE 10 cm

ABOVE THE SOIL

60 cm

(knee height)

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 119

7. To help the tree grow straight, tie it to a strong stick

pushed into the ground.

As the trees grow, they will take up more and more space.

It is important to plant them far enough apart.

Peaches, plums and apricots should be planted 3 paces

(metres) apart in the rows and rows should be 5 paces

(metres) apart.

Pears, apples and citrus trees need to be 5 paces (metres) apart in and between rows.

Watering your newly planted tree

1. Press down the soil gently all around the

young tree.

2. Make a small dam around the tree to hold

water.

3. Give the tree 4 buckets (10 L) of water.

4. Mulch around the tree with

dry grass or newspaper or

rocks, keeping the mulch

away from the trunk of the

tree. This will save water

for the tree. It will also stop

weeds from growing.

5. Water that runs off the roofs and bare ground around the houses can be directed by means

of small furrows, to the trees, so that when it rains the trees will get a good soaking.

GRAFT UNION

MUST BE 10

cm ABOVE

THE SOIL

RUBBER OR

CLOTH

PROTECTION

page 120 GROWING FRUIT TREES

6. Use the following guidelines to water your trees.

YearSpring and SummerWinter

12 Bucket (20 L) every 7 days during dry

weather

1 Bucket (10 L) every 14-21 days

23 Buckets (30 L) every 7 days1 Bucket (10 L) every 14-21 days

Year 3 onwards3-4 Buckets (30-40 L) every 7 days2 Buckets (20 L) every 14-21 days

FEEDING YOUR FRUIT TREES

Using kraal manure

Spread the manure on the ground, as far as the branches reach. Do not let the manure touch

the stem of the tree. Then cover the manure with mulch, otherwise it will lose its strength.

Age of treeSeptemberDecember

Year 11 (10 litre) bucket1 (10 litre) bucket

Year 22 buckets2 buckets

Year 33 buckets3 buckets

Year 44 buckets4 buckets

Year 55 buckets5 buckets

From 5 years onwards, you should apply the same amount of water each year.

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 121

CARING FOR YOUR TREES

Inter planting

It is more natural for trees and other

plants to grow together rather than

to stand alone. If you only plant one

crop, insects will have a feast.

Growing vegetables and other crops

between your trees encourages

“good” insects that control the

“bad” ones and a better balance is

maintained.

It is also possible to grow a mixture

of other ANNUAL crops such a

grasses (oats, annual rye grass) and

legumes (vetch, lupins). These grow

through winter and die down in

early summer to provide mulch and

compost.

OR it is possible to grow PERMANENT crops between your rows of trees. Here you would mix

grasses (rye grass, fescue), legumes (clover, lucerne) and herbs (comfrey, chicory). These plants

can be regularly cut short and the cuttings can be used as mulch, compost or animal feed. A

variety of species always attracts a variety of organisms that may help in pest and disease

control.

Pest and disease control for fruit trees

Growing healthy trees is a good starting point. They are stronger and more resistant to insects

and diseases. Use lots of compost, manure and mulch and weed your trees

regularly.

Other ways to grow strong healthy trees include:

• Growing marigolds, leeks and

comfrey nearby deters insects.

• Promote the presence of bees.

Bees help to pollinate the

flowers of the fruit trees and

thus to bear fruit.

• Promote the presence of insect predators (good

insects); these insects live off other insects and

provide a natural way to control pests (bad

insects).

• These include ladybirds, lacewings, wasps,

praying mantis, dragonflies and frogs.

INTER-

PLANTING

MARIGOLDS

BEES

page 122 GROWING FRUIT TREES

Aphid

Ladybird

LADYBIRDS EAT LOTS OF

APHIDS AND OTHER BUGS

LACEWINGS EAT APHIDS

PRAYING MANTIS EAT MANY KINDS OF INSECTS

WASPS LAY THEIR EGGS IN LIVING WORMS AND

CATERPILLARS.WHEN THE YOUNG HATCH THEYFEED

OFF THESE WORMS

DRAGONFLIES EAT FLIES,

APHIDS AND MOSQUITOES

FROGS EAT WORMS, CATERPILLARS, SLUGS AND EVEN SNAILS

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 123

• Make up simple mixtures or brews that will get rid of insects and diseases

– Garlic and onions sprays (deter most insects): Chop up 1 whole garlic or onion bulb.

Soak it for 1 day in two teaspoons of paraffin. Add 0.5 litres of water and strain off the

onion or garlic from the liquid. Add a medium bar of green sunlight soap and mix it in

until it has completely dissolved. This will help to stick the mixture to the leaves of the

trees. Dilute this mixture 1:10 with water and splash or spray on the tree.

– Tobacco mixture: This should be used carefully as it is a strong poison and can kill bees

and useful insects as well. Boil up 0.5 cup of cigarette ends or tobacco in 1 litre of water.

Strain off the liquid and mix with 2 litres of water. Splash or spray on the tree.

– Fruit fly traps: Fruit flies spoil fruit later in the

season by stinging them and laying eggs inside

the fruit. Small worms hatch in the fruit and make

them rotten. Fruit flies like eating ripe fruit like

plums, grapes and oranges (you can use any sweet

smelling fruit). You can fill a trap with some water

mixed with fruit, water and sugar. The fruit flies

will fly into the traps to feed and will not find a

way out again.

– Another fruit fly trap consists of making up a

mixture of Bovril or Marmite and mixing in some

poison such as the tobacco mixture above.

• Fruit flies can also be controlled by

picking up fallen and rotten fruit

beneath the trees EVERY day. The fruit

is collected in buckets of water, which

will drown the small worms. The fruit

can also be fed to chickens and pigs. It

is important that the small worms do

not make contact with the ground.

They burrow out of the fruit into the

soil and rest there to start a new cycle

of fruit flies.

page 124 GROWING FRUIT TREES

• Wrap a band of paper or cloth covered in grease

around the trunk of each tree. The grease should not

touch the bark as it is poisonous to the trees. Any

pests, ants and other insects walking up the trees will

get stuck on the grease and die.

• Diseases such as mildew (a white powdery

fungus on the leaves, mostly on apples, pears and

vines), black spot (little black spots on leaves and

fruit) and leaf curl (mostly on peaches and

nectarines can all be controlled by dusting the

trees and fruit with sulphur or copper-oxychloride.

These chemicals can only be obtained from gardening

shops and some hardware stores.

STORING FRUIT

Preserving fruit by drying, bottling or making jam is an excellent way of making your fruit

useful for longer periods.

Drying fruit

No special equipment is needed for

drying fruit, although some simple

drying frames might help. Fruit is

properly dry when no moisture can

be squeezed out of it.

You can dry fruit by preparing it

according to the recipes below and

then placing it on a flat tray or

board. You can dry fruit inside

your home or in the sun outside.

In both cases, it is better to cover

the fruit, so that flies and dust can

not settle on your fruit and spoil

it.

Fruit can be covered with thin

cloth, paper, or wire mesh.

PEACH LEAF CURL

LEAF SPOT

Recipes

for preparing fruit

for drying:

• Peaches, plums and apricots: Cut the

fruit in half and remove the pips. Place the

fruit on a tray with the cut side facing up.

• Apples: Peel apples and remove the core with

pips. Slice the apple into rings and hang the rings on

a piece of string above a hot stove. Apples need to

dry quickly, otherwise the rings turn brown or black

and do not look good to eat.

• Pears: Peel pears and remove pips. Make a

solution of 1 teaspoon of slat to 2 litres of

water. Cut the peeled pears into 4 pieces.

Drop each piece into the solution,

then remove and dry as

normal.

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 125

Bottling fruit

Bottling is a simple way of having sweet and tasty fruit available in your home throughout the

year. You will however need to buy some good storage bottles to ensure the fruit does not go

rotten. The best bottles are the preserving bottles with metal lids and rubber seals or other

bottles with metal screw tops that can make an airtight seal.

GAUZE WIRE FRAME

CHEESECLOTH DRYING FRAME

WIRE MESH DRYING FRAME

1. REMOVE THE PIPS3. POUR IN COLD SYRUP

2.PACKTHE JARS WITH

CLEAN FRUIT

4. PLACE JARS ON

STONES IN A

POT TO AVOID

CRACKING

5.TIGHTEN TOPS AFTER BOILING

page 126 GROWING FRUIT TREES

• You will need to use slightly unripe firm fruit. For peaches, plums and apricots they can be

cut in half and the pips removed. For pears and apples, they need to be peeled, the pips

removed and cut into pieces.

• The jars need to be sterilised before packing the fruit by boiling them and their lids in

water for 10 minutes

• Pack the sterilised jars with clean fruit

• Fill up the jar with syrup; 0.5 cups of sugar dissolved in 2.5 litres of warm water. Tap the

jars to make sure there are no air bubbles trapped between the fruit.

• Now boil the fruit in the jars for 1.5 hrs: Place the lids loosely on the jar and place the jars

on small stones in a large pot that has water in it. The water should cover your bottles.

• Remove the bottles from the boiling pot after about 10 minutes of cooling. Tighten the lids

as much as possible.

Making jam

Fruit sets when boiled with sugar because of a substance inside the fruit known as pectin,

which is released during boiling. Some fruits make jam more easily than others, because they

contain more pectin.

Good jam fruits: apples, plums, peaches and apricots

Some fruit will need extra pectin in the form of lemon juice (1 lemon /kg of fruit). These fruits

include cherries, figs and grapes.

Recipe:

1. Clean and cut your fruit into small pieces,

removing all the bad bits and pips.

2. Place the fruit in a pot and cover

with water. Boil until soft.

3. Now add sugar. You will need equal

amounts of sugar and fruit. If your

fruit ways 1 kg, you will need 1 kg

of sugar.

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 127

4. Add also the lemon juice if you are using low pectin fruit.

5. Boil this slowly for 10-60 minutes until the jam is ready

to set. To test this, put a little bit of your jam onto a

saucer and leave it to cool. If the surface becomes stiff

like jelly the jam has set and it is ready for bottling.

6. Sterilise your jars/bottles by boiling them for 10 minutes.

Fill these jars to the top with jam, while they are still

hot. Screw the lids on tightly and allow to cool.

SEAL BOTTLED FRUIT

WITH WAX PAPER

page 128 GROWING FRUIT TREES

PRUNING FRUITTREES

Introduction

Pruning is the selective removal of parts of plants to promote patterns of growth. It relates

mainly to branches, stems and leaves, but can also be roots and fruit. Fruit grows more on new

branches than on old ones. A tree with new branches will bear more fruit than a bushy tree

that has not been cut at all.

In stone fruits (peaches, plum, apricots), pome fruits (apples

and pears) and citrus (oranges, lemons, naartjies) a very heavy

crop of fruit in one year can be followed by very few or none the

next year. Branches can also become too heavy and break if

they bear to many fruit. It is thus a good idea to thin fruit on

an over crowded tree. This also ensures fewer, but larger fruit,

rather than many small fruit.

ABOVE:THINNING OF FRUIT. GENERALLY YOU SHOULD LEAVE ABOUT 7-8 FRUITS PER

METER OF BRANCH, OR ABOUT 4 FRUITS PER ARM’S LENGTH.

PEACHES AND PLUMS

10-12 cm

12 cm

Start

thinning

fruit 6-8 weeks

after flowering

when the fruit are

the size of marbles,

or small

pebbles

APPLES AND PEARS

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 129

Why do pruning?

The pruning of branches on fruit trees creates a strong structure that can:

• With-stand wind without breaking

• Carry heavy crops of fruit

• Be harvested from easily, as the tree is not too large.

Pruning also increases light and air circulation between the branches of the tree to reduce

diseases and help fruit to form and ripen.

Pruning Young Trees

In the first three years of a tree’s life, it is important to mould a tree, or give it the basic shape

that it will keep. In this way much less pruning will then be required later.

Pruning Older

Trees

You may need to prune an old

bushy tree quite severely or

hard. This means that you

may get very few fruits for

one season. The second year

after the pruning however

should see the tree producing

a lot of fruit again.

Steps in pruning

Always prune on dry days, to

reduce the chance of getting

diseases on the open wounds.

• First; remove all the dead

and diseased branches.

• Then remove any

unnecessary limbs; Those

that cross over one

another, are too close

together or rub against

each other. Make the cut

just above the collar as

shown on the picture on

the next page.

THE FIRST YEAR

SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT YEARS

page 130 GROWING FRUIT TREES

• Always cut away any branches growing below the union

of grafted trees. This is the root stock growing through

and it will compete with the fruit growing part of the

tree. The picture on the right shows a man cutting a

shoot from below the graft union.

• Fruit trees are generally pruned to either have open centres or to have central leaders.

• Generally branches that are good for fruiting are at angles of 45-65 degrees off the main

branches. Branches with smaller angles tend to break in high wind. Only keeping one main

vertical branch on a tree, together with promoting angled branches, stimulates production

of fruit rather than more growth; the tree spends more energy producing fruit than trying

to grow taller.

THE TREE

WILL LEAN

COMPETING

BRANCHES

THESE BRANCHES ARE

COMPETING FOR LIGHT AND

WILL MAKE THE TREE

UNBALANCED, WITH A

TENDENCY TO BEND THIS

SIDE. ONE OF THEM SHOULD

BE REMOVED.

OPEN CENTRE:

CREATES A

SPREADING TREE

THAT ALLOWS LIGHT

INTO THE CENTRE

FOR FRUITING. IT IS

GENERALLY USED

FOR STONE FRUIT

(PEACHES, PLUMS…)

CENTRAL

LEADER:TAKES UP

LESS SPACE. IT IS

GENERALLY USED

FOR POME FRUITS

(APPLES, PEARS…)

cut here

collar

CUT AWAY

BRANCHES BELOW

THE GRAFT UNION

soil surface

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 131

wide

branch

angle

narrow

branch

angle

THE SHAPE AND ANGLES FOR

GOOD FRUITING BRANCHES

Parts of the tree referred to in the descriptions on pruning on the following

pages:

ROOTSTOCK

SUCKER

WATER SHOOT

SECONDARY LIMB

MAIN (PRIMARY) LIMB

TRUNK

POINT OF UNION OF

ROOTSTOCK AND SCION

ONE-YEAR-OLD

WOOD

LEADER

TWO-YEAR-OLD

WOOD

FRUIT BUD

AND SPUR

terminal

bud

fruit

bud

lateral

fruit

spur

page 132 GROWING FRUIT TREES

Pruning stone fruits

To prune, it is also important to know HOW a tree

fruits:

LEFT: FRUITING WOOD

ON PEACHES SHOWING

LATERALS AND FRUITING

SPURS

RIGHT:

FRUIT SPUR ON

OLDER WOOD OF

PLUM TREES.

When cutting back a

branch; make the cut

just above an outward

pointing bud or shoot,

to encourage new

growth as shown in the

picture. Prune strong

branches at an angle of

about 45º so that the

highest point of the cut

is directly above the

bud.

PEACHES:

fruit only on shoots

from last year’s growth on

both laterals and fruiting

shoots.

PLUMS: Fruit is borne on laterals

or spurs that are two years or older.

On young trees the spurs look

more like a group of short

laterals and on older trees

like multiple buds

5 cm

1. AT PLANTING:

Prune the tree’s roots and also prune the tree itself to about

knee height (60 centimetres). This will force the tree to

branch out rather than grow straight up.

60 cm

(knee height)

GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 133

2. IN THE FIRST WINTER:

• Cut the main branches at the top.

• Some laterals will have grown on the main branches.

Leave 2-3 laterals on each branch; the first lateral

should be about 40 cm from the main branch and

the second further along.

3. IN THE 2nd and 3rd WINTERS:

• Trim the tops of the main branches. If you cut them further back than the previous year’s

growth, it will delay fruiting.

• Shorten the laterals. Cut them 1cm above a flowering bud or cut them back to the join

between the old and new wood.

• Shorten the

side branches

coming off the

laterals. Again

leave 2-3 side

branches on

each lateral.

In the 3rd year

fruit will be carried

on the pruned

back lateral. Once

established, prune

lightly each winter.

Pruning lateral branches:

IN THE FIRST WINTER

CUT THE MAIN

BRANCHES NEAR THE

TOP. THIS IS CALLED

TOPPING.

main branch

lateral branch

short laterals

40 cm

(arm length)

lateral branch

short laterals

main

branch

page 134 GROWING FRUIT TREES

Pruning pome fruits

These trees start fruiting around their fifth season in the ground. Fruit is picked green and

ripens off the tree.

Generally a leader system of pruning has been preferred. Fruit grows on small side branches

coming off the laterals and these side branches will bear fruit for many years.

Initial Pruning

• Cut the planted tree back to knee height.

• In the first winter trim the main branches, leaving one central branch. Leave 2-3 laterals

on each main branch.

• In the 2nd and 3rd winters trim the main branches and laterals and leave 2-3 side

branches coming off each lateral.

AT PLANTING, CUT

BACK AT KNEE

HEIGHT

IN THE NEXT WINTER, CUT

THE TOPS OFF THE MAIN

BRANCHES LEAVING TWO

LATERALS ON EACH

CUT BACK THE LATERAL

BRANCHES TO FORM A

PYRAMID SHAPE

IN THE WINTER,CUT

ALL THE BRANCHES

SO THAT THEY ARE

THE DISTANCE

BETWEEN YOUR

WRIST AND

ELBOW FROM

THE STEM

lateral branch

main

branch







GROWING FRUIT TREESpage 135

Pruning grapes

Grapes form fruit on one year old canes (the present year’s growth) that are growing off two

year old canes. If they are growing off older wood they will not always bear a lot of fruit.

• In the first winter, cut the vine to about 30 cm high.

• In the 2nd winter, prune the vine hard to leave 3-4 main branches that are about 30-40 cm

long.

• Retain well positioned shoots for the development of the secondary limbs/canes.

• In the 3rd and subsequent years, remove about 2/3 of the annual growth.

page 136

SEED SAVINGpage 137

Keeping your own seed is central to your independence as a farmer. You can choose which crops

you like and which varieties or types of crop. You do not need to go to the shop to buy seed.

There are still many varieties of seed that farmers keep or that you can buy from a shop that

you will be able to keep for yourself once you have grown the crop.

Growing from seed to seed involves germinating seeds, transplanting seedlings and looking

after selected healthy plants until they mature, so that their seeds can be collected and stored

for the following year.

Plants adapt to the environment they are grown in and produce seeds that carry those

adaptations, producing healthier plants better able to cope with the local environment.

SEED SAVING

page 138 SEED SAVING

POLLINATION

Pollination occurs in plants when

pollen from the male parts of the

flower (stamen) is deposited on the

female parts (stigma). Fertilisation

occurs when the pollen grain reaches

the ovum (egg).

In some vegetables, herbs and

flowers, the male and female part are

in the same flower. These are called

complete flowers.

Exceptions are:

• The cucurbits such as pumpkins,

melons, gourds and cucumber and

maize. Here the male and female

parts are on different flowers, but

on the same plant.

• Asparagus and papaya. Here male flowers are on one plant and the female flowers on

another.

‘Open pollinated’ vs ‘Hybrid’ crops:

Originally all crops were open pollinated. Many plants propagate themselves like humans do. Pollen from the

male parts of flowers need to reach the female parts of the flower. This pollination usually occurs through

wind or insects of various kinds: mostly bees.

Hybrid crops have been cross pollinated by humans in a controlled environment. These are crops that will

NOT NORMALLY CROSS. This means that you cannot keep seed from a hybrid plant. The seed will either

be sterile, or will produce many surprises. The plants grown from hybrid seed will not look like their parents

and often are not very strong.

You know that a packet of seed contains hybrid seed when it has a sign on it that says:F

Self Pollination

Here, pollen is transferred from the male to the female part of the same flower.

Crops that self-pollinate are: tomatoes, lettuce, capsicum (green pepper) and okra. Beans and

peas self-pollinate even before the flower has opened.

Generally, plants that self-pollinate can be grown quite close together without them crossing

with each other. It is still a good idea however to separate different varieties of the same plant

(e.g. different varieties of lettuce) from each other, as some crossing can still occur.

stigma

style

anther

filament

petal

sepal

ovary

ovules

receptacle

THE PARTS OF A FLOWER

SEED SAVINGpage 139

Cross Pollination

Here, pollen is transferred from one flower

to another on the same plant, or to the

flower of another plant of the same type.

Cross pollinated plants produce more varied

offspring that are better able to cope with a

changing environment.

Cross pollination occurs when the pollen is

carried between flowers by the wind, bees,

other insects, birds and bats. Honey bees are

by far the most important pollinators.

Pumpkins are an example. If you have two

different types of pumpkin, planted close

together. they will cross with each other. The

seed that is produced will grow and produce

a plant with a fruit that is a mixture of the

two types of pumpkin you have grown. This

happens with all cross pollinated crops.

Pollinators

Bees are the best pollinators of vegetables. As they fly

around and collect the nectar (sweet juice) from the flowers

of plants, pollen collects on the sticky hairs on their legs.

When they visit the next flower some of this pollen is

rubbed of and cross pollination occurs.

Self pollinated crops:

Green beans, dry beans, cow peas, peanuts, peas, tomato, lettuce and capsicum (green pepper)

Cross pollinated crops:

Brinjal (eggplant), cabbage, carrot, chilli, kale, leeks,

maize, mustard greens, onions, spinach (swiss chard)

page 140 SEED SAVING

Many grains (such as sorghum and maize),

grasses (such as Napier fodder and sweet

reed or imfe) and trees are dependent on the

wind for pollination. Pollen picked up by the

wind can travel vary far (many kilometres)

on air currents before coming to a rest.

KEEPING THEM PURE

Any insect or wind pollinated plant will need to be isolated from other varieties to stop them

from crossing with each other. Below are four techniques you can try to achieve purity:

• Grow them apart: Grow two varieties that cross

pollinate at least 500 m or more apart. This is

how far most insects fly, although bees can fly

up to 4 km. Obstacles that deflect wind or

insects such as hedges, buildings and ridges can

greatly reduce cross pollination.

• Isolate them in time: This is possible for crops

where all the plants flower at the same time,

such as maize and sunflowers. Crossing can be

avoided by growing early, mid- and late season

varieties that shed their pollen at different times.

• Cage them: Caging is needed for species that

flower over a long period of time, such as

cabbages and chillies. Put cages made of fly or

nylon netting over the flower stalks of the

different varieties to exclude all insects. Pollinate

by hand.

Insect pollinated crops:

Brinjal (eggplant), cabbage, carrot, chilli, green pepper, kale, leeks, mustard greens, onions, spinach (swiss

chard)

Wind pollinated crops:

Beetroot, spinach (swiss chard), amaranthus (imbuya)

CAGING OF A CHILLI PLANT

SEED SAVINGpage 141

• Cage them on alternate days: This can be used instead of hand pollinating varieties that

are flowering at the same time. Cage one variety while insects pollinate the second variety.

Then cage the second variety while insects pollinate the first one. Once they have been

pollinated, both varieties should be caged until flowering has stopped.

SELECTING AND COLLECTING SEED

How long does it take?

Annuals:

These plants produce their crop and seed within

one year and then die. This takes 6-9 months.

Examples are tomatoes.

Biennials:

These plants grow during the first warm period,

slow down through a period of cold weather, and

flower and seed during the second warm period.

Most biennials originate form the colder

European climates where winters are severe and

there is not enough time for a plant to produce

seed in one warm season. This takes around 18

months. Examples are cabbage, cauliflower,

carrots, parsnips, turnips and radishes.

Perennials:

These plants continue to grow, are permanent and survive from year to year. Few vegetables fall

within this group. Examples are fruit trees and herbs such as comfrey, rosemary and thyme.

Criteria for selecting seed

• The seeds should possess the same quality as the variety that was planted. If you planted a

long, purple brinjal, collect seed from a long purple fruit. If the fruit looks different, the

seed will also be different.

• Take out plants with undesirable characteristics before they start flowering. Examples are

slow growers, sick/diseased plants or ones that bolt (start seeding) too early.

• Harvest seed only from strong, good looking plants.

• Harvest seeds from plants that perform well under stress such as extreme weather

conditions and plants that resist disease or insect attack.

• Harvest seed only from healthy plants; if the leaves or fruit have rotten spots or a mottled

appearance, do not use seeds from these plants. These diseases are carried in the seed and

will appear next time.

You

should harvest

seed from at least six (6)

plants of each variety or type

that you want to keep. For some

crops, such as onions, you need to

keep seed from at least 20 plants and

for crops such as sunflower and maize

you need seed from 50-100 plants. In

multi-coloured maize, for example

you may lose some colours and

insect resistance if too few

plants are used.

page 142 SEED SAVING

• Do not harvest seed from plants that have bolted. Bolting is when the plant goes to seed

much quicker than it normally should. It could be due to stress, such as hot and dry

conditions, but is also in-built. So if you take seed from plants that have bolted you are

selecting for a plant that bolts, or goes to seed very easily. This is important for crops such

as mustard spinach and lettuce where you are looking for a prolonged leaf stage.

• Harvest the seed when it is ready. Immature seed will usually not germinate as it has not

fully formed. Over-mature seed tend to go rotten before you plant them.

• Do not harvest seed that has been damaged by insects or in any other way. They can only

germinate if they are whole.

• Do not harvest seed that have diseases, such as brown blotches or mould growing on them.

How to know where to find the seed?

Seed heads

1. Some plants carry pods which contain the seed, like beans

and peas. These are called legumes. They are mostly self

pollinating, so you do not need to be too careful in

separating different varieties.

2. Leafy crops like lettuce

and swiss chard will

send out stalks from the

middle of the plant. The

flowers and seeds will

be produced on these

stalks.

3. Brassicas (the cabbage family) will first make a head, or

compact leaves. Examples are cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli,

kholrabi, kale, chinese cabbage and mustard spinach. Then,

in the next warm season, a flower stalk will grow out and

seed pods will be produced on these. This can take up to 18

months.

BEANS

LETTUCE

CABBAGE

PLANT AND

SEED HEAD

SEED SAVINGpage 143

The cabbage family requires bees or other insects to carry

pollen between plants. You need as many plants as possible

to collect seed from (at least 6, but up to 20). One plant on

its own will produce hardly any seed. Brassicas can cross

with any member of the family. A cabbage can cross with a

cauliflower or a broccoli or chinese cabbage! Is is important

to isolate different members of the cabbage family to obtain

seed.

4. Root crops like carrots: With this type of root crop, the

bulb will start to go woody and harder and send out a long

stem on which flowers and seed will develop.

This will take about 9 months. Wasps and flies carry pollen

from one “umbel” to another, or from one plant to another.

Other crops in the Umbelifferae family (umbrella shaped

flowers), behave in a similar way. Examples are celery,

parsley, fennel and parsnips.

5. Root crops like onions: With this type of root crop, the

flowering stalk develops in the second warm season, as the

crop is biennial. This stalk is leafless, hard and hollow, and

can grow very tall.

Other plants in this family (Amaryllidaceae) are leeks,

shallots, garlic, spring onions, chives and garlic chives. These

plants are pollinated mostly by bees. Pollination occurs

between the little flowers on the same flower ball and

between flowers from one plant to another. Seed from at least

20 plants needs to be kept to keep the variety strong. Seeds

don't all ripen at the same time and they need to be harvested

as they become ready, as they tend to shatter and are blown

away by the wind.

Leave these seeds on the plant to dry. For those plants where

the seed heads shatter and scatter seeds, you will need to

collect them as they dry, rather than waiting until all the

seeds are ready. Examples are lettuce, carrots, parsnips and

onions.

CARROT PLANT

– FLOWER AND

SEED HEAD

ONION PLANT AND SEED HEAD

page 144 SEED SAVING

Seeds in fruit

Fruit is produced only after the fertilisation of

the ovules has taken place. These ovules

develop to produce the seeds inside the fruit.

• Fruit is picked when it is slightly over-

ripe. Examples are tomatoes, chillies,

capsicums (green peppers), gooseberries

and brinjals.

Tomatoes and capsicums are self

pollinating. The other plants in the

Solanaceae family like chillies and

brinjals are cross pollinating. If you are

growing more than one variety of chilli,

they need to be isolated from each other.

Otherwise you may get some HOT

surprises!

• Pumpkins, melons, gourds and squashes are

picked when over-ripe and then left for a few

more weeks for the seed to mature further.

There are many different kinds of pumpkin and

melons. All different kinds of pumpkins will

cross with each other, but they will not cross

with melons, cucumbers or marrows which are

all in the same family (Cucurbitaceae). In this

family there is crossing in each species, but not

between them. A cucumber for example will not

cross with a pumpkin.

Male and female flowers occur. The male

flowers grow on long thin stems and open

before the female flowers, which grow on a

short stem and have a small swelling at the

base.

CHILLI PLANT

WITH FRUIT

CHILLI FRUIT

AND SEEDS

CAPSICUM

DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF PUMPKINS

MALE AND FEMALE

FLOWERS ON A VINE

SEED SAVINGpage 145

• Cucumbers and marrows are left on the plants until they are fully mature; cucumbers will

go brown and marrows will go yellow (and VERY big!).

Seeds that are eaten

Examples here are maize, beans, peas and sunflowers. These are left on the plants until they

are mature and dry.

How to know when your seed is ready?

1. The fruit has a hollow sound and/or is disconnected from the branch.

Examples: pumpkins, cucumbers. For these fruits it also helps to leave the seed inside the

fruit for several weeks after picking.

2. Colour, size and shape of fruit.

Examples: tomato and chillis (red), aubergines (purple or yellow). Green peppers need to be

left until they go red. They are immature when green!!!

3. Shattering of pods.

Examples: beans, peas, cowpeas.

4. Dryness.

Examples: carrots, coriander, lettuce, swiss chard, cabbage (seed head goes brown and dry).

CLEANING SEED

Winnowing

Chaff and stems need to be removed from seed, as they can

hide insects that can attack your stored seeds.

• Seeds and chaff are tossed into the air and the chaff is

wafted away with a gentle breeze. Elongated flat baskets

work well.

• Or put the seeds in a bowl and

shake them until the debris floats

to the top. Gently blow the chaff

away.

• Large quantities of podded seeds

(peas, beans) can be placed in a

sack and the seeds separated by

stomping on the sack or beating it

with a stick. The dried empty pods

can then be winnowed out.

page 146 SEED SAVING

Wet cleaning

This is used for plants that carry their seeds in moist flesh or fruit such as tomatoes,

melons, pumpkin and cucumbers.

• Scoop the seeds out into a large container of water and rub vigorously. Pour off the water

and place seeds on a flat surface to dry.

• Ferment the seeds of tomatoes and cucumbers. These seeds are encased in the flesh of the

fruit and have a slippery jelly around them. This jelly needs to be removed before the seed

will germinate. It also rids the seeds of unwanted seedborne diseases.

DRYING SEED

Large seeds need longer to dry than smaller seeds. A simple test for large seeds (such as beans)

is to try to bite one of the seeds. If no impression is made on the seed (tooth marks) it is ready.

• You need to dry seeds away from the sun in a dry and breezy, airy place.

• In wet or cold weather, place seed on screens for fly netting and place them high up on

racks in a warm room, such as the kitchen.

Method:

1.Place the seed in a container. Cover with water. Add one to two

tablespoons of sugar and stir until it is dissolved.

2. Now leave this mixture for 3-5 days (NOT LONGER!!!). A foam or crust

will form showing that the fermentation has occurred and the jelly has

dissolved.

3. Rinse the seeds with large amounts of water.

4. Spread them out to dry them in a cool

place and store in an airtight container

like a glass jar.

SEED SAVINGpage 147

• Hang up small quantities in paper

bags in a breezy spot.

• Lay larger quantities on screens or

hang them up in hessian sacks. Do

not use plastic bags.

STORING SEED

The length of time that seed can be

stored depends on:

• The seed type;

• The quality of the seed; and

• The storage conditions.

Storage conditions

Darkness

Find a a way to keep the seeds in darkness. Use paper

bags, dark coloured plastic and galls jars and place them

in cupboards. DO NOT place the seeds on a shelf in clear

glass jars.

Moisture

Even if the seeds are dry, if you store them in a damp

environment they will absorb that moisture/water. This

seriously affects how long your seeds will be viable.

Mostly we can only dry our seeds in the air. Do not dry

them in the sun, but in a shady place where the air can

move (ventilated). When the weather is very wet with a

lot of rain and mist, it will be difficult to dry seeds,

especially the larger ones, like beans and peas.

The life of seed doubles when the moisture content is

lowered by 1%.

Temperature

Seeds last longer in cold, but not freezing conditions.

Choose a cold place such as near a river, under trees,

under the ground or inside a clay jar.

The life of a seed doubles when the storage temperature

is lowered by 5°C.

Most

seed can be

stored for a period of

3-5 years and remain

viable. Viability is the ability

of the seed to germinate.

Your seed may look perfect,

but if it is not viable, it

will not grow!

If you store

your seed in hot,

light (sunny) and wet

conditions they will lose

their viability very quickly.

You may even not be able to

plant them in the following

season. They like cool, dark

and dry conditions to

germinate.

page 148 SEED SAVING

Pests

Storage weevils, fungi and bacteria shorten the life of seeds.

• Weevils begin to multiply when the moisture content gets high enough

(10% or more). The eggs are laid inside the seed, under the seed coat, and

the insects hatch from there.

• Storage fungi/ moulds begin to grow

when the moisture content is high

enough (around 13% or more) and

bacteria start growing around (20%

moisture). Mostly we cannot measure

the moisture content of our seed. All we

can do is keep our seed as dry as

possible.

Materials that stop the growth of pests can be used:

• Dry ash: this absorbs moisture inside the container and also prevents the growth and

increase of weevils. Add ½ kilogram ash to 1 kilogram seed.

• Lime: can be used in the same way as dry ash. Mix 15 teaspoons (50 grams) with every

kilogram of seed.

• Cooking oil: mix cooking oil with your seeds to prevent increase of weevils. Use only 1

teaspoon of oil for every kilogram of seeds.

• Dried and powdered leaves of different aromatic plants: weevils are sensitive to

aromatic or strong smelling plants. Try the following:

– CHILLI: mix 4-6 teaspoons of chilli powder with 1 kilogram of seed.

– WORMWOOD (MHLONYANE): Dry and crush the leaves and mix with seed. Use 4-6

teaspoons for every kilogram of seed.

– ALOE: As above.

Store

your seeds in

dry, clean, airtight

glass jars or other airtight

containers. AND LABEL

THEM – Give them names!!

By next year you will not

remember what it

was.

SEED SAVINGpage 149

Seed production

Seed security is the mother of food security

Climate and Soil

Lesotho’s climate and soil is well suited for seed production of cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, beetroot, turnip,

spinach (Swiss chard), lettuce, onion, etc.

Time

Seed production of the above crops is carried out in winter months (from mid May to mid July)

Varieties

Only open pollinated varieties can be used for production as follows:

1. Cole crops: belonging to cabbage family including cauliflower.

Cabbage Varieties: drumhead, cape spitz, Copenhagen, snowball (cauliflower) etc.

2. Root crops:

Carrot varieties: Nantes, chant nay karoo, kuroda, Ideal Red, Cape market, etc.

Beetroot varieties: Dark Red, Blood Red, Crimson Globe, etc.

Turnip varieties: Purple Top, White Globe, etc.

3. Bulb Crops:

Onion Varieties: Texas Grano, Australian Brown, Caledon Globe, etc.

4. Leafy Vegetables: Mainly used for their leaves whether eaten raw or cooked.

Swiss chards varieties: Ford hook giant, etc.

Lettuce varieties: Great Lake, Winter Crisp, Grand Rapid, etc.

Methods of Seed Production

Seed production is carried out by two methods; in situ in which the plants are kept intact where they are grown.

The second method is by transplanting them along with the roots when they are fully mature.

Selection:

In case of cabbage, the heads that are well developed, hard, true to type and free of diseases, uproot both the •

head and the roots;

In case of cauliflower, the curds should be well developed, milky colour, compact, true to type, free from •

diseases, uproot both the head and the roots;

In case of root crops like carrot, turnip, beetroot, they should be well developed, true to type, free from •

diseases;

In case of leafy vegetables like spinach and lettuce they should be free from diseases, mature and true to type•

In case of onion, it should be well developed, free from diseases and true to type•

Operation

In case of transplanting of cabbage, the whole plant (that is both head and roots are taken) to the place for

growing. After 20-25 days, the heads are cut horizontally into halves for facilitating flower development. There are

various methods of cutting, but the half cut has proven to be the best. In case of cauliflower, tie the leaves into a

knot, so that the curd is well covered and not exposed to the sun. The whole plant along with the roots is taken

for transplanting, the knot is removed and the leaves are allowed to come to normal.

In case of carrots, turnip the roots are cut into halves and the leaves are cut leaving at the height of 3 to 6 cm

from the crown. In case of spinach (Swiss chard) and lettuce the whole plant along with the roots is transplanted.

Spacing

For all these crops, the distance from plant to plant and from raw to raw should be between 90-100cm both ways.

Manure

One spade full of well decomposed cattle manure and table spoonful of 2:3:2(22) fertilizers. Repeat same

application after 45 days.

page 150 SEED SAVING

Irrigation

Watering should be done at least one bucket full (15-20 litres). Follow after every 3 days for the next 20 days and

then at an interval of 5-7 days, depending upon the temperature and humidity.

Plant protection measures

The pests are mainly aphids during flowering and pods formation. Leaf eating insect also attack; spray any

insecticide such as Malathion (at the rate of 1ml/liter or 1 teaspoon /5 litres of water), as and when the insects are

observed.

Staking

Staking may be required at the time of flowering and pod formation to prevent breakage of the soft stems due to

wind during spring. Four sticks are placed on the four sides of the plant.

Bagging

To prevent cross-pollination, bagging may be required, in which a piece of cloth, preferable cotton and white in

colour is stitched in the form of a bag and placed upside down covering the whole plant. It is supported by four

sticks, which will prevent insects like bees and wasps from entering and thereby stopping cross-pollination.

Harvesting and yield

In case of cabbage and cauliflower, the harvesting time will be after 4-5 months and the yield ranges from •

20-50 grams/plant;

In case of carrots, harvesting will be after 5-6 months and the yield is from 30-80 grams/plant;•

In the case of beetroot and spinach (Swiss chard), the harvesting time is after 4-5 months and yield 30-60 •

grams/plant;

In case of turnip from 3-4 months and yield is from 20-40 grams/plant;•

In case of lettuce from 2-4 months and yield is from 15-30 grams/plant;•

In case of onion from 4-5 months and yield is from 15-25 grams/plant.•

SAVING AND USING WATERpage 151

All our water comes from rain. If we live in areas with little rain, or long periods without rain,

we need to harvest this water. We harvest water to have more water over a longer period of

time.

Water harvesting can happen in a number of different ways:

• We can collect the water where it falls

• We can save the water we do have.

• We can collect water from surfaces or catchments

COLLECTING WATER WHERE ITFALLS

Here we try to slow down the water, catch it and let it sink into the ground. Below are some

examples of how we can do this in our homes and gardens.

• Add organic matter to the soil. We have spoken about this in the Improving Your Soil and

Bed Design chapters in this book.

• Mulch. See Mulching in this book.

• Keep the soil covered with growing plants. Use ground covers, bushes and trees.

• Protect your garden from wind. See the Wind and Frost Protection leaflet in this series.

SAVING AND USING WATER

page 152 SAVING AND USING WATER

How to mark out a contour line

You can use an A-frame to mark out the level points

along a contour.

How to build an A-frame:

• If your garden is on a slope, make your beds across the slope. This will catch the water and

stop it from running down your beds and off your land.

• Construct earthbanks/bunds, to slow down, catch and store water.

• Construct swales. These are earth banks that are constructed in a particular way. This is

explained in the sections below.

Earth banks/bunds

These banks are laid out across a

slope, along a contour line. A

contour is a line or a series of

points that runs straight across a

slope. Everything along the line is

level.

CONTOUR LINES DRAWN ON A PICTURE OFA HILL

TO SHOW THE AREAS THAT ARE LEVEL

Take the two poles of

the same length and

tie them together at

one end, using string

or wire.

➊

Then, tie the third

pole across, between

the two other poles,

about 1 metre from

the bottom.

➋

An A-frame is easy

to use and build!

MATERIALS:

– 2 poles, each about

3 metres long;

– 1 pole, about

2 metres long;

– String and wire;

– A small stone.

SAVING AND USING WATERpage 153

Build an earth bank by

digging a ditch across the

slope, along a contour line.

Place the soil from the ditch

above the ditch. Dig the ditch

about 30 cm deep (the with

of a spade) and 30 cm wide.

Rain water will accumulate

above the earth bank/bund

and in the ditch. This water

will sink into the ground

instead of running off your

land. As soil is washed down

the slope and accumulates

behind the bank a small flat

terrace/area will be formed.

This will take some time.

How to use an A-frame:

BUILDING UP EARTH BANKS/BUNDS

From: Ways of Water, CTA 1990

Now tie a piece of string onto the frame at the top. Attach

the stone onto the end of the string. When you hold the

frame up, the stone should hang just below the cross

pole/bottom pole. Hold the A-frame upright on a level

piece of ground/floor. Mark the place where the

string hangs across the bottom pole. This should be

close to the middle of the pole.

➌

Find two level points on the

left-hand side of the area

where you are trying to

establish the contour. Mark the

two points with pegs. Now

swing the A-frame on its right

leg, swinging the left leg

around. Find the level for this

leg by moving it until the string

with the stone attached is at

the marked mid-point.

Continue moving the frame in

this manner.

RAIN Earth

thrown up

RAIN

Bund

Water SOIL DEPOSITS

Ditch

Water

From: Farmer-to-Farmer Handbook, FSG, 1996

➍

page 154 SAVING AND USING WATER

Plant long living or

perennial plants along

these banks. This helps to

hold the soil on the bank. It

also provides your bushes

and trees with water. This

is a good place to plant

fruit trees and medicinal

plants. See also the Wind

and Frost Protection leaflet

in this series for some more

ideas of what to plant. The

ditches will fill up with soil

over time and need to be

cleared out when this

happens.

Swales

Swales are also earth banks/bunds built along a contour line. The difference is that the earth is

piled below the ditch rather than above. This is a very good way to concentrate water on the

land. In this way, you can keep double the amount of water in your soil.

Swales do not lead to

low terracing as the

first method does.

The banks are also

planted with water

loving and long living

plants. The ditches

fill up with soil over

time and need to be

cleared out when this

happens.

THE INFILTRATION BOUNDARY SINKS WITH THE PLANT

ROOTS – WATER PENETRATES DEEPER INTO THE SOIL

From: Ways of Water, CTA 1990

Tree. shrub or

perennial plant

Ditch

Earth

bank

AN EXAMPLE OF A SWALE

From: Production without Destruction, 1995

Fruit trees

Water-edge

plants Slope

Flood level

SWALE

(can be mulched)

(Contour line)

BUND

Groundcover

plants

SAVING AND USING WATERpage 155

Tied ridges

These earth banks have small cross walls or ridges that help the water penetrate into the soil

where it falls. The cross walls also ensure that the water in the ditches do not become

“streams” in heavy rain. This reduces the danger that the ditches will overflow and cause

erosion.

Build the cross

walls about

half as high as

the earth

banks/ ridges.

Once the

ridges are

made, they are

left intact. You

may need to

lift crumbled

soil back onto

the ridges and

rebuild some

of the small

water holding

ties from time

to time.

SIDEVIEW OF A STONE SPILLWAY, BUILT

INTO AN EARTH BANK/BUND

From: Production without Destruction, 1995

STONE SPILLWAY

1 metre

EARTH BANK/

BUND

15 cm

TIED RIDGES,

MULCHED

AND PLANTED

WITH MAIZE

From: Production without Destruction, 1995

Main slope of

the land

Earth

banks and

swales must be built

high enough so that

water never flows over the

top of the bank. If there is a

danger of this, spillways need

to be built into the banks.

These will lead the excess

water down the slope

in a safe way

Contour line

page 156 SAVING AND USING WATER

SAVING THE WATER WE DO HAVE

Here we will briefly look at recycling or re-using water and at different ways to water gardens.

• Greywater: This is water that has been used in the home for washing and bathing. This

water can be re-used in the

garden.

• Drip irrigation: Applying

water directly to the roots of

plants saves a lot of water.

Below are a few ideas of

how you can do this.

You can also use a pipe with slits/holes in it, that is

laid beneath the ground.

Water can be poured straight into the opening of your

underground pipe or water can be led from a sink

through a pipe. You can use grey water. Make sure

there are no bits in the water that will clog up the slits/

holes in your pipe.

If you have really sandy soils, you can

lay plastic or feed bags at the bottom

of your trench before building up your

bed. This will help to keep the water

in your bed.

UPSIDE-DOWN BOTTLE

Water

Air

vacuum

UNGLAZED CLAY POT

Cover

stone

Cover

stone

Water

METHODS OF IRRIGATION

TO MINIMISE WATER LOSS

From: Production without Destruction, 1995

Water

From: Production without Destruction, 1995Sink House

wall

Water

NOTE: Not for use in heavy clay soils

METHOD 1:

Cut below ± 1 m

apart

METHOD 2:

Cut above/on top ± 1 m apart

The hole is covered by a piece

of stocking or netting to

prevent clogging

Wedge cut

in pipe

with a saw

A SLOTTED PIPE DELIVERS WATER

TO PLANTS. CROPS THAT LIKE

MORE WATER SHOULD BE

PLANTED CLOSER TO THE HOUSE

From: Introduction to Permaculture

BAMBOO/PLASTIC TUBE

SAVING AND USING WATERpage 157

Below is another method of drip irrigation that you can use. Here we use pipes with small

holes drilled or burned in the plastic. The pipes are laid on top of the ground and the whole bed

(including the pipes) is covered with a good layer of mulch.

The holes in the pipes should be about 20-25 cm apart. The one end of each pipe is closed with

a plug. The other ends are attached to each other and to a pipe leading into a large water

storage container. The container must be at least 1 metre above the ground. The vegetable beds

must be as level as possible.

If you use this method, you will need less than half the amount of water to wet the whole bed

than you would use if you were pouring or spraying the water onto the bed.

Drip irrigation pipes can be bought from Maluti Irrigation in Maseru, Tel: 588 31394.

Another way to use water well, which does not require pipes and tanks is described below:

• A trench is dug across the slope to catch rain water

• Below the trench the vegetable beds are dug 1metre deep. They are filled with organic

matter – grass, leaves, manure and ash – and mixed with soil. The beds are fertile and

absorb and hold water.

• The beds are edged with ridges. Some are reinforced with small stones to stop the soil from

being washed away.

• Between the beds, a network of shallow ditches/channels connect the trench above the beds

with a second trench lower down. The water flows along these channels. The channels are

also the footpaths to get to the beds.

• Fruit trees are planted on the lower side of each trench, so that their deep roots can benefit

from the extra water.

page 158 SAVING AND USING WATER

COLLECTING WATER FROM SURFACES OR

CATCHMENTS

1. Roof run off

A good surface for collecting

run off water is the roof of

your house.

• It is possible to dig a ditch

around the house where

the rain pours off the roof.

Water is led along this

ditch to pit beds (See Bed

Design in this book for an

explanation on how to

make a pit/keyhole bed).

• It is also possible to put

gutter on your roof. This

can lead the water straight

into a storage tank. It is

much easier to do this

with a metal or tile roof.

Water collected from your

roof is good drinking

water.

From: Production without Destruction, 1995

Trench directs

roof run-off to

plants around pits

Trellises

for extra

shade

Pit

Organic waste and water is

thrown into the pits

Pit beds

Mulch

Bed

Trench

TRENCH ACROSS THE

SLOPE

FRUIT TREES

BEDS WITH

RIDGES

AROUND THEM

SHALLOW

DITCHES/PATHS

SAVING AND USING WATERpage 159

You may want to catch the first bit of rainfall

after a long dry period in a different container

and use it in the garden. This water is likely

to contain a lot of dirt.

You can build a tank that will hold enough

water to be able to water a small vegetable

garden throughout the dry periods.

From: People’s Workbook, 1981

WATER IS CHANNELLED BY

GUTTERS TO THE STORAGE

TANK

How to build a ferrocement water tank

Size of tank: 10 000 litres

You will need:Cement - 600 kg

Sand - 1 000 kg

Gravel - 500 kg

2.5mm plain wire - 200 metres

Chicken mesh (50 mm mesh, 1mm thick wire), 1metre wide - 16metres

Water pipe (metal) 20 mm bore - 1 metre

Water tap - No1

Overflow pipe, 8 cm diameter metal or plastic pipe - 20 cm

Sheets of corrugated iron and angle iron for the roof.

The formwork: You will need a solid structure onto which to

build the cement tank. This is called the formwork. The easiest

and most reliable formwork to use are circular, corrugated,

galvanised iron sheets. You can use 16 standard roofing sheets that

are at least 2 m long. Steel angle iron (40 mm x 40 mm x 5 mm) is

bolted vertically on the inside face at the ends of each set of 4

sheets. They can then be bolted together to form a circle. Between

the ends of each section there is a wedge that is pulled out after

the tank is built to allow the formwork to be dismantled or taken

apart.

The floor: Excavate a circular area that measures

2.8 metres (almost 3 spade lengths) to below the

loose top soil. Lay a 10 cm layer of sand and gravel

evenly in this area. Also lay in a 1 metre length of

steel pipe that curves, so that it will stand out 10 cm

above the floor inside the tank. Now lay a slab of

cement 7.5 cm thick over the sand and gravel. Use

a stiff mixture of cement. Here cement, sand and

gravel is mixed in quantities of 1 x cement with

2 x sand and 4 x gravel.

Holding bolts

Bolt holes

Wedge

Corrugated

galvanized

iron

framework

FORMWORK TO BUILD A

FERROCEMENT TANK

FOUNDATION OF THE TANK

Gravel Concrete

Water pipe and

pull-through

Iron stake to

hold water pipe

page 160 SAVING AND USING WATER

• With a thatched or grass roof, hanging

gutters can be made from bamboo or metal.

This water is usually too dirty for drinking.

The walls: The formwork is put together and place on

top of the hardened floor. Wind the chicken mesh around

the outside of the formwork and tie it into place. Tuck the

mesh under the formwork to join it into the floor slab

later. Wind the wire around the outside of the mesh. Do

this carefully and space the wire in the corrugations of the

metal.

Now make your mixture of sand and cement (3:1) and

apply this to the walls in layers of 1cm thick. Make only

enough cement to use in about half and hour. Work from

the bottom of the tank upwards. When this has hardened,

brush the surface and add a second layer of cement 1 cm

thick. This layer is finished smoothly, as it is the outside of

the tank.

The next day, the formwork is taken out.

The inside cement wall is built up to fill up

the corrugations of the iron and any

reinforcing wire that is sticking out. When

the first layer of the inside wall has

hardened, add a second and final layer of

cement. Complete any one layer on the

same day, or at least in a band around the

tank, so that any joins are horizontal. This

will reduce cracking. A 5 cm thick layer of

cement is than laid onto the floor of the

tank and the junction/join of the floor and

the walls. This is called a coving. Finally,

paint the inside of the tank with a thick

slurry of cement to seal it.

Then a small amount of water is put in the bottom of the tank and it is covered with black plastic or wet sacking for 7-10

days to cure. Break out any pipe fitting needed in the first few days. The tank needs to be filled slowly with water. Leave

a shallow bit of water in the tank for about a week before filling it.

ERECT THE FORMWORK AND WIND ON

THE REINFORCING WIRE

Formwork/forms

Chicken wire

Hoop reinforcement

Chicken wire tucked

under forms

Overflow

pipe

Coving/

rounded

wall

Tap

THE COMPLETED TANK

From: Production without

Destruction, 1995

Roof run-off

Bamboo/metal gutter

Tank cover with

inlet hole

Water

tank

Leads to a pit-bed/garden

COLLECTING RUN-OFF FROM A THATCHED ROOF FOR USE IN THE GARDEN

AN EXAMPLE OF ATANK BUILT FROM STONE AND CEMENT

SAVING AND USING WATERpage 161

2. Underground storage

• Ponds

Ponds can be dug into the soil

and filled with rainwater or

from a small stream or gulley.

These ponds generally do not

hold water for very long.

Ponds can be lined with

plastic or cement to increase

their water holding ability.

You can decrease the amount

of water that evaporates into

the air by digging a deep pond

with a small surface. A

shallow pond with a large

surface, loses a lot of water

through evaporation. You can

also surround your ponds by

shelter belts/windbreaks. See

Wind and Frost Protection in

this book.

• Underground tanks

You can collect rainwater from a flat surface, such as a large rock, or the clearing in front of

your house, by building a low wall along the rock or clearing and making it slope down

towards an underground tank.

These tanks are large holes that are dug in the ground. They can be made large enough to hold

all the water you will need in your garden. The earth walls of the tanks can be sealed in a

number of different ways:

• Reinforcing mesh can be placed

along the walls and floor and

can then be plastered with

cement. An experienced builder

is needed here, otherwise your

tank is likely to leak.

• The walls can be built from

cement blocks that are

plastered with cement. This

method is easier, quite cheap

and does not need materials

that are difficult to find.

Channeled water

Earth dam for

water storage

An outlet for

water surplus

Silt trap

Small

dam

GRASSES, REEDS AND SMALL TREES PROTECT

WATER SUPPLIES AND HELP BIND THE SOIL

From: The Basics of Permaculture Design, 1996

page 162 SAVING AND USING WATER

• The tank can be lined with a

plastic lining. One type of lining

is called HDPE, which is thick

plastic and is made to fit in a

factory before transporting to

the site. Another is called

geofabric, which is laid into the

hole in pieces and is painted

with a sealant. This method

requires the least labour and is

not too expensive. You must

however be able to buy the

geofabric and sealant.

Pictures courtesy of the Water for Food Movement, PO Box 796, Derdepoort Park, 0035, South Africa.

Swept floor

Roof of

storage tank

LEFT: EVA MASHA FROM LIMPOPO

PROVINCE IN SOUTH AFRICA STANDS

NEXT TO THE TANK SHE BUILT HERSELF.

BELOW LEFT: EMILY SCOOPS

WATER FROM HER TANK, WHICH IS

LINED WITH THICK PLASTIC (HDPE)

AND COVERED WITH CORRUGATED

IRON SHEETS.THIS PICTURE WAS

TAKEN DURING A DROUGHT WHEN

WATER WAS VERYSCARCE. WATER

FROM THE TANK IS USED TO IRRIGATE

HER GARDEN (PICTURE ON THE RIGHT).

SAVING AND USING WATERpage 163

How to build an underground tank, using a geofabric liner and sealant

This tank holds 48 000 litres of water. It is inexpensive to build. The most labour is required for actually digging the pit.

• Dig a pit 6 metres long, 4 metres wide and 2 metres deep. There is a slight slope on the inner walls. This means that

they are not dug straight down, but at a slight angle. When the pit is dug, stamp the soil inside the pit down, so that it

is firm and smooth.

• Dig a trench about 30 cm deep

around the outside of the pit.

This will anchor the geofabric

liner.

• Lay the geofabric inside the pit

and the anchor trench. Make

sure there is about 1metre of

the fabric in the anchor trench.

Now cover the fabric in the

trench with stones and soil.

This will make sure the fabric

does not slip down into the

tank. You will need about 90

square metres of fabric to line

this size pit.

• Now the fabric is painted with

a bitumen type sealant. The

sealant needs to stay flexible or

stretchy at low temperatures.

Otherwise the sealant will

crack as the water gets cold.

You will need about 210 litres

of sealant.

Names and contact

details of suppliers:

Geofabric:

Kaytech factory in Johannesburg,

South Africa.

Phone: 011 - 452 5310

Sealant:

Tosas; Spartan factory in

Johannesburg South Africa

Phone: 011 - 902 1905PIT

Geofabric

liner

Geofabric covered

with stones and soil in

the anchor trench

page 164

CONSERVATION FARMINGpage 165

CASE STUDY:A beautiful example of intensive food

production and rainwater harvesting

Mr S S Matlere has been working with conservation

agriculture for many years.

He noticed a number of problems in the cropping fields

in his work as an agricultural extension officer. These

included soil erosion through run-off, declining soil

fertility, a lack of water, and low production.

Through long and thoughtful observation he has now

designed and implemented his own system of farming

that solves these problems and has many other benefits

as well.

His design consists of making

furrows on the contour in the

fields, with a mound all along the

downslope side of each furrow.

Organic matter is continually

incorporated into the mounds. A

range of crops are grown, including

maize, wheat and vegetables such as

beans, tomatoes, cabbages, potatoes,

rape, mustard spinach and onions.

CONSERVATION FARMING

Matlere

says: “Ask

me about

furrows”

RIGHT: MR MATLERE

IS STANDING IN ONE OF

HIS FURROWS. ON THE

MOUND IS A CROP OF

MAIZE, ALREADY

HARVESTED, WITH

RUNNER BEANS

CLIMBING UPTHE

STALKS.

LEFT: IN ANOTHER ROW OF THE FIELD, CABBAGES WERE PLANTED

ON THE MOUND NEXT TO THE MAIZE.THESE CABBAGES ARE NOW

BEING LEFT TO PRODUCE SEED FOR THE NEXT SEASON. NOTE THE

ORGANIC MATTER THAT IS WEEDED OUT AND PLACED AS MULCH IN

THE FURROW AND ON THE MOUNDS.

page 166 CONSERVATION FARMING

WHY FURROWS AND MOUNDS?

• The furrows and mounds help regulate runoff water which would erode fertile top soil

away.

• The furrows ensure that all the rain that falls on the field remains there. The rain is caught

in the furrows and sinks into the soil.

• The furrows help distribute rainwater evenly throughout the entire field.

• The mounds help increase the depth of soil, which in turn helps the roots of the plants to

go deeper in search of plant food and moisture. With strong, deep roots, the crops yield

better.

• The furrows and mounds also increase the fertility of the soil through the organic matter

that is incorporated into the soil. The moisture in the soil and the heat of the sun striking

the sides of the mounds, help speed up the breakdown of the organic matter.

HOW TO MAKE THE FURROWS AND MOUNDS

Survey and mark out your contour lines

First, the area where the furrows and mounds are being made has to be surveyed to determine

the contours (level lines) across the slope of the ground. The furrows and mounds are made

along the contour (i.e. they run level).

Surveying is always started from the top of the field downwards.

The top furrow may have to be wider than all the others. This depends on the size of the

catchment area above that particular field. If a lot of rainwater runs off over your field from the

slope or hill above, you will need to make your top furrow wide or deep enough to hold this

water. It should not spill over onto the next furrow.

CONTOUR LINES DRAWN ON A PICTURE OF A HILL

TO SHOW THE AREAS THAT ARE LEVEL

A contour

line shows where

the ground is at the

same level/height.

Along a contour line the

ground is flat (level)

and water will not

run.

CONSERVATION FARMINGpage 167

The contours are marked out using a line level.

Make your line leveller:

• Cut a 20m length of fish line.

• Tie the ends of the fish line to the two lengths of

wood, at corresponding heights of either 30, 40 or

50 cm (depending on how rough the terrain is).

Find your first contour line

(at the top of the field) as follows:

• Hang a line level (purchased for about R10 from a hardware store) on the fish line, halfway

between the wooden uprights.

• Hold the wooden uprights firmly on the ground, roughly along the contour, and pull the

fishline tight between them.

• The fluid in the line level will sit in the center of the

bubble once the fish line is level. This shows the

direction of your first contour. Mark the position of the

uprights at this point.

• Next, holding one upright on one of your marked spots,

move the second upright in the opposite direction,

further along the contour, and mark the next point.

• Continue in this way until you have drawn a level line

along the top width of the field.Contours are marked

with pegs at each end and along the level.

THE BUBBLE OF COLOURED

FLUID IS IN THE MIDDLE OF

THE WINDOW WHEN YOUR

LINE IS LEVEL

Tools used:

20m fish line;

a line level;

two lengths of wood, about

2 metres long (marked at

30, 40 and 50 cm from

one end);

a measuring tape

page 168 CONSERVATION FARMING

Mark further contours downslope:

• At right angles to your first contour line, measure a point 1.5 m to 2 m further downslope.

• From this point, mark out your next contour line (this will be roughly – but not exactly –

parallel to your first contour line.)

• Next, move another 1.5 to 2 m further downslope, and mark out the next contour line.

• If the slope of your field is quite even, you would not have to mark each contour using the

line level. It is then possible to estimate the level of the next contour down using the one

above it. You may want to use the line level to mark every 4th or 5th contour (6-10 m

intervals).

• Continue marking out contours in this way until you reach the bottom of the field. You have

now completed surveying and marking out your field.

Prepare your furrows and mounds

There are two ways to make the furrows and mounds:

– For the first method, the furrows and mounds are prepared before you start planting.

– For the second method, planting is done on the contour and the mounds and furrows are

made over a period of time as soil and weeds are heaped up along the contours during

weeding.

MARKING CONTOURS

IN YOUR FIELD USING A

LINE LEVEL

CONSERVATION FARMINGpage 169

METHOD 1: Prepare furrows and mounds before planting

• Once you have marked and pegged all the contour lines in your field 1.5 m to 2 m apart,

you start to dig the furrows along the contour lines and form the mounds next to the

furrows.

• The soil dug out of the furrow will be heaped along the downslope side of the furrow, and

will form the mound.

• The line level is used to estimate how high the mounds need to be:

• The fish line is placed on the 30 cm mark on the two wooden uprights. The uprights, with

the fish line pulled tight between them, are pegged along the center of where your mound

should be.

• Now start digging the soil out of where the furrow will be and heap it up along the

downslope side of the furrow, where the mound will be.

• The furrows are made with a simple traditional tool, a hand hoe. It is easier to dig with a

hand hoe than with any other tool (such as a spade).

• Use the line leveller to even out the furrow to make sure that its bottom is level.

• Once you have finished preparing your furrow and mound, you need to loosen and dig over

the bottom of the furrow to reduce the compaction of the soil there.

• You can incorporate some animal manure now or place mulch on the soil in the furrow so

that it is ready for planting.

PREPARING FURROWS AND MOUNDS

page 170CONSERVATION FARMING

METHOD 2: Prepare furrows and mounds over a period of time

• With the second method, you first plant your crop (usually maize) on the marked contour

lines that are 1.5 m to 2 m apart.

• During the first weeding (and all subsequent weeding), the soil with weeds is earthed up

against the line of crops, leaving a furrow and a mound where the soil was level before. The

organic matter in the mounds decompose quickly to add fertility to the soil.

• The furrow can now be used to plant the next crop, such as cabbage, or be prepared ahead

of time for the next planting. This helps to have the fields under crop cover over a period of

time.

• Weeds can also be pulled out and placed in the furrows themselves. This acts as a mulch.

The mulch helps preserve moisture from the rains falling in winter time. The mulch also

protects the soil from strong sun or cold winds. The mulch cover reduces the growth of

further weeds.

RIGHT: MAIZE WAS PLANTED AND THEN

INTERCROPPED WITH BEANS AND TOMATOES.

THE MOUND WAS FORMED DURING THE SUMMER

SEASON BY HEAPING THE SOIL AND WEEDS TOGETHER

UP AROUND THE ROW OF MAIZE PLANTED.

THEREAFTER,BEANS AND TOMATOES WERE PLANTED

ON THE MOUND WITH THE MAIZE.

IN AUTUMN, AFTER THE MAIZE WAS HARVESTED,

WHEAT WAS PLANTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE

MOUNDS AND KALE WAS PLANTED ON TOP OF THE

MOUND.

LEFT: THE MAIZE RESIDUES HAVE BEEN WORKED INTO

THE MOUNDS ONCE THE CROP WAS HARVESTED.

THESE MOUNDS WILL BE READY FOR PLANTING AGAIN IN

SPRING.

IN THIS WAY, THE TYPICALBACKBREAKING LAND

PREPARATION IN HARD, DRY SOIL IS AVOIDED.

CROPS CAN NOW BE PLANTED EARLIER – AS SOON AS

THE FIRST RAINS HAVE COME.

IN MANY AREAS, THIS MEANS THAT THE CROP CAN

MATURE DURING THE PEAK RAINY SEASON,AVOIDING

THE MAJOR RISK OF CROP FAILURE THROUGH LATE

SEASON DRY SPELLS.

CONSERVATION FARMINGpage 171

CROPPING IN FURROWS

In this system of furrow cropping, crops are grown over a longer period of time, so that more

than one crop can be harvested in a season. Cattle are not allowed to enter into the field at any

time, as they will trample the furrows and mounds, and will eat the residues that need to be

incorporated into the soil.

Different crops can be grown in

the same field in a relay fashion.

As some crops are maturing, other

crops are planted. The maize

plants for example, become a

support for the tomatoes and

beans that are planted later.

If a farmer wants to produce an

early crop, seedlings can be raised

in green houses, either in

speedling trays, or in the case of

larger seedlings like pumpkins

and squashes, in old tins. The

containers are filled with well

rotted manure or compost. The

seedlings are transplanted onto

the mounds and furrows as soon

as the last threat of frost is over.

ABOVE: MATERIALS FOR PRODUCING

SEEDLINGS HAVE BEEN COLLECTED: A

LARGE PILE OF WELL ROTTED COMPOST

AND A PILE OF TINS FOR PLANTING.

LEFT:MR MATLERE (LEFT) AND MR THULO

(RIGHT) (CARE-LESOTHO) INSPECTING MUSTARD

SPINACH SEEDLINGS PLANTED IN SPEEDLING

TRAYS. THESE SEEDLINGS ARE PRODUCED IN THE

GREENHOUSE TOWARDS THE END OF THE HOT

PERIOD OF SUMMER, SO THAT THEY CAN BE

PLANTED IN THE FIELD AS SOON AS AUTUMN

COMES. IN THIS WAY, A GOOD CROP CAN BE

REALISED BEFORE THE SEVERE WINTER COLD

SETS IN.

page 172 CONSERVATION FARMING

SOME INTERESTING OUTCOMES

• The continued absorption of rainwater into the furrows and mounds, tends to influence the

moisture in the area over time. Mr Matlere has experienced that two days after some days

of soaking rain, the sun that strikes the sides of the mounds creates a mist that rises up

from the beds. This happens due to the warmth generated in the mounds from the

decomposing grasses, weeds and maize stalks. It provides a warm, moist micro-climate in

an area that would otherwise be quite dry. This provides very favourable conditions for the

growth of vegetables and pumpkins.

• The silt that collects in the furrows during heavy rains provides some more fertility,

moisture and a better foothold to the crops planted there. Mr Matlere has noticed that the

stand of maize is much better with this system. The maize does not fall over in heavy rains

and winds, as they do under normal conditions.

• With the mounds, the organic matter that has been incorporated decomposes faster than it

would without the mounds. The climate in Lesotho is mild and many months are quite cold

and dry. The mounds provide a surface that is heated by the sun and the organic matter

holds more moisture. Thus decomposition happens faster.

• Because there is more organic matter in the soil, it becomes fertile without the need even to

add manure, if it is in short supply.

• Mr Matlere has noticed that with the increase in fertility and organic matter (humus) in the

soil, there are fewer problems with pests and diseases.

• Because the spacings of the crops are quite wide with this system, the maize matures faster,

there are more cobs per plant (4-5) and cobs are bigger. So, even though fewer plants are in

the ground, a better harvest is achieved. This applies also to other crops like cabbage and

wheat.

– The wide spacing of the rows facilitates early weeding which is important.

– Spacings are generally up to 2 m between the rows (on the mounds) and up to 60 cm

between plants in the row (on the mounds).

– This wide spacing can also facilitate the use of animal drawn implements (oxen or

horses) for weeding.

– For smaller crops like kale and tomatoes, the spacing between the plants in the row is

30 cm.

– For row crops like wheat and onions, 2-3 rows are planted, with a spacing of 40-50 cm

between rows and 30 cm between plants in the rows.

• In this system seeds are planted by hand, rather than by animal drawn planters. Mr Matlere

also only plants crops from which he can keep his own seed.

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUESpage 173

There are three parts to good water management at your homestead.

• The first part is to catch and store as much rainwater as you can.

• The second part is to get the water to the crops

• And the third part is to use the water you have as well as possible.

1. CATCHING AND STORING THE RAIN WATER

Here we will look at roof rainwater harvesting tanks and underground tanks or improved

homestead dams.

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION

TECHNIQUES

page 174 HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

Contacts:

Ministry of Forestry and Land Reclamation Rural Self Help Development Association

Department of Soil and Water Conservation (Mokhatlo oa ba Ithusang ho Itšebeletsa Metseng)

Information Office Box 0523

Box 92 Maseru West

Maseru Email: rsda@lesoff.co.za

Phone: (+266) 2232 3600 Phone: (+266) 2231 1279

The support package that they offer:

What you get

• One tank is built as a demonstration and to train 10 local builders

• Tanks are built in three different sizes. This depends on how large the roof is and how much water can

be harvested. A small tank is about 7 000 litres, a medium tank, 14 000 litres and a large one 25 000

litres.

• Cement, pipes, fittings, a tap and wire mesh is provided

What you give

• The farmer provides stone and river sand

• He/she provides the gutters for their roof

• And he/she provides labour

Advantages:

• Rainwater from

your roof is stored for

later use

• These tanks are very strong

and will last a long time

• Water from the roof is quite

clean

• Builders can earn an

income from constructing

these tanks.

Disadvantages:

• It is hard work to

build a tank like this

• It can be quite expensive

• You need to know how to build,

or find someone that can do it for

you

• The water in the tanks is not

enough to supply water

throughout the dry

season.

How to build the tank

It is a good idea to find someone who is an experienced builder to assist you or to get support

from the organisations mentioned.

Roof rain water harvesting tanks

The Ministry of Forestry and Land Reclamation and the RSDA are assisting farmers in Lesotho

to construct these tanks.

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUESpage 175

On the right is an example of a tank built with

stone. The tank is 3 metres wide and 1.8 metres

high. It holds about 4 000 litres of water when it

is full. This water can last for about 3 months

into the dry season. The tank costs about

M3,000 – M3,500 to build. It takes two to three

weeks to build.

Steps in building the tank

1. Clear and level an area of 3 metres wide.

2. Dig foundations for the circular walls.

The foundations are 40 centimetres wide and

deep (about the length of the head of a

spade). Fill the foundations in with cement.

3. Make a cement slab floor for the tank.

A drainage pipe comes out of the middle of

the slab to a tap on the outside of the tank.

The tap must come out

below the bottom of the tank,

so that all the water in the

tank can run out here.

4. Build the walls from stone and cement about 40 centi-

metres wide and about 1.8 metres high. Plaster the inside of

the tank.

5. Then make sure that your gutters run into

the tank and wait for the rain to come!

Mostly these tanks are left open. It is possible to

close them by placing sheets of corrugated iron on

top, by using shade netting or by constructing a

cement lid. If the tank is covered you can drink the

water. If you leave it open, the water will become

too dirty for drinking!

A COMPLETED ROOF RAINWATER HARVESTING TANK

THE TAP FROM THE TANK

IS BELOW THE BOTTOM

LEVELOF THE TANK

THE STONE WALLS OF

THE TANK BEING BUILT

THE FLOOR OF THE TANK WITH THE

DRAINAGE HOLE IN THE MIDDLE

A METAL GUTTER LEADING WATER INTO THE TANK

page 176 HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

Improved homestead dams

These are large holes or dams dug in the

ground. There are a number of different

ways in which these dams can be built.

Farmers in Lesotho have tried out

different ways of building these dams:

1. Cement lined walls

2. Cement and stone lined walls

3. Earthern walls with stones packed on

top

4. Plastic linings.

The main reason for building floors and

walls in the tanks is to stop the water

from leaking out. In some places the soil

has enough clay to seal the dams after a

while and no structure or water proofing

is needed. In other places the soil may

cave in when it gets too wet and the dams

may leak.

Water

runs into these

dams from the ground.

Now it is possible to gather run

off water from any surface such as

your roof, a road, paved areas around

your home, ditches, swales and even the

veld.

• It is possible to make these dams large,

so that they can store enough water for

the whole of the dry season

• These dams can be cheaper and

easier to build than large tanks

above the ground.

1. Cement lined walls:

Mme Mamotepane from Ha Licupa in the Mafeteng

area, built an improved homestead dam that she lined

with cement. There were 3 workers from the village

involved. A builder from Rabolilane showed them

how it is done and then left them to do the work

under his supervision. It took about 14 days to build.

Only cement and chicken wire were used. The hole

was dug and covered with the wire on the inside.

Then it was covered with cement. The sand used for

making the cement was fetched in an ox cart from the

river.

The dam is almost square (5 metres long and 4 metres

wide) and about 2 metres deep. The inlet to the dam

has also been made of cement. This is a very good

idea and helps to keep the dam strong.

THE INLET MADE OF CEMENT

THE CEMENT LINED DAM

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUESpage 177

The dam is fenced to keep children and animals away. A 1 000

litre header tank is put up. This is a tank that is placed on a

structure high above the ground (about 2.5 metres). This helps

for the water to flow into the pipes and taps in the garden that

are connected to this tank. A foot pump is used to pump water

into this tank.

There is a filter at the end of the hose in the dam, to make sure

that the water going into the pump is reasonably clean.

To start pumping, there has to be some water in the

cylinders of the pump and a little in the pipe. It takes

about 2 hours of pumping to fill the header tank and

this water lasts for about 1 week.

Mme Mamotepane says that as the water

is now close by, she can concentrate on

other work. She can also produce a lot

more vegetables. She grows and sells

vegetables and seedlings for a living. She

sells at the schools and to hawkers that

come to her home to buy.

Mme Mamopetane also processes surplus vegetables by

bottling and making jams.

THE FILTER AT THE END OF THE HOSE

HERE AN ENTHUSIASTIC VOLUNTEER

TRIES OUT THE FOOT PUMP

A PART OF THE GARDEN AND THE SEEDLING NURSERY

MME MAMOPETANE WITH A BOTTLE OF

SENOANE OR MELON JAM AND THE SEED

THAT SHE ALSO SELLS TO MAKE AN INCOME

page 178 HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

2. Cement and stone lined walls

It is also possible to build the walls from stone and cement.

The walls can be built straight down or vertically. The walls

are built on a foundation.

The improved homestead dam in the picture is square. It is

quite small, holding around 15 000 litres of water (3 metres

long, 2.5 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep).

A hand pump was used here. It has a long lever to make

pumping easy. A large drum is used to filter the water in the

dam, so that it is clean enough for pumping.

Siltation traps can be dug in the inlet ditches, so that the

mud and silt can settle there. These need to be cleaned out

regularly.

VERTICAL, STONE AND CEMENT

LINED WALLS OF AN IMPROVED

HOMESTEAD DAM

IMPROVED HOMESTEAD

DAM WITH HAND PUMP

AND FENCE

DRUM AND

HAND PUMP

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUESpage 179

3. Earthern walls with stones packed on top

The walls of the dam are not straight down or vertical.

They are angled. This is like a very steep bank that a

person can still scramble up on. The inside of the dam has

been lined with stones (the bottom and the walls or the

sides). The stones do not stop the dam from leaking by

themselves. This dam only leaks a little as the soil

contains a lot of clay and holds the water.

It is possible to plant kikuyu grass on the

banks of the dam to stabilise or hold the

soil on the banks. This can stop the banks

from caving in when the soil there settles.

4. Plastic linings

With plastic linings you

need to be sure that the

plastic you have chosen is

resistant to the rays of the

sun (UV resistant).

Otherwise it may perish or

decay within one season.

Plastic linings are easy to

install and the strips of

plastic can be glued

together. The

disadvantage of using

plastic, however, is that if

you are not careful you

may accidentally tear it or

make holes in it.

THE ORANGE PLASTIC HAS PERISHED AND BROKEN UP INTO PIECES.

THE WHITE PLASTIC IS STILL STRONG

page 180 HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

2.GETTING THE WATER TO THE CROPS

Mechanical Pumps

These pumps use human energy to power them, rather than fuel or electricity. There are hand

and foot operated pumps.

Foot pumps

The foot pump has been designed specifically for low cost, reliable operation in remote areas.

The frame is small, robust and portable.

It is capable of serving many useful purposes such as pumping water for small-scale irrigation

and household water supply.

Here we look at two different kinds.

The ApproTEC foot pump (Kenya)

How the pumping works

The pump is not that compact, but is

very robust and is easy to maintain

with locally available materials. It

weighs around 22 kilograms.

There is an inlet (32 mm) and outlet

pipe (25 mm) and two cylinders with

leather bushes that push the water

through.

A filter needs to be attached to the

end of the inlet hose. The pump can

not tolerate silt.

The total pumping height is around

14 metres. This is the sum of the

suction depth below the pump and

the pressure head above the pump.

The maximum suction depth is

around 7 metres. The pump then lifts

water though the outlet to a height

of 7-10 metres.

The volume of water pumped is between 0.4 litres per second to 1.5 litres/ second, depending

on the height. The pump costs around M1,000. A fitting can be added so that watering is

possible straight from the pipe.

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUESpage 181

Suppliers:

This pump is produced in Kenya. At the moment they can be sourced in South Africa:

Contact: Chris Stimie, Rural Integrated Engineering on 082 469 4535 or Tel: 012-842 4106

Email: dir@rieng.co.za

Or directly: ApproTEC/ Kickstart, Nairobi; PO Box 64142, 00620.

Tel: +254-(0)-20-787 380 / 787 381. Email: approtec@approtec.org.

In Lesotho these can be supplied through Maluti irrigation in Maseru.

The Rainmaker foot pump (New Zealand)

How the pumping works

The pump is compact and light

to carry, it is not that robust and

will not be easy to maintain

with locally available materials.

It weighs around 18 kilograms.

The pumps are provided with

repair kits and spares. There is

an inlet and outlet pipe (both 38

mm in diameter) and two

diaphragm pistons inside that

push the water through.

An inline filter is attached to the inlet line for small stones. The

pump can tolerate silt and small solids.

The total pumping height is

around 28 metres. The

maximum suction height is

7-10 metres. The pump can

lift water through the outlet to

a height of about 16 metres if it is well maintained. This is

good. The volume of water pumped is between 0.5-3 litres

per second, depending on the height. Large volumes of water

can be pumped in a day. The pump costs around M2,600. A

spray fitting/nozzle for the outlet hose can be supplied, so

that watering is possible straight from this pipe.

Suppliers:

This pump is produced in New Zealand. At the moment they can be sourced in South Africa:

Contact: Jack Blaker on 082 807 7805 or 051 - 581 1428 (phone/fax)

Email: jackblaker@dtpmail.co.za

page 182 HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

3.USING THE WATER YOU HAVE WELL

There are many ways to conserve water. We have looked at some of these ways in Saving and

Using water in this series. Ideas are to:

• Use mulching to cover the soil and keep the water in the soil

• Add organic matter to the soil

• Plant along the contours

• Use ditches and swales to channel and catch water, so that it can seep into the soil and not

be lost

• Protect you garden from the drying effects of wind

Here, we will focus on two ways of applying water in ways that conserve water, time and

labour: drip irrigation and keyhole beds.

Drip irrigation

Each drip irrigation system has been designed to

work in a specific way. You can use these systems

or design your own one. It does not work well to try

and change the pre-designed systems.

ONE METRE

30 cm

Drip irrigation kits

Drip irrigation kits are pre-designed and usually

come with the pipes already cut into specific lengths

and the drippers placed in the pipes. There are

many different kinds of kits. One of the common

designs for drip irrigation kits is known as Netafin.

These kits are supplied through Maluti Irrigation in Maseru

(+266 5883 1394). The Ministry of Agriculture and RSDA

are helping farmers in Lesotho to install these systems.

A system costs about M1,000 to buy.

The Netafin system has a 200 litre drum with a filter

attached and enough dripper lines to cover 200

square metres of garden. 100 square metres can be

watered at a time. The dripper lines have been

specially made. The drippers themselves are inside

the pipe and are spaced 30 centimetres/ 300

millimetres apart.

1 SQUARE

METRE

1 metre

From: Vikela, May 2003, FSG

Advantages:

• Water is applied

directly to the roots of

plants and can infiltrate deeply

into the soil.

• It saves time and labour

• It can also save water, but this

depends on how you use

the system.

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUESpage 183

Ntate Mokethi from Mohale’s Hoek has been experimenting with the Netafin drip irrigation system for

about six months.

He says,

“This system saves me time. It also saves water,

as the water now goes directly to the roots”

He removes the whole system at night and replaces it

every morning to irrigate. He places the system on

two flat rocks to make it slightly higher than the beds.

Ntate Mokethi spaces his plants so that each one will

be next to a dripper. He does not use this system for

row crops like carrots, but for individual plants like

cabbage.

HERE NTATE MOKETHI SHOWS HIS 200 LITRE

DRUM,WITH THE FILTER ATTACHED. THE

DRIPPER LINES LIE NEXT TO THE DRUM AND A

BUCKET USED TO FILL UP THE DRUM IS VISIBLE

Important points

• The drum should be placed on a surface/platform about 1 metre (one spade length) above

the garden.

• The garden/area should be completely flat. If it is not the amount of water from each dripper

will be different. The distribution of water will not be equal.

• The drip irrigation system can not be left out on frosty nights as the pipes may burst

because of ice forming inside.

Disadvantages

of standard dripper

lines:

• Drippers are unblocked by

tapping with a nail or spike on the

outside of the pipe.

• There is no other way to unblock

them. When drippers remain blocked,

the pipe needs to be replaced.

NOTE: It is possible to buy piping and

external drippers that you can

place and replace

yourself.

Advantages

of standard

dripper lines:

• Even distribution of the

water; and slow enough for good

infiltration.

• Can use grey water

• All components are easy to

access and find in

shops.

page 184 HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

Below are two examples of what farmers working with

SERUMULA have tried.

We will call them spaghetti lines and sponge/string lines.

These systems are more experimental so that farmers can

adapt them to their own specific circumstances.

Spaghetti Lines:

The system

• Use any tank that can be easily found; from

25-200 litres. The system is designed to use

25 litres a day. If the tank is bigger, e.g.

50 litres you can fill it and irrigate every

second day. If your tank size is 200 litres,

you should be able to irrigate once a week

only. This however depends on the climate,

your soils and the size of your plants.

Seedlings will need less water more often.

• Place this tank above the bed, which is made

to be 1 meter wide and 10 metres long. It is

long and narrow to make it easy to work in.

• Use normal black plastic piping (15 mm) to

make a main line from the tank and three

lines, 500 millimetres apart and 10 metres

long, for the bed.

• Make small holes in the pipe 300 mm apart and fit the thin

spaghetti lines into these holes. You will need 93 of these.

• Plants are spaced to have one spaghetti line for each plant.

Contact details:

Serumula Development Association,

PO Box 708, Maseru 100, Lesotho

Tel: (+266)2231 7875;

email: info@serumula.org.ls

Advantages:

• These do not

need an inline filter

• They are easy to unblock;

just suck on the opening/end

of the little spaghetti pipe

• The water sinks in deeper

than if it was just

poured on.

Disadvantages:

• The beds need to be

quite level

• The pipes and spaghetti lines

also need to be at the same

height/level. Height differences

give differences in the amount of

water coming out of the end

of each spaghetti

line.

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUESpage 185

1m high

25-200 litre

tank

500mm

10 metres

Drippers

300mm

apart

250

This system irrigates an area of 15 square metres. It uses around 25 litres of water in

5 minutes. It provides about 260 millilitres of water per spaghetti line dripper per day.

It will cost around M300 to build, if you can find a cheap second hand drum/bucket/tank.

Sponge/String lines

These systems are controlled flood

systems of irrigation that are good for

row crops such as carrots, onions,

turnips and peas.

The sponge lines

Holes are punched in the irrigation pipe;

usually 15 mm (or 20 mm) black plastic

piping, using a heated nail or binding

wire. Make sure the holes are clean. They should be

about 2.5 mm in size. Then small pieces of sponge are

forced into these holes. The water will trickle out of

these holes.

The string lines

These are similar to the sponge lines, except that you

will use string in stead of sponge.

Advantages:

• This system of

irrigation can be used

for row crops

• The holes in the pipe can

be made any distance apart,

depending on

need.

Disadvantages:

• The little pieces of

sponge need to be replaced

every year. This is a lot of

maintenance

• It is difficult to control the

amount of water that comes

out of the

holes.

page 186 HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

10 234567891011121314151617181920

This is 20 cm

2cm =

20 mm

How much to irrigate

If you measure rain in a rain gauge,

you will measure this in

millimetres. 1mm of rain is

equivalent to 1litre of water on m²

of soil.

A good average amount of water

to apply to any shallow rooted

vegetable crop is around 20mm/

week. This can be applied in

winter and in summer,

throughout the growing season.

How often to

irrigate

It is possible to give a plant a

little bit of water every day, or

larger amounts of water less

often.

Generally, with drip irrigation systems, plants are

watered once a day, every day. At the beginning of the

season, this makes sure that the soil stays wet as deep

as possible. Later in the season the bigger plants can

now use the water that has been stored in the soil (as

well as the little water that is provided every day).

20mm/

week is

equivalent to 20litres/

week which is one

household bucket on 1m².

For drip irrigation systems

20litres/1m² equates to

about 340 ml of water/

dripper/week.

1 SQUARE

METRE

1 metre

Make a series of paired holes on opposite

sides of the pipe. There will be two holes

across from each other at each dripping point.

Thread a piece of string through these holes

and tie knots on both ends. This thread can

be jiggled if the hole becomes blocked and

also makes sure the water trickles out, rather

than pouring out too fast.

15 mm

pipe

thread

knots

holes

From: Vikela, May 2003, FSG

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUESpage 187

A note on distribution

Distribution is how the water moves into and inside the soil.

This depends on the kind of soil and the kind of irrigation or

dripper. Below are pictures of how the water may move in

different kinds of soil:

• Above ground, on top of the soil, you will see little circles of wetness, which may

be close together or more spread out and further apart.

• Under the ground they may flow into each other.

• You will need to check what is happening under the ground to know what the

water is doing. You can press a stick or a rod into the ground as far as it will easily

go – close to the drippers and then further away – to get an idea of how even the

distribution of water is.

• There may be some dry patches inside the soil, which is why it is more difficult to

use drip irrigation with row crops. People usually put one plant next to a dripper.

• How fast the water comes out of the small hole or dripper will also change how the

water moves. The systems that use large holes in the pipes, like the sponge and

thread systems (explained above) are more like a controlled flood irrigation system

than a dripping system as the water pours out, rather than drips.

The secret to good irrigation, is to check what is happening in the soil! Take the

time!

CLAY LOAMSAND

page 188 HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

4. BED DESIGN FOR WATER CONSERVATION

It is possible to design your garden and beds in a way that will use as little water as possible

and also to save as much water as is possible.

Key hole beds

Where do I build a key hole garden?

Find a sunny place, close to the door of the house on any base rock, compacted soil or hard

clay.

What do I need?

• Good dark soil

• Rocks, manure,wood ash, dried grass, waste leaves, yard sweepings and any plant wastes

• Black wattle or other sticks or netting

Other

advantages

include:

• The garden can provide fresh

vegetables all year round under all

conditions

• Grey water from the house can be

used to irrigate (from washing

clothes, people and dishes)

• It can be built on top of

hard clay or rock.

Meet Ntate Ralebohang Matlole and ‘Me Malebohang

Matlole at Phahameng, Morija, a retrenched miner and

his wife growing vegetables for home and for sale.

The Matloles like their key hole

plots because…

• They are easy to work, they never

need heavy digging

• And are easily protected against

the frost or dry winds by pulling

waste plastic over a simple stick

support

(from D. Hall and V. Gibberd for LRAP)

(Information gratefully obtained from TEBA Development and Stock

Aid Lesotho (Christabel Jackson)).

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUESpage 189

How do I build a key

hole garden?

1. Where the centre of the

garden will be, build a

tall basket of sticks;

40 cm x 40 cm round and

1.5 metres high.

2. Begin to fill the basket with composting

material such as woodash, grass and manure.

Pack it in quite firmly.

3. Now measure out from the basket, one arm’s length, all around in a circle. This is where

the rock wall will go. It will be about 1.5-2 metres in diameter. This diameter is measured

from one side of the bed to the other. Build a wall about 1 meter high with an entrance to

the basket. This entrance should be about 60 cm wide.

4. Fill up the inside of the circle as you go,

making alternate layers of soil-manure, soil-

ash, soil-plant wastes, soil-manure and so on

until you reach the top. The soil should reach

from the top of the wall to the top of the

basket in a gentle slope. Do not make it flat.

HERE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE WHERE

THE CENTRAL BASKET IS MADE OUT

OFA FEED BAG

LEFT:TWO DRAWINGS SHOWING

WHAT THE BED WILL LOOK LIKE FROM

THE SIDE AND FROM ABOVE

Seen from the top it looks

like a key hole …

… from the side it looks

like a house.

THE ENTRANCE CAN BE SEEN

AND THE CENTRAL BASKET

MADE OF BRANCHES AND

LINED WITH GRASS

page 190 HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

5. The soil must then be covered

with a thick mulch of dried

grass and leaves and must

always be covered like this. The

basket must have a cover of

grass on top of the manure.

How do I use the key hole

garden?

Rotating crops

It is a good idea to grow different

crops in different places each

season. Divide the garden into

4 pieces.

1. The first section is for leafy

crops (except spinach)

2. The second section is for root crops and spinach

3. The third is for peas and legumes in winter or potatoes, egg plants, tomatoes, peppers and

chillies in summer. These need extra wood ash in the soil to give a good crop

4. The fourth section has 2 kg of lime dug into it and is covered with a thick layer of manure

and mulch. This section rests for 1-2 months before the manure is dug in. Now the leafy

crops are planted here.

Every time you plant, you move

the crops around to the next

place.

Plant onions all among all the

crops.

Plant herbs and strong smelling

plants such as chives,

nasturtiums and marigolds

around the edges of the garden.

ABOVE:A KEY HOLE BED BUILT ON HARD CLAY

(from D. Hall and V. Gibberd for LRAP)

➋

➊

➌

➍

THIS DRAWING ILLUSTRATES

HOW CROPS ARE ROTATED

HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUESpage 191

Sowing seed

To sow seed, pull the mulch aside, leaving a line of soil exposed. Here, you make a furrow and

put your seeds in. Cover with earth and pat it down a little. Water the seeds and then cover the

line with mulch again. As soon as you see the seeds coming up reduce the mulch so that

enough sun shines on the seedlings. Always leave a light cover of mulch, so that the soil does

not dry out.

Watering the garden

1. Grey or waste water from the home is poured into the basket. You can pour it underneath

the mulch in the basket. From here it spreads into the rest of the bed.

2. The next time the

waste water is

poured onto the

plants. Move the

mulch aside and

pour the water

along the root line.

Then replace the

mulch.

3. If you have a bucket

or a drum spare, put

it in the garden to

store water as it is

best to water early

in the morning or

evening, not in the

heat of the day.

A few more ideas

Pit compost

Here compost is made in a pit, rather than on top of the ground. This saves a lot of moisture

and the compost can remain moist for some time. It also saves a lot of material needed to cover

the compost heap.

The pits are dug about 1 metre wide, 1 metre long and 1 metre deep. They are then filled with

manure, ash and vegetation such as weeds. A central stake helps to aerate the compost. The

heap is covered with grass or a plastic covering such as an old feed bag.

HERE ONE CAN SEE THE SLIGHT SLOPE OF THE BED TOWARDS

THE EDGE, THE USE OF MULCH AND THE OWNER WATERING HER

BED WITH A BUCKET

page 192 HOMESTEAD IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

Below are two pictures demonstrating the idea.

Planting pits

Grain seeds (such as maize, sorghum, wheat etc.) are planted

in small pits in the fields.

Dig a pit in the soil about 15-20 centimetres (cm) deep and

25 cm wide. Dig one of these pits every 80 cm throughout

the field. Put some manure, ash and compost or crop waste

in each pit. When the rains come, plant 4-6 seeds in each pit.

(from Footsteps, No. 41 Dec 1999)

Terraces/ stone mulched beds

These are useful when your soil is very shallow and

you need to build up your beds or soil. It also

conserves moisture as the stones act as a mulch on the

edges of the beds. Here are a few pictures as an idea.

ABOVE:THIS BED IS BUILT UP

AND MULCHED WITH STONES TO

CONSERVE MOISTURE

LEFT:THIS GARDEN IS BUILT ON

A VERYROCKY SLOPE. ALL THE

BEDS HAVE BEEN BUILT UP AS

TERRACES. THE SOIL AND WATER

IS BEAUTIFULLY CONSERVED