Text and Photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
Like a bad dream, the economic crunch can’t be shooed away and it’s the housewife who agonizes the most when money gets scarce and food supplies run low. It’s she who grapples with the daily marketing list and skips the food items she can’t buy.
All it takes to solve the problem is to take stock of whatever resources are available within the immediate environment, resources which can be properly utilized to produce such essential food items as vegetables – and bid the foul-mouthed market vendor goodbye.
A vacant lot in the backyard should come in handy. With a hoe, shovel, a discarded kitchen knife and a few pesos to hire a handyman in the neighborhood to do the cleaning and preparing the lot for planting, the problem is half solved.
“A small, well-maintained garden may often produce twice the quantity of vegetables that a large, unplanned, and poorly-kept garden yields,” points out Roy C. Alimoane, the director of the Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation, Inc.
The MBRLC shares some suggestions and cultural tips to help you make your garden more productive and sustainable:
Soil and site selection: Sites for vegetable growing should be carefully selected. The site should not be an steep slope, as this could cause erosion. If possible, the soil should be sandy-loam, well-drained, and rich in organic matter.
Most vegetables do not like acid soils; however, acidity could be corrected through the use of fertilizer. The garden should not be shaded by trees, as vegetables grow poorly out of direct sunlight.
Water supply: A permanent water supply is necessary. If the supply source is a stream, then dig a well a few meters away to prevent any possible eelworm infection from the stream.
Wind protection: Wind can cause considerable mechanical damage to vegetables. The breakage of leaves and branches allows disease spores to enter exposed tissues. If there’s no protection from winds, the topsoil may dry out and the plants suffer severely. Erect protective fences or plant tall boundary crops like malunggay and kalamansi.
Layout of beds: Beds should be laid out on the country or, in heavy soils, on a slight gradient to help drainage. Raised beds are recommended to prevent water logging. In dry areas or during the dry season, sunken beds should be formed to retain water.
Mulch and shade: Mulching is very important in both nursery and vegetable plots, as in dry weather. Shade can be used for young seedlings and is particularly useful in hot regions. The shade should allow some light through and should be gradually removed as the plants grow.
Seed dressing: The seeds are dressed with the correct chemical prior to planting to protect them from soil-borne diseases. There are a number of commercial seed protectors on the market – just ask at agri-supply stores.
Watering: Seedbeds are thoroughly watered the day before sowing, as heavy watering after sowing is liable to wash the seeds away.
Sowing: Seed vegetable crops directly in the field or plant in a seedbed or seedbox, and transplant to the garden. Seeds should not be sown too deeply – not more than one to two centimeters for large seeds. The smaller the seed, the shallower it should be planted.
Thinning: The seedlings are thinned as soon as possible in order to obtain sturdy and healthy plants.
Fertilization: This is needed, particularly in the summer garden, to boost yields or to keep production heavy, especially if your soil is not in top shape or you’re just beginning to garden organically. Most plants will benefit from manure.
Rotation: Vegetable crops should be grown in rotation. The main reason for this is to prevent the build-up of pests and diseases in your garden. Rotation is when you plant string beans in the area that was previously planted to cucumber.
Weeding: At their early stages of growth, vegetable crops are poor competitors of weeds for soil nutrients. Therefore, early checking of weeds before these become established in the garden is necessary.
Cultivation: This keeps the soil around the plants free from weeds and in loose and easily crumbled condition. However, extra care is taken not to cultivate deeply to touch the roots of the grown vegetables. A hoe is the best tool in cultivating garden plants.
Pest management: Vegetables, like most other crops, are susceptible to insect and disease infestation. Check these by doing the necessary cultural practices, crop rotation, and (if needed) spraying with insecticides, nematicides, and fungicides.
Only poets and the hopelessly romantic believe that the best things in life are free. A kumadre who runs a fruit and vegetable stall in the public market in the neighborhood will tell you that all that blurb on television about cheap fruits and vegetables somewhere in the city markets is a deliberate falsehood. “Why don’t buy from that television station?” she tells her incredulous customers.
But there’s a sure way to get these items free – plant them! “Fresh vegetables from home gardens are generally superior compared to those sold in the markets that are polluted by exposure to dust and insects and by handling,” says Alimoane.
Aside from providing fresh vegetables, gardening can also be a form of exercise which can strengthens soft, flabby muscles. In addition, it can improve the appearance of the house yard. A home with lush-growing vegetables is very pleasant to look at.
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