Forest Garden project progress is simply amazing!

Photos tell more than any words about the amazing progress that farmers are making in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland funded Forest Garden project.

Seed need soaking for them to germinate
Germinated seeds ready for planting (the root has germinated, the actual plant growing upwards will germinate once planted in the soil
Seeds are placed in a hot boiled water and let to cool down
Lighting a fire in the field
Drawing a map of the field at the beginning of the project in order to use it as a basis of planning a Forest garden and to use it as a baseline for the project
First everything is demonstrated on the flip chart, then farmers do it for their own homesteads as ‘home work’
Seedlings have grown well. More training is offered in how to intercrop maize and pigeon peas, how to grow sweet potatoes and vegetables
Border trees will be planted in three rows to form an impenetrable live fence (hedge). The outer circle is Acacia polycantha, middle row is Leucaena and Gliricidia mixed, the inner row, Gliricidia only (or mixed). All will be kept chest high by pruning. Trees are planted at 30-50 cm interval.
Different planting methods are shown to improve cropping. Here the chaka hoe is used to make holes for planting maize rather than breaking the soil surface all over
First trainings at the joint gardens that will work as demonstration sites and learning sites for the whole group. From here each group member copies the technology to his/her own homestead
Establishing the nurseries has required an enormous amount of work. But they are attractive places for the groups to meet. Each farmer has a patch of his own seedlings even if the nursery site is a joint place.
Getting to individual farms to get the baseline data can be adventurous
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