Many homeowners with limited space in their backyards are not aware that they can cut costs on buying vegetables by growing them in those spaces.
Anthony Tumwine Senyonga, an agronomist, says homeowners with small backyards can utilise them to grow vegetables by using multi-storage gardens.
“This multi-storage garden accommodates five varieties of vegetables like tomatoes, onions, cabbages, carrot, spinach, sukuma wiki, nakati, strawberries and spices,’’ Senyonga says.
He adds that these vegetables mature within a period of three months, which gives the homeowner an opportunity to also grow them for business.
Senyonga says a homeowner who wants to start a multi-storage garden can buy a six-step wooden frame that measures six by six feet at sh50,000 from a carpentry store and a black polythene of a special gauge material of 7,000m.
“Use these black polythene sheets to cover the wooden frames before putting soil in them. These frames come in different sizes and shapes of rectangles, round and square. Some people opt not to use the black polythene sheets, choosing to go for the white or ordinary sacks of sugar and flour. However, I advise them to use the black polythene materials, because they last longer and can be used for over three years. That said, these wooden frames require technical expertise to be set up, which must be done by a professional gardener,” Senyonga says.
He adds that after setting up the frame, the gardener can mix soil, manure, charcoal dust, lake sand and ash in a ratio of 3:1:1:1:1 and fill the steps with this mixture. The garden must then be watered and left for two days before planting commences. This keeps the soil moist before planting is undertaken.
Senyonga explains that after two days, the seedlings can be planted, starting with the biggest frame, that is also the base garden. Thereafter, more gardens can be placed as the size fits.
Joan Kizza, a gardener says multi-storage gardens can either be put in the backyard or in front of the house.
She says a homeowner can construct any number of multi-storage gardens that can fit in their small compounds and plant different vegetables in each of them. However, if the homeowner has a small backyard that can only take one multi-storage garden, they can use each step of the garden to plant a different vegetable on them. Kizza adds that these multi-storage gardens also help a homeowner to carry out farming at a small scale.
