The Zimbabwean Gardener Issue 15 Summer 2015/2016 Low res | Page 19

In the veggie garden

Growing veggies at home this summer
These next few months are the most exciting time of the year for avid vegetable gardeners.
The crops that are not able to be grown in our cold winter should already be in the ground.
At Foundations for Farming, we focus on conservation
agriculture. Fortunately, all the principles we promote apply
perfectly to vegetable production. The principles are the
following:

Minimal soil disturbance

Make permanent beds in your garden, but do not dig them up
after each planting. Simply pull up the residual roots by hand,
add more compost, mulch and plant again.

High management

Vegetables are extremely easy to grow organically. The main
secret, though, is to produce high-quality thermal compost
that is free of pathogens, disease and weed seed. This compost
is added to the top of the beds at a rate of one wheelbarrow
per two square metres of bed.

Crop rotation

Mulch, mulch, mulch, and don’t forget the pathways. Use a
fine grass or leaves. It will help!

Rotation is vitally important in the vegetable garden and
is the reason why we classify our vegetables into different
groups. Set up your garden