An innovative way to use small space

By Umar Nsubuga

THE fact that you live in urban areas and you bought a small plot and you love your green plush lawn does not mean that you cannot grow your own vegetables, fruits and herbs.

Many people who previously have never gardened are trying out their green thumbs to save some green in their wallet – and you don't need a big yard to do it.

Farming is not a preserve of those living in the rural areas with big gardens; you can grow what will be served on your dinner table daily and also have a source of income.

Joseph Bukenya 20 a resident of Kabuwomero, Luwero district lives in a small two roomed house set on a plot of land measuring 100ft by 50ft. This is typical for many peri-urban poor households who cannot afford the luxury of spacious lawns and tree-lined driveways. 

Despite the small size, Bukenya has turned his small compound into a neat green garden that has become the envy of many and has now become a demonstration garden of sorts.

According to Bukenya you can plant crops and keep livestock on a limited space. The most common kind of integrated farming is growing vegetables like spinach and kales on the same structure where you keep your livestock.

Garden setting 

"I started to collect sacks which were dumped around my neighbourhood, my parents had a poultry house, so, I was able to compost chicken manure that had accumulated in the coop. This I mixed with black soil to enrich it. But I did not just fill the sacks with soil, I had to place small pebble stones at the middle of the sack, right from bottom to top, then fill the sack with soil", he explains

The stones ensure sufficient water distribution throughout the sacks during watering. In one of the sacks he grows spinach, dodo and carrots.

Bukenya says that immediately they started to grow he was happy and he became more interested that's why I started to think of using the all space for vegetables. 

He had five sacks one had spring onions, celery, tomatoes and spinach. True to his philosophy, size does not matter, which is why even in buckets there are thriving plants.

In order to ensure maximum usage of the sack, he grows some crops on the sides of the bag.

"The crops with big roots such as carrots he grows them in the compound and others in sacks, buckets and some on verandah.  I always water my vegetables and flowers almost on a daily basis so I have no such a thing as a crop-growing season. My garden is ever green, even during the dry season," he says.

Bukenya's approach to farming perhaps points to the direction that many poor urban households with limited land should take. It does not only ensure that there is something for the family to eat but also brings in a little money to meet other household needs.

Gains from my sweats 

"What I started as a joke is now a business it is now an instrumental in my life, with compound farming, I have been able to employee two workers and I pay them in time, I do not buy foodstuffs from the market because, much as I sell most of the food crops I produce, there is always enough left for home consumption," Bukenya narrates.