She reaps big from cabbage and eggplants

By Stella Naigino

FROM being a house wife, Irene Sentamu decided to engage in farming to improve her livelihood.

Before she started planting cabbage and eggplants, she used to wait for her husband to provide everything but today the two join hands and provide for their family.

How she started

With almost half an acre, she decided to plant eggplants since to her they required little attention.

After seeing how much money she made, she realized she was on the right track.

She then, decided to add something else to her eggplants so as to increase her income.

Here she decided to plant cabbage as well and today as she talks about her success, she can not hesitate to smile.

How to plant cabbage & eggplant

Before she plants, she prepares the nursery bed which requires her to put some manure in the soil so that germination of the seeds goes on well.

After, Sentamu buys cabbage and eggplant seeds at sh2500 per sacket and then plants them in a nursery bed for three weeks.

After three weeks she transfers the seedlings to the main garden where they grow from.

She notes that in three months both her cabbage and eggplants mature and are ready for sell.

She also notes that soil fertility is still very important both in the nursery bed and main garden.

This goes hand in hand with watering and spraying against pests and insects that disturb the cabbage and eggplant.

Also it’s important that the garden is kept weed free because weeds compete for food with the crops.

Market

Sentamu gets her market from the local people and she sells a sack of eggplants at sh70000 and her price range for cabbage ranges between sh600-5000.

Challenges

She cites thieves who at times steal from her garden leaving her with no choice but to hire someone to look after her garden when she is away.

She also says that during times of high supply the markets are flooded with eggplants and cabbage plus other greens which makes the prices go down.