Deciding When to Plant
Bible Reference Proverbs 3:13
Memory Verse “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold…”
Wisdom is from God and uses the knowledge God has given us in a positive way to help others.
Having created a garden and considered which plants to grow. It is necessary to prepare for planting by ensuring the soils are well dug and the drainage is adequate. The bed also needs to be weed free to allow the plants to thrive as much as possible.
It is a good idea to choose plants that have a quick growing time and hence have more than one season per year. Salad items that can be used to fill out a meal with healthy nutrients or make an accompanying sauce for potatoes, rice, posho or millet etc. can be grown all year round in the keyhole or container gardens. The gardener is able to water and provide compost all year round.
Source: Garden Crop Rotation – A Simple System Better Hens & Gardens
In addition to the keyhole garden which provides flavour to cooking with herbs and salads etc. the diet requires carbohydrates and proteins in order to be healthy.
As a community, discuss together where you can work together to plant such crops as bananas, maize, sugar cane and beans etc, so that the variety of foods being grown is wider as a community but can be swapped or exchanged amongst yourselves.
Once it is decided which crops to grow, refer to the planting calendars and note down when they need to be planted, harvested.
It is also important to note that crop rotation can support the soil recovery. Study the crop rotation cycles to support when to plant in fields.
Planting companionships are worth exploring to protect the soils from overuse by one type of crop being repeatedly planted.
Planting Calendars
Source: http://www.fao.org/agriculture/seed/cropcalendar/
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