See some pictures at the bottom!
CONTENTS
Acknowledgement
I. Planting and Harvesting
II. Income made
III. Sponsorship
IV. Training Conducted
V. Projects Conducted
- Vermincompost
- Hot Composting
- Drip Irrigation
- Planting Calendar
VI. Table Gardens
Conclusion
Acknowledgement
Hope village would like to acknowledge the input of the
following people, who played a very important part in the veggie tunnel
gardens:
1) Albert Fosso for his technical advice and mentoring Emmanuel
during the course of seasonal planting, pest management, planting calendars and
crop rotation.
2) Albie Oelfose, for financial assistance in getting sponsors
for the garden. With his help, we always had seeds, fertilizers, seedling mix
and other needs that were covered in the garden. Albie implemented a new
concept in the gardens, which is the ‘drip irrigation for veggie tunnels’.
3) Dina Tobias and Ottilie Simon the 2 ladies that continued to
water the garden, harvest, clean and ensure that the garden is up to standard
in my absence. Albie continued to support them in terms of their salaries
throughout the year.
4) Herman van Dijken who helped us to establish the tunnels and
by giving us interlocks for the pathways.
5) Emmanuel Muyumba who continued looking after the gardens,
maintaining it and implementing the planting calendars. He also supervised new
projects that were introduced to the gardens.
6) Orange Babies who sponsored Emmanuel Muyumba’s salary and
Hope Village’s water bills.
7) Standard Bank who sponsored fruit trees to the garden and who
did the planting.
We had a fruitful year with many results that we will share in
this report. We give thanks to God who gave us the strength to plant and
harvest all the crops that we introduced to the gardens.
I.
Planting and Harvesting
TUNNEL 1
This is an open tunnel with 2 pathways and 3 planting rows. The
idea was to have more space for planting and to compare it with the tunnels
that have planting bags.
First
Planting
We planted Beets during October 2012 in this tunnel and we harvested
during March 2013. The total amount of Beets was 32.8 Kg, which fed the Hope
Village children. The Beets took 5 months to grow and we harvested as the need
arose at the Hope Village kitchen.
Second
Planting
Then we planted Cauliflower in this tunnel on the 25th of April
2013, after the Beets came out. We had a bit of a delay with the seed supply
and that is the reason why the winter crops were planted a few weeks late. The
total harvest for Cauliflower was 25.8 kilograms. The Cauliflower was harvested
finally, on the 9th of September 2013.
On the 25th of April 2013, we planted Onions in the second row. The
final harvest was done on the 7th of October. The total harvest of Onions
was 38.3 Kg.
The 25th of April 2013, we planted Lettuce in the
third row and the final harvest was during the last week of August 2013. The total harvest for Onions was 17.6 Kg.
We currently have Squash, Butternut and Beetroots growing in
this tunnel. From October 2012 to November 2013, we have had 3 planting cycles.
TUNNEL 2
This tunnel has 3 rows and we have planted twice this year.
We had a serious problem with the cabbage on trial in this
tunnel. This was the time that a test was conducted on whether or not we could
grow cabbages in veggie tunnels in planting bags. They were affected terribly, by
aphids, a white powdery mildew and other small insects. We could not harvest
anything from this batch at all.
Row
A has 147 Planting Bags
For our second planting in this tunnel on the 16th of
April 2013, we planted Carrots. This was harvested in middle August 2013. The
total harvest was 25.8 Kg and we sold 4 Kg for the amount of N$20.
We are currently growing Eggplants in this row. The tunnel is
fitted with drip irrigation this year, on a trial basis.
Row
B has 185 Planting Bags
The first planting that took place in this row was that of Cabbages,
which did not do well. We then planted Spinach in middle February 2013. We had some
trouble with this Spinach, as it was attacked by red spider mite and the plants matured too early. Other than that,
the harvest was good, with big healthy leaves of Spinach. The total harvest was
137 Kg of Spinach over a period of 8months. We will keep the Spinach plants
till next year February.
Row
C has 157 Planting Bags
Our second planting in this tunnel occurred on the 16th
of April 2013, when we planted Carrots. This was harvested in middle August
2013, through to September. The total harvest was 37.8 Kg and we sold some of
it for an amount of N$55.
We are currently growing Carrots in this tunnel.
TUNNEL 3
With 3 rows in this tunnel, we have planted 3 times this year.
We had a good year of planting and harvesting in this tunnel. We
experienced very little problems with disease and pest. The weather favored the
plants as well.
Row
A has 170 Planting Bags
On the 6th of December 2012, we planted Carrots. This
was our first planting in the tunnel. The harvest took place middle April 2013
and this was a once off harvest. The total harvest was 11Kg. The harvest went towards
feeding the kids in the 4 Hope Village houses.
On 17 April 2013, we planted Beetroots. This was our second
planting in the tunnel. The first harvest took place middle August 2013 through
to September and we kept harvesting as the need were in the houses. The total
harvest was 23.62Kg. The amount that went to the 4 houses was 19.62 Kg. We sold
4 Kg of the harvest for an amount of N$20.
We are currently growing Peas in this row on a trial,
implementing the 4 year planting calendar.
Row
B has 191 Planting Bags
The first planting that took place in this row was Spinach which
did well.
Tunnel Number 3 Row B was closed after the harvest of Spinach.
This tunnel was planted on the 28th of February 2012 and was closed
on the 10th of April 2013. The Spinach plants lasted for 1 year and 2
months. Out of the 191 planting bags came an amount of 6,060 Spinach leaves weighing
about 238.74 Kg. The harvests of Spinach leaves took place at least once every 2
weeks and sometimes even more as the demand arose in the Hope Village kitchen.
We had a problem with fungus towards the beginning of this year and it caused a
decrease in the harvest yield. We fixed this by removing the sand out of the
bags to be sterilized. In all I would say that this was a good year and the
harvest met the demands of the Hope Village kitchen with some spare, for
selling. The amount of cash that we recorded with the harvest sales was N$55.
On the 17th of April 2013, we planted Broccoli, being
our second planting in this row. This was harvested in middle August 2013,
through to September. The total harvest was 25.3 Kg and we sold some for an amount
of N$50.
Due to the late planting of the Broccoli we did not bring in the
greatest heads, although they were looking fine. We gave a lot of the leaves to
the kitchen and sold the rest. The heads were sometimes weighing up to half a
Kg. We are currently growing Tomatoes in this row.
Row
C has 170 Planting Bags
On the 6th of December 2012, we planted Carrots being
the first planting in this row. This was harvested in the first week of April
2013 as a once off harvest. The total harvest was 16 Kg, which went to the Hope
Village kitchen.
We are currently growing Spinach in this row.
TUNNEL 4
Having 3 rows in this tunnel, we have planted 3 times this year
in row C and 2 times in rows A and B. We had a good year of planting in this
tunnel. We did not experience that much problems with disease and pest. The
weather favored the plants as well.
Row
A has 172 Planting Bags
On the 11th of December 2012, we planted Green
Peppers. This was our first planting in the tunnel for this row. The harvest
took place from the middle of March 2013 and continued through the month of
April 2013, before the cold season of winter started. The total harvested was
75.5 Kg. The number of fruits was 930 Green Peppers. The harvest went to the 4
houses and an amount of N$45 was received from sales.
We had a good harvest of Greens this term and we did not
experience any problems with pest and disease. They grew very well; the houses
really enjoyed them. We sold each Kg for half the price they sell at the
vegetable store.
We kept only 2 plants per planting bag in row A in tunnel 4,
which has 172 planting bags. The total number of Peppers on this row was 324.
Some plants gave more fruits than others. But in total each
plant gave us at least 2 fruits. What I realized was that the fruits did not
always weigh the same. The number of fruits might be the same but the weight
differed from harvest to harvest.
On the 22nd of April 2013, we planted Broccoli. This
was our second planting in the tunnel. The first harvest took place at the end
August 2013. The total harvest was 20 Kg. The amount of harvest that went to
the 4 houses was 16 Kg. We sold 4 Kg for an amount of N$20. We are currently
growing Beans in this row as part of our planting calendar.
Row
B has 191 Planting Bags
On the 17th of April 2012, we planted Spinach. This
was our first planting in this row. The first harvest took place middle August
2013, through to September. We kept harvesting as the need was in the Hope
Village houses. The total harvest was 23.62 Kg. The amount of harvest that went
to the 4 houses was 19.62 Kg. We sold 4 Kg of the harvest for an amount of
N$20.
We are currently growing Peas in this row, implementing our 4
year planting calendar.
The first planting in this row did well. This row was planted in
August 2012 and will be closed in January 2014. The Spinach plants will have
lasted for 1 year and 4 months. Out of the 231 planting bags came an amount of
6,062 Spinach leaves weighing about 265.3 Kg. The harvests of Spinach took
place at least once every week and sometimes even more as the demand determined
in the Hope Village kitchen. We had a problem with fungus and crickets during the
beginning of this year, which caused a decrease in the yield. However, we
removed the crickets one by one. The yield increased after this.
Row
C has 182 Planting Bags
This row was planted in August 2012 and will be closed in
January 2014. The Spinach would have lasted for 1 year and 4 months. Out of the
231 planting bags came an amount of 6,262 Spinach leaves weighing about 285.3
Kg. The harvest of Spinach took place at least once every week and sometimes more
as the demand in the Hope Village kitchen would be. Once again, in this row, we
had a problem with fungus and crickets during the beginning of this year, which
caused a decrease in the yield. However, we removed the crickets as well and
the yield increased after this.
II.
Income Made
Hope Village was able to produce and sell produce worth N$1,017
from the local gardens. This was mainly from the sales of Spinach, Green Pepper
and Beetroots. The excess was sold to the community and staff who needed
vegetables after the Hope Village houses had enough. The prices were much lower
than that of the local stores.
The income that we made this year from the veggie tunnels became
our garden petty cash. We used it for transport and purchasing small items such
as spades and garden tools.
The women went to sell Spinach to the community twice this year
and it was a great experience for them.
III.
Sponsorship
We receive sponsorships through Albie Oelfose for running cost,
project implementation and the 2 ladies’ salaries who are working in the
gardens.
He continuously got seeds and fertilizer as this was one for our
greatest need in the gardens.
The total amount that we worked with for seeds
this year was N$1,130
The total amount that we worked with for 6
fertilizer bags was N$3,180
The salary of the women that assisted me
during the year was N$12,600
We bought a spraying bottle with organic spray
this year for N$460
Total running cost - N$17 060
Then there was:
+ The Veggie tunnel Drip Irrigation research
which cost N$20,665
+ Vermicomposting trial research which cost
N$3,400
+ The Veggie tunnel renovation project which
cost N$2,450
+ Training Materials which cost N$ 1,310
Total other cost - N$27,825
Total worth of harvest consumed and sold – N$ 29,323
Through the Hope Village veggie tunnels we conducted 2
researches that involved financing. This was the implementation of drip
irrigation for veggie tunnels in the planting bags. The total amount that went
into the study was N$20,665. We bought a pump, filter, pipes, wires, connectors,
adapters, water taps and valves, labor, power cables, switches and
drippers.
We invested an amount of N$3,400 for the trial of
vermicomposting. We wanted to see whether this could be an option for use with
the tunnels. It was quite successful.
We also invested an amount of N$2,450 into the renovation of 3
of our tunnels. This was to replace tunnel arches and in some cases the
netting.
We invested an amount of N$1,310 into training materials for
students who went through practical training and theory in veggie tunnel
gardening.
This was the amount that we approximately spent during 2013 in
the running and maintaining of the veggie tunnels. Other costs such as the
water bills and Emmanuel’s salary came through the sponsorship of Orange
Babies.
IV.
Training Conducted
Through Hope Village and the veggie tunnels, we were able to
train students from different communities as TOGs (Trainers of Gardeners), 4
times this year. This training took 5 to
10 days. The shortest training took us 1 day for Table Gardening.
These are the communities and individuals that were trained by Emmanuel
Muyumba – Horticulture TOT in Veggie Tunnel Production:
Paulus from the DiHokoHoko community in the
Kavango Region
The Sun students from west Caprivi under
Kyaramacan
Students from the Gobabis Community
Aina Jeremiah - Training in Table Gardening
Students were trained how to:
* Install a veggie-tunnel and repair it
* Plant, care and harvest vegetables (how and
when to water, how to
harvest certain crops and when to harvest
them)
* How to control water
* The use of Planting Bags
* Soil selection for the preparation of
planting
* Planting calendars and crop rotation (Crop
cycles and sterility of the sand)
* The use of Hydroponic Fertilizer
* How to choose a good cultivar in vegetables
* Problems to expect and how to address them
(Pest Control and Diseases)
* Basic entrepreneurial skills necessary for
sustainable gardening (Data
Recording, marketing and income generating
through Veggie-tunnels)
* Introduction to Table Gardens
V.
Projects Conducted
- Vermicompost and Hot Composting
The
compost Farm had 3 sectors measurements
Sector A:
Length of 1.15m and width of 95cm
Sector B:
Length of 95cm and width of 95cm
Sector C:
Length of 95cm and width of 95cm
Sector D:
Length of 95cm and width of 95cm
This is
where we kept the leaves and waste that were added as green matter to the
vermicomposting sectors.
The
compost farm was covered by pieces of wood that were joined together to protect
the worms from the harshness of the Sun.
After 3
months we harvested 3 wheelbarrows of Vermicompost that we added to the soil in
tunnel 1, since it’s an open tunnel. The compost was dark and rich and really
looking good. Unfortunately something went wrong with the experiment and all
the worms disappeared. We then decided to turn the whole space into 1 sector
for hot composting.
- Drip Irrigation
As
mentioned earlier on, Hope Village veggie tunnels became a training ground for
a new concept in irrigation. This was absolutely new since there has not been a
design for veggie tunnels with planting bags, yet.
We are
still manipulating a couple of outcomes with what we have received, to see
whether we can improve on the general solution for drip irrigation. So far the
design consists of drippers on a water line, feeding each planting bag.
- Planting Calendar
We also
implemented a 4 year planting program based on a planting calendar. This helps
us to see which crops will do better in the planting bags in the veggie
tunnels. The existing planting calendar for our purposes was a trial and it has
proven to be efficient. We have added 8 new crops to the veggie tunnel
production program:
* Cauliflower
* Broccoli
* Beans
* Peas
* Butternut
* Squash
* Potatoes
* Eggplant
VI.
Table Garden
Orange Babies Table Gardens
This garden project was sponsored by the Namibia Horticulture
Trust for 8 women from Orange Babies. This was done to help the women growing
in planting bags for home consumption. During my last visit to the women and
their gardens, they reported that the gardens were a source of great benefit to
them and their families. These women live in rural areas where 1 household has
a family of about 6 people. They trade some of their harvests for basics needs
such as:
• Bread
• Tomatoes
• Paraffin
• Sugar
They also sell to their neighbors and with the money they earn,
they buy these basic needs. Some of them have planted more Spinach from the
seeds that they received, in extended gardens.
They have experienced problems with mice who come to eat the
leaves of their Spinach plants in the extended gardens. They request help with
a net to cover these gardens. They also requested more seeds and fertilizer.
Conclusion
We have really had a great year with all the changes that we
were implementing in the veggie tunnel gardens and we cannot thank all the
parties enough for their contributions to the whole project. Hope Village would
however like to make some suggestions and requests:
Needs for 2014:
1) Seeds for
* Spinach
* Carrots
* Onions
* Leeks
* Green Pepper
2) Planting Bags
* 1 800 new pant bags
We would also like to request for:
New veggie tunnels for 3 tunnels
1 Wheelbarrow
1 Garden Pickaxe
10 cubic meters of new sand
This Report was compiled by -
Emmanuel Muyumba
Horticulturist TOT in Veggie tunnel production
+264813899866
