Sh200 kitchen garden that will supply you fresh vegetables for many months

The journey from Thika to Mwingi is smooth because of the good road network, which extends further North.

However, for a first time visitor, one should be prepared for intense heat as the area is hot.

Despite the forecast that most parts of the country would receive “more than normal rains” starting October, the downpour has not began these sides.

After a two-hour drive from Thika, we arrive in Mwingi town, where we meet Joseph Mwanzia.

We find him in his 50m by 50m garden tending to his vegetables and a variety of seedlings, which include those of indigenous trees, mangoes and pawpaws.

A look at the green garden gives hope that one can farm, despite the harsh weather.

Of his crops, however, it is the vegetables that make his agribusiness stand out.

Mwanzia, who doubles up as a pastor at Africa Brotherhood Church-Mwingi, plants sukuma wiki (collard greens) and spinach in recycled plastic bags and containers and sells the package – which he calls portable kitchen gardens – to residents.

“Each bag or container hosts between five and seven vegetables; a mixture of sukuma wiki and spinach. The garden is good for people living in urban areas as they do not have space for farming, yet vegetables are an important portion of their meals,” says Mwanzia, who sells each container kitchen garden at Sh200.

COMPLETE GARDEN

He adds the garden is ideal for people living in areas with scarce water supply.

“If you get two containers with 14 crops, for instance, a jug of water is enough for the plants a day.”

If well-tended, the 14 vegetables can serve a family of four people for about five months until the season ends.

“But this will only happen if you keep them watered and scout for pests and destroy weeds.”

According to him, he grows the crops in plastic bags and containers because the two retain water.

“Gunny bags do not retain water though they host more plants. But in places where water and space is scarce, then the plastic containers work best,” says Mwanzia, who warns against excessive watering that may lead to the rotting of the crops’ roots.

He buys the polythene bags, mostly used in packing bales of wheat or maize flour, and old plastic basins at Sh10 each.

“I then mix loam soil and animal manure at a ratio of 50:50 before filling in the plastic bags and containers and planting the seedlings that I transplant from a seedbed,” says the pastor, who buys a tonne of soil at Sh2,500 and the same amount of manure at Sh4,000.

He sells the kitchen gardens about two weeks after planting to ensure one does not buy crops that may die.

“With my seedlings, one buys a complete garden and only waits to harvest. It is better than buying seedlings and going to plant,” says Mwanzia, who asks his customers to place the gardens at places where the plants can get sunlight for better growth.

He also plants tomatoes and capsicum in the containers, but during the interview, Mwanzia had sold all and was planning to transplant fresh ones from a seedbed to the containers.

His passion for urban farming started in 2006 when he faced difficulties getting vegetables at the local market.

“I started to plant vegetables for my home use in containers. I turned it into business after someone asked me to sell him one of the containers,” says Mwanzia, who sells 15 to 20 container gardens, making in total about Sh50,000 in a month.

He sells the tree and fruit seedlings at between Sh50 and Sh100 each, a price he says caters for his expenses that include buying water from vendors at Sh20 per 20-litre can. He uses 60 litres each day.

After the five months, Mwanzia says his customers return for new gardens. “Some bring the containers if they are still in good condition while others buy new ones.”

INNOVATIVE FARMERS

In the gardens, he says applying ash is enough to prevent pests and diseases, thus, the farming is organic.

Pawpaws and mangoes are common fruits in the area, but seedlings were a challenge, a gap Mwanzia has filled.

“Getting clients for me is a not a difficult task. Being a pastor, my foremost clients are in my flock but people come to me because they also trust me.”

Eunice Karanja, the national coordinator of Prolinnova Kenya, an institution that works with innovative farmers, says many smallholder farmers across the country have pioneering ideas that if shared can boost the country’s food security.

“The portrait of a farmer being someone who toils digging up the soil is long gone. You can buy the container gardens and still farm from the comfort of your rented apartment.”

Eunice notes that it is time urban families learn to be innovative to grow food.

“That way, agribusiness would not be a reserve of few people in rural areas, but instead, it can be embraced and practised everywhere, anytime.”

Lillian Jeptanui, a horticultural expert at Egerton University, says unlike gunny bags, plastic containers retain water for a long time, thus, keeping the plants moisturised.

“This means that while in plastic bags, the crops require lesser water, and save farmers from spending more. However, farmers should make small holes on the containers to allow circulation of fresh air.”

The fact that a farmer plants about seven plants in a plastic container means there is little competition and less or no diseases.

“Each crop is, therefore, able to absorb more nutrients than if it they were planted in gunny bags. For a farmer who wants to sell the plants, plastic containers are also definitely more portable than gunny bags,” she says

She advises farmers to be innovative and adopt new technologies in agribusiness.