Lessons in Gardening

As part of my continuing effort to help the Tulongeni group to become successful with their new garden, I invited 3 other Peace Corps volunteers to come and put on a workshop.  Dan, Dorothy, and Shawn are volunteers in the region and have been working together teaching gardening techniques to people at a community center in nearby Ongwediva.  With the help of my translating sidekick, Nico, the 4 of them spent a day with 12 women teaching them gardening techniques that will hopefully better prepare them to tackle the difficult growing environment here in northern Namibia.

Shawn discussing nutrition theory with Nico translating under the community etala

 

Dorothy and Dan at the garden describing how to construct a planting bed that will allow the roots to grow deep and retain moisture

 

 

The women taking part in the digging of the bed.  This technique called “double-digging” loosens the soil well below the surface which allows the roots to grow deep which eliminates competition and allows for the plants to be planted closer together.

At the end of the day we had completed two beds planted with carrots and cabbage. 

Getting vegetables to grow is the first challenge, and is probably the largest.  I am very grateful that Dan, Dorothy, and Shawn made the bumpy trip to Enguwantale to assist me in this cause.  And I am of course always grateful to Nico and his endless support during my entire service so far.  Without him, it’s hard for me to imagine getting anything productive done.

The weather has been giving me a headache in my garden and I know that the women have been struggling too.  We sowed our seeds at the same time, early January, with the hope that the rain would come.  However, our timing may have been poor.  The week following was miserably hot with no relief from the rain.  Even with hand watering it was difficult to keep any moisture in the soil.  My fear now is that the seeds have been fried.  In my own garden, maybe 10-20% of what I planted has actually germinated after a month.  I am afraid the women’s garden is in worse shape.  I am looking to the sky now and all I see is endless blue.  We need the rain.  I think under normal circumstances I could care less about whether or not the rain comes but now I am feeling a bit stressed about it.  I am worried that without a successful first season in the garden the women’s morale will drop and they will abandon the garden.  I do not want that to happen in the worst way.  I am looking forward to meeting with them in May or June and teaching them about financial management and cooperative principles using them as their own example.  But before that happens, they need to grow some vegetables.