Greeting from OTEPIC-Kenya!
We recently trained 83 farmers, sixty percent of whom were women, in growing foods using biointensive agriculture. We covered the basics, including:
Double digging to enhance root penetration and increase aerate soil
Composting, using locally available resources, to enhance soil fertility
Companion planting to reduce pests and diseases and attract beneficials.
Close plant spacing to conserve moisture, suppress weeds and in some instances, create a mini-climate
Use open-pollinated seeds adapted to local conditions and to preserve genetic diversity
Whole garden system that provides all of the inputs within one garden
Calorie efficient crops to select crops that provide a large amount of calories in limited space
Carbon efficient crops to produce components for making compost and thus, build soil
May rainbows stream endlessly through your heart,
Philip
wow these all look interesting topics! never heard about calories and carbon efficent crops. Could you give us some more info about them?
ReplyDeleteAbout areating soil I know is possible to use keyline digging for large scale horticulture. But for samll gardens wouldnt be easyer just build soil up?
your job is great! keep it real!
Roberto
I am looking to establish a similar project in Southern India and would love to connect with you on some of your teaching strategies in implementing bio-intensive and organic small scale gardening!!
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