Hello Hive
It is barely a few days before the Christmas season begins, and by this time last year I already had a garden full of veggies; this year has been a little different, and my gardening activities are starting up pretty late. It is totally not possible to keep a garden here all year round because of two major challenges.
During the raining seasons, the floodwaters in the compound often wash away my veggies; hence, whenever the rains are at their peak, all the veggies planted get rotten and wither away.
And then again, during the dry seasons, the ground gets so dry that it becomes impossible to plant anything.
In order to grow veggies, I often make sure to raise the bed and plant seeds before the rain goes away finally and before we have this much dryness. This year I haven't followed that pattern because of several serious engagements in other things. Although I got a portion of space by the riverbank to grow some vegetables with the other women. That site is a boy far away from home, and I wish to have something closer at my doorstep here.
Last year I had some bountiful surroundings around the house and within my reach, which has equally inspired more people to venture into gardening. And even though the ground seems dry and would pose a bit of stress to work upon, I have been able to weed out the grasses and clear the stones on the portions.
A little preparation of the land here and there will make it viable and ready for planting. Just like I have learned that we are to wet the soil for at least a week and then for the seeds, some can be soaked in water to open up the pods, while I have equally learned that some seeds can even be boiled like okra seeds.
While preparing the land, I am equally sorting and sourcing seeds, and hopefully I will make this place a garden full of veggies soon enough.
Out of all the vegetables I planted last session, it is only the fluted pumpkins that have survived until now. They can continue to grow for up to a year or two and produce seeds before they wither off.
This makes it easy to grow this useful crop almost anywhere.
Other veggies are these jute mallow and African spinach that has been trying to produce some seeds but could not.
Having it within my reach is very useful, and whenever anyone seems to start having symptoms of anemia, we often use it for the treatment and prevention of the anemia.