Container Gardening or Backyard Gardening
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Many people think they cannot plant anything because they do not have plenty of land. This is not true. You can improve the family pot by planting vegetables in a little space near your house. You do not need more than 8’ by 5’ with 10-12 inches of soil to grow lettuce, calaloo, hot pepper, green pepper, tomatoes, a few okra plants and garden egg plants, cucumbers, parsley and escallion. Thyme is also a good candidate for container gardening, but it is difficult to grow on the hot lowlands in Jamaica; in the hills it can grow well.
The important thing is to make sure your small space has very rich soil. This could be a good mixture of soil, sand and of rotted vegetables, leaves and grass cuttings for example. Remember that you can make good compost if you save all the fruit and vegetable peels from your cooking, and place them deep into the soil so that they rot quickly and provide nutrition for the soil.
A 40 gallon drum cut in half can provide a space in which to grow vegetables. These are the ones in which many persons prepare Jerked Chicken on the sidewalk in the towns in Jamaica.
It is a good idea to start lettuce, tomatoes and parsley seeds in an appropriate box - such as egg containers. You can subsequently transfer them into a small bed or another container. Okras can be sown straight into the soil. These are more appropriately placed toward the back since they tend to grow tall.
Organize tomatoes in a row, string beans in another row, lettuce in a separate row and escallion and thyme in the front of the bed.
Economize on the use of water by re-using water used for bathing to water the "garden." You do not need to incur run huge water bills as a result of this method of gardening. A small bed of vegetables can be easily controlled for weeds and watering. Covering the bed with cutting of grass and rotted leaves will give protection from the sun. This is what we call ‘mulch’. It will stop water evaporating too quickly and prevent weeds from growing.
Calaloo can be grown quickly and cut regularly to improve the diet of your family. Many people keep the calaloo plants for months before replanting by removing only the larger leaves for use as they need it.
If you have bought calaloo, save the stalks from the bottom and plant these in your small bed or container. In a short time you will have beautiful new calaloo plants from which to cut the leaves.
We mention calaloo in particular, because if you can only grow one thing, let it be calaloo. Steamed with other foods it is an excellent source of iron for all members of the family, especially women. Have a lime drink with it. This helps to release the iron in calaloo more quickly.
Are you ready? - Let’s plant !!!