the productive garden

This year we mainly dealt with the construction of beds. How does a hill bed work? Can you install water storage tanks? Especially on the half-day shaded side of the Makutihouse, a raised bed was set up with a lot of energy. Even if other beds work well, this was the biggest success this year.

The bed at the bathroom was finally laid out according to the principle of a hill bed and offers protection and at the same time a view of the open outdoor pool. If you have to go to the toilet, that is definitely the best view you can have in the garden of wonders.

A lot of water is used when washing dishes. It was obvious to create a bed there as soon as possible to use this water. In addition to flowers, bamboo species and herbs were also planted. The first shoot of the giant bamboo had already reached the roof edge of the kitchen house after four months. A type of basil has also established you well. The rosemary still falls short of its expectations. Thanks to the constant supply of dish water, the area of the garden is one of the lush parts.

Since the bananas have proven themselves in the last year, many were replenished. Furthermore, the papaya is the most harvested fruit and is part of the daily menu in the garden of wonders. Nevertheless, it can be noted with concern that many little trees are not doing well and some have died. We haven't yet found out why.

After Salma showed that the garden of wonders can be productive, we created several small beds and mainly dealt with protection from the sun. Protection especially for our little ones. Working against the constant dehydration requires a lot of strength and brains.

The nutrients in the soil are quickly used up and some cow dung is collected to improve the barren soil. Nevertheless, the harvest success should not be repeated this year.
Nevertheless, the boys learned a lot in dealing with the plants and developed new cultivation strategies. Especially in the offspring, Prosper has had many successes.

The principle of societies of many useful plants is also evident in several places in the bustani ya maajabu. We have not yet found out which plants support each other, since the problems with water and nutrients have a significantly higher share on growth.

It can be stated that a sun protection that can be established with a wooden frame and the passion fruit in a few months has a particularly positive influence on the plants below. So we want to produce even more of these natural sun protection options next year.

The productive garden expands year after year. First round raised beds were created, two further large beds with a wooden frame on which the passion fruit is to grow as a sun canopy. This year (2019) two more beds were roofed over and one fenced off in order to make some progress.

The water supply is provided by a solar pump but the water contains too much salt for seedlings. Larger plants can cope well with the water from the cave. But the small plants need fresh water which has to be transported from the village.

Earth was delivered by trucks, red earth and black earth. The typical African soil, however, must be protected from drying out. A layer of soft dead Baobab tree wood and a canopy protects the beds from drying out.

At the end of the year the garden is full of power again. Cereals and vegetable plants cover the beds.

2018 was a productive year. We owe this to Aly who built and maintained the small nursery. There were plenty of tomatoes, pumpkin, corn, bananas, passion fruit, papayas, chili and much more.

Water remains a problem.  A lot of money was spent on trucks of fresh water. The solar pump caused difficulties after three months and was uninstalled. The handling of pumping systems still has to be learned by the boys on site.

With the simplest of means, it took a lot of effort to plant and harvest some plants. It is quite possible to provide for oneself in this barren bushland. We stay close to this dream every year.

The land consists of coral stone and is difficult to level. Before earth can be ordered a basic structure has to be worked out. Over time, soil comes to the top and the first trees are planted. Important trees such as avocado, mango and papaya are planted at the beginning, as they sometimes need a lot of time to grow.

After the bordering of the beds for vegetables, the inner one was filled with a plant cut like a hill bed. Then ist was coverd withe soil.
The soil had to be sieved three times to remove most of the plastic. This was a time consuming process.

Wringing fruit from this land is a hard task. Building the soil fertile and sustainable will take a lot of effort and strength. But as the Zanzibar sun shines incessantly, good water management will succeed in establishing permaculture and creating a flowering garden.