URBAN FARMING & ITS POTENTIAL


I had been collecting kitchen waste from my home for a while.

And time came for the kitchen waste to be put to use.

So I started composting it – but not in the usual way…

That needs space which we don’t have in town.

So I relied on another composting system that requires minimum space.

The trick is to allow bacteria and fungi to partially breakdown the stuff in a bucket then burying the contents in the soil for the final phase.

This system is called Bokashi composting.

After the ‘bucket phase, my semi composted trash was ready for the field.

I don’t have access to large tracts of land.

My front yard measures roughly 300 square feet (if estimations are anything to go by).

So I buried the semi composted rubbish in beds I had created to grow vegetables.

About a month after, I sowed various vegetable seedlings and the results were quite encouraging.

Just have a look at the cover photo for this article.

Remember that I didn’t use any synthetic chemicals – be it fetilizers or pesticides – I am harvesting vegetables from my frontyard garden over a second season.

WHAT AM I SAYING?

Never underestimate the potential of what is at your disposal.

Kitchen waste…

A little space…

Your effort…

These are unseen assets.

Too often do we ignore ideas that could help us start small but dream big.

Urban farming is an option…a low cost option of producing your own food at the comfort of your home.

It doesn’t need to be sophisticated…

Plastic bags, containers, sacks – name them – are at your disposal.

No need for expensive inputs – the fertilizers, herbicides etc – you can make your own insect repellents using garlic, ginger, chilli, soap, etc.

Using the spaces around you to grow some food might not knock off the food budget completely but it can help save some cash for other things.

So think about it.

Make the space around you count – foodwise.

Spinach growing on soil enriched with Bokashi compost

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