The farmers of Lukindu village are getting ready for August’s planting season. Before dawn, every Friday they drowsily meet at the village borehole to fill up their jerrycans and then trudge up the hill to John Ssentongo’s model farm to irrigate the fourteen nursery beds that they have planted.
The farmers have combined their skills and efforts into a co-op where they will share their agricultural knowledge and reap the fruits of their labors.
The seeds sowed include cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, onions, eggplant, greens, and flowers.
They have been experimenting with a variation of designs to fully utilize the strength of the soil. Most seeds were planted in traditional rows bordered by banana tree trunks and shaded from the sun by banana leaf shelters. Some plants will be grown circularly around a dirt hill with a manure-centered cap. Water is poured over the top and runs down the side to provide a nutrient rich snack to the seedlings.
They will donate the seedlings grown in Children Sure House’s nursery beds to 15 families in September. The benefiting families will be instructed in nursery bed care, receive the harvest, and learn seed saving techniques to sustain their nurseries for future planting seasons.
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