ByVincent Kipyegon
A MULTI-STOREY KITCHEN garden is a type of vertical farming technique used for growing fruits and vegetables in limited spaces. It entails building multi-level farms using stacked gardens in vertical models. A multi-storey kitchen garden can be set up in fields, on balconies, or in house yards. They are essential in reducing poverty and hunger among households in both urban and rural settings.
Vertical farming is an innovative technique for sustainable food production to increase food security and produce income regardless of location in Kenya”, according to Silas Kipruto, a multi-storey garden specialist from Kericho. “Multi-storey gardens on a piece of land can yield 10 times what a typical open field of the same size can yield,” adds Kipruto.
The following crops can be grown in multi-storey gardens:
Vegetables: Kales (Sukuma wiki), coriander (dhania), carrots, lettuce, black nightshade (managu), amaranth (terere), spinach, spring onions, leeks, cow peas, beans, open field tomatoes and chillies.
Fruits: Strawberries, passion fruits, gooseberries.
Herbs: Aloe vera and rosemary.
Other types of vertical farming
Sack gardens: This is a type of garden created using sacks and plastic bags filled with soil and manure, and crops are planted on the sides. The sacks have uniformly distributed tiny openings for planting vegetable seedlings.
Hanging gardens: A hanging garden is a garden suspended on a vertical structure such as a wall, a shade or other suspension mechanism. It is an ingenious garden structure that may be utilised
to grow vegetables and fruits.
Recycled clothes gardens: A recycled clothes garden is created by repurposing old clothes to create a space for growing food. Unwanted and used synthetic fabrics, such as jeans, can be recycled and turned into gardens by filling soil and manure and punching planting holes. The top open area and the side holes are filled with seedlings.
Benefits of multi-storey kitchen gardens
Increased food production: This gardening technique allows for maximum production of fresh vegetables and fruits for household consumption.
Source of income: Surplus food crop production can be sold in the market, providing a supplementary income source for the farmer.
Minimum labour required – Multi-storey gardens eliminate the need for backbreaking labour; it only requires minimum maintenance on weeding and watering.
Economical: A multi-storey garden can be created using locally available materials and affordable materials. Once installed, the garden has a lifespan of over 5 years.
Aesthetic value: Multi-storey gardens create visual appeal and beauty to the environment.
Constructing a multi-storey garden
A multi-storey structure consists of six circular layers stacked on top of one another, each layer ring having a height of 20cm. The base layer of the multi-storey garden has a diameter of 2 metres (6 feet), the diameters of the subsequent 5 ring terraces decrease by 1 feet, creating a staircase with terrace space for cultivating crops.
The soil should be rich in organic matter and soil PH between 5 and 6. Addition of lime during preparation is recommended. Next, dig seed holes that are 25 cm high, the seeds or seedlings can be sown on the terrace’s sides.
The material for creating ring layers is a high density polythene dam liner which ranges in price of ksh1200 – ksh2500 depending on the thickness (0.5mm -1mm). Each layer is filled with a mixture of well drained fertile soil free from pathogens and soil-borne diseases and compost or animal manure at a ratio of 1:1.
A single multi-storey garden can support 100-150 plants, depending on the crop planted, 50 strawberry plants can be planted in a single garden. Multi-story gardens can be manually irrigated with watering cans or sprinklers installed around the farm.
Pre-perforated drip lines can be laid across gardens with multiple stories. Irrigation can be done twice or three times per week, depending on the weather.
Challenges of multi-storey garden farming
- Pests and diseases can quickly invade and spread throughout the garden causing significant losses. It’s ideal to carry out frequent garden inspection and best farming practices. Insect and pest attacks can be avoided by implementing integrated pest management strategies.
- Irrigation systems for vertical farming system can be costly but the benefits are substantial.
Best practices of a multi-storey garden farm
- Practice intercropping; growing pest-repellent crops such as onions, spinach, leeks and coriander with other vegetables.
- Practice crop rotation to preserve healthy soil structure and break the life cycle of insects and pests.
- Mulching of the gardens to prevent moisture loss and formation of weeds.
- Observing proper farm hygiene practices to prevent introduction and spread crop diseases.
- Use organic manure (animal manure and compost manure) to enrich soil nutrients.
In conclusion, maximising the limited space available with a multi-storey garden is a beneficial technology for increasing food production and generating revenue for farmers in both urban and rural areas. It is a smart farming technique that can alleviate extreme hunger and poverty for vulnerable households in Kenya
James Ochieng works at Biovision Africa Trust under the Farmer Communication Program