7 STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL LEAFY VEGETABLES GARDEN

Backyard garden

The need for leafy vegetables by people is always on the high to constitute part of the daily household food consumption however, supplying them in required quantity and also in their freshness has become problematic overtime because, leafy vegetables are usually in short supply and in their poor qualities in the market mostly due to the seasonality of the vegetables, methods of cultivation or post harvest handling methods. But, the good news is, you can actually be cultivating the leafy vegetables your household will consume daily in that your very backyard and even sell or give some out to your neighbours if you so wishes. Successful leafy vegetable garden isn’t difficult to establish or tiring at all. 7 steps followed judiciously will produce many enjoyable moments and abundant harvests of fresh leafy vegetables all year round for you and your family. Isn’t that interesting? Now let’s see how to go about it:     

STEP 1: SELECTION OF SUITABLE SITE

Suitable soil for planting

Choose an area with plenty morning sunlight and partial afternoon shade. 

Most leafy vegetables do better in loose well drained fertile soil, avoid compacted or stony areas. If good soil is not available, no problem, get rich top soil to make raised seed bed to grow your vegetable on.

STEP 2: MAKE RAISED SEED BEDS

Raised Seed bed

Prepare a 3m x 1m Raised Seed Bed with hoe or shovel that is at least 15cm above the ground level. Depending on the size of your garden, you can have 2 or more of these beds in your backyard therefore, ensure you keep a distance of at least 50cm between each bed for easy passage in the garden. 

 

STEP 3: MANURING OF THE SEED BEDS

Incorporation of manure 

 

Add well decomposed manure to cover the surface of the seed beds evenly, the manure should be 1-2 inches in thickness, incorporate it into the soil then and leave for 1 week before planting. If well decomposed manure isn’t available, you can use incompletely weathered manure or crop wastes especially wastes from leguminous crop like groundnut or soybean, incorporate these into the soil and leave for 2-4 weeks to completely decompose before planting. Some types of manures that you can use include; poultry manure, cow dung, hog dung and so on.

STEP 4: CHOOSE THE KIND OF LEAFY VEGETABLES TO PLANT

Select the leafy vegetables varieties to plant based on the taste of your household or the need of immediate market closer to you if you wish to sell them. Some of the common leafy vegetables you can cultivate include; Amaranthus, fluted pumpkin, Corchorus olitorus, lettuce, African eggplant, spinach and so on. However, some vegetable types have special methods of cultivating them; for instance, fluted pumpkin is a creeping plant that required staking. Well, it all depends on your choice of vegetables and always remember to buy your vegetable seeds from certified seed vendors.

African eggplant

Amaranthus

Corchorus olitorus

Fluted pumpkin

Lettuce

Spinach

 

STEP 5: PLANTING ON THE SEED BEDS

After successfully preparing the seeds bed, the next step is to plant our leafy vegetables seeds, before the seeds are sowed, the seed bed should be tilled and well watered to give the seeds better anchorage to the soil. There are generally 2 methods used in sowing leafy vegetables with small sized seeds, these are;

Broadcasting of seeds

•   Broadcasting method: where dry soil is mixed with the vegetable seeds and spread evenly on the bed however, if not properly done, there may be a situation where part of the seed bed has higher population of vegetable growth or part of the seed bed may have no vegetable growth at all. 
  

Drilling method

•   Drilling method: where small openings or holes are make across the seed bed just like drawing a line, the depth of the openings or holes are usually less than 1cm and they are few centimetres apart. This method usually allows for arrangement and organisation of vegetable plants in an orderly manner. As in the broadcasting method, mix the vegetable seeds with dry soil and spread evenly in these holes and cover it slightly with soil. This method tends to give more yield than broadcasting and also prevent seed wastage.

Nonetheless, some leafy vegetables with big sized seeds are planted at specified planting distance. For instance, fluted pumpkin and African eggplant are planted with spacing of 60cm x 30cm.

STEP 6: REGULAR WATERING AND WEEDING

Watering of spinach

Start watering as from the day of planting on the bed and keep supplying water as and when due to the vegetable plants. Inadequate water will cause the vegetable plants to wilt or even die; ensure you water with care when the plants are still tender and young. Vegetables don’t like competing for water and nutrients with weeds therefore, regular weeding is necessary; handpicking of weeds as they emerge can be a better way in controlling weed on the seed beds.

STEP 7: HARVEST GREEN

Harvesting green

Start harvesting when the plant start bringing out broad, tender and green leaves, over-matured vegetable leaves is tough and lack desired taste and texture hence, it is important to know the proper time to harvest to get the good quality vegetables we all want. If harvested vegetable leaves are not consumed immediately, store in cool place away from pests reach.   

Garden leafy vegetables can offer you a variety of experiences, nutrition and flavors throughout the year. Enjoy them all.

What type of leafy vegetable did you love to eat? What is it called in your local language?

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