A Dryland Garden Tour

Today we are going visiting.

We are going to visit a dryland garden at the Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre in Zimbabwe.

In the garden we will learn about ways to grow crops with limited water.

During the tour you will hear about mulching, pit beds, and claypot irrigation – all ways to save water in the garden.

As you know, all this is important if you live in a place that doesn’t get much rain.

Let’s start the tour.

SOUNDS OF PEOPLE WALKING AND TALKING.

We have arrived at the first stop.

If you look carefully at the soil, you’ll see some leaves, branches, woodchips, and some cardboard spread on the soil around the garden plants, in a thick layer.

This layer is called a “mulch.”

Spreading mulch on the soil is one of the best things you can do for your plants.

A cover of mulch keeps water in the soil.

It also stops weeds from growing.

As the mulch breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces it makes more soil for the garden.

The farmers here even grow special fast-growing plants that can be cut regularly to provide mulch for the garden beds.

Some farmers say that mulch protects the soil the way a hat protects your head.

It’s starting to get quite hot in the sun.

Let’s move over to the trees, and sit in the shade.

SOUNDS OF PEOPLE WALKING AND TALKING.

There, that’s better.

Much cooler.

Next to these trees we are sitting under, you can see some small tree seedlings that have just been planted.

Each tree has been planted in a circular pit.

The pit is as wide as the distance from your shoulder to your hand (60 centimetres wide).

It is as deep as the distance from your shoulder to your elbow (30 centimetres deep).

Before the tree is planted, the pit is filled with a mixture of fertile soil and compost.

The rich soil in the pit holds water well so the tree seedling will not dry out.

There is also a mulch – a layer of dried leaves and branches – placed at the base of the tree.

The mulch also prevents water from leaving the soil.

This planting method keeps the soil around the trees cool and moist.

Let’s move to the next stop.

SOUNDS OF PEOPLE WALKING AND TALKING.

We are now at the last stop on the tour.

In this part of the garden you can see a number of clay pots partly buried in the soil.

Around each pot there are several vegetable seedlings.

The pots are filled with water.

Water seeps through the walls of the pot slowly, and into the soil, providing water to the roots of the vegetables.

The roots grow close to the pot.

This saves a lot of water.

The farmer refills the pot when it is empty.

And the farmer covers the top of the pot to stop the water from disappearing into the air and to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.

FADE IN MUSIC UNDER DIALOGUE.

This is the end of the tour.

Thank you for joining us on this dryland garden tour of Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre.

This garden shows that there are many ways to grow garden crops – even if you don’t have much water.

FADE OUT MUSIC AS SHOW ENDS.