Water System for Peace Demonstration Farm, Uganda

This report, we wanted to introduce you to another Demonstration Farm, who was actually our inspiration in starting ours. This is St Isaac’s Training Center run by a very dedicated man named Chris. His farm covers about 4 acres and is AMAZING! They practice raised bed gardening and a technique that they call ‘double dug’ which is constantly digging and fluffing the soil to keep it loose so the roots do not have to work as hard to spread out. It is also excellent for underground crops such as potatoes, carrots, and peanuts.

St Isaac’s is completely organic with the manure from the pigs, cows, and chickens fertilizing the garden. They have kitchen key hole gardens which are basically raised bed circular gardens with a bamboo-lined compost pile in the middle, so that the kitchen waste is feeding the garden bed.

The beds are built in rows often called swales, which curve with the topography of the land so when it rains the water is caught between the beds conserving it, so it does not just run down hill. Trees are planted strategically to both acre the soil, and create a wind break for more delicate crops.

To conserve space, the chicken house is actually the roof above the cow shade. Don’t worry! The floor is solid so no waste drips onto the cows. The cows are fed garden produce waste such as potato greens, carrot tops, and chopped up banana trees.

In addition, Chris has a team of volunteers who go to people’s homes in his community and surrounding villages and help them set up their gardens.

We think St Isaac’s is pretty amazing, and someday, we hope to reach the same level of community impact that they have.

Links:

• Grassroots Uganda Facebook Page