#doubledigging

I was having a down couple of days. Until I started in on some gardening.

I double dug a tiny (essentially one meter square) raised bed in my compound, right next to my kitchen. I mixed in a bunch of compost and watered well. It gets a fair bit of shade, so I'm thinking it will be a good spot to try out growing swiss chard and kale. I am also dying for some green beans, so I seeded a couple of those plants, too, even though they prefer direct sun. We'll see if they actually prefer the Togolese direct sun. 

I also started eggplant, cabbage and basil to transplant. I'm using used water sachets, little plastic bags that we use to make tree nurseries, or pepinieres. I tried to mimic the trays we use for transplanting back at Pomykala's. I am appreciating those summers of farm work  - as I find local materials and get inventive to garden. Staking tomato plants that Alex left me? Easy, with some sturdy sticks knocked into the ground with a big rock, then some twine. Pretty much the same as home. No black trays? Cut some holes in the plastic sachets to let water drain, fill with a mix of compost and sand, and call it a day. Watering can? Try a big metal can that once held tomatoes. Puncture a couple holes in the bottom and get on with it.

The eggplant and cabbage will go into some beds I started to prep this afternoon in my actual garden plot, a fenced area in the center of the village. It's only a couple steps from my house, but goats have broken in and eaten Alex's veggies several times before. So I won't trust my swiss chard or kale there, but it'll be fine for cabbage, which needs plenty of space.