Sandy, a volunteer at the Goducate model farm, has started to introduce backyard farming to the Talahiban area, where he works. He has “borrowed” 1 kg of African night crawlers from the model farm for the first family in Talahiban to start backyard farming. The condition is that 1 kg of worms will be returned to the farm in 3 months’ time. The worms will be used to make compost.
First, Sandy taught how to make the vermicomposting beds—starting with a layer of banana stalks, then cow manure and other decaying leaves and grass, then the worms, and finally covering everything with banana stalks to maintain a moist environment.
While the guys were making the vermicomposting beds, the mother and some of the children planted the eggplant seedlings brought from the model farm. They also prepared a nursery, in which they sowed eggplant seeds. They will be planting bittergourd and tomatoes within a week.
We hope they will get a harvest in 2 months’ time. Our bigger hope is that other villagers in Talahiban will start backyard farming and that our veg@table program will improve the nutrition of the children in poor villages. It is quite common for poor families to flavor their rice only with packets of instant noodles.
