Raised moisture beds.

How to prepare a Raised moisture bed. 

Requirements

1. Top Soil

2. Compost manure or farmyard manure.

3. Dry grass.

4. Kitchen waste.

5. Hardcore or gravel.

6. A fork jembe.

7. Wooden pegs.

8. Ten 90 cm long fitos (stake)

9. A panga.

10. A claw hammer.

11. A thick polythene sheet.

Procedure

1. Select a suitable site for your garden and clear any vegetation on it. The site should be away from shade.

2. Measure land on the ground so that it is 1m wide and any desired length.

3. Fix 90 cm long wooden stakes about 30cm below the ground along the edges of the marked area. Ensure all the stakes are on the same depth and that they are at the same height above the ground to ensure a uniform seedbed. The stakes will create a framework or structure for holding the raised seedbed.

4. Inside the framework created by the stakes, lay a thick polythene sheet on the ground and on the sides of the structure. Ensure the polythene sheet is secured firmly onto the stakes using pieces of binding wire or strings.

5. Lay a 30cm layer of hardcore or gravel carefully at the bottom. Start with large stones followed by a thin layer of small stones. Ensure that the hardcore does not tear the polythene sheet.

6. Place a 10cm layer of dry grass or kitchen waste such as fruit and vegetable peels on top of the hardcore. This layer will hold the soil and prevent it from sinking in the spaces between the hardcore.

7. Add a 20cm layer of topsoil mixed with compost manure. For 1 wheelbarrow of topsoil, add 1 wheelbarrow of manure. Ensue the mixture of soil and well rotten manure is uniformly spread.

8. Tour raised moisture seedbed is now ready for crop establishment.