Square Meter Vegetable Gardening

Mel Bartholomew's book "Square Foot Gardening' gave the liftoff to SASAC's square meter gardening project. Two of Mel's insights have been most helpful. First, give plants only the space they need, no more. Second, don't scatter seeds, plant them. It's better and quicker to re-sow for seeds that don't germinate than thin. Many of our village people don't count easily. So we made seed-sowing plates. Amrita and Sachina are using ¼ meter square plates with holes 5 cm. apart. They are planting carrots. Compost makes our soil so rich, we plant 400 carrots in a s.m. bed. The plates make sure the carrots get the space they need. The girls don't have to count. So while they plant, they can chat- always a plus!

There are 3 advantages to intensive planting in our SMVG garden. First, gardening books will tell you to plant 40 onions in one square meter. We plant 400! So we increase land by ten times. Since our poor mountain farmers have only ½ acre, they look favorably on anything remotely resembling the 'multiplication of the loaves.' Second, we water under the leaves. This saves 90% water. All of it goes to the roots, nothing evaporates off the leaves. Since no   earth in the bed is exposed, the soil stays moist in the dark. Third, after the plants get started, no weeding is needed. Weeds don't grow without light. When Adam was a bright young lad before he got Apple blindness, I wonder if he gardened in this wise way?

At SASAC we hope that during their school years, our children will learn the skills they will need in their villages. Learn too how to put their school-learning -- especially arithmetic!-- to work for them. The 'Farms' of the poor in the Himalayas average ½ acre!! Using our square meter gardening method, many farmers have increased their income 5 times-a few 10 times. The greenhouse plastic protects vegetables from frost and from downpours during our 4-month monsoons. They can grow vegetables 12 months, instead of 6. Because their beds never get     compacted, there is no heavy digging and no erosion -- a vital factor in our vulnerable Himalayas.

CHILD LABOR (OF LOVE)

Shouldn't these poor children share
In that joy beyond compare
Their father knew
When the world was new
And He took rest
Looked at the harvest
Of His love, Almighty, Wise,
And saw that it was good,
O! Very good! The very best!
And then He made these little ones
Daughters, sons
So He would see in their bright eyes
The joy He felt that day
So far away
When He made stars and flung them in the skies.