STEP 1
Collect rubbish such as leftovers, vegetable leaves and peelings, paper, cardboard, weeds, wood ash, eggshells, dead plants and flowers, tea and coffee bags, bones, feathers, a few rusty tins, mielie stalks and cobs. Do not collect glass, plastic or nylon materials as these will not break down and enrich the soil.

STEP 2
Mark out a piece of ground the size of a door - 2m x 1m. This will become the bed in which the vegetables are grown. Make sure that you choose a position that will get plenty of sun.

STEP 3
Dig out the soil from this area to a depth of half a metre - about knee deep. Put the darker topsoil at one corner and the subsoil at the opposite corner.

STEP 4
Half fill this trench with the rubbish you have collected. Put the coarser rubbish at the bottom. Tear large pieces of cardboard and paper into small pieces and break bones and other materials into small pieces to speed up decomposition. Mix the rubbish well.

STEP 5
Wet the rubbish and press down firmly. Fill the trench immediately with the soil. Use some of the subsoil first and then all the topsoil to bring the top of the bed about 100 mm above ground level (as the rubbish rots the level will drop).

STEP 6
Rake the top of the bed smooth and level, and break up any lumps of soil.

STEP 7
Cover the bed with a thin layer of dry grass or dry leaves. This is called mulch. It will conserve water, feed the soil and discourage weeds.

STEP 8
Part the mulch with your hands to make rows for planting seeds or seedlings. You can plant immediately after preparing the bed. Most vegetables can be planted in rows 200 mm apart. Bigger plants like cabbage and bush beans must be planted about 300 mm apart. When planting seeds make shallow furrows in the soil in the partings with your finger or a stick. Make the rows across the bed, not lengthwise. Plant the seeds carefully - not too close together. Fine seeds should be planted about 10 mm deep while larger seeds like spinach must be planted a little deeper. Big seeds like beans and peas must be planted about 25 mm deep. Do not allow the mulch to cover the rows of seeds as they need light and warmth to germinate.

CARING FOR YOUR VEGETABLES

* Newly planted seeds must be watered gently and regularly for the first 10 days. After that water only 2 to 3 times a week. The soil must never dry out when the vegetables are growing - it must always be slightly wet.

In summer water your garden late in the afternoon. In winter never water your garden after 3p.m. A thorough soaking twice a week is better than a light surface watering every day. An old tin with fine holes in the bottom is an efficient way of watering especially for seeds and small plants. Dip the tin into a bucket of water and direct the spray exactly where it is required.

* When the plants are about 100 mm high spread mulch around them again.

* If you make four beds and start them 4 weeks apart, you will have fresh vegetables throughout the year.

* As soon as a row has been harvested replant with seeds or seedlings. A root crop (carrot, potato) should follow a leaf crop (spinach, cabbage) and a legume (pea, bean) should follow a root crop.

* Be sure to plant the right vegetables for your area each season. The Food Gardens Foundation provides a quarterly newsletter giving seed sowing guidance for each climatic region.

WHAT ABOUT PESTS?

Avoid using pesticides on your vegetables because, in addition to killing "pests", they also kill many useful insects such as bees and butterflies. Some pesticides are poisonous to people, and may accumulate or build up in the body as we get repeated doses of them.

Homemade organic sprays:
* Crush 10 cloves of garlic with a quarter cup of grated household soap and soak this in one litre of boiling water. Once cool, spray on the plant leaves.

* Add two tablespoons of Jeyes Fluid to a bucket of soapy water and spray or wash off leaves of affected plants with this mixture. Repeat the treatment twice at intervals of three days.

GARDENING WITHOUT A GARDEN!

If you live in a flat, or house with no garden, you can grow vegetables and herbs in window boxes or on a balcony. Sprouting uses even less space! Here's how:

* soak the seeds in water overnight in an old jam jar;

* make holes in the lid so that you can drain them in the morning;

* leave the seeds for 3-5 days, and rinse them at least twice a day - never leave the seeds to stand in water, or to dry out;

* when the sprouts are ready, eat them raw in salads and sandwiches, or cooked in casseroles, soups and stews;

* sprouts are exceptionally nutritious - they contain vitamins, minerals, proteins and enzymes.

FURTHER READING

GROWING FOOD IN TIMES OF DROUGHT. Food Gardens Foundation, address below.

Enviro Facts: Soil, Compost, Poisons in the home and garden.

USEFUL CONTACTS

Abalimi Bezekhaya. 37a Somerset Road, Cape Town, 8001. Tel. 021-252095. Vegetable growing and greening project operating in Khayelitsha and Nyanga near Cape Town.

African Tree Centre. PO Box 90, Plessislaer, Natal, 4500. Tel. 0331-948220 or 81018 or 81278. Teaches deep trench gardening techniques in Edendale outside Pietermaritzburg.

Food Gardens Foundation. PO Box 41250, Craighall, Johannesburg, 2024. Tel. 011-880 5956/7. Demonstrations, video presentations and training courses for Food Gardening in rural and urban areas. Provides workpapers and lowcost seed service.

Progreen. PO Box 2035, Gallo Manor, 2052. Tel. 011-8039750. Can provide information on permaculture in South Africa

Eco-link. PO Box 727, White River, 1240. Tel. 01311-32120. Training for rural women in vegetable gardening.

Turntable Trust. PO Box 176, Himeville, 4585. Tel. 033822 ask for 88 or 1612. Provides information and guidance on smallscale vegetable production.