The Fiji Kitchen Garden Project

Silana Village is a community of effective farmers and gardeners. They rely on the produce of their plantations as a major source of income and food. Most families focus on growing staples such as cassava, potatoes, sweet potatoes and dalo. They will then purchase supplementary fruits and vegetables when they have extra income.

The objective of the Kitchen Garden Project is to establish small vegetable gardens close to family houses that will provide nutritious and delicious fruits and vegetables. The second aspect of the Kitchen Garden training is Feed Your Family First, which encourages community members to use the majority of their vegetable crop on their families and then sell the excess.

The Kitchen Garden Project includes a seed nursery for the whole village, a test garden to showcase organic gardening, planting, and composting techniques. Coupled with the model garden will be workshops, of which the first was successfully completed in Silana Village and positively received. Skills in the workshops will explain topics such as healthy soil, compost, fertilising, drainage and irrigation, seed harvesting, pesticide-free growing and numerous other topics. Later workshops will include healthier cooking tips and recipes. Participants will also be given journals to record their gardens and do participant research on the growth of each different vegetable.

This project will impact the health of families but also be an opportunity for children and youth to learn about growing healthy produce and about sustainable food production as well as have fun together growing as a family.

A total of £653.12 was used to purchase
Timber for planting beds
PE Foil for the greenhouse
Mosquito netting
Chicken Fencing
Seeds, including pumpkin, tomato, cabbage, cucumber, beans, onions, courgette and eggplants

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