Look at this scenario: You need green onions for your stew. You reach into your pocket, bags, only to find air and a few vibes. But wait! What if you had a kitchen garden? You could easily open your kitchen door, step outside, and pluck fresh green onions from your own garden.
Looks like magic, right? That is the power of a small homegarden. It is a simple, affordable and a sustainable solution that puts healthy food within arms reach to feed our families.
What is a Kitchen Garden?
In Kenyan homes, a kitchen garden (or rather mûgûnda in Kikuyu or kapungui in Kalenjin) is a small plot of land or even a few gunias or containers near your house where you grow vegetables like sukuma wiki, spinach, managu, terere, onions, or tomatoes, basically the basic food ingredients you need every day.
It is the farming version of “make use of the little space available”. You can put it up on your balcony if you live in an apartment with no outside space.
Why it’s More than Just Veggies
A kitchen garden is not just a cute farming hobby or a survival way to beat the tough Kenyan economy. It is sustainability in action. And here is why:
Reduces food expenses (it is way way cheaper)
Minimizes food waste (because you only harvest only what you need)
Improves nutrition (the veggies are pesticide-free and fresh)
Empowers households (this is true for women and youth in rural and semi-urban areas, they can sell it and get a little income)
And the best part about our kitchen garden? No machinery like a tractor is needed. You only need ‘you’, a normal jembe, old water cans, and lots of love.
Where to Start-
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Pick your space – You can use old tires, sacks (yes, gunia farming), or repurpose broken buckets.
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Choose your vegetables – It is best to start with sukuma, spinach, onions, and dhania, guarantees you success for a beginner.
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Enrich your soil – Make use of your kitchen waste. Yes, even that slimy banana peel will enrich your soil.
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Water smartly – Use greywater from rinsing dishes (ensure that it is not oily or soapy).
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Involve the family – You can turn gardening into a bonding moment with your kids or partner. There is power in planting, growing and finally seeing the result. It can be a teaching lesson.
Finally
With rising food prices and unpredictable weather conditions, creating a kitchen garden is no longer a trendy TikTok flex, it is a survival tool. A mini-revolution of a kind. Consider creating a kitchen garden to be a daily act of surviving these hard economic times.
Start small. Water often. Laugh when some vegetables fail (because sometimes, they will). And one day, when your guests ask where you bought that tasty and soft sukuma wiki, you can smile and say, “I got it from my kitchen garden.”
