Bonfire Artists

This has been a journey of firsts: first hike, first time in Africa, first time planting something, and first garden. We are studying permaculture this week and we dug and planted our first garden today. A lot of digging, almost 3 hours between the 10 of us, plus instructors and other helpers. We planted onions, bok choy, soya, millet, tomatoes, and groundnuts.
We first dug 2 deep wells to collect rainwater and prevent soil erosion. The water collects in the holes and slowly absorbs into the soil, like a gutter, it protects the bed in the middle from being eroded away by the rains.
The actual bed, a one bed garden, was quite difficult to make and usually we are supposed to make at least 3 beds. The beds need to be double dug, which is to dig about 25cm down, remove the nutrient rich top soil in to a pile, then dig another 25cm down and remove the packed dirt into a separate pile. Then we mix the two piles, along with layers of manure/compost and ash, layering each component back into the hole, like lasagna. This creates a rich, fertile, soil for plant growth, with deep rooting.
We also created a berm at the bottom of the garden to stop rainwater as it fell on the bed and streamed down the slope. This way the bed is protected on all sides, allowing optimum plant growth, channeling water where it is needed. This whole concept of permaculture is to try to imitate nature, so this little bed is a recreation of nature’s complex and cyclical functions.
We use only resources we have locally available, no fancy equipment or materials, just a hoe (jembe) and digging. All of this is new to me. Manual labor is far concept from sitting behind a desk, it makes laugh every time I think about the shift. I don’t understand germination, or why certain plants have to be planted with certain others, or organized in a certain manner, or how water is absorbed into the soil and then into the plants. You should have seen the way Lu looked at me when I high-fived Flamboyant on my first ever garden. Her look basically said: “Oh God, what are you doing in the environment sector?” Too funny.
I really enjoyed learning about it though and I still have so much left to learn. Permaculture is fascinating, especially considering the long-term benefits and increased plant production. And lord knows we finance folk get giddy at the mere thought of efficiency. All the other trainees seem to be experts already in plant and soil science, especially SoCo, IT, and Flamboyant. I do like being so connected to the planting process.
As we were shaping our bed, dark clouds swept into the sky. Sunshine stated 20mins until rain falls. It took an hour, fortunately, just in time to water our finished bed and test our wells and berm. Tomorrow, we are at the college, but Friday we will plant the berm with agave or lemon grass. In the bottom corner of the bed, we planted a banana tree, because they absorb a lot of water, thus serving as more protection. We also planted soya next to it to put nitrogen back in to the soil. Quite proud of our little garden.
When I got home today, only Lea, Tamadani, and Amidu were around. All the females of the house (except Lea) were out harvesting beans, which we later shelled and had for dinner that night (crazy to think of fresh food). While I waited for them to return from the fields, I sat on the main house verandah and wrote, and gave the three of them pens and paper. We had a blast. I feel like I’m finally connecting to my host family and it’s with drawing! The art form that surpasses language in human communication. Amidu is hilarious, he just scribbled all over the page saying his name constantly.
After the ladies of the house returned, we burned the old bean shells in a big bonfire on the large rock next to the house. All the kids gathered around, Lea was dancing, Amidu was just standing in the smoke, and Tamadani was eating sugar cane, it was a fun evening.
Dinner was quiet, as Abambo was in Dedza for a painting job, but after dinner Amayi saw the kids’ drawings from earlier and just laughed for the next hour. Joyce grabbed a pencil and drew a picture of me, which was funny because it had lots of hair. After showing me the masterpiece, she hid her face embarrassed. Then they all asked me to draw Sunshine and Flamboyant, both characters they were familiar with. I did and they all got a huge laugh, especially from my depiction of Sunshine with a cigarette and scruffy beard.
A great night, I finally felt a small connection to my host family, even though it reminded me of my own family back home.