Good morning,

I am rather pleased for sharing this information and technique.  Thank you.

As a grower in learning and using a vertical water-based system and having experimented with a table system, I am very interested in learning and actually doing this.  It is a technique I will seriously consider to add to what I have now, as I seek to increase the opportunities for my students here in St. Kitts-Nevis who tour to satisfy curiosity, for adults and for Agriculture students as well, including homeowners.  One of the goals we are working here at RichMose Hydro VGarden - Crops Unit, is to have a U-PICK Farm.

I learn in a hands-on way. How may I have an opportunity to visit - Caribbean, international site?



G. Deslyn Richards
Senior Production Officer
RichMose Hydro VGarden - Crops and Factory Units
1 869 763 9453

On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 4:15 PM, Howell, Doris (FAOSLC) <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Dear Members

Interesting article about FAO’s vegetable and fruit garden grown in a bag!  Is this not a perfect solution for those who lack land space, can you see this working in your country, what is your take on it?  Read the article and let us know what you think.




Carib-Agri Moderator



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FAO’s vegetable and fruit garden for food security in rural, peri-urban and urban settings
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“I am amazed to see vegetables grown in a bag,” said 15 year-old Asad Ullah, student of the Anjumun Faiz ul Islam’ Madrassa in Rawalpindi, about a homestead garden FAO grows on its premises in Islamabad. “I will take the bag I have received from FAO to my home so my siblings can grow vegetables in it,” added the youth.
Asad was one of ten students who came to visit FAO office in Islamabad on a hot summer afternoon. Together with their teacher, Mohammad Shuaib, the students met the FAO Representative in Pakistan Patrick T. Evans, to learn about FAO activities in the country, and joined FAO team in harvesting the vegetables grown in FAO homestead garden. “We are very pleased to share our garden with students,” noted Patrick Evans. “We hope that these youths will return again and again to enjoy the harvest of other vegetables and fruits, as well as to learn how to grow a similar garden at their school.”
FAO helps to introduce homestead gardens throughout Pakistan as a means to increase food security in some of the poorest communities of the country. Research shows that homestead gardens can provide up to half of all the vegetables and a significant portion of nutrients a family needs. Typically, homestead gardens require little purchased inputs and can be easily managed by household members.
As the young visitors learned during their visit, homestead gardens can be grown in even smallest unused spaces of land, on the roofs, and even in various containers, such as was done by the FAO Office in Islamabad. Using sturdy bags, FAO team has grown tomatoes, cucumbers, gourds, okra, strawberries, and a variety of other vegetables in a small space outside the office.
FAO used the visit as an opportunity to share the produce grown with the madrassa students. Each student picked at least 1.5 kilograms of vegetables from FAO garden – the total harvest is enough to provide a nutritious meal for about 200 children. The FAO team also presented the students with a bag of tomatoes, bitter gourds, and other vegetables harvested earlier in the week. But perhaps the most important gift that the students received was the knowledge about a new way to supplement household food rations. “Today, we have learned how different ideas can be adopted and to set up a fruit and vegetable garden,” said their teacher, Mohammad Shuaib.
“If these vegetables can be grown at the FAO office, we can also grow them at our school,” said another student, 16-year old Kamran, about the experience.



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