Foodgardens

School Science Lessons
School food gardens for tropical regions
Updated: 2009-02-04
Please send comments to: J.Elfick@uq.edu.au
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Preface
Before teaching this project, discuss the content of the lessons with a field officer of the Ministry of Agriculture and get advice on planting material, planting distances, site for planting, approved mulch, composting, and control of pests and diseases. Use only the procedures, agricultural chemicals and insecticides recommended by the local field officer of the Ministry of Agriculture. If you cannot control insects by hand-picking, ask the Ministry of Agriculture to recommend a chemical spray. All insect sprays are dangerous. Show the students how to use them safely. Do not get the spray onto your hands. Do not breathe in the spray. Wash your hands well after using spray. Keep the spray container in a safe place where students cannot get it. Spray on a day of no wind but if you must spray when there is a wind, spray downwind. Make sure the spray does not blow on other people.

Table of Contents
3.0.0 Measurement
6.9.1 Administration
6.9.2 List of lessons
6.9.4 Diagrams
6.9.6 Agricultural crops
Soils
6.9.7.0 Commercial soil pH test kit
6.9.15 Fertilizing the soil
6.9.16 Legumes
6.9.17 Chemical fertilizers
6.9.18 Pesticides
6.9.19 Sprayers and dusters
6.9.20.0 Understanding the records
16.13.0 Appendix

6.9.1 Administration
6.9.1a How to use school food gardens
6.9.2a Aims and goals
6.9.3a Types of school food gardens
6.9.4a Organizing school food gardens
6.9.5a Duties of a supervisor of school food gardens

6.9.2 List of lessons
6.9.1 Planning school food gardens (File: Foodgardens2.html)
6.9.2 Choosing land
6.9.3 Choosing crops
6.9.4 When to grow crops
6.9.5 Clearing land
6.9.6 Preparing ground
6.9.7 Improving the soil
6.9.8 Planting crops
6.9.9 Seeds
6.9.10 Multiplying plants
6.9.11 Interplanting
6.9.12 Crop care
6.9.13 Mulching the soil
6.9.14.0 Composting
6.9.14.1 Humus
6.9.14.2 Organic materials for composting
6.9.14.3 Carbon / nitrogen ratio
6.9.14.4 The 3 methods of composting
6.9.14.5 Compost inspection
6.9.14.6 Starting composting for the school garden
6 .9.2 Choosing land
6 .9.3 Choosing crops
6 .9.4 When to grow crops
6 . 9.5 Clearing land
6 .9.6 Preparing ground
6 .9.7 Improving soil
6 .9.8 Planting crops
6 .9.9 Seeds
6 .9.10 Multiplying plants
6 .9.11 Interplanting
6 .9.12 Crop care
6 . 9.13 Mulching the soil
6 .9.14 Composting

6.9.4 Diagrams
4.0.0 Digging the ground, raised beds, ridges
9.122 Germination test
9.72.4d Bean flower, bean root
6.0.1 Sterilizing soil
5. Vegetative reproduction, cuttings, layering, marcotting, budding and grafting
6. Mung bean, pigeon pea, wing bean

6.9.6 Agricultural crops
6.9.6.1 Rotations for raised beds
6.9.6.2 Rotations for field crops and perennial crops
6.9.6.3 Planting guide
6.9.6.4 Starchy root crops
6.9.6.5 Grain crops and pasture grasses
6.9.6.6 Legumes
6.9.6.7 Tap root crops and bulb crops
6.9.6.8 Leafy crops
6.9.6.9 Vegetables, tomato family (Solanaceae)
6.9.6.10 Vegetables, pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae)
6.9.6.11 Tropical grasses and pasture legumes
6.9.6.12 Calculate food crop production

6.9.15.0 Fertilizing the soil (File: Foodgardens3.html)
6.9.15.1 Plant nutrients
6.9.15.2 Green manure
6.9.15.3 Liquid manure
3.31 Plant foods in the soil (Primary)
4.35 Natural fertilizers (Primary)
5.35 Fertilizer trial (Primary)
5.36 Cover crops (Primary)
6.33 Fertilizing soil (Primary)

6.9.16.0 Legumes (File: Foodgardens3.html)
6.9.16.1 Uses of legumes
6.9.16.2 Cover crops
6.9.16.3 History of legumes
6.9.16.4 Legumes in the diet
6.9.16.5 Growth habit of legumes
6.9.16.6 Planting legumes
6.9.16.7 Root nodules
6.9.16.8 Mung bean (Phaseolus aureus)
6.9.16.9 Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)
6.9.16.10 Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)
6.9.16.11 Winged bean (Psophocarpus tetrogonolobus)
4.25 Uses of peas and beans (Primary)
4.26 Different legumes (Primary)
4.27 Collect bean plants (Primary)
4.28 Bean life cycle (Primary)
4.29 Bean flower (Primary)
4.30 Bean seeds and pods (Primary)

6.9.17.0 Chemical Fertilizers (File: Foodgardens3.html)
6.9.17.1 The two types of fertilizer
6.9.17.2 Common fertilizers
6.9.17.3 Mixed or compound fertilizers
6.9.17.4 Plant nutrients
6.9.175 Acidity and alkalinity
6.9.17.6 Soil acidity
5.40 Make potash from ash (Primary)
6.34 Chemical fertilizers (Primary)

6.9.18.0 Pesticides (File: Foodgardens3.html)
6.9.18.1 Caution before using pesticides
6.9.18.2 Dusts
6.9.18.3 Withholding period
6.9.18.4 Active constituent
6.9.18.5 Resistance to pesticides
6.9.18.6 Persistence
6.9.18.7 Surface acting agents
6.9.18.8 Emulsifying agents
6.9.18.9 Granules
6.9.18.10 Pesticide safety
6.9.18.11 FIRST AID
6.9.18.12 Types of insecticides
6.9.18.13 Appendix K, Pesticides used in schools
6.9.19.0 Sprayers and dusters

16.13.0 Appendix
16.13.0 Pesticides and herbicides
16.13.1 Plant extract insecticides
16.13.2 Inorganic chemical insecticides
16.13.3 Organochlorine insecticides, organochlorides, chlorinated hydrocarbons
16.13.4 Organophosphate and carbamate insecticides
16.13.5 Acaricides
16.13.6 Fungicides
16.13.7 Herbicides, weedicides
16.13.8 Insect repellents

6.9.20.0 Understanding the records (File: Foodgardens3.html)

6.9.1a How to use school food gardens
1. Wherever school food gardens are used for the teaching of agriculture, there is always one big danger - if the gardens are too big, the students may think of school agriculture as just hard work. This may make the students dislike school agriculture. The amount of practical work in most of the agriculture teaching notes has been kept small so that it will not make students tired by the hard work. However, in some places the schools must have big gardens because they must grow enough food for all the students. These lessons have been written especially for schools that have to grow food for students. Because the gardens must be big and there is much work for the students to do, you must think of ways of making the students like this work:
2. All the students of the school must help in the garden work. It must not be just the agriculture students that do the work.
3. Make the working time as short as possible. It will probably be enough if each student works for one hour each day. You can call this "food growing time" or "school maintenance time".
4. Allocate each class of students a special garden to work in. This makes it possible for the students in a class to be proud of their own garden.
5. Work in the school food gardens should never be used as a punishment. You should teach each class of students to be proud of their work so they can grow some of their own food.
6. Praise students when they work hard or do a job properly.

6.9.2a Aims and goals
1. Following are some aims and goals for school food gardens. You may have different aims and goals for your school but all teachers and students should know them.
1.1 Students will understand the different methods used to produce food.
1.2 Students can use the different skills needed to produce food.
1.3 Students will be interested in taking part in agricultural activities.
2. Long-term goals.
2.1 Students will want to grow some of their own food when living at home in a village or in a town.
2.2 Students will want to have a balanced diet both for themselves and for their families.
2.3 Students will want to try growing both local and introduced food plants using modern methods.

6.9.3a Types of school food gardens
There are three types of school food gardens:
1. Kitchen gardens
Kitchen gardens are near the school kitchen and the classrooms. Dig the soil to form raised beds. Each bed may be 6.0 x 1.2 metres in area and it is 15 cm higher than the ground. It is separated from the next bed by pathways 50 cm wide. These gardens are used to grow vegetables that can be picked fresh for the kitchen, e.g. fruiting vegetables, e.g. tomato, capsicum, and leafy vegetables, e.g. Chinese cabbage, aibika. Part of the kitchen gardens may be used for perennial herbs, e.g. mint, rhubarb and parsley.
2. Field gardens
These gardens are not near the kitchen. They are large areas of land used for growing root crops, e.g. potato, sweet potato, cassava, yams, maize (corn) and legumes, e.g. bean, cowpea and peanut.
3. Perennial crop gardens
It is best to use separate gardens to grow long lasting or perennial crops like papaya, banana, chillies, hibiscus cabbage (aibika, bele or pele) pineapples, coconuts and other tall crops like guava, star fruit, breadfruit, oranges, limes, durian and soursop. Other parts of the school food gardens will be used for seed beds, seed boxes, compost heaps and a place where seed bed soil can be mixed up.

6.9.4a Organizing school food gardens
The work of the school food gardens can be done better if there are plans to make the work go well. Here are some ideas for planning:
1. Food committee
You can form this to help the teacher with his work. It is best if this committee can include the headmaster, the teacher in charge of gardens and one other agriculture teacher, a teacher of home economics and one student from each form. Having such a committee will help to make all the committee people interested in the gardens. 2. Involving teachers
Although only the agriculture teachers will do the classroom teaching in agriculture, all the teachers in the school should take an active part in looking after the gardens and working with the students.
3. Time for growing time
All the students should do some work in the gardens during a special time each day called "food growing time" or "gardening time" or "school maintenance time". In some schools all students work in the gardens for one hour each weekday and there may be some garden work at the weekends. However, on some islands no work will be done on Sunday. Still, the teacher must know how much gardening time he can use. He must know how many "students x hours" there are each week.
4. Store room.
You must have a store room that can be locked up at the end of the day. You must lock all the tools, equipment and chemicals up in this room.
5. Stock record book
In the store room you must keep a stock record book or "inventory book". In this you must write a list of all the things kept in the store, as follows:

Item	Number	Date	Remarks
CP-sprayer	1	2/2/00	handle broken 4/1/00
Fungicide	200 g	2/2/00	about half remaining 2/11/99
Spade	20	2/4/00	one missing 2/11/99

The date tells you when the item was first put in the store or when the store was last closed and everything in it counted. You call this counting a stock take.
6. Borrowing book
Every day two students must work in the store. They must look after everything in the store. They must also issue tools or other things to the students who are going out to work in the gardens. However, before they give anything to a student, they must write it in the borrowing book and the student who is taking it must write his name. The borrowing book looks like this:

No. Items	Item	Student	Date Out	Date In	Storekeeper
2	spades	R. Kato	2002-10-01	2002-10-04	C.J.S
1	axe	M. Apo	2002-10-02	2002-10-04	S.G.
1	sprayer	P. Kolio	2002-10-02	2002-10-05	B.B.

Records
The teacher in charge of the gardens should keep some records so that the food committee will know these things:
1. How much food has been harvested and sent to the kitchen
2. The cost of producing this food
3. How much money received from any sales of crops
4. How to plan future food crop production
8. The Production Record Book is used to record the amount of a crop harvested, the amount of the crop sent to the kitchen or sold, and the amount of money received if any of the produce was sold. In some schools the value of the crop sent to the kitchen is worked out but no money is paid. The production Record Book can be kept either as a separate book or as part of the school food gardens diary.
9. The Receipt Book is used so you can give a receipt to any person who pays you money. The carbon paper duplicate is used as a record of how much money you have received. If you sell any of the produce from the school food gardens always give the buyer a receipt for the amount of money.
10. The Cash Receipts Journal is a list of the dates of sales, what you have sold, who you sold it to, receipt numbers, how much you received. It is usually written at the end of each week by using the information recorded in the Receipt Book. When you buy something for the school food gardens always get a receipt for the money you pay. You can keep these receipts on an iron spike. At the end of each week take the receipts off the spike and write up your Cash Payments Journal that lists the dates of payments, what you have bought and how much you have paid. If you keep a school food gardens cheque account this information should be on the cheque butts. The cash receipts journal and cash payments journal can be written in the same exercise book:

Cash Receipts Journal	.	.	.	Cash Payments Journal	.	.
Date	Particulars	Receipt	Amount	Date	Particulars	Amount
2.3.01	5 chickens	001	$10.00	6.3.01	1 hammer	$5.60
4.3.01	1 bag bean	002	$1.50	9.3.01	insecticide	$2.60
5.3.01	10 kg potato	003	$0.80	10.3.01	sprayer nozzle	$4.75
6.3.01	Total Receipts	.	$12.30	.	Total Payments	$12.95

6.9.5a Duties of a supervisor of school food gardens
Before taking over from a previous teacher or before starting new gardens, the supervisor of school food gardens should be able to answer the following 8 questions: 1. What are the aims and goals of the school food garden programme? Talk about these aims with the food committee.
2. How much labour can probably use? How many hours of work by all the students and staff can be used by you in the gardens?
3. How much money is there to spend on seeds, chemicals and tools? Who can spend this money?
4. Which record books will be kept and who will keep them? Is there an inventory book, Production Record book, Receipt book, Cash Receipts and Cash Sales Journal, Savings bank book or cheque book? Is there a borrowing book kept properly? Is there any money owed to the school food gardens? Does the school food gardens account owe any money? Are there any items that they have not returned to the store? Are there any items in the store that they should return to their owners? Has a school food gardens diary been used? If not, you should start one.
5. What seeds, tools and equipment belong to the school food gardens? Get some students to help you with stocktaking and making a new inventory.
6. What is the history of the school food garden land? Who owns the land? Are there any claims from village people to the land or to the produce from it? Do they dislike any use of the land such as cutting down trees or digging drains? What crops have been grown on this land before?
7. Have they described the land accurately? If they have already made a map check the details on it or draw a new map. Show the distance on the map in paces of about 1 metre. On the map show direction of North, scale of paces, type of vegetation or crops grown, direction of slopes, types of soil, position of trees and rocks, water supply, direction of drainage, fences, gates and buildings.
8. What do the field officers of the Department of Agriculture think about the possible use of the land? Make an appointment to see the local field officer or invite him to visit the school if he has not been there before. Ask him what help they can give on: Advice on what to grow, supply of planting material, chemicals and technical literature, help with spraying and ploughing, and receiving produce for sale. Do not ask the agriculture field office to give lessons or demonstrations to students because that is the job of agriculture teachers.
Making Decisions
Students will work together more and learn more if the teacher lets the students do all the activities needed to run the school food gardens. These activities include planning who to do, ordering things, working in the gardens, harvesting and recording how much produce harvested, and eating the produce. The teacher must always first show how to do a job properly and then step back and watch the students do it. The first 5 lessons suggest ways to decide with the students' help.

6.9.6.1 Rotations for raised beds
3 Beds Rotation

Rotation A	1	then 2	then 3A
Rotation B	1	then 2	then 3B

Bed 1	Bed 2	Bed 3A	Bed 3B
leafy vegetables	fruiting vegetables	bushy legumes	climbing legumes
Chinese cabbage	capsicum, bell pepper	common bean	climbing bean
corn (intercrop)	choko	chick pea, garbanzo, ceci bean	cowpea
aibika	cucumber	haricot bean	winged bean lettuce
lettuce	egg plant, brinjal	mung bean	yardlong bean
leafy mustard	marrow (bushy)	peanut	.
radish	melon (bushy)	pigeon pea	.
silver beet	pineapple	sitoa bean	.
spring onion	tomato	soya bean	.

Use some space for:
1. perennial herbs: rhubarb, garlic, parsley, mint, ginger 2. local vegetables: amaranths, purslane, bitter cucumber, comfrey, fern, rungia, pit pit, sugar cane 3. introduced vegetables: carrots, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, basella, kohl-rabi, endive, rosella, parsnip, beetroot (beet) zucchini. (courgette)
4. Some vegetables can be grown in running water: water potato, watercress.

6.9.6.2 Rotations for field crops and perennial crops
Field rotations: 1-2-3-4-l, or 1-3-4-1, or 1-3-1-3 or 3-4-3-4.
Choose one or more kinds of plant for each field from each column, 1, 2, 3, 4.

Field 1	Field 2	Field 3	Field 4
Leafy Vegetable	Fruiting Vegetable	Legume	Root Crop Or Grain
Chinese cabbage	capsicum	common bean	cassava
choko (leaves)	corn (intercrop)	chick pea	sweet potato
pumpkin (leaves)	pumpkin	cowpea	taro
aibika	chilli	haricot bean	Chinese taro
lettuce	cucumber	mung bean	yam
silver beet	marrow	pigeon pea	sorghum
spinach	okra, lady finger	sitoa bean	.
spring onion	pineapple	soya bean	.

Perennial crops

avocado	granadilla	oil palm
banana	guava	papaya
breadfruit	jak fruit	pineapple
citrus	litchi	passionfruit
coconut	malay apple	custard apple
mango	rhambutan	five corners
mangosteen	sago palm	sugar cane

6.9.6.3 Planting guide

Crop	Planting depth (cm)	How planted	Time to transplant (weeks)	Distance between plants	Distance between rows	Time to harvest (weeks)
Amaranthus	sprinkle	direct	thin to	15	15	6
Banana	45	sucker	.	200	200	40
Basella	5	direct	thin to	30	30	5
Bean	5	direct	.	15	45	10
Beetroot	2	direct	thin to	15	30	10
Broccoli	.	nursery	4	45	45	14
Cabbage	.	nursery	4	45	60	10
Capsicum	.	nursery	4	45	45	10
Carrot	1	direct	thin to	5	30	12
Cassava	10	cuttings	.	100	100	30
Cauliflower	.	nursery	4	45	60	20
Celery	.	nursery	4	15	60	20
Bak choi, Chinese cabbage	.	nursery	3	30	45	10
Tannia	10	corms	.	100	100	120
Chilli	10	nursery	8	75	150	20
Choko	5	fruit	.	30	100	12
Comfrey	20	cuttings	.	75	100	50
Corn (Maize)	2	direct	.	15	60	15
Cowpea	5	direct	.	15	45	10
Cucumber	2	thin	to	30	60	10
Eggplant	.	nursery	4	60	60	12
Ginger	5	rhizome	.	15	45	30
Haricot bean	5	direct	.	15	45	10
Aibika, hibiscus cabbage	10	cuttings	.	60	100	10
Kohl rabi	.	nursery	4	15	45	10
Lettuce	.	nursery	3	30	30	8
Marrow	5	direct	.	100	200	12
Melon	5	direct	.	100	200	12
Mung bean	2	direct	.	15	45	9
Okra	5	direct	.	30	75	10
Onion	5	direct	thin to	10	30	15
Parsley	1	direct	.	15	45	12
Parsnip	1	direct	.	15	45	20
Papaya	.	transplant	.	200	200	16
Peanut	2	direct	.	30	30	15
Peas	5	direct	.	5	45	10
Pigeon	pea	5	direct	60	100	24
Pineapple	.	shoots / slips	.	30	60	60
Pit pit, Saccharum sp.	20	cuttings	.	100	100	8
Pumpkin	2	direct	.	100	200	15
Purslane	sprinkle	direct	.	15	45	6
Radish	.	transplant	.	25	25	16
Rhubarb	2	seed / crowns	.	45	45	57
Sitoa	bean	5	direct	15	100	10
Silver beet	.	nursery	.	15	30	10
Snake bean	5	direct	.	15	100	8
Snake gourd	5	direct	.	30	100	8
Sorghum	.	direct	.	15	30	15
Soya bean	.	direct	.	15	60	12
Spinach	.	nursery	.	15	30	8
Spring onion	10	direct	thin to	5	30	12
Sugar cane	.	cuttings	.	100	150	50
Sunflower	5	direct	.	45	45	16
Sweet potato	10	cuttings	.	45	75	14
Taro, Chinese taro, Tannia sp.	20	tops or tubers	.	60	100	80
Tomato	.	nursery	30 days	60	60	14
Tumeric	5	rhizome	.	15	30	35
Watercress	2	root cuttings	.	15	15	10
Winged	bean	2	direct	15	15	12
Yam	10	tuber	cuttings	100	100	40
Zucchini	5	direct	.	100	100	8

6.9.6.4 Starchy root crops
This group contains four plant families.
1. Sweet Potato family (Convolvulaceae, dicotyledon)
See diagram: 61 Plant garden | See diagram: 61 Plant | See diagram: 61 Planting material | See diagram: 61 Tuber | See diagram: 61 Sweet Potato weevil | See diagram: 61 Diary
Ipomoea batatas sweet potato or "potato" or kau kau produces starchy tubers. Creeping plant with trumpet shaped purple flowers, near relatives are common tropical creepers, e.g. Convolvulus
2. Taro family. (Araceae, monocotyledon)
Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta taro or "taro tru" or dalo or dasheen produces starchy corms.
Xanthosoma sagittifolium tannia or tana or Chinese taro or taro tarua or taro Futuna or daloni has daughter corms to be eaten rather than main mother corm.
Other taros found in the tropics are as follows: Alocasia giant taro, or wild taro or kape or elephant's ear that is used as emergency food if no good taro is available, but it is the main food in Tonga.
Cyrtosperma chamissonis giant taro, swamp taro or baba or puraka, or via kana are huge taro grown on coral atolls.
3. Yam family. (Dioscoreaceae, monocotyledon)
Dioscorea alata greater yam, or winged yam or water yam or "common yam" is a large climber with winged stems from a large single tuber. It climbs from left to right.
Dioscorea bulbifera aerial yam or wild yam or bulbil yam or potato yam is a climber with round stems bearing edible aerial tubers (bulbils) in the leaf axils.
Dioscorea esculenta lesser yam, pan is a small climber producing more than 1 small tuber. It climbs from right to left.
Other yams found in the tropics are as follows: Dioscorea pentophylla - leaf with 3-5 lobes, climbs from right to left, spiny stem. Dioscorea numularia - very spiny stem, climbs from left to right.
4. Cassava family (Euphorbiaceae, dicotyledon)
Manihot esculenta, cassava, produces many starchy tuberous roots. Rubber tree and castor oil tree are in the same family.

6.9.6.5 Grain crops and pasture grasses
1. Grain family (Gramineae) grass family, cereals
Maize or corn, sweet corn, popcorn (Zea) Produce many fruit (grains) in rows on a cob.
Sorghum, millet (Sorghum) Produces a head of grain. Likes dry climate. Mainly animal food.
Sugar Cane. (Saccharum) Sucrose sugar stored in stems.
There are local canes which are grown for the edible flowers. Pit pit (Saccharum) Small pit pit (Setaria)
Pasture grasses. These are grown for animal feed. (See also Appendix K) Para grass (Brachiaria) Guinea grass or Hamil grass (Panicum) Molasses grass (Melinis) Elephant grass or kikuyu grass (Pennisetum) Setaria grass (Setaria) Paspalum (Paspalum) Pangola grass (Digitaria) Signal grass (Brachiaria) Rhodes grass (Chloris) Green panic (Panicum) Buffel grass (Cenchrus) Urochloa (Urochloa) Rice (Oryza) both dry land and wetland varieties.
2. Bamboo family (Bambuseae)
Bamboo. This is a useful plant for its large canes and shoots which can be eaten.
3. Sunflower family (Compositae)
Sunflower (Helianthus) produces grain in a big flower. It is in the same family as pyrethrum and lettuce.
4. Palm family (Palmae)
Sago (Metraxylon) is a member of the palm family. It produces starch in stems and grows in swamps. It is in the same family as coconut, Nipa and Betel nut.

6.9.6.6 Legumes
1. Winged bean or four angled bean or "as bin" or Goa bean (Psophocarpus tetrogonolobus)
This should be grown in all school food gardens because the seeds have a high protein content. You can eat the seeds, green pods, leaves, flowers and tubers.
2. Cowpea, snake bean, yard long bean (Vigna unguiculata) lablab (Lablab purpureus)
These plants are closely related. They are grown for the seeds and pods and as a green manure crop.
3. Peanut or ground nut (Arachis hypogaea)
They have a high protein content and the plant is a good animal feed. The peanut must be roasted or boiled before eating.
4. Mung bean or green gram bean (Phaseolus aureus)
The pods have a high protein content and the seeds can be left to sprout then eaten. The pods are rather small and students get tired of picking them. It is also a good green manure crop.
5. Soya bean (soy bean) (Glycine max)
The seeds are very nutritious but this plant is attacked by lots of diseases in the wet tropics.
6. Chick pea (Cicer arietum)
It has large seeds which are very nutritious.
7. Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan)
Perennial bush which can be used as temporary shade.
8. Other shade trees
The "cocoa shade" Gliricidia, Albizia, the coral tree Erythrina, Leucaena, the wattle tree Acacia, the golden shower or senna Cassia, and the poinciana or flame of the forest Delonix.
9. Other useful legumes
Yam bean Pachyrrhizus, and Derris which is used to make an insecticide and fish poison.
A list of commercially available pasture legumes is found in Appendix K.

6.9.6.7 Tap root crops and bulb crops
These are small plants with the tap roots or leaf bases swollen mainly with stored sugars.
1. Apiaceae (Carrot family)
Carrot (Daucus) has a single swollen tap root that is rich in vitamin A. It is hard to grow.
Parsnip (Pastinaca) has a long white root like a carrot. It is hard to grow.
2. Cruciferae (Cabbage family)
Radish (Raphanus) has a long or round tap root with a hot taste. It is easy and quick to grow.
3. Alliaceae (Onion family)
Spring onion (Allium sp.) is a thin plant with small bulbs which grow quickly and produce daughter bulbs. It has a strong taste and is used in stews or eaten raw.
Garlic (Allium sp.) has a large bulb with very hot taste. It has daughter bulbs which separate easily.
4. Chenopodiaceae (Beet family)
Beetroot (Beta) has a large red tap root. It is cooked in stews. The leafy crops spinach and silver beet are in the same family.

6.9.6.8 Leafy crops
1. Malvaceae (Hibiscus family)
Hibiscus cabbage or aibika or bele or pele (Abelmoschus) Perennial bush producing edible leaves which are an excellent vegetable with a high protein content.
Okra or gumbo (Hibiscus esculentus) is really a fruiting vegetable. Green fruits should be cooked in stews because of their sticky feel.
2. Cabbage family (Cruciferae)
Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) has very large terminal buds but grows slowly and has little food value.
Similar to cabbage are kohl-rabi, broccoli, also turnip and radish (Raphanus) tap root crops.
Chinese cabbage (Brassica Chinensis) Large terminal bud. Easy and quick to grow. Variety Pak Choi looks like spinach Variety Wong Bok looks like a tall cabbage.
Watercress (Nasturtium) Perennial herb growing in running freshwater streams. Leafy stems eaten raw or in soup. Plant the cuttings.
3. Lettuce family (Compositae)
Lettuce (Lactuca) has a large terminal bud. It is picked fresh for salad or quickly boiled or fried.
Sunflower, a grain, and Pyrethrum, that yields insecticide, are in the same family.
Silver beet and spinach have large edible leaves. They are members of the beetroot family.
4. Parsley (carrot family) is a perennial herb used to flavour soups. It is a rich source of vitamin C.
5. Comfrey family (Boraginaceae) includes comfrey, Russian comfrey (Symphytum) The leaves are cooked as vegetables and the dried leaves cooked in biscuits.
6. Pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae) have shoot tips used as a green vegetable. The family includes pumpkin (Cucurbita) marrow, squash, melon (Cucumis) choko (Sechium) snake gourd (Trichosanthes) bitter cucumber (Momordica) and watermelon (Citrullus).

6.9.6.9 Vegetables, tomato family (Solanaceae)
1. Tomato (Lycopersicon) produces a large amount of fruit if looked after well. It needs occasional watering for deep root growth, need staking and side dressings. Four kinds of wilt affect tomatoes:
1.1 Verticillium wilt fungus and fusarium wilt fungus are persistent infections from the soil that cause withering from the base upwards and stems that are black or red brown inside.
1.2 Bacterial wilt causes rapid wilting and death of the plant.
1.3 Spotted wilt virus causes brown leaf spots and rings.
Control these diseases with choice of resistant varieties, crop rotation and burning of infected plants.
2. Chilli, cayenne pepper, red pepper, green pepper, capsicum. (Capsicum) are grown as a perennial cash crop. Red pepper, green pepper or capsicum are grown as annuals and have large hollow fruit. All these fruits contain a lot of vitamin C.
3. Eggplant or aubergine (Solanum) produce many large purple fruits which must be cooked. A close relative is the European or Irish potato (Solanum tuberosum).
Other plants of the same family grown in the tropics are Tree tomato (Cyphomandra) and Tobacco (Nicotiana).

6.9.6.10 Vegetables, pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae)
Soft rots occur mainly in the hearts of leafy vegetables and can be controlled by watering only in the mornings and by not planting too closely besides using copper oxychloride. Leaf tip burn in leafy vegetables can be caused by soil with very low pH which can be controlled by adding lime to the soil. Other leaf burns can be caused by using pesticides or weedicides which are too concentrated.
1. Pumpkin, squash, marrow (Cucurbita) Both bushy and running varieties grown for large fruit, tips of shoots and young leaves.
2. Cucumber, rock melon (Cucumis) watermelon (Citrullus) Smaller and faster growing than most pumpkins. Melons are too easy to steal. Bushy and running varieties. Choko, choyote (Sechium) produces large number of green fruit and edible young shoots and leaves, strong climber.
3. Snake gourd (Trichosanthes). It is sometimes called a "snake bean" or "New Guinea bean", but it is not a legume. It produces many white fruits 10-20 cm long, which can be cooked in soups. It is strong climber but needs strong support for such big fruit.
Other cucurbits which grow in the tropics but are not well known are as follows:
4. Bitter cucumber or bitter gourd (Momordica) is like a climbing cucumber with a knobbly skin.
5. Vegetable sponge or loofah (Luffa) is a fruit which is dried and used to wash yourself.
6. Gourd (Lagenaria) is like a round pumpkin with a very hard shell used to make cups and dishes.

6.9.6.11 Tropical grasses and pasture legumes
The contents of this Appendix are for information only and do not constitute advice on how any particular grass or legume should be used in any school garden. Before purchasing grass or legume the supervisor should obtain advice from a Field Officer of the Department of Agriculture and should obtain permission from the school principal. The information in this Appendix may be incorrect in some countries.
Grasses
1. Signal Grass, Cultivar Basilisk, Brachiaria decumbens
Good ground cover, prefer to Pangola and Guinea in high rainfall areas
2. Para Grass, Brachiaria mutica
Performs well under water-logged conditions. High production on coastal lowlands. It will not stand heavy feeding.
3. Buffel Grass, Cultivar Biloela, Cenchrus ciliaris
Drought resistant. Cultivars adapted to wide range of conditions including drier inland environment.
4. Batiki Blue Grass (Smut grass) Ischaemum indicum
Long narrow seed heads, tufts hairs from flowers. Grows well in shade, under trees.
5. Koronivia Grass, Brachiaria humidicola
Strong growing. Leaves used for rough feeling. Forms thick mat on soil. Grows well on coral soils.
6. Birdwood Grass, Cenchrus setigerus
Used in short season environment. Can be used as erosion control species.
7. Rhodes grass, Cultivar Callide, Chloris gayana
Widely used in scrub lands. Easy to establish, giving quick cover
8. Bermuda Couch, Cynodon dactylon
Restricted growth in dry seasons Widely used for lawn establishment.
9. Molasses Grass, Melinis minutiflora
Pioneer grass in high rainfall areas. Carries fire.
10. Guinea Grass, Cultivar Hamil, Panicum maximum
Well adapted to high rainfall tropical lowlands. Robust, erect.
11. Green panic var. Trichoglume, Petrie, Panicum maximum
Palatable, shade tolerant. Combines well with Siratro and Greenleaf Desmodium
12. Plicatulum, Rodd's Bay, Paspalum plicatulum
Good legume compatibility. Coastal and sub coastal areas. Palatable.
13. Kikuyu, Whittet, Pennisetum clandestinum
Palatable, good autumn growth. Excellent for erosion control.
14. Setaria, Nandi, Setaria anceps
Adapted to coastal areas. Aggressive, early spring growth
15. Columbus grass, Crooble, Sorghum almum
Good pioneer species with drought and salt tolerance. Short lived. Good initial establishment
16. Sabi grass, Nixon. Urochloa mosambicensis
Combines well with Townsville Stylo
17. Calopo, Calopogonium mucunoides
Legume, pioneer, vigorous growth for weed control
18. Centro, Common, Belato Centrosema pubescens
Legume, suited to tropical lowland environments. Grows slowly. Hard seeds take long time to germinate
19. Hetero, Johnstone, Desmodium heterophyllum
Legume, wet tropical coast. Combines well with Pangola and Signal Grass
20. Desmodium, Greenleaf, Desmodium intortum
Legume, combines well with grasses in coastal areas of tropics
21. Desmodium. Silverleaf, Desmodium uncinatum
Legume, more persistent than Greenleaf under hardier conditions
22. Lablab, Rongai, Highworth, Lablab purpurens
Legume, cover crop, green manure, good for hay or silage
23. Leucaena, Peru, Leucaena leucocephala
Legume, perennial shrub. Combines well with Signal Grass
24. Lotononis, Miles, Lotononis bainesii
Legume, well adapted to acid soils. Good palatability
25. Siratro, Siratro, Macroptilium atropurpureum
Easy establishment. Prolific grower, persistent. Makes thick mat. Flowers dark red turn purple
26. Phasey bean, Murray, Macroptilium lathyroides
Self-regenerating annual. Well adapted to water logging
27. Axillaris, Archer, Macrotyloma axillare
Legume, combines well with many grasses and legumes
28. Puero, Pueraria phaseoloides
Legume, pioneer species, palatable and productive. Grows well in shade under trees. Large rounded leaves
29. Stylo, Schofield, Stylosanthes guyanensis
Legume, adapted to humid tropics, even poor soils
30. Townsville Stylo, Common, Patterson, Stylosanthes humilis
Legume, easy establishment, good reseeder
31. Carribean, Veran, Stylosanthes hamata
Legume, perennial under grazing
32. Shrubby Stylo, Seca, Stylosonthes scabra
Legume, adapted to seasonally dry tropics

6.9.6.12 Calculate food crop production
Growing food for a balanced diet
If each student eats 3 kg of food each day then the following mixture of the 5 types of food would provide a balanced diet:

Type of Food	Amount eaten, g
1. Starches energy food	2 500 g
Potato (sweet potato) yam, cassava, taro, banana, corn (maize) (or rice or wheat meal)	600 g
2. Fats and oils - high energy foods	30 g
Coconut oil, palm oil, peanut oil, beef or pork fat, dripping (oil in tinned fish)
3. Protein - bodybuilding foods	150 g
Meat, fish, shellfish, bean seeds, eggs, milk (tinned meat, tinned fish)
4. Vegetables - health foods	100 g
Hibiscus cabbage (aibika, bele) pumpkin tips, amaranths, taro leaves, bean pods, leafy vegetables, cooked green papaya
5. Fruits - health foods	200 g
Pineapple, papaya, banana, melon, pumpkin, eggplant, lime, orange, guava, chillies
6. Coconut, which contains oil and sugars
Total amount of food	2 980 g + 1 coconut

The school food garden should provide all these types of food and a variety of each type. The students should not be fed the same mixture of food every day.
Expected yields
Banana
If planted 3 x 3 metres = 1 090 plants / hectare If each plant yields 2 bunches / year and each bunch weight 23 kg, then the yield / hectare / year = 1 090 x 2 x 23 = 50 tonnes / hectare / year
Bean
Up to 37 tonnes / hectare in 3 months
Cassava (tapioca)
12.5 tonnes / hectare in 6 months x 2 = 25 tonnes / hectare / year
Coconuts
If need one coconut for each student for each day, and if each palm yields 50 nuts / palm / year, if planted 8 x 8 metres = 192 palms / hectare If planted 7 x 7 metres = 196 palms / hectare Yields 196 x 50 = 9 800 nuts / year If 270 days in a school year 1 ha yields 9 800 / 270 = 36 students.
Eggplant (aubergine)
At planting distance of 90 x 60 cm yields 27 tonnes / hectare in 4 months
Hibiscus cabbage (aibika, bele or pele)
At planting distance of 2.5 x 2.5 metres = 1 600 bushes / hectare If pick 0.5 kg from each bush every 3 weeks, then yield / bush / year = 0.5 x 17 = 8.5 kg / bush year yield / hectare / year = 8.5 x 1600 / 1000 = 13.6 tonnes / hectare / year
Papaya
If planted 8 x 8 metres = 140 plants / hectare (18 males and 122 females) yield = 7.5 tonnes / hectare in the second year of bearing
Peanut
1.1 tonnes / hectare in 5 months
Pineapple
If planted 60 x 60 cm = 19 tonnes / hectare / year
Pumpkin
At planting distance of 1.5 x 1.5 metres yields 37 tonnes / hectare in 5 months.
Sweet Potato
12.5 tonnes / hectare in 6 months x 2 = 25 tonnes / hectare / year
Yams
5 tonnes / hectare / year - 10 months to maturity

6.9.7 Commercial soil pH test kit
1. For the best growth of plants it is essential that the acidity (measured by pH) of the potting mix or soil is suitable for the plants you want to grow

2. Most soils are either slightly acid or slightly alkaline. A few soils are neutral (between acid and alkaline). Some soils are very acid and some are very alkaline. Neutral soils have a pH of 7. Acid soils have pH values of less than 7. Alkaline soils have pH values of more than 7.

3. Plant growth is affected by soil pH. Few plants grow well in soils with pH values below 4.5. Plants whose native habitats had very acid soils grow best in soils of pH 4.5 to about pH 6. Most do not grow well on neutral and alkaline soils. Most other plants grow best in soils whose pH values are about 6 to 7. Plants whose native habitats had alkaline soils will grow on slightly acid soils, but they will also grow well on alkaline soils.

4. Most plants grow well in potting mixes when the pH of the mix is in the range 5.5 to 6.5. Plants from areas with very acid soils prefer a potting mix with a pH in the range 4.5 to 5.5.

5. Plants adapted to acid soils are often unable to get enough of the essential nutrients iron and manganese from alkaline soils. Their young leaves show yellowing (chlorosis) and growth is poor. Severe deficiency leads to death. By contrast, plants adapted to alkaline and slightly acid soils can be harmed by the amounts of dissolved aluminium and manganese present in very acid soils. They probably cannot take up enough of the essential element calcium.

6. You can raise soil pH by adding agricultural lime or dolomite. A 1:1 mixture of the two often gives best results

Soil type	Lime / dolomite (g / m²) To raise pH of the top 10 cm about 1 pH unit.
Sands	100
Loam	200
Clay soils	300 to 400
Organic soils	600

Lower the pH of slightly alkaline soils (pH below 7.5) with agricultural sulfur.

Soil type	sulfur (g / m²) To lower pH of the top 10 cm by about 1 pH unit.
Sands	25
Loam	50 to 70
Clays	100

7. The large amounts of solid lime often present in alkaline soils with pH values higher than about 7.5 make it almost impossible to make these soils acid.

8. You can change potting mix pH. The mix must be moist enough to use for potting.
Raise pH with dolomite. Add 1 to 1.5 g/L of mix to raise pH by about one unit.
Lower pH with sulfur. Add 0.3 g/L to lower pH by about one unit.
Check the pH again after two weeks storage and add more as needed.

9. The pH of mix in pots should be checked every few months, because most fertilizers produce acidity.
Raise pH with a suspension of hydrated lime (builders' lime). Suspend 5g (a heaped teaspoon) in a litre of water. Pour the suspension onto the mix in the pot. Use 200 mL for each litre of the mix. (A 130 mm pot contains about 1 litre of mix.) You should pot plants again if the pH of the mix is below 4.5.
Lower pH with a solution containing 2 g of iron sulfate per litre of water. Apply 200 mL per litre of mix and within two minutes heavily water the pot to remove excess salt. Wait for one week, check mix pH and add more iron sulfate if needed.

10. Preferred pH ranges
1. Soils of pH 4.5 to 6 potting mixes of pH 4.5 to 5.5
Camellia, Rhododendrons, Azalea, Gardenia, Erica, Macadamia, Juniper, Spruce, Japanese Maple
2. Soils of pH 5.8 to 7.5 potting mixes of pH 5.3 to 6.5
Most vegetables, bedding plants, commonly grown shrubs and trees.
3. Soils of pH 7 and higher potting mixes of pH 6 to 6.7
Many cacti and succulents. Plants native to arid areas.
Grow roses and citrus that have been grafted onto rootstocks that tolerate these soils.

11. Directions for using the colour chart for soil pH
Careful sampling is essential. For a garden bed, take at least 5 samples from holes dug in different parts of the bed. Each sample is to extend from the surface to a depth of 10 cm. Test each sample separately. For farm paddocks, take at least 20 samples from each area. Mix samples together thoroughly and test as one sample. For bought and home made potting mix, thoroughly mix the bulk lot.
For mix in a pot, first knock the root ball from the pot. Remove a wedge of mix representing the whole depth of the root ball. Mix thoroughly. For a mix in large tubs, dig down the side of the root ball as deeply as is possible. Thoroughly mix the sample removed.

12. Measure pH
Place a level teaspoon of mixed soil or potting mix on the test plate. Add 3 to 5 drops of indicator liquid and stir with the rod provided. Dust the paste with the white powder provided. Wait one minute. Read from the colour card the pH value of the colour nearest to that of the sample. The test kit contains one bottle of pH Dye Indicator and one bottle of barium sulfate solution. The test kit is manufactured in Australia by Manutec Pty. Ltd., 30 Jonal Drive, Cavan, South Australia 5094, Australia.

History
The contents of this page were written by Dr J. Elfick in the Solomon Islands for the Pacific islands Agricultural Curriculum Development Project funded by the Australian Development Assistance Bureau. Many people have helped in the writing of this unit by reading the drafts and by making suggestions. Among them were Mr Mana Latu, Principal, Tonga College, Tonga, Mr Sitiveni Tu'ilautala, Agricultural Curriculum Officer, Department of Education, Nuku'alofa, Tonga, Miss Barbara Eisinger, Secretary, Agriculture Teachers Association, PO Box 57, Nuku'alofa, Tonga, Miss Carol Hartley, Department of Education, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Mr D. Busse, Lecturer in Agriculture, Balob Teachers College, Lae, Papua New Guinea, Mr A. L. Voigt, Lecturer in Agriculture, Avondale College, Cooranbong, Australia, Mr J. Treadaway, Provincial High Schools Course Coordinator, Solomon Islands Teachers College, Honiara, Solomon Islands, Mr B. Bennett and Mr S. Gwaliasi, Lecturers in Agriculture, Solomon Islands Teachers College, Honiara, Solomon Islands, Mr M. Miller, Agriculture Master, Betikama College, Solomon Islands, Mr G. Creek, Principal, Secondary Teachers College, Apia, Western Samoa.