Making choices and factors influencingchoices
Who makes decisions?
Choosing what to produce for a family and for sale needs toinvolve all family members. A home garden employs and feeds almost all familymembers, therefore women, men and the elderly should be involved together indecisions about a home garden. More produce is consumed by women and children,especially young children, from gardens controlled by women. Choices are bestmade considering the whole farming system, since garden products tend tocomplement other farm production.
To eat or sell?
Selection of what to produce for the family should take intoaccount nutritional needs and family cultural and traditional preferences.Nutritious food may not be consumed if people do not like to eat it. Traditionalmixed subsistence gardens can supply diverse nutritional needs and provide manyof a family's favourite herbs, spices and flavours. Producing additional foodcrops spreads risk and may provide a surplus for sale. In all but the mostremote areas, there are market opportunities for selected cash crops. Poultryand livestock can provide good cash income, either from fattening for meat orfrom regular sales of eggs, milk or fibre.
When to replace traditional products?
Caution should be exercised in promoting or replacingtraditional and indigenous crops. They may serve a historic need that has beensuperseded by more economically efficient alternatives, such as corrugatedroofing steel replacing demand for thatching palms. Local use of traditionalplants may not be immediately obvious to an outsider, but it will remainimportant to household preferences. Tourism potential should not be overlooked.Tourist visits to rural communities are popular; tourists like to observetraditional village industries, handicrafts and specializations such ascultivation of spices, medicinal plants, flowers and ornamentalplants.
Market choices
Market choices are important; marketing is examined in moredetail later. Production for market is of two kinds: sale of produce surplus tofamily needs, and produce grown specifically for markets. Neighbours in avillage and local community are markets that are often ignored, although theyare easy to reach. With a more complex marketing chain using transport and otherresources, a home gardener may aim to supply larger markets in nearby and moredistant population centres. These markets require a more specialized gardensystem or a collective approach to provide sufficient quality, volume andshipment frequency.
Finding resources
Extra resources increase the options for improving production,but gardeners must assess what they have access to and what suits theirsituation. Time-consuming operations can be completed faster and more easilywith machinery, which makes it possible to extend a garden into a smallholding.To mechanize operations, choices need to be made about power sources whetherhand, pedal or engine power, and how to obtain access to them. Available sourcesof energy need to be considered, such as solar energy for drying home-processedfoods, or biogas captured from manure compost in a home garden to be used forcooking. Wind and water can be harnessed to power mills, water pumps andgenerators. Mechanization options depend on access to equipment, operatortraining services, spare parts and maintenance services. Access to financialresources such as savings, informal credit or bank loans and technical andcommercial information increase potential options to develop homegardens.
Potential constraints
Government policies can constrain home garden potential.Land-use restrictions at the rural-urban interface or as part of state-ownedland lease conditions can limit certain production systems or choices of crops.Health policies can restrict gardeners' access to higher-priced markets, Somecountries require vegetables to be washed with a chlorine solution, for example,the waste from which is environmentally damaging and inappropriate for disposalin a home garden. Use of manures and compost manufacture can cause clashes withplanning authorities and neighbours.
Increased gardening can have negative social implications,from environmental changes brought about by the increased intensity of homegardening to changes in the household. Control of home gardens is an importantincentive, especially control of income from sale of garden produce. In someareas of Africa, men have taken over management and marketing choices as gardensmanaged by women have become more profitable, which not only decreases cashincentives for women but may also decrease the nutritional value of agarden.
Establishing a home garden requires labour and resources,sometimes including capital. In the rural environment of developing countries,many household needs compete for cash and other resources. Home garden systemsshould be developed that minimize risks. It is essential to ensure that gardensare sustainable. Home gardens that rely on externally-supplied inputs such asseeds or greenhouse polythene may fail if gardeners are not trained to savetheir own seeds, or if external support for access to input supply markets iswithdrawn.
How to do it: transforming lowhome-garden production
Approach
Success is more likely with a people-centred,interdisciplinary approach that develops and improves existing technologies.Indigenous production systems should not be disrupted by "introduction of newand more efficient methods". Gardens, like smallholder farming, are part ofsocial systems. It is best to develop home gardens that meet family needs andresources rather than the ideals of specialists in agriculture, health orland-use planning.
Design
Once a good understanding of current gardening is established,households and promoters can design improvements to make the garden supplyfamily nutrition or production requirements. Improvements may take the form ofintroducing a wider diversity of plants, animals and fish, more effectivemanagement practices or opening up a new space for a special type of enterprisesuch as animal rearing or fish farming. It is essential at this stage to buildon indigenous knowledge, especially with regard to native and wild plants -forests and other non-farm areas may seasonally supply greens, spices andmushrooms - pest and disease management and mixed-cropping systems.
Space
Improving traditional garden space usually involves one ormore of the following: replacing plants, increasing planting density,introducing new components such as livestock or increasing external inputs,especially water and nutrients. Multiple cropping and multi-layer systemsutilize existing light and space; examples are beans or pumpkins together withmaize or sorghum, climbing vines on canopy trees or root crops beneath fruittrees. Replacement is possible where traditional gardens contain crops that haveoutlived demand. In areas where steel roofing has taken over from thatchedroofs, for example, it makes sense to replace old thatching palm grown as a cashcrop for higher-value crops.
Model: Multilayer systems - forest gardens and fishponds
In Central America, Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, gardenersmaximize their use of limited space. Food, materials and cash crops are producedfrom plants occupying the full range of ecological niches in this type ofgarden, sometimes called a forest garden. The multilayered structure uses allthe available sunlight for plant growth, thus minimizing weeds and keeping thesoil healthy. Because there is a diversity of species, produce of one kind oranother can be available for most of the year. Canopy trees such asSesbania, tamarind, durian and coconut can provide fruit, nuts and forageand eventually valuable wood. Lower layers produce fruit and cash cropsdirectly, host climbers like vanilla and pepper provide cooling shade for plantssuch as coffee and tender vegetables. Root crops such as taro and yams competefor space underground.
Additional garden space is often already available: in Figure16 an Indonesian woman uses the roof of her cattle stall for pumpkin, where ithas abundant fertilizer and is protected from browsing.
Multilayer aquaculture systems have been developed to takefull advantage of existing vertical space, light, temperature and nutrientgradients in fish ponds. The three-dimensional aspect of a pond habitat offers avariety of ecological niches that can support a variety of organisms. In China,a well managed pond is stocked with more than eight different species of fishand various aquatic plants, all of which grow well because they occupy differentparts of the pond water and exploit the different nutritional niches.
Layout
Improving the layout involves integrating garden features sothat efficient and sustainable use is made of structures, land forms, water andother materials. One of the first concerns is security, especially againstwandering poultry and livestock. Many successful gardens make maximum use oflocal materials and resources. Living fences strengthen garden fencing; many,such as the multipurpose tree Gliricida sepium, also yield leaves foranimal fodder or compost and sticks for firewood. The location of kitchengardens next to a house provides some fencing needs and improves the efficiencyof labour and resources (see Model: Kitchen garden box).
FIGURE 16 Multilayer systems: an Indonesian woman uses hercattle stall to support pumpkins. (Source: C. Landon-Lane)
FIGURE 17 Multilayer systems: a Vietnamese man grows gourdsand beans that climb above vegetables, herbs and root crops. (Source: C.Landon-Lane)
Model: Kitchen garden
Kitchen gardens, which are common in Nepal, Chile and manyother parts of the world, have several advantages. Located near the familykitchen, they can easily be watered and fertilized with household wastes.Nutritious greens, herbs and spices can be picked within a few steps from thehouse to add to meals. Typically occupying only a small area, a kitchen gardencan be easily established with little or no financial cost. Domestic animals arekept out by fences, which can be living or made of local or purchased materials.Fast-growing vegetables, beans and other plants are cropped intensively; newplanting replenishes harvested beds. Rotation of the plant families betweendifferent beds reduces diseases and improves yields. Root crops such as carrot,for example, do well after leafy crops such as cabbage; leafy crops grow wellafter legume crops such as peas or beans.
FIGURE 18 A kitchen garden in Bhutan provides nutritiousfoods daily. (Source: C. Landon-Lane)
FIGURE 19 Small-scale land forming: the surjan system inlow-lying areas of Sumatra provides dry, raised beds for crops and wet areas forfish, rice and livestock fodder. (Source: C. Landon-Lane)
Resources
Improved gardens typically make the best use of locallyavailable resources. Layout generates synergy between social and biologicalelements. Livestock, when controlled or selectively excluded from plantproduction areas, provide manure for fertilizer; goats will clear areas forplanting and poultry will eat weed seedlings and insects among tolerant crops.Flowers and other plants may enhance the social functions of a home garden andplay a role as biofilters in reducing pests - marigolds are an example -or actas a living food store - canna, Canna edulis, is an example. Low-lyingareas and steeply sloping land may be unsuitable for field agriculture, but maybe developed into a sustainable garden using small-scale land-forming techniquessuch as raised beds, terraces and hedgerows. Wastes are a valued resource inmany home gardens. Household and post-harvest waste can be minimized byrecycling water and nutrients. This is a fundamental concept of permaculturegardens such as the vegetable, aquaculture and animal cooperative (VAC) gardensystem in Viet Nam.
Tools and equipment
The vast majority of home gardeners worldwide use only handtools. Typical home gardeners have tools such as hoes or spades for soilpreparation, rakes, forks, baskets and barrows for handling materials andsometimes dibbling sticks for planting seed. A range of equipment, depending onresources available, is used in developing countries to assist production andprocessing operations carried out in home gardens. Examples of more advancedequipment are listed below.
Polythene-filmtraps that warm air around tender plants allow vegetables to be grown in theoff-season. In Bhutan, gardeners grow pumpkin at elevations of 3 000 m usingplastic cloches to prevent snow damage in spring. In tropical areas, shadecloths protect young seedlings from heat stress. Where space is limited, netsand plastic film are used as fences to keep out village poultry and field rats,and they do not compete with plants for light, water and nutrients.
Small water pumps and liftingdevices reduce time and energy in irrigation.
Motor tillers primarily usedin other components of the farming system are sometimes used for soilpreparation and transport.
Much crop processing is donein the home garden. Cleaning or hulling equipment for maize or coffee, forexample, can be manual or electric. Small dryers for grain, fruit and vegetablesutilize solar energy, firewood or electricity. Milling equipment is a favouriteamongst women to replace the daily chore of pounding grain.
FIGURE 20 Permaculture: the VAC garden system in Viet Namis designed to recycle resources. The VAC system was started in the 1970s toreflect the concept of sustainable, permanent agriculture; many gardens indeveloping countries are traditional examples of this design. Ecologicalrelationships between different components of garden and household aremanipulated in favour of human needs through integrated design and operation. Inthe Vietnamese VAC system, waste and by-products are eliminated througheffective nutrient and energy recycling among subsystems. Residues from cropprocessing are used as animal feed. Animal and human wastes are recycled intomanure for garden fertilization. Floating aquatic plants are grown for pig feed.Pond water is used to irrigate the garden. Vegetation residues are used foranimal and fish feed, and pond mud is used as a soil dressing. (Source: C.Landon-Lane)
FIGURE 21 Permaculture: sloping agriculture land techniques(SALT) sustain high levels of production in the Philippines. Many homes haveaccess only to steeply sloping areas for gardening, where there is a high riskof soil erosion and failure. Sloping agriculture land techniques (SALT)collected from traditional agriculture and modern agronomic research are gainingpopularity in hilly areas worldwide. The techniques, which aim to conserveprecious topsoil and retain fertility, include terracing and planting acrossslopes and along contour lines of the same elevation. In Sumatra, Indonesia andPeru, dense hedges of nitrogen-fixing shrubs separate vegetable beds and fruittrees and capture mobile soil when it rains. Hedges are cut back regularly toreduce competition for light; their leafy branches mulch crop beds, conservingmoisture and providing nutrients. Small cross-slope trenches capture and directsurface run-off or fill with crop residues, which provide compost on-site. Rocksprovide warmth, pineapples give fruit and leguminous creepers covering terracewalls provide soil fertility. (Source: C. Landon-Lane)
Supporting resources for homegardening
Inputs, outputs and by-products
All farming systems that produce output for sale need somephysical inputs such as initial seeds and regular nutrients to replace thoseexported. These inputs must be bought and paid for in one way or another. Homegardeners employ a range of sustainable strategies to avoid having to pay,including saving what they have and recycling wastes. To provide vegetable seedfor later crops, some plants are left to flower and seed. Such "land race" seedmay not provide the vigour or the market benefits of commercial hybrid seed, butthe gardener does not have to spend cash or rely on market access. Goodgardeners select plants with the best production and market characteristics tobe nurtured into strong seed, for which there may be a good local market if anysurplus seed is produced.
The largest and most costly inputs in intensive agricultureare often fertilizers and feeds. Nitrogen-fixing plants such as beans andmultipurpose trees are effective on-site resources of nutrients as a greenmanure, or as a component of animal feed. Utilizing unwanted resources wasdescribed earlier as an important design feature in the layout of improvedgardens. Kitchen gardens can survive on waste water and organic household andfarm wastes, which ideally are composted to provide nutrients for the garden andoften for field crops. Animal manure is a valuable resource in developed anddeveloping countries. Environmental impact increases as garden enterprise levelsbecome more intense. Waste management is an important concern in denselypopulated areas. Where local environmental laws and government practices allow,gardeners can make a positive contribution through composting, recycling andanimal feeding, providing an end use for wastes.
FIGURE 22 Making compost in Viet Nam from crop residues,pond mud, pond weeds and manures. (Source: C. Landon-Lane)
Energy
The range and intensity of income-generating activitiespossible for individuals or groups of home garden enterprises are dependent onenergy, as well as nutrients and other inputs. Resources may already beavailable in communities, such as biomass from crop production or processingresidues, or firewood grown on-site in a living garden fence. Renewable energytechnologies allow garden enterprises a degree of independence; they are oftenthe most appropriate technologies for smallholders. Water pumps, for example,can be powered by gravity using a hydraulic ram or by wind, people, livestock orpetroleum fuels.
Transport
Access to appropriate transport is a critical resource forviable home garden enterprises for receiving inputs and taking produce to besold in distant markets. Where roads or tracks are rough or for foot trafficonly, it may not be possible to sell fresh produce in distant markets;non-perishable items or local processing is favoured by successfulentrepreneurs. Where roads are reasonable, baskets of produce can be taken tomarket by local bus, in hand carts or horse carts, on motorcycles or by localtaxi. Alternatively, gardeners take advantage of visiting traders coming to buyor sell field crops or cash crops. Once a village is known for its good homegarden produce, traders often follow.
FIGURE 23 Man bringing goods to market in Uganda (issue istransport)
Support programmes and networks
People with useful expertise and experience are to be found inmost communities. They can often be utilized to meet training and skillsrequirements and other resources, either as individuals or as members ofinstitutions such as farmer groups, women's groups or local government.Experience of home-garden development projects shows that selection and trainingof "master gardeners" as community garden promoters is the best way to ensureviable gardens and retain indigenous knowledge in planning home gardenimprovements.
In some countries, there is public-sector support for small ormedium enterprise development, which covers processing activities, trading andservices. This kind of support facilitates commercialization by providingentrepreneurs with training in business planning, assistance in establishinggroup trading or processing contracts and support for accessing financialcredit. Formal training opportunities for improved home gardening are typicallylimited by tight public sector budgets, but experienced local people, especiallyretired people, are important informal training resources. Technical informationis available from agriculture departments and gardeners' groups. In ethnicallydiverse countries, pictures and graphics are used in technical posters andleaflets to overcome literacy constraints. There is good potential for takingadvantage of this by establishing groups of home gardeners, cooperatives andsimilar organizations to exploit resources of information, technology andmarkets. Many countries already have specialized support networks such asgardeners' clubs or associations, fruit growers' or farmers' federations orunions that can provide training, supplies and access to model gardens.Community-development organizations and groups sponsored by communities or localgovernments, such as women's groups and social forestry groups, often providefacilitation.
FIGURE 24 Ahome garden promoter trained by FAO in Viet Nam.An FAO-trained home garden promoter in Viet Nam acts as mentor to the poorestfamilies in his village. He visits them weekly to advise on garden activitiesand review enterprise development. He sometimes teams up with the communityhealth worker to improve nutrition knowledge among growers and mothers,sometimes with the district agriculture extension officer. He supportsfamilies'appli-cations for credit by helping in small-enterprise businessplanning. In return, he is paid two dollars a month from a governmentpoverty-reduction fund, enough to meet his needs for external seed, fertilizerand animal health products. (Source: C. Landon-Lane)
FIGURE 25 A rural youth group in Viet Nam provide ablesupport to construct a canal to irrigate a community garden and fish pond.(Source: C. Landon-Lane)
Home gardens for food security: lessons learned by aidagencies
The most successful home gardening efforts in terms of foodsecurity and sustainability are those that have involved the health andnutrition and agriculture sectors in an integrated approach. These sectors alltoo often work separately and even competitively. Participation by NGOs andcommunity organizations is equally important. To enable small gardening projectsto develop into effective regional efforts, governments should provide basicpolicy and other support services, for example, through research and extension,schools, health clinics and supportive land-use regulations.
The basic concept of home gardening as a strategy forresolving the food crisis is the opposite of a relief food grant approach. Itrequires participation in the sense that people work for themselves - which theycan do, provided they are not denied access to certain productive resources andadvice or hampered by policy, for example, being forbidden to trellis beans fromthe balconies of state housing-project homes.
External support agencies need to:
involve householdsand communities in design and planning of home garden activities;
promote technologies andspecies appropriate for local needs and resources, which include cost, risk,labour requirements, cultural preferences, markets and compatibility with otherfarming-system components;
avoid narrow or imposedobjectives such as improving vitamin A or other human micro-nutrition needs whenfamilies need gardens to supplement sources of energy, protein and income. Buildon what is there already - existing production resources, support services andnetworks.
Marketing
Marketing decisions
It is a household decision whether to consume garden producein the home or sell it into the community - but it is always the market thatdecides what to buy, when to buy it and how much it will pay for it. Producegrown for family subsistence may not be in demand by other families in a time ofplenty. On the other hand, well stored products sold during a shortage periodmay earn good prices. A buyer might decide that what is offered for sale is ofbetter quality than anything else in the market and buy, even at prices higherthan those for lower-quality produce. Markets thus determine choices of crop orlivestock that can be produced for sale.
In choosing what market to supply, gardeners have to decide ifthey can meet market needs. Apart from the type of product and its quality, theyneed to consider how to get their product into the market and when to supply it;appropriate transport and supply processes are essential. More buyers may choosea product that is promoted so that they are familiar with it.
FIGURE 26 Social marketing: a cooking competition in avillage in Bhutan promotes new crops in a tasty and entertaining way. Socialmarketing of home garden products helps to deal with traditional food taboos andmisunderstandings. Some cultures have long-held ideas that limit markets, suchas "fruit is only for children" or "vegetables should not be cooked in oil". Inremote areas, people are often used to a very limited variety of food and needto get used to new foods and flavours before they will buy them or make a homegarden themselves. Getting local cooks to prepare delicious meals that show howto use the new produce and demonstrate its flavour is a successful method ofpromotion. Cooking competitions such as the one photographed in Bhutan are funand involve the whole community through devising tasty recipes and enjoyingthem. (Source: C. Landon-Lane)
Market information
Decisions on crop and animal types, production schedules,produce quality and organization of distribution are improved with betterinformation. Market information is a significant factor in improving home gardenenterprises. Gardeners use four main kinds of information to help them fine tuneproduction and post-harvest handling practices.
The size of amarket helps gardeners estimate how much they should produce and sell; thisinformation includes the quantity or weight to be sold, the number of buyers andhow much they buy.
Information about theduration of demand for a product, for example, staple foods consumed yearround or flowers for festive or holy days, is used to fine tune productionscheduling, product storage and distribution systems.
Information about thepopular characteristics of a product that buyers prefer including size,shape, weight, colour, packaging and overall quality, enables gardeners to enjoypremium prices and loyal, regular buyers. Market information often includes therange of prices for different grades of product quality.
The location of themarket requires gardeners to develop appropriate packing, handling and transportprocedures.
FIGURE 27 Malaysia: buying and selling in the local fruitand vegetable market. (Source: FAO/[PH9818-e/T. Janssen)
Finding out market information helps to identify opportunitiesfor sales of fresh produce and outlets for sales of value-added or finishedproducts. Cash crops such as coffee or vanilla sell for better prices if theyare properly processed and dried, which may be done by individual households ordone on contract by a villager who has the appropriate equipment. Home gardenerslearn how to exploit small-scale markets in their communities. Once farmers arefamiliar with these and generating some income, their gardens may evolve intosmallholder enterprises supplying larger and more distant markets.
FIGURE 28 Ghana small community markets provide opportunityfor income. (Source: FAO/PH9817-e/P. Cenini)
Serving customers
One of the most significant aspects of successful marketing isthe importance of the client. Successful small-scale enterprises meet marketneeds. In some countries, especially those in transition from a command economyto a free market, the successful people are those who find out what theircustomers want. Marketing new kinds of produce may require adaptation andpromotion to expand local preferences; some customers may want to ensure thatthey can get a regular supply. Generally, the higher the incomes of the buyers,the higher their demand for quality. To gain a share of more sophisticatedmarkets, gardeners must supply better-quality produce, which will often comefrom high-quality varieties and improved livestock breeds.
Maintaining supply
To maintain supplies of produce that suits the customers, homegarden enterprises need experience and knowledge of the chain of events fromproduction and processing to distribution and sales. Vegetable growers ensurethey can provide a regular supply by leaving a week or more between plantings.Processing markets for cash crops have specific requirements: some, such asfruit processors, need to spread supply over long periods to maintain factorythroughput. High-quality coffee processors need to have coffee cherriesdelivered to them on the day the cherries are harvested. Packaging and means oftransport differ according to how, when and where the produce is wanted.Nurseries produce plants either as bare-root plants or in pots or tubes.Bare-root plants are generally trees and shrubs for local planting in the coolseason. Bare-root plants may be cheaper and more appropriate in certainsituations such as farm woodlots, but potted plants are easier to transport andmay arrive in better condition. This is especially important for nursery gardensserving intensive field agriculture, where farmers want bulk crop seedlings ofuniform standard to give them a seasonal head start.
Successful small-scale entrepreneurs need to take care thattheir input supply system is reliable and efficient. Animal breeders need toensure access to feed, veterinary services and products. Seed and otherpropagation material may be available through traders, shops or by seasonalcollection from other farmers. Mushroom growers, for example, need stablesupplies of straw, sawdust or other growth substrates.
FIGURE 29 An Indonesian woman specializes in culinary herbsfor an urban market, To keep the herbs clean, unblemished and of high quality,she grows them on a raised bamboo bench. (Source: C. Landon-Lane)
Model: Market gardens
Market gardens are common in areas with good transport tomarkets and specialize in identified market opportunities. To meet demand on aregular basis, especially in the case of highly perishable salad vegetables orcut flowers, requires gardeners to stagger planting dates to ensure daily orweekly harvests, sometimes all year round. Labour requirements may be higherthan other garden models, but opportunities for employment are increased inpost-production and off-farm tasks such as cleaning and packing produce anddeliveries to market.
Some market gardens focus on seasonal opportunities. For thefestive period of the lunar New Year, East Asian gardeners lop off blossom-ladenbranches of specially-pruned peach and cherry trees and sell orange fruitedkumquat citrus trees in pots. Initial capital is required, but labourinputs are limited mainly to the pre-harvest and harvest period.
Market gardeners may specialize in seasonal crops such ashigh-value fruit or flowers. These tend to be for higher-income urban markets,so quality and distribution systems must be well organized.
Risks
Market risk is part of the overall risk in any kind ofa*griculture. It is inherent in the choices made and may be reflected in high orseasonally fluctuating prices. Successful entrepreneurs find out seasonal andcyclical price trends to get an idea of the price profile of their product.Enterprises may fail because of production risks such as crop losses and fromchanges in market conditions. Lower-than-expected prices can result fromincreased competition, exposure to lower-priced imports and changes in the costof garden inputs. Competition may come from other producers and from similarproducts that can replace what a gardener is trying to sell. Successfulentrepreneurs pay close attention to market information and respond early tothreats. They budget inputs carefully to ensure profitability over a price rangethat reflects good and bad marketing conditions. The likelihood of damage andreduced product quality, either from ecological conditions such as bad weather,pests and diseases, or from failures in the harvesting and distribution chainsuch as roads being washed away and equipment breaking down has to be weighed upand mitigating measures taken in advance.
FIGURE 30 A nursery in Lao People's Democratic Republicuses banana-leaf containers which rot away after planting. (Source: C.Landon-Lane)
Model: Nursery garden
Nursery gardens provide inputs such as trees or agriculturalcrop seedlings for other farming or community activities. These specializedgardens may serve off-farm markets or integrate overall farm operations. Intemperate areas where winters are mild, such as parts of China, Argentina andwestern Europe, farmers can grow a range of winter vegetables in some of theirgrain fields. Cool temperatures slow the growth of these vegetables when theyare young, making them vulnerable to loss from rodents or frost. To profit fromseasonal needs, specialist home garden nurseries produce seedlings in pots,trays or as bare-root transplants.
Forestry needs, either for individual woodlots or forcommunity forests, are often best supplied by home garden nurseries. Selectedtree seedlings may require treatment to help them germinate - hot water foracacias, for example, and then a shady, moist and well-protected site forgrowing on, such as a corner of a well fenced home garden. Seedlings often growbetter in potting mixtures containing home garden compost. Potting or packagingmaterial such as banana or palm leaves is often grown in the garden.
