We have sandy soils at our farm in Fikirini, Kwale County, at the Kenyan Coast. When we acquired the farm, the soils were severely depleted and could hardly sustain any crop. The owners likely sold the land out of frustration.
We knew full well what we were getting ourselves into. It was clear that it would take us years to rebuild the soil to enable us grow healthy and nutrient-dense food. At MaGreen Morganics, we focus on growing the soil – investing our time and energy in improving the soil health.
A starting point for us was growing nitrogen fixers. We found that growing pulses like green grams, cow peas and pigeon peas were easy and could be sustained by our depleted soils. At the same time, they fixed nitrogen in the soil, while giving us some produce – a small harvest, but nevertheless something that would encourage us along.
We also planted nitrogen-fixing trees like calliandra, moringa oleifera and sesbania sesban. The seeds were readily available from the roadside or from other farms, and these trees grow quickly. We selected these tree species for additional benefits in future like acting as wind breaks, shade, green manure, feed for animals and fuel. Planting tree species with multiple functions is always helpful.
A key principle for us at MaGreen Morganics is to develop a sustainable business model. We had to explore options to bring in some income. Considering that we were growing a market garden to enable us supply fresh vegetables to the communities around us, it was important to super charge our soils in the section we set aside for the vegetable beds. As such, composting was a natural next step. We made use of weeds, fallen leaves and other waste on the farm. The chicken droppings from the poultry coop were critical in this process. Given the number of beds we had set up (40), we also needed to bring in additional animal manure from other farms. We found mostly cow manure which was not high in nitrogen, but it still helped. We are now running 5 compost heaps at any given time that enables us to harvest high quality compost every week.
We noticed that our sandy soils were leaching nutrients very quickly, especially during the rainy season. We began to apply a mixture of clay soil (we could dig for this on the farm), biochar and high quality compost. This approach has significantly improved the water and nutrient retention capacity of our vegetable beds.
As a result of these efforts, we are noticing a significant improvement in the quality of the vegetables we are producing one year later. At some point, we produced such huge cucumbers that our customers doubted if we grew them organically!
If there is one thing we have learnt over the year of focusing on soil health at MaGreen Morganics is this: consistency pays dividends. We have to constantly build our soil. Healthy soils produce quality and nutrient-dense food.
Grow soil. Grow food!