News from Nyota's Green Garden: The Mandala System

 A new mounting system for improved yields in Kenya

Inspired by an article in the Kenyan magazine "The Organic Farmer" the Nyota Green Garden team has decided to create a Mandala garden on plot A. The Mandala garden is a circular garden with a private trail system, this ensures that all areas of the garden are easily reached and, above all, can be watered efficiently. Particularly in view of the simple water supply and long storage in the soil during low rainfall months this system is very promising.





Since plot A (also called Demoplot) is not only used for the cultivation that ensures the supplies for the day care children, but also for training purposes and for new ideas in addition to the cultivation, the Mandala Garden was built here. On an attached field the traditional, linear system is used where we planted the same varieties and quantities of vegetables. We want to compare the two different systems, especially during the dry season. We will compare on yield, quality, water consumption and handling. If the Mandala system turns out to actually be more advantageous, we will use this system more often in the future.




The mandala garden was planted with a colorful mix of one-year traditional vegetables such as Spider Plant, Sunn hemp (cannabis indica), Black Nightshade, and various pod fruits and cabbages.





The Mandala garden does not just look beautiful. Besides the harmonic circular and spiral arrangement of the beds it offers optimal conditions for community workshops with small farmers and projects with the Nyota day care and Primary school children, due to better access to the beds.











We will report the results of the test with the Mandala garden as soon as they are available. The cultivation project Nyota Organic Green Garden can be supported by a donation or a sponsorship. Besides supplying the orphans with healthy food, it also serves the local community. Workshops and community training to biologically sustainable farming are organized on a regular basis.

Actually we need further materials for fencing, new tools and working clothes for our gardeners.