A cool urban farm idea for small gardens

Food scapping. The new trend that has captured millenials. It involves growing edible crops and flowers in an attractive manner.

With numerous buildings coming up everywhere, our towns and cities are becoming a concrete jungle. With demand for real estate space going up, farming is not a priority. But a new crop of young farmers in urban areas are using all manner of means to farm despite the space challenges. There are those who are now using a concept called foodscaping in a bid to add freshness, life, and colour to urban spaces.

Foodscaping, also known as edible landscaping, is marrying landscaping and food production. Because it is trendy, simple, and promising, the idea is mostly attracting millennials who normally shy away from farming because it is seen as dirty and boring.

Pramilla Nekesa, 25, a co-founder of Urban Smart Gardens in Nairobi’s Juja Estate, and a pioneer of the concept, says more young people are warming up to it because it is creative and involves doing farming in a striking way.

“Young people avoid farming because they think it is boring. But when we show them such cool ideas, they welcome them. If we are to address food security, this is the way to go,” Nekesa says.

Pop of colour

From vegetables to ornamental flowers, her farm–located in the middle of a concrete jungle on a plot that measures 60m by 80m–is a vision of beauty and freshness.

The entrance to the farm speaks green. With a staircase of sukuma wiki and neatly trimmed grass at the furthest end, it is a sight to behold.

At the centre of the garden is a metallic arch, with kunde planted all round. Next to it are raised seedbeds anchoring swiss chard, curly kale, and broccoli.

Nekesa tells Smart Harvest that the idea was birthed early this year by her co-founder Joash Njani who studied horticulture at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

After graduating, Njani realised that getting a white-collar job was not guaranteed. He decided to start the group as a way to keep busy and earn income.

Having worked with Nekesa back on campus, the two teamed up to roll out the idea since they were passionate about agriculture and had the technical skills.

As expected, they faced several hurdles that young people encounter as they try to venture into agriculture.

Land challenge

The biggest hurdle was access to land. Determined to push forward, they came up with a way to design gardens that did not occupy a lot of space and were convenient for urban dwellers. With their horticultural skills, they were able to develop products and services that would suit those wanting to set up garden in urban areas. They used their small savings to buy materials like timber and metal bars to set up the project in Juja.

“Njani developed the designs and structures and I bought the seedlings of various flowers and vegetables and planted them in a unique way to maximise on space,” Nekesa said.

They made sure to set up the garden in a way that no space is wasted.

When friends came to visit and saw the project, they were impressed and sought their services. That is how they started designing structures for foodscaping on a commercial basis.

Urban Smart Gardens now specialises in designing urban gardens in an aesthetically pleasing manner using edible crops and ornamental crops (flowers). The design system maximise spaces vertically, increases production by up to three times, and is fitted with drip irrigation. This ensures that the garden is run efficiently and is easy to manage.

“Our smallest unit costs Sh7,000 and this caters for installation and free consultation for the first months. The system comes with seedlings, soil, an irrigation system and pipes. We sell the vegetables at our demo farm to local vendors and individual clients. They are always coming back for more because the crops are grown without chemicals,” said Nekesa.

She explains that although selling vegetables is not their core business, they earn Sh300 in a day from the sales. “Our main products include garden design and installation, and selling quality vegetable seedlings that are assorted and something that gardeners like.”

The price of seedlings ranges from Sh2 to Sh12 depending on the type and variety of the crop.

“We also offer garden consultancy and trainings to individuals, institutions and schools,” Nekesa said.

Mental health benefits

Foodscaping comes with numerous benefits. “You enjoy fresh vegetables from your small garden and also have a small sanctuary with flowers that offer a relaxing ambiance. Such a space is calming and great for mental wellness,” the young farmer says.

This is not just a kitchen garden but one that has an aesthetic value, she stresses. She says using the small space, you can grow at least five things that you eat weekly.

These include a wide variety of edible plants such as white cabbage, red spinach, curly kale, and lettuce, which bring an aesthetic feel when planted together. You can blend in ornamental flowers to add colour to your well-manicured lawn. At the garden, they also grow a combination of kales and coriander, giving the garden a striking feel.

“We merge edible crops and ornamentals and provide people with a beautiful experience because we believe the garden is not just for growing food, but a beautiful place to interact and bond with your family and friends,” Nekesa said.

Disease and pest management

Like all farms, pests and diseases are a major concern. Aphids, thrips, caterpillars and mites are a common headache, Nekesa says. Diseases like powdery mildew are also common in the garden. Nekesa says since the farm is organic, they control pests and diseases using an integrated pest management programme that entails following a certain series of steps. This includes constantly monitoring the farm to detect early signs of pests and diseases, and employing preventive strategies like physical barriers such as nets, traps, repellents and natural enemies.

“The other challenge in our business has been scaling up. Getting the right people for our team has been a challenge. As much as there are many unemployed youth, they lack a good attitude. Since we haven’t accessed any source of funding, it has been difficult balancing our daily lives and managing the business expenses. The sub-county office has also provided us with information in regards to operating a business so that we are not doing anything illegal,” said Nekesa.

Another challenge with foodscaping is drought but it can be mitigated by regular watering and mulching. Salinity of the soil is also a problem especially for those using overhead irrigation. The solution to this is drip irrigation.

Most choice crops for foodscaping are annual in nature. This poses a challenge after harvesting since most of the space will look uninviting and patched. It would be good to have small nurseries to continually plant on the patched surfaces. For those interested, the duo says, it is possible to be part of this new wave of farming with just a small piece of land.

“The principle of foodscaping is achieved by having multiple produce harvest throughout the year, and the use of push and pull weed and pest management where different plants attract and repel insects and weeds in different ways,” says Erick Ngure, an agronomist.

Simon Maina, an agroecologist, says that planting decorative vegetables and ornamental flowers can be a profitable business.

Foodscapers can save money by making their produce ‘farm to fork’. But this idea mostly benefits urban dwellers with small gardens. Application of land systems such as hydroponics can increase the number of crops in small spaces.

“Most people who are doing foodscaping are those who do not have big land and live in town. There is too much focus on real estate and those who want to farm in such spaces must think out of the box,” Maina says.