Backyard garden - FTRB by Allen Lockington

Submitted by nikid on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 14:43

Reading the story of Mr. Manoa Mate (FT 15/6) and his 300 kg yam is an inspiration. The story says that he planted it in his backyard in Nepani.

Nepani is a housing estate, wow.

What is the possibility of printing stories of people who plant in their little back yards to supplement their meager wages?

Now is a good time for government to import good inexpensive farm implements to get the people going like Manoa. Fiji TV can also start show titled ‘Agriculture in the back yard’ showing what people have achieved.

If things go well the only people buying root crop and vegetables should be tourists and those who don’t know how to plant and those who have no back yard.

While on the story of gardens, a friend of mine has a cassava plantation near the golf course in Banaras Lautoka. Someone was stealing his cassava so he lay in wait to catch them. He was shocked when he saw that the thieves were the familiar faces of a mother and her two children. They live in the same neighborhood. My friend followed them home so that he could confront the head of the house – the dad and husband. But he left it at that when he realized that he was a lay preacher, he was too shocked to do anything more.