GROUNDVINES-cucumber, melon, squash, pumpkin. All vines need a bit of uninterrupted space and you need easy access to pick the fruit.

Pumpkin and melon will take a lot of space. Pumpkins are hearty, but need to remain undisturbed. A specialty melon like cantaloupe can be a nice treat.

Squash is separated into summer and winter types. Trinidadians are accustomed to winter squash such as the butternut. The long season, odd-shaped, hard skinned squash that store well are usually referred to as winter squash.

Smaller, short season types, which are eaten before the skin and seeds begin to thicken are the summer squashes.

They have a mild somewhat nutty taste that resembles corn.Summer squash, like zucchini, take up little garden space compared to butternut types. Zucchini is very tasty in stir fry.

Cucumber-start as with the other veggies but plant at least two feet apart. Put a stake where you plant so you will know where the roots are for water. Try not to get the water on the leaves. Use special green weekly but just a pinch. Spray as with other plants.Two vines are plenty, but they need about a four by four foot space each.

FENCE VINES-bodi, seim, christophene, and carailli need little to produce well. Work the soil adding some rotted manure. Water daily till the sproutsreach up. Be patient when starting a vine to climb.

Bodi-needs to be planted close to a fence or trellis so it can climb.You can use old eggplant or hot pepper trees. Water regularly. Spray weekly with Pestac. Doesn’t need much fertiliser. Replant every two months. A family only needs about 4-6 vines. There are several varieties, red, long and short green types.

Seim bean This bean is now grown in almost every part of the world. It is an integral part of most Chinese back yard gardens. The purple seim type most common in Trinidad is called Ruby Moon. It is very easy to grow, resistant to most diseases, and needs little water, but does need a fence, jamrah, (trellis), or sturdy pole to climb up. Seim has purplish stems and alternate, white, pink, or purple flowers in a long bunch that produce maroon bean pods containing 3-5 green beans. When the beans dry they become black with a white streak. Pick the bean pods while the skin is smooth and the beans pushing out yet.

Christophene is an attractive vine, but it takes a lot of attention to grow. This vine loves the sun, but also needs plenty of water and humidity, and a fence or a jamrah (trellis). The easiest method to grow this vegetable is to locate a farmer and beg a plant. Failing that, select two christophene at the market. Ask the vendor if they have any that are over ripe and budding. If not, set the christophene in a warm window, but not in direct sun. In a few days it will start to shrivel and wrinkle and soon sprout a bud. Plant the seed bud upwards in a clay pot with sandy soil. Lightly fertilise with 12 - 24 -12. Once the plant catches move it outdoors where the vine can climb. Provide it with some shade as a banana leaf or a board. Do not fully cover it. Water regularly and use 12 -12 - 17 -2 mix when it begins to blos

som.

Carailli is easy to grow from seeds. It is best planted along a fence or anywhere the vine can climb. Because carialli seeds are scarce, first visit the market and search for an over ripe fruit. Set the fruit out until it softens and then remove the seeds. Dig several small holes along a fence. Plant about four seeds per hole. Water regularly and in a few days, bright green sprouts will appear. As the vine grows carefully start it onto the fence. Carialli is a natural climber. Spray occasionally with a mild pesticide and water-soluble fertilizer. In a few weeks yellow blossoms will appear. Water every other day. Birds will be the biggest pests to your carialli.

EASY FRUIT

Papaya-Keep trees at least four feet apart. Use starter fertiliser in hole at planting. Use all the sprays, but if it gets a bunchy top pull it out and replant. Over watering is your biggest enemy. Once they start to blossom, use blue fertiliser weekly. I plant three trees every six months. Papaya is great for you and a healthy, refreshing desert fruit from an attractive tree.

TALL-pigeon peas, cassava, corn. These need to be on the east side of your garden so they don’t block the sun from the other ground level veggies. Four pigeon pea trees will provide plenty of peas, however a mature pea tree takes up a good bit of your yard. They can attractive nicely spaced about four feet from any property line or fence and about six feet apart. This should permit easily picking from all sides. With proper care you might get two pickings from each tree. Keep the soil well drained and fertilise every month with red (12-24-12) salt. This is along crop that takes six months to bear.

Cassava trees could be planted along your fence line behind the peas as both grow about the same height. Cassava is another virtually effortless foodstuff. Plant it where it gets plenty of sun, in loose well drained soil. Since it is a root the softer the soil the better. Cassava can take more than a year to mature. The butterstick type has anice red colored tree,and takes up more space because it branches. MX is drab gray usually a single stalk and makes a better hedge. After forking an area, stick two pieces of the stalk every two feet. After six months carefully brush away the soil and see how the roots are growing. Whenever you feel they are big enough, dig a root. Keep growing the others. Replant as you harvest. Occasionally apply red salt.

Corn must be planted with at least eight rows of corn for it to properly pollinate. That can be a major portion of a yard. I have seen a productive two rows along a driveway. Expect corn grow to six to seven feet tall, so it can dominate your garden.

Soil mix-add about a half a gallon bucket-paint pail-of manure and two cups of limestone to either two five gallon buckets of dirt or fork into a small garden of eight by four. First fork soil and let sit for two days in full sun. Add manure and lime and hoe till soft. Then soak with water. Let it sit for a day and plant.

It is best to water in the morning and no later than three so the ground can dry and not get fungus.

Fertilisers-use just a pinch. Over fertilising is a major problem of beginning gardeners. Don’t push your plants and they will bear better and longer.

RED-Starter-Reddish brown 12-24-12 good until blossoms appear. Use a pinch in hole before setting young plant.

Green-15 -5 -20 -2 - great for green leafy veggies

like lettuce and pak choy

Blue-12-12 17-2 after blossoms begin to make the fruit come.

Note: I am not an agronomist nor formally schooled in agriculture. I grow most of the food we eat, sell agricultural produce commercially, and write a column about various vegetables and fruits. These are my insights as to why the world is facing a food crisis and why we should return to backyard gardening.