Growing crops or vegetables: step by step
- Choose the place and the crop. Most vegetables need 5 to 6 hours of sunshine. Pick plants for the season: spinach and radish are quick, tomato and brinjal take longer.
- Prepare the soil. Dig and loosen it. Mix in compost or dry cow dung, which are natural food for plants.
- Sow. Plant seeds about two times as deep as their width. Tiny seeds go very shallow, big seeds deeper. Leave space so plants do not crowd each other.
- Water. Give water in the morning or evening so it does not dry out at once. Keep the soil moist like a squeezed sponge, not a puddle.
- Look after the plants. Pull weeds, which steal water and food. Loosen the top soil. Watch for insects and remove them by hand or use a safe neem spray.
- Harvest. Pick when the vegetable is ripe. Regular picking of leafy plants makes more grow.
What plants need: water, sun, air and soil
A plant needs light for photosynthesis, water to carry nutrients, air (carbon dioxide) for its food, and soil nutrients through its roots. In the 3D, the best growth is near medium water and good sunshine. Too little water makes plants droop. Too much water fills soil with water and rots roots. Too little light makes stems long and thin.
Save water with mulch (dry leaves on soil) and drip watering from a bottle with a small hole.
Raising small animals: hens and others
Small animals such as hens, ducks, rabbits and goats give eggs, milk, meat or manure. Whichever you raise, give these five things.
- Feed. Hens eat grain, kitchen scraps and greens. Give the right amount and never give mouldy food.
- Clean water, changed every day.
- Shelter. A dry, airy house that keeps away rain, heat and animals that hunt, such as dogs and snakes. A hen house needs a perch to sleep and a nest box to lay eggs.
- Cleaning. Remove droppings and wet bedding often, since dirt spreads disease.
- Health care. Watch for dull eyes, no appetite or limping, and ask a vet for vaccines.
Be gentle. Wash your hands after touching animals or eggs.
Safety, records and teamwork
Wear shoes and gloves. Handle hoes and sickles carefully. Use only safe, natural sprays with an adult. Keep a small record book: date sown, dates watered, height of plants, eggs per day. Records help you see what works. Share jobs in a team: watering, weeding, feeding and cleaning, and rotate them.
Try it
Pot experiment. Sow 5 seeds of green gram (moong) or fenugreek in three pots: one in sun with water, one in shade with water, one in sun without water. Measure each day for a week. Which grows best?
In the 3D: move water to 0, 50 and 100 and see the readout. Then try to get 100 percent growth.
Key formulas and definitions
- Sowing depth = about 2 x seed width
- Plant growth needs: soil + seed + water + sunlight
- Animal care: Feed + Water + Shelter + Cleaning + Health
Worked examples
1. A pea seed is 6 mm wide. How deep should you sow it?
About two times its width: 2 x 6 = 12 mm, which is 1.2 cm.
2. A bed is 2 m long and 1 m wide. Plants are spaced 25 cm apart in rows 25 cm apart. About how many plants fit?
200 cm / 25 = 8 plants along the length and 100 cm / 25 = 4 along the width. 8 x 4 = 32 plants.
3. A hen lays 5 eggs in a week. How many eggs do 4 hens lay in 4 weeks, if each lays the same?
5 x 4 hens = 20 eggs a week. In 4 weeks: 20 x 4 = 80 eggs.
Common mistakes
- Sowing seeds too deep, so they cannot reach the surface.
- Watering at noon in strong sun so the water dries at once.
- Overwatering. Roots need air as well as water.
- Leaving hens without clean water for a day.