WHAT IS A GARDEN AND / OR FAMILY FARM?  This booklet aims to help you better understand the different productive activities that can develop in the garden and the family farm. It is important to know how this shaped his garden (structure) and what it does and produces (functions and results).

WHAT ARE THE AREAS AND FUNCTIONS OF GARDENING AND / OR FAMILY FARM ?  The garden and / or family farm is composed of different areas and functions. There are three main areas, which offer different possibilities for the family: social, useful and productive.

SOCIAL AREA SOCIAL AREA Location: In front or side of the house, you can have a small shed. Use: Generally used as a place for social activities, meetings and places of conversation and children's play, can also be used for garden and sometimes to dry the grain and other food produced in the garden.

NET AREA  Location: Around the house. Use: Generally used for washing and drying clothes, there may be small pens or sheds, and a water well and an outhouse.

PRODUCTION AREA  Location: You can be in the back garden sector. Use: food and other products are generally produced also may be pens for animals such as pigs, sheep or goats.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE GARDEN AND / OR FAMILY FARM ?  Usually a family has an area that can be reduced to the garden and farm, as well as more important to produce food or other products for both sale and for consumption area, it can be located next to the garden or elsewhere in the community. These areas together constitute a farm. The family divides her working time and resources between these two areas, each of which is used differently and the two boards should meet the food and economic needs of the family.

The garden and / or family farm has a special meaning because it can produce:  The sale of garden produce and the farm can contribute significantly to improve the income of the family, buy supplies for the garden, help cover bás ic needs (health, education, housing, recreation and others), to obtain services for different family members.  Development of the farm. In the garden and / or family farm you can develop nurseries, seedlings and breeding stock, in order to use them later for the expansion of cultivation, processing and storage of seeds, and to increase livestock production

HOW TO EVALUATE THE OPERATION OF THE GARDEN AND / OR FAMILY FARM ?  Before defining improvements or changes to agricultural and livestock production, it is advisable to first do an analysis of the current activities and results of the garden and / or farm. Keep in mind that the garden serves different functions, such as: social, utilitarian and economic. The steps recommended to perform this analysis are:

Prepare a map of the garden and / or family farm We suggest developing a map of the garden and / or family farm in collaboration with others in the community and local actors with knowledge and experience in these activities. The map can be made ​​ on large sheets of paper or other material directly into the ground using sticks and stones to represent the different areas, the location of the main agricultural crops and animals, Table 2, discussion and drawing of the map the garden and family farm is an example of how to develop a map of the garden and / or family farm is. It is suggested to use as a guide Table 1.

Step 3 : Make a copy of the map and keep  It is suggested to copy the map on paper and complete with explanatory notes. This base map, you can then make a more detailed work, where all the changes you want to introduce are included.

Map of gardening and / or family farm with different technology options

culinary garden A kitchen garden can produce a sufficient variety of plant foods for daily family consumption; but can also be a small area that one might call "culinary garden"

Green manure and compost for crops Another way to feed the soil is the use of green manure that can be used as compost, especially legumes, which collect and retain nitrogen

LAND USE IN HILLSIDE The whole area of the garden can be used to grow useful plants, but on slope lands need special care to keep the soil in good condition.

Make barriers to retain soil Logs, banana trunks and horizontal channels (Figure 4) the ground stop when the water runs down a slope. As the trails wear quickly they should be covered with wooden bleachers, otherwise, the cuts in the soil can be removed by rain.

Plant cover crops To cover the soil with leaves and creepers, the shadow that produces such cover protects the soil surface from the impact of rain. A dense cover crop competes with any weed seed that is among the crop. Competition and shadow make the cover crop growing win weeds.