Category: Rwandan gardens

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: Celosia

Cindy at enclos*ure8 Comments

This Bloom Day, I’m most taken with this stand of Celosia argentea.  The annual self-seeded all over the garden, and we transplanted a number of the babies to this spot at the southeast end of the two parallel retaining walls (see garden plan here).

Eventually, some very tall Heliconia rostrata will grow up here (you can see one leaf in the front of the photo above), but this is a nice filler until the transplanted roots really take off.

I believe my plants are a red-leafed Celosia argentea var. argentea, which is commonly know in Africa as Lagos spinach.  (Although I may have var. spicata, similar to ‘Flamingo Feathers.’)  Harvested before it flowers, the plant is an important leaf vegetable in tropical Africa and Southeast Asia.  In Nigeria, it is called soko yokoto, which means ‘make husbands fat and happy.’  In Swahili, it’s called mfungu.

To prepare it, boil (don’t steam) the leaves and tender stems for five minutes, and then drain away the cooking water (which eliminates the oxalic acid and nitrates).  It is said to taste like spinach and contains very good levels of protein, vitamins A, C, and E, calcium, and iron.

The genus Celosia is a member of the amaranth family.  The name comes from the Greek word kelos, meaning ‘burned’ — referring to the flame-shaped and colored blooms.  Most sources I looked at gave the genus’s probable origin as Africa.

To see what’s blooming in other garden bloggers’ gardens, check out May Dreams Gardens.

Our garden: summer changes

Cindy at enclos*ure11 Comments

It’s been some time since I posted the site analysis of our Kigali garden — it was July, in fact. It’s been difficult for me to write about the changes we’ve made since then. I take pictures, look at them and feel that they look so raw and empty — because newly divided, transplanted shrubs and perennials never present that well, especially here, where I can’t run down to a garden center for a few bags of chipped mulch. So I reject them and go out and move some more plants around, hoping the next set of pictures will really represent the improvements that we’ve made this summer.

But I’ve reached the point where I need to stop fiddling with things and just let the garden grow on its own for a while (and it will: the rains have started and the gardener just spread two truckloads of manure this week).

So I went out this week and took more photos and then made the sketch below so that they will make more sense.

The unifying element for the upper and lower areas in front of the house and near the side driveway is an irregularly curving line (of planting bed) against a straight line (of clipped bougainvillea hedge, stone wall, or pavement).

I originally drew the curves on the grass (using flour) inspired by water waves. However, one day I was explaining to the gardener how I wanted the shape of an area to be curved like waves, and he said, “oh, like the mountains.” Then I looked up at the outline of the hills just over our walls and said, “of course.”

So this garden layout may make you think of water (if you grew up near a bay or ocean like me) or the hills and mountains (if you grew up in a place like Rwanda). Either way, it seems to be working nicely, although I will make a few adjustments to the curves in the next couple of months. It’s harder to draw convincing irregular waves on the ground than I first thought.

Below is a panoramic photo I took from the terrace, just out from the front door of the house. The camera distorts the scene into a wide angle, so please imagine it as straight across (and click the photo to enlarge it). You can just see the hills in the distance over the front hedge.

The picture shows how open this area is since we removed the two rows of 4′ hedges that ran along the front of the terrace. We replaced them with grass — and with a very narrow planting bed just along the first retaining wall. This gives us a bigger entertaining area near the house. We get a better breeze and fewer mosquitoes at night, as well.

We also removed all the 6’+ false bird of paradise plants that grew on either side of the handrails and blocked the wonderful view of the city.

I feel like I can really breath now, and it’s such a pleasure to come downstairs every morning to increased light and air.

The photo below shows the length of the new grassy area as you look toward the driveway (and also see a bit of our summer loaner dog, Riley — we have been dog-sitting).

Below you can see some of the same area looking in the other direction, standing at the center handrails. As we cut new, wider planting beds from the lower lawn, we transferred the sod right up to this top area, so the grass has looked good from the beginning.

Now, if we back up to the left edge of the drawing above, to the top gate that is the entrance to the property, you can see, below, how we have created two planting beds in the semi-circular area between the two gates. They replace a very narrow bed that ran all the way around, along the edge of the driveway. Now guests can actually enter this center area on the gate side and cross directly to the house on the grass if they choose.

Below, you can see the layout from the upstairs porch. The yellow and white curbs were painted while we were on vacation in March (without consulting us); I’m just not thinking about them right now.

We also capped the points of these flower beds with stones.

You can draw an imaginary curving line from the stone caps of the semi-circular area across the driveway to the first point of the stepping stones area at the now-open entrance to this side of the terrace (see below). A tall tree that used to grow in this area was dying and was removed in June.

There are low-growing plants with blue flowers in the open areas of the stone paving, but they are still filling in and are hard to see in the photo below.

It looks a bit bare at the moment, but I think it will be fine when the surrounding plants fill out and the little crape myrtle on the left grows up, and we get a tall pot or two.

If you now cross the length of the terrace to the other side, you will see the transition to the side area of the property (see below), with the vegetable garden and cutting/herb garden. This passage used to be partly blocked by two very large shrubs.

On this side of the house, shown below, we straightened up the edges of the vegetable garden, which had begun to wander, and created a wide bed to grow herbs and flowers for the house. The curving lines end here and everything is squared off, indicating the more practical purpose of the area.

I am very proud of the new clothesline, which a carpenter built from a picture I found on Design*Sponge. The red cord was his good idea though (I still need to trim up the ends).

The photo below shows the view from the corner of the vegetable garden looking back to the terrace area.

If you moved from that view point down along the south side of the yard to the bottom of the lower front lawn, you would be standing looking down the long view of the lower lawn, as in the photo below.

This is where the idea of the curving line got its start. I wanted to add some sense of movement and a lot more volume and texture to this long, wide grassy area that needs to stay wide in order to accommodate party tents from time to time. The long border on the left side used to be a skinny straight strip that barely held the nice shrubs planted in front of the bougainvillea-covered wall.

We kept almost all the various shrubs that made up the old hedges near the terrace and added them to this new wider border.

The first large curve in the photo above does not “wave” out far enough. I want to widen it soon by about 2′. I want to do the same to one of the “hills” at the other end of the lawn. The proposed changes are shown by the dashed lines on the drawing at the top.

Did you notice that the lampposts are no longer glaring white? They were painted dark brown, like the trim on the house and the handrails to the center steps. I am really pleased that they now blend into the surrounding foliage. At night, you just see the round white globes floating.

In the last photo below, to the right and behind the traveller’s palm, is the area where we put the tall false bird of paradise that we removed from the sides of the center steps. There is a similar planting at the other end of the lawn. I think they will make a nice frame for the long beds between the two stone retaining walls.

I’ll write about my planting plan next month. This is just the beginning.

Nyungwe Forest Lodge

Cindy at enclos*ure5 Comments

Last month, we finally made a trip to southwest Rwanda, after having rescheduled twice since the spring. For me, the chief attraction of the three-day visit — which involved many hours on some very rough and curvy roads — was the drive through the 378 square mile Nyungwe National Park, one of the most species-rich mountainous rain forests in Africa.

We also spent two nights at the wonderful Nyungwe Forest Lodge, possibly the best hotel in Rwanda. (Above: early morning breakfast at the Lodge.)

Located on the western edge of the park, the lodge offers beautiful views of two environments: the natural forest of the park and the agricultural fields of a tea plantation.

The cabins rest on the very edge of a field of tea. And their back-facing picture windows look into the forest trees (monkey sightings are common and guests are warned to close windows and doors at night).

The road leading to the Lodge passes through bright green acres of tea bushes.

A local cooperative picks the tea (right up to the lodge and cabin doors) and keeps the income from its sales.

(Above: the road to the lodge and a tea collection shed.)

The (tea-side) entrances to the cabins are landscaped with plants from the forest. The Lodge was not allowed to bring any other plants onto its grounds.

The cabins are built on posts, lifting them off the ground.

Above are some of the plants at the entrance to our cabin.  I think the tree fern in the  center background is a Cyathea manniana (a.k.a., Alsophila manniana).  I haven’t been able to identify the plant in the foreground. Way in the back on the right is a wild banana (Musa ensete).

Unmown wild grass grows along the paths and among the larger plants.  I believe the small tree in the center, above, is an  Anthocleista grandiflora.  I think the plants just to the right of it are Lobelia gibberoa.

A park trail entrance is located near the Lodge grounds.  Guests are not allowed to hike, however, without paying the park fee and taking an official guide.  Both can be arranged at the Lodge.

The main Lodge building (with the lounge, bar, and restaurant) rests in the center of the tea field.

The interior is beautiful, as well.  (Above: a wall of Rwandan pottery.)

The tea grows right up to the foundations of all the buildings.  (Above: the main building terrace with rain chains.)

The tea bushes are mulched with the branches cut in the last pruning.

The Lodge’s main paths are earth-colored concrete and are set slightly below the level of the tea field.

The smaller paths are also partially hidden below the tea.

Orange Kalanchoe crenata plants line the paths.

Above is the view of the forest from the pool.  The trees are full of monkeys (we learned to look for shaking branches; then we saw them everywhere).

There’s one (above.)

He jumps.

And lands.  (OK, my nature photography is not so good.)

Here’s a slightly better picture.  It’s a L’Hoest’s monkey (Cercopithecus lhoesti).

Unfortunately, our travel schedule didn’t allow time to hike the park.  But my plan is to return as soon as possible.  Many people come to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas in the north, but the Nyungwe Forest is equally remarkable, and tourists should soon begin to see it as good reason to spend more time (and money) in the country.  (Tourism is Rwanda’s number one revenue producer, followed by tea and coffee exports.)

In which . . .

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I try to get one good photo of this bird in the garden.

Now, just hold still so I can focus.

Not quite there.

O.K., get out from behind the leaf.

Still fuzzy.

And he’s off

and gone.

Next week: I try to photograph a monkey. (We just returned from a visit to southwest Rwanda and the Nyungwe National Park.)

A visit to GOFTC, part two

Cindy at enclos*ure3 Comments

After we visited the demonstration small holding farm of Gako Organic Farming Training Centre (GOFTC), we continued down the road a short distance to its main campus.

The attractive facility includes a number of classrooms and an auditorium.  A local church group was holding a service on the grounds while we were there, and we enjoyed their singing as we looked around.

The path we followed from the buildings to the fields was lined with Caliandra trees, which are regularly cut to provide good animal fodder. (Also click here for more information.)


We came to a large field of various types of garden beds, including the above terraced mound garden of carrots, onions, and parsley . . .

and the above keyhole garden of cabbages. (Click any photo to enlarge it.  To scroll through all the enlarged images, click on ‘Continue reading’ below and on any thumbnail in the gallery.)


Above, cabbages were growing in sack towers, and old tires had been repurposed as containers for herbs.

Amaranth was growing in rows.  In Rwanda, it is valued more as a leaf vegetable than a grain. I was surprised to see the Cleome around it  (in the photo, but a little hard to see), but I learned from Managing Director Richard Munyerango that the leaves are edible after cooking.

The center teaches animal husbandry and keeps a number of dairy cows using the “zero grazing method,” which means fodder is brought to the penned animals (they do graze twice a week).


This calf was checking out my camera.


In addition to milk, the cows contribute to the center’s power through their manure, which is processed to produce gas for cooking.


The staff were cooking bananas that day. These bananas are not sweet and when boiled and mashed taste something like potatoes.


You may remember GOFTC’s pigs from my July 4 “Wordless Wednesday” post.  This baby was a little more shy.


The center has an even larger rabbit hutch at the main campus.


Of course, the urine is collected for the compost piles.


After we left the animals, we came to the compost shed.  The still-cooking pile on the left was beautifully squared off. Richard told us good dimensions for a pile are 1.5 meters wide by 1.5 meters high (and 7 meters long, but this one was about 3-4 meters long).


This is clever (above). A pole is placed in the middle of the pile so that it can slide in and out. If it is pulled out warm and damp, the pile is in good shape.


Next to the compost shed, different types of soil amendments (compost, compost tea, manure, etc.) were being tested on Amaranth.


There were macadamia trees planted next to the test plot.


From the shed, we could also see fields of pineapples — their drip irrigation buckets still hanging at the end of the rows.


The drip lines — needed when the plants were first set out — had been removed. But when they were in use, workers had filled the buckets by hand from a well below the field. Eventually, a pump system will be installed.


The pineapples are fertilized with a solid byproduct of the “cow gas” process.


As we left the fields by this gate, I noticed again the careful capture of rainwater runoff using trenches.

I thought I would end by sharing some of the text of GOFTC’s brochure, which is rather inspiring.

“Gako Organic Farming Training Centre is a Rwandan local NGO that trains farmers in sustainable agriculture for sustained livelihood.

We are a training and demonstration enterprise. The training is in sustainable agriculture using organic farming practices, which are environmentally friendly.

We emphasis the use of limited land (small plot technique), while improving yields, which are pollution free, hence safe and healthy to eat.

We do not encourage the application of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, but try to go back to nature, by taking care of our environment so that we may depend on it for our livelihood.

We embark on planning and design, while focusing our most attention on agro-forestry and the growing of fruits and vegetables, which are natural medicines.

Since inception, GOFTC has shared this information with hundreds, if not thousands, of farmers in Rwanda and the neighboring countries who come for training. . . .

[Our mission is] to empower the farming communities to improve their living standards through appropriate, affordable and productive organic farming practices that promote environmental conservation for a healthy, progressive and united people.”

You can read more about GOFTC in a January 2011 post by Jared in the blog Rwanda on the Wing.

You can contact GOFTC by writing to P.O. Box 3047, Kigali, Rwanda, or by e-mailing to goftc2008@yahoo.com.

Continue reading “A visit to GOFTC, part two” →