Before planting in the garden, Anesah used polybags to grow seeds into seedlings. She had dozens of them, not just one or two. Some residents helped her make planting media from bamboo to accommodate all the seedlings. The types of seeds planted by Tunagan Village residents are quite diverse, including mustard greens, Chinese kale, spinach, chili, roselle, cucumber, and lemon basil (which the locals affectionately call “surawung”).

Lately, the tomato plants obtained from the Seed Saving training have been harvested. Among all the plants, the one most sought after by the residents is mustard greens. This vegetable is in high demand, and people take as much as they like for personal consumption. Since it was planted in the ground, it has been harvested twice. This means that when we met Anesah, she was watering mustard greens for the third time.

“If it rains frequently, maybe I’ll go to my (private) garden later. If I go to my garden, I’ll be like a man, for example, I’ll peel, dig, and make beds and then plant,” she explained about her gardening activities.

Anesah had prior experience gardening. During the rainy season, she used to plant red ginger in her private garden. Her garden was far from her residence. The red ginger was planted before the Cianjur earthquake and was harvested in August of this year. Despite being able to harvest up to 11 sacks, each averaging around 5 kg, the profit was not significant. The price of red ginger had dropped, averaging only Rp 2,000.00 per kg in the market. This was different from black ginger, which could fetch up to Rp 10,000.00 per kg.

“In fact, many people here want to buy it because it’s a good product. Many say so. It’s okay to buy, sometimes I also give some away. Ginger is delicious,” she said.

The small profit from harvesting in her private garden did not deter her from continuing to develop the community backyard garden. Anesah mentioned that the community garden helped her minimize daily vegetable expenses. On a daily basis, she used to spend up to Rp 20,000.00 on cooking expenses. Now, she strives to spend no more than that, Anesah said. Her family’s meal expenses currently range from Rp 10,000.00 to Rp 15,000.00.

“Now, if I don’t have money, but in the morning, I want to make sambal (chili paste) or need vegetables, I just pick them (from the garden). That’s what I want. Moreover, if there’s a lot of space, one day the garden will be larger. I want to be able to sell the harvest. I want the garden to be able to grow cucumbers, and then the harvest can be sold. Right now, there’s only a small area for garden beds,” Anesah explained.

The community garden that Anesah and other residents work on is not the only community garden in Tunagan Village. Each of the three neighborhood committees (RTs) has its own community backyard garden. While those of RT 01 and RT 03 have not been cultivated to their full potential due to other activities and responsibilities prioritized by the local residents, Anesah always welcomes anyone to enjoy the harvest, even if they are from a different RT.

“For example, if there’s tofu, you can make it into vegetables. Add basil and steam it; it’s delicious. Alhamdulillah, slowly, it reduces expenses,” Anesah said.

In the garden next to Baleriung, Anesah does more than just water and fertilize the plants. Along with the local residents, she strives to use available materials to make the soil more fertile. She learned this from training on making liquid organic compost. It involves collecting goat dung, mixing it with soil, adding water, and then stirring it. Anesah usually takes one ladleful to place it on the plants, including those still in polybags. On a larger scale, 200 liters of liquid organic compost can be used for one hectare of land.

“If people enjoy gardening, they have to use their hands, even though they’re clean. Don’t be disgusted; it’s good for the garden,” she emphasized.

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Before the community backyard garden managed by Anesah and others, this area was usually used for drying rice (padi). In the afternoon, children would liven up the field. They played soccer around 4:30 PM and finished before the call to the Maghrib prayer. However, this tradition has not disappeared since Baleriung and the community garden were established. On last year’s August 17th competition, Tunagan Village residents even competed against other villages. They organized inter-village competitions, involving Tapos Village and Pasirlangu Village.

“So there’s a competition between villages, as well as competitions between RTs,” Anesah explained.

This competition was not the only activity for Tunagan Village residents in August. They actively participated in various four-day disaster management training sessions with IDEP. Residents were invited to learn about disaster risk reduction, rapid assessment during disasters, first aid and victim evacuation, clean water and sanitation, disaster relief center and logistics management, the formation of Community Disaster Response Teams (KMPB), and earthquake simulation activities.