DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR DYING PLANTS, SWEET NOURISHMENT AHEAD

Today, one of my pepper plants that I almost gave up on has almost 20 pepper fruits.  It gave me the inspiration to make akara (bean balls or is it bean cakes?😂 whichever it's so delicious!). 

Why? I noticed sometimes ago that my garden peppers especially  goes very well with beans. You see I am suspicious of beans sold  in the market - it usually gives me heartburn after eating maybe due to the chemicals used in growing and/or preserving the beans. But I cannot grow considerable amount of beans now in my little garden.

 But I noticed that  if I prepare the meal with my garden peppers, the heartburn is not much or non-existent.

 But that is not the even the icing on the cake - the real deal is the remarkable taste-   spiciness  combined with healthy goodness of my garden peppers which makes any bean meal I cook more palatable and of course healthier for me. 

So if you notice any plant dying in your garden, don't just give it up, do some investigation to find out what may have happened to it - like this pepper plant withered because I was manuring it with fresh onion peels and fresh ginger peels. 

When I realised and stopped and use dried food wastes and soya bean chaff, the almost-dead pepper plant bounced back to life and not long after started fruiting. 

Then you know what? The peppers are so very nicely spicy  because it no doubt has a whole lot of onion goodness In it. 

For someone as busy as I am, making akara on  a Monday morning is a real deal - but I was motivated by the spiciness of the returned-to-life pepper plant fruits - see me enjoying my akara- seems it even stimulated my brain when I put on the computer to read and write my findings for onward practical to be conducted. 

Actually I have been feeling very tired  because during the weekend I needed to work with the shovel again to do some gardening work.

 So I was so tired this Monday morning  but after akara(bean balls) breakfast  my brain  seemed to become revitalised.

I really need my  brain cells very active -  I am still researching on the use of agricultural raw materials to beautify the body -  lotion, soap, powder - commercialisation of these products still coming. 

If not that I have clocked 50 years,, I would have started applying for modelling jobs as my body is feeling so revitalised  by using this agricultural raw materials  for  beauty therapy.  

Sometimes simple solutions bring about remarkable results....

PLANT SOME OF THAT EXPENSIVE FOODSTUFF YOU BUY TO GET MORE VALUE

In my mini-garden I have Cocoyam and water yam growing- planted from remnants of the ones bought for eating.

But I don't have the normal sweet white yam   (Dioscorea rotundata)   that  is commonly known and eaten. Why? Because I have not bought it in a long time because it's outrageously expensive - you all know the price of this sweet  yam has been skyrocketing.

I was waiting for 'New Yam' to start arriving in the markets before buying in hope that the price of the yam would be considerably much lower. 

So imagine my shock when I asked for the price of this yam in the picture and was told - N2,000. Two thouuuuuusand for this  size of new yam grown here on Nigeria soil - Aaahhh!!!

So when I heard the price, I decided I was not  going to buy - some prices of what is grown here are just so annoying! There are other pressing needs other than food that also  need to be met.

But then I remembered I had been wanting to grow this type of yam in the mini-garden. It is based on that I bought this yam.  Well, I did get change of N200 after haggling further so I actually got it for N1,800

If you are able to grow some parts of that expensive foodstuff, you might not feel so crossed at the high price  as you would be able to get more value from it.

Even using the wastes of some foodstuffs to do something beneficial delivers more value to you than just eating - those are some of the ways we decrease pressures of current skyrocketing prices of items including food in the country.

You see these plantaiin peels, though I can use it to manure most plants in the garden, I prefer to use in manuring the Cocoyam, water yam plants and would also use to manure the sweet yam plants when they start growing.

Like they say in my home state - Ogun state to ginger people to work hard -''Omo Ogun Ise ya'.

#growingsweetyams
#growingwhiteyam
##manuringwithlantainpeels
#purwagriculture

PEPPER LEAVES - RICH IN NUTRIENTS, EASY TO GROW

There are lots of plants that are growing or can be grown all around us.

Most of them are yet to  be identified  so we don't know they are so very useful.

One of it is pepper leaves which can be used in cooking e.g  meat and gives it a spicy taste. I  would soon be exploring the possibility of drying it  and blending into powder to use as a barbecue or 'suya' spice  in grilling chicken, fish, beef, goat meat and so on.

How did it get to my garden? - I sprayed some seeds which I couldn't identify some months ago to see what plants would emerge.

When I saw these plants in the picture, I did some research and found out they are pepper leaves - commonly used in other continents to season food.

I then cut the stems and planted in sacks and they are growing- so easy to grow through seeds or stems.

I read that the pepper leaves are rich in vitamins  like A and C.  Eating them i.e. including in food can help improve health of consumers i.e. boost immunity

#pepperleaf
#pepperleaves
#pureagriculture
#agricutureversusgoodhealth
#minigardenresearch
#purebredseeds
#agriculturalmedicine
#gardeningindryseason
#growingcropsindryseason
#spaceconstrainedgarden
#gardeningincementedpremises
#gardeninginsacks
#growingplantsinsacks
#minigarden #urbangarden #urbangardening
#minigardening  #integratedgardening #gardening #gardeninginsmallspaces #integratedgardeninginsmallspaces  #spaceconstrainedurbangardening
#intercroppinginsoilsack.
#growingcornindryseason

ONION PEELS GOOD AS MANURE BUT HOLD ON!

If you have a garden, there's hardly any kitchen wastes. Even your onion peels/remnants are very good in manuring some crops such as the different pepper plants - chilli,  habanero, yellow pepper, cayenne,scent leaves - basil, curry leaves, tomatoes etc. Any crop you want to put some spiciness.

But hold on, if you have already planted the crops, you can't just pour the peels and remnants you cut out and pour straight.

If you use in manuring while fresh, it can sorely affect the growth of the plant - the leaves turn yellowish, even brownish and  plant would appear dying.

If you don't stop manuring with fresh onion remnants and other spices like fresh ginger peels, those plants may actually die. I have had such issues of pepper plants almost dying and after giving up on them, surprise! They came back to life very vigorous. Further investigation then revealed what happened.

But those pepper plants are so spicy and taste  great especially when used to spice any food.

So you may consider drying the remnants of onions you have - a few days of sun-drying is okay depending on intensity of the sun. Once dry, pour into the soil and await the fruiting of your spicy peppers.

If you've not planted the crops, you may dump while fresh in the soil surface or use in making compost with other wastes. Aĺow some time before planting.

Onion wastes are good source of minerals for the crops grown on such soil enriching your garden plants with good nutrients for human consumption. .

See that pepper plant in the picture just starting to fruit - I had given up on it as dead. After I discovered the fresh onion peels or remnants were what affected it's growth and I stopped, it bounced back. It's fruiting for the first time in many months - tasted a few of its peppers in spicing food and it's really nice.

So, zero onion  wastes -  more spice to your garden peppers and scent leaves - remember to first dry the onion remnants if adding to soil with crops already planted.

#onionlwastes
#pureagriculture
#agricutureversusgoodhealth
#minigardenresearch
#purebredseeds
#agriculturalmedicine
#gardeningindryseason
#growingcropsindryseason
#spaceconstrainedgarden
#gardeningincementedpremises
#gardeninginsacks
#growingplantsinsacks
#minigarden #urbangarden #urbangardening
#minigardening  #integratedgardening #gardening #gardeninginsmallspaces #integratedgardeninginsmallspaces  #spaceconstrainedurbangardening

POURING EGGSHELL POWDER IN GARDEN FOR SNAILS

Egg shells have many uses in human health, cosmetics and gardening or farming.

I use egg shells in cosmetics I make and as organic calcium for body health (more details in books I am writing)

In gardening apart from  using to manure soil (note: only very minimal quantity at a time) it is very useful as organic calcium supplements for snails - to strengthen their shells.

I have only few snails left - I started rearing mainly to obseve and have practical knowledge of snail farming for possible commercialisation in future.

I was keeping them in baskets but I noticed they were not getting as big as expected - I was feeding them mainly with fruit and vegetable remnants and leaves from my garden like potato, cocoyam, okra leaves.

I also give them soya bean chaff and egg shell powder. Sometimes I give solid carbs like plantain and the solid potatoes.

They would eat whatever is given them but would stop eating and there would be leftovers. I would wait for them to eat the leftovers but they wouldn't.

Then I would have to remove the leftovers, clean the baskets and put in fresh food supplies and water.

But still they were not growing fast enough. But I observed that at a time, some small ones escaped and for over a month or so I didn't see them.

When I was clearing a portion of the garden to remove worn out sacks and put the soil in new sacks, I recaptured some of the snails- they had fared better while they were roaming free in the garden - they grew considerably bigger.

I put them back in the cage so I can feed them directly. I didn't replenish stock by buying new snails but kept observing the few.

Their growth while caged was slow compared to when they were roaming  free, so I have decided to allow them roam free in that section of the garden that is somewhat dense.

I put them in the biggest sack. I know they may not stay there but they  can return there at any time.

Since they may not be able to source calcium by themselves, what I just do now is put eggshells or the powder in some sacks so that while roaming free they can find calcium supplements for their shells to develop. The eggshell powder is preferable as they can easily ingest it.

Why do you think snails fare better while roaming free than when caged and given food and water?

It reminds me of students in boarding school - they usually lose some weight while in boarding house compared to when  they are day -students. In boarding house, their food rations are controlled but  in many homes youngsters can eat as much as they want at their parents or guardians' expense.

So these snails apparently prefer to roam around  the dense part of my garden and eat whatever they like.

I rear  the light brown ones  that can grow very big - not those small dark brown ones  that are everywhere when it's wet  but cannot grow really big - when I see those, I throw them away from my garden.

So if you want to raise snails to big size,  keeping them caged in containers wouldn't work - provide enough space with vegetation - grow what they love- apart from fresh vegs, they particularly love the leaves of sweet carbohydrate plants.

If you plant maize, within the garden, they may eat the leaves. You may also put some plantains, banana, potato, tomato, cucumber and watermelon residues  around there- cut them open so the snails can eat the succulent inner part.

#eggshell #eggshellpowder  #eggshelluses  #pureagriculture
#agricutureversusgoodhealth
#minigardenresearch
#purebredseeds
#agriculturalmedication
#spaceconstrainedgarden
#gardeningincementedpremises
#gardeninginsacks
#growingplantsinsacks
#minigarden #urbangarden #urbangardening
#minigardening  #integratedgardening #gardening #gardeninginsmallspaces #integratedgardeninginsmallspaces  #spaceconstrainedurbangardening
#intercroppingsoilinsack.
#growingcornindryseason

CHILLI PEPPERS HARVEST BEGINS IN MINI-GARDEN

Though not much but it's  something worth  mentioning.  I have started harvesting the chilli peppers in one of the sacks.

Imagine if there's bigger space, how much more can be realised . But never despise the small harvest from your little garden  - the little harvests from a small garden of 1/20th of a plot should be at least up to  monthly N8,000.😁

Not particularly in support of this FG policy of giving N8,000 monthly to some households. But to those that want  the amount increased, surely the recipients can do other things rather than fully depend on that meagre amount for survival?

Anyway back to garden matters, never despise the little  output you get- nothing is insignificant. This chilli peppers can go with  waterleaf combined with  bitterleaf - they are all 'growable' in a garden.

No matter how much money you get through other means, these period,  your purchasing power for even basic necessities  will still be going down because of inflation  and skyrocketing prices of some necessities.

So if you  are able to do certain things by yourself (not compulsorily food production but other useful things) to decrease the pressures on money being spent on necessities, very good - better is a little with peace of mind.

Another very vital thing is the health benefit of gardening or farming or some other useful activities necessary for human survival. .

The knowledge one gathers from the experience of doing certain things by oneself will not only reduce costs but will help a whole lot in developing skills that can later be commercialised.

.So, take gardening for example  as a school of practical farming or food production  or mini-school of research.

So, wearing  my Mini-Garden Researcher cap - to make chilli peppers very, spicy, I've started adding the dried peels of ginger as manure to the soil - please note - dried and not fresh. So after peeling ginger, dry the peels first before applying as manure. Applying  the fresh ginger peels may stump the growth

Gardening or farming activities can sometimes be very tasking - if engaged in It, let's learn to rest well afterwards.

Last week, I was engrossed  doing  gardening activities involving use of shovel and cutlass. By weekend, my body was aching so very badly. I couldn't tell anyone because who send me?😂 Dem no send me o! 

Fortunately by taking garden herbs my body didn't cave in to illness but still felt very sore.

I was still able to do most other activities I needed to do but took things easy and rested well. By this morning I am bustling again with renewed energy. 

But of course I am taking things a bit easy - did some lighter gardening activities - even more fortunately, the rain that fell early hours of this morning has watered  the plants.

So there are ways to achieve results and still preserve your energy. 

#pureagriculture
#agricutureversusgoodhealth
#minigardenresearch
#purebredseeds
#agriculturalmedicine
#gardeningindryseason
#growingcropsindryseason
#spaceconstrainedgarden
#gardeningincementedpremises
#gardeninginsacks
#growingplantsinsacks
#minigarden #urbangarden #urbangardening
#minigardening  #integratedgardening #gardening #gardeninginsmallspaces #integratedgardeninginsmallspaces  #spaceconstrainedurbangardening
#intercroppinginsoilsack.
#growingcornindryseaso

HARVESTED PINEAPPLE, PLANTED ANOTHER

I have harvested the only pineapple in my garden and used its crown to plant new one in another bag.

The pineapple was so very juicy and tasted quite nice. I think it's possible another one may even shoot out from where I plucked the one harvested.

OTHER GIST
Why still wondering what to do with the torn sack that the mango tree is growing, I saw that the sack I planted Aloe Vera had also torn.

So this morning I got  the shovel again and transplanted into another sack by transferring soil in the torn sack to new sack - see pictures.

ANOTHER GIST
Do you know if you  want to get plenty of fruits from a plant, when the plant starts flowering, you should cut the flowers?. I saw that on a video on Social Media.

Since I want more chilli peppers,  I started cutting off the flowers -Gbam! The pepper plant is producing more fruits than what I usually get in one sack in the garden  - see ata rodo- chilli pepper from a small sack o!

I think cutting off flowers to get more fruits applies to most, if not all fruit bearing plants that flower - I am  going to test as many fruiting plants as possible.

Before I got to know this, there's an Okro plant also planted in sack in my little garden that was producing flowers - very lovely flowers- I will try post the picture if I can still find it.
I had never seen Okro plants produce such nice flowers. Around that period, I would admire the flowers when I sight them, allowing them to grow relatively big until they mature and withered.

To my surprise, the okro plant  produced just few fruits. I did not know then that the flowers I was admiring were taking the nutrients so not enough left for the plant to fruit bountifully.

So you choose o - when you plant crops, whether it is the beautiful flowers you want to be admiring or if it the fruits you want to chop😂.

I need to find out though if those lovely flowers on Okro plant have any beneficial uses - the more researches, the more knowledge in future farming endeavours for greater results/impact.

#Aloevera

#pureagriculture
#agricutureversusgoodhealth
#minigardenresearch
#purebredseeds
#agriculturalmedicine
#gardeningindryseason
#growingcropsindryseason
#spaceconstrainedgarden
#gardeningincementedpremises
#gardeninginsacks
#growingplantsinsacks
#minigarden #urbangarden #urbangardening
#minigardening  #integratedgardening #gardening #gardeninginsmallspaces #integratedgardeninginsmallspaces