I couldn't hold it anymore when I saw this post about 9 pieces of tomatoes being sold for 2000 naira vis this link

https://www.nairaland.com/8127292/see-tomatoes-pepper-bought-n2000


Things are hard these days I get it, yes inflation is so high but we Nigerians are either not helping ourselves or most of us are waiting to be roasted before we can do something about how to reduce our feeding expenses through some home gardening

These days urbanization has creeped into a lot of towns and villages there is no longer big space for crop

This is why a smart humble person who wants to be proactive should think out of the box in solving some needs for himself before things will stabilize ( if it will )

I am not a horticulturist, agronomists or any crop scientist but with the general knowledge I have in crop growing, I tested myself and the result is encouraging

This makes me wonder why people are not doing this

Is it either you are seeing things like this as poor man stuff or " I can not do this kind of thing life" especially now everyone is appearing on social media as Dangote and Otedolas

This is why I love the whites most of them despite how rich or poor have small gardens where they grow some basic herbs and vegetables.

Most times whenever we talk about gardening what comes to your mind is growing ornamental flowers or those beautiful flowers for beautification

Well here I am talking about having one or two pots or sacks where you can grow herbs, vegetable etc like scent leaves, curry, butter leaf, tomatoes, pepper, carrots, beets , water leafs, and other nititent filled crops

Last year I moved into a new neighborhood I have been desiring to have a little space where I can start a pot / sack garden

First my limitations were ; no big space and the floor environment is cemented so you can not plant directly on the ground

SACK FARMING TRIAL
Since I can not plant directly on the floor I decided to try sac farming to achieve this I sent my brother to buy me some cement sacks

He got about 20 of it then I went to a nearby semi dumping site paid one hausa boy to pack those black soils , he hired wheel barrow 300 naira

Then he packed soil and fill those sack each half filled a d brought it home so now I have like 20 sacks neathly arrange in front of my house

My neighbor were wondering what magic I am trying to do because they don't believe you can get something meaningful from little things like that

Next I sent my brother to go to one African shop since I can not buy those hybrids tomatoes there are options where they divided many in small small waterproof so someone can buy like 1500 instead of the whole package

So he got me tomatoe seed, carrot seeds, beetroot,

Also he bought me measured NPK 10:10:10 one mudu, half mudu phosphorus

Finally I got some scent leaves in the market finish using it and just put the stem in one of the sacks , same things with water leaf and curry
My tomatoes Nursing and Nursery

I took one of those sacks close to a shade , ensure I removed some big stones n dirts

I removed the tomato seed from the container and gently spread it scattered on the surface, then sprinkle soil on top before spraying someone water on it

Meanwhile my 15 sacks I spaced them half a feet each then don't forget I got half sack of poultry shit, from someone raising broilers around

My aim was to plant two per sack though according to what I read online it might be too congested but since I have no space I had to try it

At each end I dig UpTo 6 inch hole drill down , I carry poultry dropping mix it with small quantities fertilizers I got use it to fill it up and put a broom there before covering it because I want to know exactly the place to place my tomatoes when it's time to transplant

I did this because I learnt the poultry shit needs time to break down if you apply directly it might kill the plant meanwhile my sce t leave , curry n water leaf started regenerating after a week

In about 7 days my tomatoes have already started sprouting they were many Sha some died wilting but I have more than enough growing
I was watering them anytime am back from work or if I sense the soil is drying out

They stay there for two weeks and I latter bring them to sun ( this process is to harden them before I transplant) so they will be strong enough to withstand transplant stress


Meanwhile I water the 15 empty sacks without any plant once in two days

Now all the process of nursery to gardening took 4weeks for my tomatoes before it decided one late evening to do the transfer

We brought it out I watered the nursery soil to ensure I can scope the plants without breaking the roots, I also watered the sacks I wish to put them , at those places I place the broomstick I opened them like half 3 inches deep I can see those poultry shit heave change, no longer smelling looks like manure so I place the tomatoes there one at each end and two in a sack

Then I watered graceful lol I have come to understand what watering graceful means I will explain later

Then I started watering once every two days at first week of transplant it was looking like a joke , I said if this thing didn't flourish it will be embarrassing because everyone was observing what this grown up adults is fiddling with soil like a kid

After two weeks this started setting in another week I noticed that except during raining season which makes me less watering but during the time I started it was march you know in north Kaduna precisely rain can delay till end of May/ June

It dries out faster and it's affecting the tomatoes. Here was how I solved this issue infact it makes it feel like am using irrigation

The water needed to wet the soil slowing in order to release the nutrients and be well soaked unlike when you pour water directly slow dripping like rain or irritation makes more impact and won't drain easily

To solve this I got all these bottles water containers like those one litre ones

I use middle to give small hold on top and at the base

What I do now is every morning I pick them up go I lnside fill them up 15 of it put all in bucket carry it out place each on the sacks and they will be dripping slowing like for hours


Fertilizer application for my garden

I do my fertilizer once I two weeks here is how I achieve something

I took one of the bootke water use stone ground the NPK , I have some egg shells from the ones I used at home I added it, in the bottle put water and alliw it site for two days
The next day I divided them into 15 equal parts

Pour them into the bottle waters as I pour water to fill them up

I also sprinkle a handful of fertilizer to the base of each of the tomatoes

Everything started looking serious ( I forgot I had cabbage n cucumber too )

Everything was doing well there was a time I notice something like leaf diseases on few I bought Klein detergent and diluted it use one of my old perfume spat bottle and soapy on them

Also I once used backing soda in a soary bottle and everything came back good

During flowering I was putting banana peel and crushed egg shells around each of them , especially as in love banana alot

These process took less than 90 days my tomatoes was flowering and bearing seed aggressively this was my first time growing anything seriously out when we were kids especially in containers not directly on land

I noticed that the tomatoes flowered at same interval and didn't rip individually but once one stated ripening all of them follow suit

Then again the size was shocking me I got a tomato that was as big as the small size grain apples 🍏 sold in the markets

The yeild and tomatoes seeds per plant
From my measurements I don't know how many paint rubber that makes up a half basket but I got 7 paint rubber worth of tomatos from this 15 sacks ( 30 plants that is 2 in a sack) though due to lack of space most didn't flower because they were crowded

Since it's small garden I took my time to count tomatoes seeds on each plant lol oh yeah I did
I was seeing like 55-70 tomato fruit in average per plant


Then my cucumber, I didn't have space I interplanted it it tried a bit as some gave me like 6-7 cucumber and they were like few I didn't plant much because I don't really like cucumber it's not sweet lol

I planted cabbage too and carrots that one I can not even allow them matured everytime and doing salad I will come and uprooted carrots take cabbage go chop

As of last year I opened the yes of my neighborhood all those big madams and visitors passing buy turned me to tutor , they couldn't believe the outcome done were asking me if urs my field of study

But I put them through

Year 2024 relocation and restating

I finally moved away from my old apartment to a new one this time around the space is so small that I am wondering how to fit in so sacks I have small space between my apartment and the fence , I made sure I picked that one because I don't want to be sharing the end with any tenent

With my brother again to get a good soil here wasn't easy this place is more urbanized than the old place and finally got a place to get soil however I change my mind on cement back

It's too big I don't want to waste soil plus no big space I went to kasuwa market and got a place where they do customize sack and they use 2k to get like 10 small size sacks plus some other sack I have

I restarted my process again though at first it was funny because it was my first time to discover that hunger had led lizard to be eating tomato cucumber and other leaves ili was in shock haha

I had to cover the nursery then finally everything is booming again. At first the woman I paid monthly to be sweeping my house use to smile at me she told me she was thinking it was just flowers I wanted to plant but now she is in shock on how good and healthy the tomatoes are

also I made friends with some guys rearing broilers since I use to buy chicken from them I told them anytime they bring out the shit they should keep it in a bag I will need it , which solves my problem.

[/b]How I processed my last year tomatoes without spoiling and store UpTo 4minths [b]

Most times post harvest storage is what destroys tomatoes and make it scarce but I take no prisoners when it comes to storing my food items

I made some research and here was the outcome

After harvesting the tomatoes I was keeping them because I couldn't harvest all at once they were rippening In batches , to be honest the tomatos you grow at home taste better and can two weeks without spoiling than market bought .

I boiled them together in a big pot till the water drain it became so soft n shrinken I use my blender and blend

It started looking like tin tomatoes , after blending I put in the pot continue boiling on slow heat I used my hot plat but if u have charcoal pot it's the best

Next I got some old margarine bottle washed boil them in hot water latter scoop the dried tomatoes into it after filling up I pour small vegetable oil put waterproof on the cover and seal it up .

Put them back to the boiling water they heated up like 10 minutes bring them out allow it cool
Store in a cool dark place ( carton)

Ladies and gentlemen I used this tomatoe for 4 months without spoiling but once I open one I will put it in the refrigerator until I finish using it

This was how I solved my tomatoe needs without buying or shouting to the roof top

You too can make life easy and much better by doing you home garden imagine if every house hold had this, the price of tomatoes and most good items will crash

I think the Government too should distribute done hybrid seeds to civil servants, operation feed the nation in micro form

Here in kaduna they said a paint rubber if tomatoes goes for 6-7k and sadly it's not even reddish and fresh

I took my time to give this indepth information I hope it helps you especially the house wives and restive youth, out there , for anyone living within Kaduna metropolis since I move in to my new area I use vex got a big tomato seed that I can not even finish till it expire if you need improve seed I can share with you free for your garden

I have also set this up for three of my friends even the poultry people I buy birds from are now doing it .

More pictures

Started in New place now I used some picks put in a rubber as irrigation
First two pictures how it started

Last two pictures how it's going
They have stated flowering right now with tomatoe seeds

More

Great. Every available land should be properly utilized.

What do you mean by semi dumping site?

Lovely

Love800:
What do you mean by semi dumping site?

Like a refuse area a bit of loamy soil was what i needed

Asin, is it refuse waste from homes they dump there or you mean scrap-yard?

And by-the-way, i thought loamy soil is not needed for tomatoes because it does not drain water.

georgen2u:


Like a refuse area a bit of loamy soil was what i needed

Lovely


But the writeup is too long. Summarise it please

Cool

You are now the biggest boy in town

I pray Nigerians wakes up to cultivating gardens in their homes. Someone with a plot of land will build on half plot then buys cement and German floor the remaining half plot Abi na increte dem Dey call am. Not even an orange or mango will be planted instead they’ll buy one useless flower that’s not edible to plant n decorate the compound.
It’s time to bring back the gardens. Plant garden egg. Tomato, pepper, ugwu and bitter leaf and enjoy the life of your head. This I will do when I build my own house

I love this

Kpele I no sabi read plenty.. Make person summarize for us

For the half basket 🧺 of tomatoes you write full dictionary.

Congrats

Wow... great idea yielding wow results

Nice one. Just a question, what about mosquitos and other insects the plant could possibly attract or invite into the compound?

Well deserved with this epistle

Hope kids no dey ur compound, the leaves poisonous somehow

Nice.

Its unfortunate that the education we have in Nigeria is to keep chasing non-existent jobs on the street. At least I know of few persons laughing during this period because of their small farm. If you don't have farm, use your garden provided the landlord agrees.

In the UK, there is something they call allotment plot. It can be about 100 plots in an area and ¹/4 quarter is allotted to people who indicate they want to farm their food. Still in their locality(15 mins walk as I just applied for one). US, UK, Canada etc love gardening. Even the comfortable ones do because they feel they are eating home made veggies that taste well and fresh.

As much as things are hard and the environment is not enabling for farming, even when they give jobless people free plot, training etc they would still prefer the tie-knotting 30k monthly job.

However, this is not to exonerate and absorb the government of their responsibility. This should go hand in hand with effective government policies to resurrect Nigeria

Weldon.

If you were patient enough to read through this whole write up then you must be one of the very few who still believe that Nigeria will be great again.

hmmm

He don reach this stage?

Can someone pls summarize it

Nice

I thought I saw a leaf like weed

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