Veggie gardening

so its gotta be good, like the chicken poo, works the same i think, as fertelizer.. all i know it grows so quick, havent seen one like this.. i love it.. i cant wait to do my land scaping , this will be different..fruit trees with vegetables combination...with birds sanctuary and a fish pond. just small..

 

in canada you can buy fertelizer, sheep manure,cow manure,composed leaves, at $1.99 per bag.. but sea fish fertelizer cost $12.99 per bag..
so maybe thats why..

 

in canada you can buy fertelizer, sheep manure,cow manure,composed leaves, at $1.99 per bag.. but sea fish fertelizer cost $12.99 per bag..
so maybe thats why..

 

Nice to see these replies from a lot of people interested in the same subject. Yes, it looks like the Philippines, particularly at low elevations…is challenging for growing things from cooler climates! But some good ideas here already…..

Yes, chooks are chickens and worth their weight in gold in my opinion. No use for roosters - but the hens keep busy, I only have three and they are living in a nice aviary I used to keep parrots in years ago. I had a couple more but a fox got them while they were in a pen - so they are in their secure aviary now. I just toss in some hay and clean it out a couple weeks later - and dump it in the compost bin for a month to age - and then it does a great job on the veggies and any other plants. And they are good layers (Hyline Browns) – generally get one egg a day from each of them….enough for us…too many sometimes. And they love eating weeds too!

Knowdafish mentioned pots and I find myself using them more and more. Use the really big ones 24-30” across and you can grow a surprising amount in them. Currently I’m doing dwarf chinese cabbage, romano lettuce, pak choy, choy sum, alpine strawberries – just starting and too early to say how the strawberries will go, spinach, chinese cucumbers, lebanese cucumbers, coriander, leek, endive, tomatoes (Boony Best heirlooms) and spring onions….and that’s just in pots. The beauty with them is you can move them…too much sun, move under the patio or a tree…same for rain. Am growing a bunch of goji berry seedlings in pots but will transfer them when they get big enough….the same with some blueberries, but have moved some to their permanent spot already. Have a couple real gardens around the backyard. Corn, spacemaster and Lebanese cucumbers, okra just sprouting, same with the bitter melon Dumagatenia mentioned (the other plant she posted on sounds interesting but I haven’t found a source in Australia yet). We’ve got lufta and chi qua coming along, big Chinese cabbage, onions, green beans and yellow ones too and cherry tomatoes. And one of my favourites Mangel wurzel (Rhoody might know that one). Great in soups or just for a raw snack. One red grapevine, a couple calamansi trees, two lemon trees, and a mandarin/tangerine, two fig trees, a pomegranate bush. Another thing good about pots – the snails and slugs have to work a bit to get to them. Doesn’t mean it will stop them – but having them in pots improves the odds. We get them by the billions here….constantly putting snail pellets around. Seen the size of some snails in the Philippines – a 12 gauge may be more appropriate…

One thing I noticed Cherry Tomatoes are dead easy and handle anything. I have had problems with other varieties getting mildew or insects getting to the tomatoes….but the Cherries cope very well.

Rarity mentioned a dog – and we’ve got a Jack Russell that would dig up our veggies – if he could get to them. We ringed the areas with plastic mesh fencing about two feet high which works for us…..plus a little discouragement training early on that he’ll always remember….I think 1 meter of chicken wire would do ok for most bigger dogs. Just fence off a corner.

GMC I believe you about Ontario. We visited my wife’s friend there years ago. Little town called Lucknow. Never forget it. She was my wife’s classmate and we drove there from Toronto. Beautiful countryside and the soil looked very rich. One thing cool about the place was those Amish looking people in their horsedrawn wagons. Nice touch to a scenic area. And it was April and still bloody cold! Even had a bit of snow one morning.

Anyway, looking forward to how people are growing things in the Philippines. I’m curious to see if I can fool some veggies into liking Negros with the pot relocations. I read an article recently that back in the 50’s and 60’s most Filipinos were growing their own vegetables in small backyard plots but the concept has almost died out. Bit sad really, saves a lot of money, gives a little exercise too….and greatly improves nutrition for those who might be a bit short of it. I hope they rediscover the talent....

 

chicken poop

A word of caution to anyone having access to chicken manure, when it is fresh it is very hot, it needs to be aged and dried a bit to "cool down". If you put chicken manure on a tree it could very well kill the tree especially if the manure is fresh.

Garbonzo was talking about putting it in the compost for a while which is the best place for it until it cools a bit. Pig manure is the same way, very hot.
Carabao or cow manure are not as hot but should be composted also.

Dog and cat manure should not be used at all, IMO.

 

Rhood, yap ! his the one...the one that i almost lose in Dumaguete. Luckily he found his way home :p

 

Gardonzo, you have a lots in your garden, how do you plant your vegetable...do you do it by group or have you been using the compatability of vegetable into other plant ? i was been collecting the data i could find in the internet for a while now that study about the important of plant compatability for their growing and good chance of better production. I tried, but the problem was the unpredictable weather.
I noticed too, when we visited the gardens here in canada, that some of them have the plants and flowers that grows in the philippines. So i learned that the plant and flowers, the perenial kind , adopt the temperature , climate and cycle as they grow. So planting some seeds in the Philippines i think have thesame effect. That you need to give the seeds or plant the chance to adjust to the temperature and soil contents. Do you think that vegetable grow differently by soil composition ?

 

Hi dumaguetenia....no I've never gone down the compatibility road between veggies...maybe I should look into it - but the wife would never understand. Seriously though, I just try to plant things in an environment they'll like. Some shade for those that want it....adjust the soil ph as needed - very alkaline here so have to make it more acid for some things, like blueberries. And the richer the soil the better the results. Where we live it's terrible - like much of Perth - our area is built on sand...limestone sand no less..that is really useless for growing anything but the toughest native plants. So it needs lots of compost and soil conditioners (and fertilizers) to grow lawns and gardens. No such problems in the Philippines though....generally stick it in the ground and watch it take off....or so I'm told...

 

Garbonzo, looking forward that your green hand will make it great debut in the Bacolod. All it takes is the new way of thinking and ideas. Beside, no matter what, still the basic and the old method apply.

The "veggie companion" look for it and you will be amazed how the veggies , like us human strive with good companion :D

Tell your wife that sweet potato (camote) can be planted in a flower container. She will have the flower, and at same time get the leaves for her favorite soup.(utan)

 

Yes, thanks I really should look into it...maybe get better results too. I'm happy so far but always room for improvement, so I'll do some web searches on the topic. Actually we started a camote vine a couple weeks ago in a large pot - began with a section of sweet potato and soaked it in water for about a month until the vine sprouted and grew big enough to transplant. So far it's doing well about three feet high now and branching. And the wife is looking forward to her soup very soon too!