How to Start Your Own Vegetable Garden At Home the Affordable Way

I’m now on the 11th day of my very own self-imposed 30-day blog post challenge which also propelled me to restart doing other things I love and one of them is planting my own vegetables. This hobby actually started during my elementary years in St. Scholastica’s Academy of Marikina when our Science teacher assigned us to plant monggo seeds at home. I did as instructed and I was really amazed to see them grow!

We didn’t have a wide space at my parents’ house to plant some more, plus I already became busy with my academic life and other hobbies (like craft-making, painting, and sewing) plus I was trying hard to maintain my honor student status so suffice it to say that planting took a backseat. The desire got repressed and it would just surface every time we’d vacation at my grandfather’s farm in Bukidnon. But even then, I was already busy exploring other things that planting just became a desire that never got fulfilled until in my 30’s when I started a mini vegetable garden at my balcony in my own house.

So I thought that before I continue to tell you what’s been happening in our farm, I should go back to my roots first. After all, not everyone has a huge land to farm and most people I know would like to start vegetable gardening in their own backyard like how I started years ago. With that said, I’m going to post here my old indoor vegetable farming posts. The content is evergreen so it doesn’t matter when you read it. The tips you will learn will always be useful in case you want to start your own vegetable garden too.

Below is a quick guide on how to make a mini vegetable garden without spending so much. I’ll be focusing on four vegetables — tomato, okra, chili and eggplant.

MATERIALS:

– For pots, instead of buying those little plastic pots, I used ice cream bins which I’ve accumulated over the years. Of course, they have to be washed, bleached and dried to make sure they’re clean to avoid growth of fungi. I also made some holes at the bottom for drainage purposes.

– The ice cream bin cover will also serve as the flatbed to help trap the moisture as well as the soil as it drains.

– I used water directly from the faucet.

– No need for gloves. I just used my bare hands.

– If you know how to make compost and you have a rich soil in your lot, use that. As for me, Our front yard and backyard are cemented so I had to buy a soilless potting mix from Red Earth available in Acer hardware store, Festival Mall branch. It’s only about Php80.00 per pack.

– I got my seeds at Acer as well for less than Php50.00. There are also vegetable seeds available in National Bookstore, Festival Mall branch at less than Php50.00 per pack.

Here are the most important things to note when planting Okra, Eggplant, Chili and Tomato seeds:

HOW TO PLANT TOMATO SEEDS:

– it should be 1/8 inch deep and in direct contact with moist soil

– soil must be moist

– seeds can be close together since seedlings can be repotted later on

– potted seeds must be placed in a warm location but out of direct sunlight.

– tomato seeds should germinate in 5-10 days

HOW TO PLANT EGGPLANT SEEDS:

– it should be 1/4 inch deep and in direct contact with moist soil

– soil must be moist

– seeds can be spaced out

– cover the pot loosely with plastic to retain moisture

– potted seeds must be placed in a warm location but out of direct sunlight.

– eggplant seeds should germinate in 7-14 days

HOW TO PLANT CHILI SEEDS:

– it should be 1/2 inch deep and in direct contact with moist soil

– soil must be moist

– seeds should be spaced out 5 cms. apart

HOW TO PLANT OKRA SEEDS:

– it should be 1 inch deep and in direct contact with moist soil

– soil must be moist but not soggy

– seeds should be spaced out

– keep the potted seeds in warm, sunny location but make sure the soil stays moist.

– okra seeds should germinate in 10-15 days.

So basically, you just need to keep the soil heated and moist at the same time. Our garden is perfect for heat but with no direct sunlight so I placed the potted seeds of eggplant, tomato and chili there.