Week#4 my garden & crops
Fellow steemians, welcome you all to another round of my garden & crops. A platform where we share different types garden/farm produce from our farm.
The empty spaces available in my surrounding area are used for planting and producing different kinds crops or leaves which are consumed for a healthy living.
For this round of my garden & Crops, I would be sharing with you the vegetable leaves from my farm.
Vegetables are known to be the source and supplier of high rich essential nutrients to the body. The supply of these nutrients enable the body to do its job effectively and keep us healthy to perform our daily activities.
The vegetable is scientifically classified as follows:
| English Name | pumpkin leaves |
|---|
| Family: | Cucurbitacea |
|---|
| Botanical Name: | Telfairia occidentalis |
|---|
| Species: | T. occidentalis |
|---|
| Genius: | Telfairia |
|---|
This vegetable is planted in several west African countries with Nigeria taking the lead. It is a highly cultivated and valued plant in southeastern part of Nigeria. Planting the vegetable starts from late March being at beginning of rainfall to early May. Planting preparation starts by nursing the seeds which are known as the pumpkin, for some weeks until it shoots. When it starts shooting, it would now be transferred to the main farm for planting.
Harvesting the leaves may start from early July when the leaves may have started growing till when the plants starts bearing the pumpkin seeds . At this stage of growth, those that bear the pumpkin seeds are to be supported with some sticks to enable it grow and expand to bear more seeds and would no longer be touched until the maturity of the seeds.
First and foremost to prevent diseases in vegetable farming, the farmer has to ensure that weeds do not grow in the farm. The farm should continuously be weeded so that weeds would not outgrow the plant.
When the farm is properly weeded, it reduces the chances of pests and diseases invading the farm.
Again, where pests invades the farm, the farmer could use pesticides to stop or prevent further destruction to the plants by the pests.
The farmer should notice when the leaves of the plants begin to turn yellow. This may be an indication that the soil is lacking nutrients that the plants need in order to flourish. To boost the soil fertility, the farmer could use both organic and inorganic means of soil fertility to boost the yields.
Vegetable is a profitable Agriculture business venture anyone could easily go into. While majority of farmers engage in subsistence farming, others engage in commercial vegetable farming. The commercial aspect of the farming could generate some revenue for the farmer as well as having some for consumption. When the farmer produces in commercial quantities, he/she sells both the leaves and the seeds making some huge amount of money from it. Some of the seeds would be reserved for the next cultivation season and the farmer may decide to consume the immature pumpkins as food.
Vegetable farming is an interesting farming activity anybody could engage in not minding how little the space might be.
Commercial vegetable farming could generate a huge sum of money for the farmer especially when the farmer gets support from the Government.
You could also engage in subsistence farming to produce the vegetable for family consumption. At least, it helps you to save some money which you would have to spend for buying it from the market.
Finally, always watch out and diagnose symptoms of various diseases as well as fortifying the soil with both organic and inorganic fertilizers to boost your farm production.
I invite the following to join me to participate:
@amjadsharif
@paholags
@joymm
@ibraheem75
@maashraful
All images are legally owned by me!
Thank you for mention me in your contest garden and crops.
Brilliant post concerning pumpkin leaves, thanks for the invites and best of luck brother.