Gardening

[Lucille]

I'm putting in a garden this year, with all sorts of things for the piggies including cukes and leafy veggies. Will be experimenting with freezing some of the produce for the piggies. I may send of to TAMU with a bunch of questions regarding food/vitamins/health. (Texas A&M University, an agricultural school and famous vet school).
And I'm looking forward to particularly yummy tomatoes for myself, the heirloom varieties not often seen in stores, plus other home grown veggies. I'm going to grow 4 different kinds of sweet potato including one called Purple Passion which actually is a purple tater.

 

[Dusty_bugs]

Hi there!

I do exactly the same with my pigs, last year I tried cucumber, bellpepper, basil and cherry toms. The cucumber was a joke and I ended up with 2 nice gherkin sized ones and the others withered and fell off, but I didn't nip the male flowers off! The cherry tomatoes just ripened one at a time which was ridiculous hahaha. This year I'm trying carrots (out of a pack of over 60 seeds I got 2 sprouts!) and greenbeans which are doing much better.

Will the guineapigs be running loose in the garden at any point? I can't imagine anything more fun for them, but be careful as some fruit and veggies have poisonous greens, though I cant tell you which, I'm not so hot on that..

Also, some people suggest not freezing guineapig food as it encourages bacterial growth and vitamin degradation. The ice crystals formed can in many fruit and veg burst the cellular structure making them soggy and floppy. Bacteria have more available water to spread through the internal structure of the veg/fruit and population sizes are not regulated by physical barriers. That and there is the idea that feeding cold food can give your pig an upset stomach. But I feed my salads straight from the fridge and my gps prefer the firm cool crunch to the warm soggy lettuce leaves that are left out..

I'm certain there will be people out there who dont agree with this, but it's what I've been advised so I don't think its worth risking. I feed my pigs seasonally and what I can't grow I buy from the greengrocers so everything is super fresh.

 

[Lucille]

Dustybugs,
I plan to consult the experts at TAMU, and will report their advice. When something is really important to me or my critters, I think it is worth getting the real facts. But I appreciate your voicing your opinion, in fact will forward it when I send my note to TAMU.
I am not planning to let the piggies have free run of the garden. There are owls and other birds of prey here, and the risk far outweighs the benefit although I'm sure they would have a good time, plus as you say, some of the foliage, (tomatoes, for instance) might be risky.
I know they and I will enjoy the veggies this summer. I've put in enough okra so that I should have frozen okra (for me) for the rest of the year after the growing season is over.