• DONATIONS NOW OPEN! TGPF relies on donations to run. If you'd like to donate towards running costs you can find out more HERE
  • Fresh grass and lawn tips to avoid springtime deaths Click here for details

Growing my own veggies?

Wheeky_pigs

Wheeky_pigs

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jun 22, 2019
Messages
37
Reaction score
17
Points
145
Location
UK
I’ve been thinking a lot about growing my own veggies (with 17, with 1 more pig to be added soon), going veggie shopping can be quite expensive so I wanted to help by growing my own.
Do any of you grow your own? And if so, what’s the best ones to start with?

thank you.
And merry Christmas
 
Carrots are quite hard to grow properly and take quite a long time. You need to have the right type of soil. Quick growers are herbs like parsley, coriander, dill. Beetroot grows quick and they love the leaves (not the actual beet). Berries are perpetual once established so if you can wait a few years grow some blueberries or raspberries.

some of the best stuff I’ve grown for the pigs is chard, kale, spinach and Lola Rossa lettuce (I’m in London with an allotment).
Don’t bother with big round type lettuces or cabbages as you’ll forever be battling slugs etc. So go for leafy green stuff

also tomatoes. If you grow early and later varieties you’ll have tomatoes from July until October (the plants die in September, pick all the green ones and let them ripen on a window sill with some bananas)

hope this helps!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm growing Basil plant now, quite easy! Also mint, though I am not sure if I can give that to my boars lol, planning to plant parsley, coriander and some celeries!

I like how my piggies will always have fresh veggies and herbs, good luck!
 
I look for vegetables that are quick to grow and where the seed is cheap. Like wheat grass (3 to 4 weeks to get to a nice size) or rapeseed. Or a cool-weather crop like kale, where you can pick leaves over and over for quite a few weeks.
 
Yes same for the beet greens and spinach and parsley - I just figured that with 18 pigs they won’t be getting it daily 😁
 
Thank you for getting back.

What veggies can they have daily (or almost daily) that it easy to grow? In new to the whole growing veggies (I tend to grow plants for my garden but that’s about it).
 
Grasses once they are used to them (I don’t know much about which ones sorry)

tomatoes and peppers - peppers are hard to grow in the UK without a greenhouse though. There will be mixed responses about tomatoes from other forum readers but mine have been good with half a tomato each daily for years.

In truth there are very few things pigs can have every day - better to do a selection and alternate. Buy the cheap stuff from the shop and look at growing the more expensive stuff like herbs yourself. You can start off with buying plants at Asda like coriander for £0.50 and then plant them up whilst waiting for seed to grow
 
i agree that variety is good but there are veggies that are safe to feed daily. This link details Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

We wouldn’t routinely recommend feeding tomatoes daily due to the acidity and risk of cheilitis. I guess there is the likelihood that some piggies may be fine with it and never have an issue but it doesn’t mean all will and therefore doing so would be at your discretion

I have an allotment as well as growing in my greenhouse and garden. Some things product better in the greenhouse and I tend to grow cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes in my greenhouse, herbs in my garden and leafy veg in my allotment but all of these things can be grown at home in containers as well
 
RoseCarter said:
What veggie is best every day.? Being new to guinea pig diet I want to make sure I'm feeding them correctly.
Click to expand...
For everyday veggies, I give mine romaine lettuce, cilantro, celery, and cucumber.

To ensure they get enough nutrients, I give them many different veggies, herbs and fruits in rotation as well.
 
Thank you. I have these on my list. We only want to do what's best for them as we do for all our pets.
 
Thank you everyone. I can’t wait to start growing my own veggies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top