Guinea Pig Garden.

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Firstly, I hope I have put this in the right place!

I'm curious about how many people make a veg/herb patch for their piggies as I want to make one this year and it's fair to say that I'm not sure where to start! I know some of my piggies firm favourites (some of which I'm too scared to grow, and most I've never attempted!) but it would be great if you could share what your piggies like that could be home grown.

I'd love to hear your experiences, the success stories and the blunders. And of course what sort of plants you grow whether it be a humble parsley or an apple tree! Pictures would be great too if you have any. Thanks!

 

[Sarah from Chucklebunnies]

I am a huge fan of feeding piggies forage food from the garden. These are the plants I grow every year as they are very easy.

In the veg patch; cabbage (harvest the outer leaves as the plant grows and that way they get fresh green for ages)
runner beans (they can eat leaves and stem, but not the beans, Those are yours)
parsley (in the veg patch, in pots and indoors)
Blackcurrant bushes (they eat leaves and stems, we get the fruit)
strawberries (they eat leaves etc, we get fruit) - take care with this one as it pulls calcium out of the ground
thornless blackberry (they eat leaves and stems, we get fruit and it grows really fast)

If you leave the cabbage stems in the ground after cutting the cabbage over winter then you get more growth of baby leaves in the spring - I have a couple still left out there and they really enjoy them.

A bit of forward planning and you can have happy piggies and a heavier purse!

 

[Wigwig]

got sweet Sicily, fennel and lemon balm in the flower bed, archie goes nuts for them, and theres a mint plant in a pot and he ate most of that when we werent paying attention. I think having herbs for guineas pigs in the garden is great, and they look nice as plants anyway and we can eat them too so useful in cooking.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Thank you for your replies! Do you plant in the ground or containers or raised beds @Sarah from Chucklebunnies ? I have strawberries and blackberry bush (very small, don't think it's thornless though). Never tried cabbage before, I fancy trying lettuce too but again never tried.

@Wigwig I have a normal mint, but I also have an apple mint but idk if that's suitable? What's sweet Sicily? Not had fennel or lemon grass in the garden before so definitely something to look at! I've grown basil and parsley indoors, chive outside (I know that's not piggy friendly) but as you say, a herb garden is great either way!

 

[Wigwig]

Thank you for your replies! Do you plant in the ground or containers or raised beds @Sarah from Chucklebunnies ? I have strawberries and blackberry bush (very small, don't think it's thornless though). Never tried cabbage before, I fancy trying lettuce too but again never tried.

@Wigwig I have a normal mint, but I also have an apple mint but idk if that's suitable? What's sweet Sicily? Not had fennel or lemon grass in the garden before so definitely something to look at! I've grown basil and parsley indoors, chive outside (I know that's not piggy friendly) but as you say, a herb garden is great either way!

I'm so sorry, I spelt it wrong! its this stuff Cicely - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I dont know about apple mint.
Lemon balm plant is different from lemon grass, not sure if lemon grass is piggy friendly, but lemon balm definitely is.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Sorry I meant lemon balm plant, brain to hand malfunction! I shall add those to my garden center shopping list! I plan on making a raised bed (out of an old bath, because I can't afford a proper one ) and I wanna make that the piggy garden. I kinda wanna try bell peppers and maybe cucumber but idrk how hard they are lol.

 

[Sarah from Chucklebunnies]

I do strawberries in an old sink. Cabbages etc in the ground with lots of fertiliser......provided by the piggies!

Cucumbers and bell pepper I found really hard (not a good gardener) and they can't eat the foliage either.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

I'm always scared to put things in the ground haha. When you say fertiliser, do you have to do anything with the piggie packages?

Me neither, I'm tempted to try it anyway and live on the edge!

 

[Sarah from Chucklebunnies]

The hay and newspaper from their hay tray goes into the compost bin, good stuff comes out after a year. The piggy poos get thrown all over the veg patch when I shake out their fleece before washing so the worms get the poo into the soil there. It's amazing how they slowly vanish....

(Actually I have been known to throw piggy poos all over the garden, it really does good to all the soil there.)

Live on the edge! Go for it! You may discover amazing abilities in growing veg. And home grown cucumbers are so much nicer than shop bought.

 

[Sue and Smartie]

Piggy poo makes the grass grow also

Some weeds are good for guinea pigs, like dandelions and cleavers, so don't despair if your garden is full of these - your pigs will love them.

Where you plant depends on your soil and your climate. We have a lot of slugs so I'd probably grow herbs in pots, it's easier to protect potted plants from slugs. We're on high ground so a bit colder than sea level, I put anything slightly delicate in a pot and the pots live in a sheltered spot where they will catch any sun that happens to come by. If your soil is a bit claggy then again pots would be great as you can mix in a good bit of grit in the compost so they will have good drainage. Except mint, that will grow anywhere!

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

@Sarah from Chucklebunnies I've not actually started a compost bin yet (everyone keeps telling me not to because it's smelly!) but it's definitely something I wanna do, I just don't know the right way to go about it. I will be collecting the precious piggy nuggets from now on, it's about time they worked for their food haha. I have been shaking it on the grass anyway so bet the soil is lovely now

I hope so! I really would like to try cucumbers, I love them and so do the girls. I grew cucamelons last year which were great, massive yield from those but they're much smaller. Lovely with a Pimms as well as salad

@Sue and Smartie my garden is full of weeds! I'm too lazy to get rid of them all, and I rather like the natural look lol! In fact I would like to start growing other piggy weeds, but idrk how as you can't exactly get them from garden centres!

My garden is destroyed by slugs every year This year I have a friend's old bath that I'm making into a raised bed of sorts, I'll be putting that copper strip stuff all around the edge in the hope that with slugs will leave me alone. Then I have to battle the caterpillars, any advice on that?

I grow most my stuff in pots tbh, I think our soil is quite clay based? Idrk but it feels like I have more control in containers lol. I have normal mint, apple mint and I'm going to get some lemon balm. Also getting some herbs in there, I want to try bell peppers, maybe tomatoes again. Looking for other ideas really I would love to have a mini orchard, but again I don't feel I know enough to get that going yet.

 

[Yve]

@Sarah from Chucklebunnies I've not actually started a compost bin yet (everyone keeps telling me not to because it's smelly!) but it's definitely something I wanna do, I just don't know the right way to go about it. I will be collecting the precious piggy nuggets from now on, it's about time they worked for their food haha. I have been shaking it on the grass anyway so bet the soil is lovely now

I hope so! I really would like to try cucumbers, I love them and so do the girls. I grew cucamelons last year which were great, massive yield from those but they're much smaller. Lovely with a Pimms as well as salad

@Sue and Smartie my garden is full of weeds! I'm too lazy to get rid of them all, and I rather like the natural look lol! In fact I would like to start growing other piggy weeds, but idrk how as you can't exactly get them from garden centres!

My garden is destroyed by slugs every year This year I have a friend's old bath that I'm making into a raised bed of sorts, I'll be putting that copper strip stuff all around the edge in the hope that with slugs will leave me alone. Then I have to battle the caterpillars, any advice on that?

I grow most my stuff in pots tbh, I think our soil is quite clay based? Idrk but it feels like I have more control in containers lol. I have normal mint, apple mint and I'm going to get some lemon balm. Also getting some herbs in there, I want to try bell peppers, maybe tomatoes again. Looking for other ideas really I would love to have a mini orchard, but again I don't feel I know enough to get that going yet.