It has been months since I planted a variety of crops at home. Earlier I checked on them and it was a pleasure to see my homegrown goodness.
Although there was no huge area to plant vegetables, spices, and fruits, I maximized the space and grew crops in my limited area at home. What I did was utilize every corner of the fences so I could grow different varieties.
The crops that I have planted are those that are easy to grow and those that I use every day in cooking not to mention that the prices of fruits, vegetables, and spices here in my country are increasing. And that, it could help me save money in buying higher prices from the market.
Here is the variety of crops that I have planted in my mini garden.
Red Pepper
In my country, we call this type of pepper Atsal, but I know for sure that it is commonly known as sweet pepper. The last time I saw a row of sweet peppers on the side of the fence, they were still flowering and later had a small green fruit. When I checked now, I was so happy to see red fruits.
I was so delighted to see that the green fruits were now turning into red sweet peppers. Most of the stalks in this area were beating fruits.
As I looked at the other rows, most of the fruits were not yet turning green. But surely days from now, all of them will be turning red and be ready for harvest.
On another row, here are the healthy plants of sweet peppers that grew beside my room.
The fruits of the sweet peppers in this row were not yet ready to harvest but I tried to pick some at a and I was truly so happy to pick up two peppers earlier which I used in the menu I am cooking.
Picking two sweet red peppers earlier helped me save a penny. Indeed, it saved me 20 pesos from buying spices in the market. I even used this to the Pork soup or the Filipino way of cooking Nilagang Baboy for our lunch earlier.
Malabar Spinach
Beside the sweet pepper plants are the climbing Malabar Spinach. They are easy to grow and I planted them using some stalks.
The Malabar Spinach or Alugbati had been climbing to some of my crops not to mention that it loved growing and overlapping on my sweet pepper.
I see that they are growing so well and I love to use them as an ingredient in any kind of soup I am preparing such as Fish soup. They are truly best when the heart-shaped are boiled and cooked for a second.
Bitter Gourd
The bitter gourd is still growing and climbing. It is now my second batch of crops after I harvested some gourds months ago.
Seeing the flowers of the bitter gourd made me happy because weeks from now, I will be harvesting more gourds once more. I so love to use the gourds in my favorite menu such as a breakfast dish sauteing it with onions, garlic, tomatoes, and scrambled eggs.
Lady Finger
Months ago I shared that most of my Lady finger plants had a bounty of harvest. And for now, I planted again and some of the stalks were bearing homegrown goodness.
Chili Pepper
The Chili pepper had grown well but it did not bear fruit yet. However, I was so happy to see the flowers blooming with the thought that they would bear so many fruits soon.
Since I was younger, chili pepper has been my partner in my meal sauce not to mention that I love to combine it with vinegar, lemon, soy sauce, and many spices. I also love adding the leaves of the chili pepper whenever I cook Native chicken soup.
Lemon Grass
One of my favorite spices is lemongrass. I am using it in any menu. I have planted it in a huge white pot.
Whenever I needed it, I just cut its leaves and tied them as the market displayed them on the stalls. I have saved a penny every time since a tie of lemon grass costs 5 to 10 pesos depending on the seller. I so love to put this on soup and even on roast meats.
Moringa
Moringa is so useful at home whenever I am cooking fish soup. It is planted on the back part of our fence.
I remember back then in my health class that this leafy vegetable had a lot of health benefits. That is why I never miss to plant it in my mini garden. So I will just get from this plant any time of the day whenever I need it.
Tomatoes
How I love the tomatoes in our mini garden. As for now, many stalks were bearing flowers and the others were bearing many fruits already.
Days from now, I am expecting to harvest some of them and add them to my favorite vegetable salad.
Perhaps it always feel so good to have an own garden at home. I always call this mini garden “Gulayan sa Tugkaran”. In my native dialect, it means a garden where I could harvest at any time without buying from the market, hence saving some penny.
Disclaimer: All texts and pictures are my own unless otherwise stated.