It's the planting season again here in Nigeria and a lot of farmers are already in the business. Although it seems like the planting season is delayed a little this year because of the late rain, nevertheless a lot of people who have gotten their little gardens and farms ready will be happy seeing the downpour few days ago.
As a little girl, I used to be so excited during the planting season because my mom lets me plant my corn seeds in our small farm. I would wake up every morning to check if they're growing already, you could just imagine the happiness I felt seeing the seeds sprouting into life, and within a few months I'm already enjoying my ripe corn boiled or even roasted.
The first plants we grew for food was plantains, one of the major foods we eat at home. Later, my mom decided we could grow some bananas too so we can also have some to sell. It didn't take so much efforts growing them as not so much was required to grown those gigantic shrubs. We figured out we could do more so we started growing few vegetables mostly for our consumption.
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There were challenges such as pests and worms attacking our plants and sometimes there were unfavourable weather conditions. In the case of experiencing periods of scorching heat with little to no rain, we make sure to water the plants so they don't die off. Other times we had to deal with the rain destroying our crops. Our land is a bit sloppy, when it rains some parts of the farm gets flooded with water and the plants there suffer.
Growing a few things in our farm was just an ideal way of getting quality food that is fresh too. We didn't have to go for the packaged ones sold at the supermarkets which are not fresh thereby reducing the nutrients they give give. It was also very convenient to go into the farm to pick up vegetables whenever we run out of them instead of going to get them somewhere else. Growing our own plants was also a way of spending less while shopping for household items,we know we already have a few things at home so there's no point adding them on the list.
It is not possible growing all the food we wish to because of the commitment it takes to take care of it and also not every crop grows on the same soil type so we have to opt for other sources for getting the food we eat. Living in the suburban area gave us access to getting other food items from our local markets. A lot of people in my area are farmers who grow food. They harvest the crops and transport in straight to the local markets for sell.
The chances of getting fresh food items from the local markets is quite high. A lot of the farmers do not come from faraway locations just to sell their produce. The crops are grown locally and transported from just a short distance. There is no to no packaging of food items in the local markets, almost everything sold at the local markets are openly displayed for the buyers to see and chose from their preferred quality.
Choosing the local markets as alternative source for food also helps us to keep in touch with the seasonal varieties especially with fruits. We only have a mango tree at home so we buy other fruits from the markets. Right now, it's the season of watermelons, you can be sure to get a whole lot of them fresh from the markets and cheaper prices too.
The food we eat determines how healthy we will be. Replacing the packaged and preserved food from the supermarkets, with the natural ones we grow at home or obtain from the local markets will be an ideal way of keeping ourselves healthier.
Images are mine
This is in response to today's monthly prompt topic on 'Food Sources and Gardening', organized by InLeo. To know more about the monthly prompt initiative, Click Here.
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