Hi Nairalanders,

I know you all must have seen many threads(educative) on agric section. I'm not doing anything different either. Consider this as my little piece (giving back to society).Afterall I learnt virtually everything I know about agriculture on here and got inspiration to venture into agribusiness from most of the ops of other threads
robonski15, vanpeele
soft77,pavore9,world1,lesgupnigeria, ishaqteejay, jasper7 ,jethro2, Mercilicios, farmtech,Glory2God and many more too numerous to mention.

You all played a BIG part in the birth of Nature farm. So I hope I can be an inspiration to that Nigerian youth out there that thinks it's all doom and gloom for the future(based on say no employment),I dare to say it's not .Entrepreneural spirit coated with passion is all that you need on
this new CV and if your passion so happens to be agriculture as mine then you are in the right place my friend.

Note:I'm not an expert in the field just here to share my on the farm experience with you an hopefully kick that motivation and bring someone out of his/her comfort zone. Gracias

nice one, expecting the pictures.

About Nature Farms :
The dream is to grow into an integrated farm (vegetables, fruits,livestock and possibly processed and ready to eat food) but to achieve that one has to start somewhere right?
So for now I'll be updating about the progress of my Cucumbers.
Feel free to comment , constructive criticism is allowed also.

Some of the requirements of cucumber Farming:
* Good seed(Hybrid) is better for higher yield and quick
maturity.
* Fertilizer (optional for organic farmers)
* Manure (Well composted dung)
* Good irrigation
* Pesticides
* Trellis (very important if you want really nice looking fruits and higher yield).
* Sacks (optional but has numerous benefits)

I'm growing my Cukes in sacks because of space constraints . The sacks also help to keep nutrient within the reach of the plants (i.e they are not leached away during irrigation)

Land preparation
*Weeding
*Raking of weed and garbage
*Sacks for planting

Applied Manure (Chicken droppings on the farm) and worked it into the soil while bagging the sand. Basically I just spread it across the planting space and left for 8 to 9 days to release gradually before bagging.
Note: The manure had been composted by the poultry owner for about 4 months (as she claimed).she had used some on her farm so that's why I believe her.(Not like I would have rejected them anyway)

Pics of the requirements.

More Pics-
Fertilizers

Planting date-9th of May
Picture showing the filled sacks, Sowing of seeds (Planted 4 per sack). Light watering after sowing seeds.

17th May... Cucumbers at 8 days.
Replanted to replace the ones that failed to germinate ,irrigated,applied fertilizer, sprayed pesticides to discourage insect attack and cut bamboo for the trellis.

Following

following

Really love this, am following.

That is the spirit......it does not require an arm and a leg!

I will soon start my own farm.

kentochi:
I will soon start my own farm.

You are most welcome to join the growing team of young farmers.

Nice work op! Clean and straight forward

22 May :So I went to the farm to set up the trellis for the cucumber plants.I was able to do that but discovered I'd be needing more of the ropes.There has been sufficient amount of rain so I'm not going to be irrigating for some time. (Weather promises more rain).

I applied fertilizers last time on the farm and noticed few plants in sacks(3) were i added too much fertilizer withered as a result of burns so next application would be by next week(Lesson learned) These are pictures of the Cukes at 13 days by the way.

What might be your cost analysis for your setup so far?

Whats your expected profit over time?

If everyone had just a setup like this with other veggies as well.. especially tomatoes one can only imagine the independence.

oblo:
What might be your cost analysis for your setup so far?

What your expected profit over time?

If everyone had just a setup like this with other veggies as well.. especially tomatoes one can only imagine the independence.

So far...
Cost incured:Pics

Profit Projection:I planted 4 per sack and I have 170 sack. that is approximately 700 plants.
Profit margin varies depending on factors such as yield,size of the fruit,selling price etc. It could be low (assuming each plant yields 2 small fruit which takes 150 to fill a bag and you sell for 3k on average) or high(assuming they yield about 5 to 10 moderate sized fruit taking 100 or less to fill a bag and u still sell at the average price or higher.We are hoping for the best by the grace of the almighty.

Nice work @vickychuk Can you tell the land space your 170 sacks occupy. I'm just trying to calculate how many sacks I could have on a plot of land. God bless.

Mercie123:
Nice work @vickychuk Can you tell the land space your 170 sacks occupy. I'm just trying to calculate how many sacks I could have on a plot of land. God bless.

The space is 22x19(ft). You can increase the spacing between the row of bags to enable you move around with ease and for proper air movement around the plants. #HappyFarming

Cucumbers at 20 days. First sighting of tendrils.

I did a little expansion on the farm last week hoping to plant more this week but very little sun to dry the grass.I also planted some corn for personal consumption but obviously some squirrels had other ideas.

vickychuk:
22 May :So I went to the farm to set up the trellis for the cucumber plants.I was able to do that but discovered I'd be needing more of the ropes.There has been sufficient amount of rain so I'm not going to be irrigating for some time. (Weather promises more rain).

Kudos. You're almost there. I'm thinking your trellis should be higher. If your cukes reach full maturity... I no think say you go fit waka between those ridges. Anyways, we're watching you.

oblo:
What might be your cost analysis for your setup so far?

Whats your expected profit over time?

If everyone had just a setup like this with other veggies as well.. especially tomatoes one can only imagine the independence.

Don't imagine it but achieve it. I've been flexing with tomatoes. We can preserve fresh tomato paste for up to a year (guaranteed) with no refrigeration and no preservatives what so ever.

vanpeele:


We can preserve fresh tomato paste for up to a year (guaranteed) with no refrigeration and no preservatives what so ever.

Really
How so?

zemaye:

Really
How so?

Just a clue Wanted to create a thread but a solution has been found for the tomato issue...so no need

vickychuk:


The space is 22x19(ft). You can increase the spacing between the row of bags to enable you move around with ease and for proper air movement around the plants. #HappyFarming

@vickychuk thanks for your answer but really I don't know how to calculate this in (ft). Can you just give me an idea of how many bags I could have on a plot.


Thanks

vanpeele:


Just a clue Wanted to create a thread but a solution has been found for the tomato issue...so no need

pls open a thread and teach us step by step
people will really find it useful . my attraction is the no preservative that is cool!
when tomato is excess people can store and utilise.
sorry it seems am derailing this thread.

vanpeele:


Kudos. You're almost there. I'm thinking your trellis should be higher. If your cukes reach full maturity... I no think say you go fit waka between those ridges. Anyways, we're watching you.

Noted! I'll make the next batch higher.