5 Food Crops you can Grow in Your Backyard

By Eunice Olaleye

Farming at home is the new way of acquiring gold, especially in Nigeria. What are the prices of food items that we’re seeing and hearing? Food inflation is on the high side, and people must eat.

When people hear the word ‘farming’, they believe it should be done on a large scale. However, you don’t need a large space to plant food crops in your home. Just start with what you have: your backyard.

It could be a large space in your compound, containers, nylons, etc. The best part is that you can monitor the process and eat fresh, quality food all day, all week, throughout the year.

Following the current events in Nigeria, let’s look at 5 food crops you can plant in your backyard.

1. Tomatoes

Have you seen the quantity of tomatoes and the ridiculously high prices they are being sold? Well, that’s not the point of discussion. What it takes to grow tomatoes in your compound is to have seeds and good soil to work with.

It takes about 5 to 10 days for it to start germinating.

2. Vegetables

This food crop, in particular, is a must-have in your backyard. You can plant a variety of them so far that you can differentiate one from the other. It takes about one to two weeks for vegetable seeds to germinate.

3. Maize

Depending on the soil temperature, it takes about 4 to 14 days for it to germinate. Fresh corn made from a good crop on your farm sounds good, doesn’t it? The joy that comes with eating from what you sow is unmatched.

4. Beans

Lovers of beans! This is another good crop you can plant in your backyard. What better way to nurture your love for beans than to grow them yourself and eat them from your farm?

5. Plantain

If plantain is your favourite, you can plant it in your backyard and eat plantain fresh off the farm. If you plant plantain (sounds like a rhyme?), you can give it 8-12 months to grow, after which you can enjoy its produce for as long as you’d like.

Above all, planting food crops is a cost-effective way to beat food inflation and stay healthy. The best part is that you don’t need to be an expert to practice home farming. Anyone can farm.