Guinea pig garden

[Alicia Corey]

I suck at keeping any plants alive, but I would love to try gardening now that I have seven piggies. How do you separate the Aspen bedding from the poop, or do you just throw it all in the garden? Also, my pigs don't really seem to like parsley, but they love cilantro, do they have the same nutritional value? Have you all heard about spinach being bad for piggies? I have heard that it builds up some sort of toxin in their body and they can die, is this true? And with veggies like Kale, do we just give them the leafy part or is it okay to give the stem too? I have been giving all of it.

[smiley]

I throw all of it in. I was told too much sawdust can remove the nitrogen out of the soil....but it is also a great mulch. Too much spinach is bad, everything in moderation. Some of mine like the stems of kale, some don't.

[lisam]

Yes, you can give the stem, too.

As for the aspen bedding: Wood takes awhile to decompose, and it also needs nitrogen for that. So, while it is decomposing, it takes away nitrogen that your plants desparately need to grow. It would be better to compost it beforehand. Start a compost bin or pile. Add your soiled bedding, grass clippings from the lawn, and any fruit or vegetable waste from the kitchen. Turn it from time to time, and eventually it will be decomposed enough for the garden.

Or, you could use it as mulch instead, in the pathways of your garden, or around the flowers in your flower bed.

[pevensiev]

Spinach contains alot of calcium. My guinea pig gets sluge in his urine from too much calcium so I stay away from it. Always keep a check on your pigs' urine for gritty deposits, white or dark colored. I would say spinach shouldn't be a staple for pigs.

You should try gardening. I find it much easier (though more work if that makes any sense) than houseplants. I kill those left and right. Lettuces are great to put in. Get those little peat pellets that expand when you add water and sprinkle lettuce seeds. You'll get sprouts in no time and then after they get bigger, put them in your garden.

[zookeeper]

pevensiev, both leaves & flowers of nasturtium are edible. My piggies aren't really wild about it, but I throw some in for variety.

[DartsOfPleasure]

I sowed some parsley in pots 2 weeks ago. How long does it take to grow? Should the parsley be in any special conditions? On the packet of seeds is says put it in a polythene bag, and then pop the container in a windowsill. So that's what I've done but I see nothing! I'm so impacient.

[lisam]

I seem to remember that parsley takes a while to germinate.

[smiley]

My parsley grew wonderfully. Lots of sun, I put a plastic film over the pot in the sun, and they sprouted. Then I took it off and it grew like mad.

[DartsOfPleasure]

I have no idea about growing anything - do you have to water the parsley everyday?

[smiley]

I watered it when I thought about it. Which was not very often.

[Brimstone]

Thanks for the good gardening ideas. I think I want to try to grow some green peppers and maybe some lettuce or tomatoes this year.

I've been trying to compost my pigs' waste, but it hasn't been decomposing very fast. It's too dry. My guys live on towels, which I shake out every day and then sweep up the leftover hay and poo and dump it in the compost bin. We don't have enough "wet" stuff to keep a good ratio for decomposing. But now that the ground has thawed, we've found too much damp mulch near our house. So probably tomorrow I'll start dumping some of that in the composters.

[Alicia Corey]

Hey, in the dollar section at Target they have tiny little pots with parsley, basil, and chives. Can pig have basil and chives, oh and what about stems of green onions? Anyway, thought I would let everyone know. I picked up two little pots of parsley. If anyone goes to check it out could you let me know if it will be fine for the GP's?

Thanks