You Can Grow Your Own Tomatoes (On a budget)!

Sometimes you have to get creative to sustain your family in the midst of scarcity. Learn the step by step 'how to' grow your own tomatoes

What you need!

..Life chicken (you will need the daily waste as manure/fertilizer for your soil)

..A little soil digger (to till and cultivate your soil)

..Tomatoes seeds (from over ripe tomatoes, you can go to your neighbor’s house and borrow one tomato (that’s if they don’t use stick to pursue you in this time of scarcity)

..Water (You don’t need to buy this)

..Sun (Even cheaper than water and very very easy to find)

..One or two bamboo sticks (to create a vine because tomatoes plants crawl, the vine will keep the plant upright)

..Your faith

1. Find yourself a fresh tomatoe or even go to the market to buy yourself the dreaded expensive tomatoes (hopefully it would be your last purchase, try to however buy the over ripe ones)

2. Till your soil by using your soil digger to soften the soil, instead of throwing out the waste from your live chick/hen, pour it on your soil (do this for at least 2 days). Make sure to constantly dig and cultivate the soil so it soaks up the waste from the chicken.

3. On the third day do not add water to the soil, mix the chicken waste with the soil as it is and let the soil suck up all the excess water from the previous day in preparation for the tomatoes seeds

4. Wash up your tomatoes, make sure not to pour out the water used in rinsing (this would contain seeds from the tomatoes)

3. Pour out your water containing the tomatoes seeds on your tilled soil and leave in the sun for another day

4. Make sure animals are nowhere near your soil so that they do not dig up your seeds

5. By day 5 the tomatoes seeds would have totally dried up and you will start to see little greens

6. Wet the soil with any signs of dryness (be sure not to over wet because too much water will drown the leaves and you would have to go back to number 2 above). You can store up the chicken waste and let it settle in a bucket, drain off excess water and pour on your soil to avoid excess water. Watering is good but too much of it is bad for the plants especially if your soil is in a container. It is however advisable not to use a container, plant directly on ground soil.

7. Make sure to constantly cultivate the soil and pick your tomatoes as desired, if it falls off unripe, place upright with stem

8. Never refrigerate fresh tomatoes (we all do but tomatoes are supposed to be stored in room temperature)

9. To store large quantity, put in a tightly sealed plastic bag in the freezer.

Hope this was helpful, drop your comments and if you ever try it, come back to TESTIFY!

Disclaimer. This process is from my younger days assisting my parents plant all sorts of fruits and vegetables. You may have a better way, but this is my way and it sure works.

After you start growing your tomatoes, make sure to add bingo to the pet list so that Bingo can chase away those who want to steal away the blessing of God. Trust me after the tomatoes start to grow, your neighbors will smile at you any chance they get and use style to come and visit…….lol

Thank God Its Friday (TGIF) PS700

This week is vacation week. I had sent in pictures from a trip I took to Las Vegas' alleged only nigerian restaurant  (check images out here). After eating and feeling so good I felt the need to use the bathroom, now because of the big sign 'not open to public' I asked the attendant if I could use the bathroom and he said yes.
I opened the door, walked through a passage before getting to the bathroom door, I did catch a glimpse of the kitchen area too.
In the bathroom, I felt disgusted because the floor was so dirty my shoes were sticky on the floor. I spilled water on purpose then I stepped on it, just to see how filthy, the water I spilled was so brown I felt terrible.
I left the bathroom and walked out of the restaurant immediately, lamenting to hubby as we walked out, he confessed to me he wanted to go too but changed his mind when he saw the expression on my face.
Why am I saying all these, my thing is this is a business, the only place visitors will go to asides the waiting area is probably the bathroom. As a business owner you have to pay unannounced visits to the rest rooms every hour or as often as your schedule permits. Cleanliness is a good image for every and any business.
I have 2 more days to go on my vacation but trust me, I will be ordering food from the same restaurant, but they will deliver to me because I am not stepping foot in that place again.

God bless your hustle and have a great weekend.

Thank God It's Friday (PS 600)

This weak was eventful, as usual.
The most interesting part happened just yesterday night. I had decided to take a walk around the neighborhood because I did not have time to go to the gym. It was very helpful, my headache stopped and my tummy stopped hurting. I completed the daily number of steps I had set for myself on the exercise application on my phone (I chose to download it on my phone because, I am cheap and I always want to do what everyone is doing in a cheaper way, instead of wearing the apple gadget on my wrist, I would carry my phone everywhere I go lol)
When I came back inside, I asked my husband if I took a long time and he said yes he then asked me how the walk went and I gave him the look like 'is it supposed to be enjoyed'? He clarified by asking me what I saw...... Now I got thinking and guess what.. I downloaded plenty things I saw.
....I saw a car just next door, seem like there were two lovers who just wanted to flirt in the car before wishing themselves good night. The car was at the same spot throughout my 10 laps.
.... I passed by a lady who seemed like she was locked out of her house, she stood in front of the garage and held her phone waiting rather impatiently like she was hungry or just needed to go into her house after the long day's job (she was in her nursing uniform).
.... Few steps away from the lady I noticed a family, the men seem to be so excited to see each other as they shook hands and embraced, their wives just looked on and smiled, it took me about 30 seconds to realize they were conversing in Spanish.
.... Another few yards I saw some 2 girls who were waiting by an open van, they were both on the phone and inappropriately dressed (probably in their sleep wears), they glanced over at me and just continued with whatever they were doing.
.... I walked past 2 other people walking their dogs, I obviously crossed over because I did not want to hear any stories (no dogs biting this pretty legs lol)
.... Another lap, I realized the waiting lady had gone in her house, few steps forward, a girl was crying so much she started sniffing, another lady who seem to be much older reached out to hug her (they were not there the first time), I thought to myself 'maybe someone died', but another lap passed, they were still there and she seem to be recounting her issue to the other lady and it was obviously a relationship issue. Tell me who has not gone through that, may she find happiness (they were there for all the laps after that and I made sure not to look their way so they crying chick does not feel like I am eavesdropping and making fun of her).
.... So many things I saw , a woman tending to her flower garden, another man bringing out trash for the next day etc
Now there, my husband's question was not out of place afterall, I was the one who actually dismissed all the events that happened around me, I guess I will do more walking because it seems eventful.

In life when  people ask us questions, we never actually listen for the question in order to ask appropriately. Maybe in answering the seemingly stupid questions, you realize there were many things you have ignored unknowingly.

May God bless all our efforts and grant us fruitful hustles

#tgif

Thank God It's Friday (PS 500)

It's the end of another week, I have started getting used to the fact that I need to achieve something every week in order to create meaning for my existence.
The weekend was great, I went out of town with my family and for once, it was good not to wake up with the hope of starting chores or running errands. Sunday came and we headed back home, we actually did not realize how much we had missed our own home until we got to the parking lot (home sweet home). Even though I was relaxed I did not feel comfortable because I was not in my own space.
I am getting closer to my dream job and I tell you, as everyday goes by it gets harder because that voice keeps telling me to relax and just not do anything for at least a day, I have succumbed at times but now I don't think I need to relax again, I will relax when I get the job.
In life sometimes we feel we have done enough to get a pat on the back, but the problem is that if you are the one giving the complements to yourself there is a problem, it means you are either tired or you feel the need to lie to yourself. Do not give up keep pushing even when you see results keep going because, guess what..... reaching your destination does not mean you need to relax, it is just another achievement to check off your to do list and time to take another step.

Keep conquering and God bless your hustle!

Thank God It's Friday (TGIF) PS 400

This week I found myself so lazy to work, I exercised more though.
I went for a show with my colleague turned friend on Wednesday and it was all the best until we could not leave the car park 2 hours after the show. It was that bad, you could not abandon your vehicle and you could not sleep because the traffic could move any time, we did this for almost 2 hours and spent another hour driving back home. We ended up getting home around 1am only for me to wake up 6pm the next day for work, obviously I woke up with a hangover and suffered headaches at intervals throughout the day.
I found myself wondering why I had to go to work but hey....it's not my father's company ehn.
Thankfully, I get to stay home today FRIDAY (whoop whoop) because I actually took the day off just to go party in another town for the weekend. Hehehe I guess the whole week is a groove week that's why I could not feel work atall, I am coming back on Monday with a bang though, I would start with an early morning and knock out all those my pending work from this week...Their father...lol!

In life you tune out sometimes, the most important thing is to come back with a bang. When you realize you are not productive take some time off work, re-energize and come back with a bang.
No one said it was OK to stay productive 365 days in a year, if that was the case why did God himself rest on the 7th day?

God bless your hustle FAM!

Martial Arts!

Have you ever thought about starting a martial arts class? Sometimes we have expertise in an art or act but seem so stuck up because there is no way forward. The best thing to do in this world is to impact lives and teach others what we know, in the process of doing these things we strive to become better in order to answer questions asked by our followers.

Benefits of martial arts classes

1. Your child is taught how to
....respect others,
....be patient
....defend him/herself
....survive in extreme or unusual situations
2. Extra classes help develop your child's social and mental skills. Being taught outside of the classroom relaxes him/her mentally.
3. Learning practical skills help everyone because in life you should be able to step outside of educative knowledge box and apply general knowledge skills to situations. For example if there is a crisis and you all need to cross a narrow bridge, your child does not learn balancing skills in the classroom but in extra moral classes you must have enrolled him or her for.
4. Just another place to mingle with people who could help you with whatever in the present or future

You do not need to rent a place to teach martial arts, a school field, a friend's compound or just an open space in the neiborhood would do.

Foluke Daramola.....“Even though I’m a woman rights activist…the man is supposed to be a step ahead of the woman”

My response to Foluke Daramola's statement!

God will help us, I feel this is not a Nigerian thing even in the western world some women feel they are beneath men. Just yesterday someone told me about a friend who does not have a car because she just broke up with her boyfriend, I looked at her in a confusing way I was like, 'what is the relationship between her love affair and her job?'.My friend replied, 'you know there are some women who believe they can not do things for themselves unless those things come from a man?' Haaa... ok I rest my case. It is well with you Foluke Daramola

Picture credit: nigeriafilms.com

Csection Wahala!

I had my son through c-section even though I exercised till the last minute, I no gree dilate and my baby was big.
Anyway back to the real reason for this post... 3 major things I have been going through for the past 4 years
1. Fasting has been an issue for me since child birth, after some time I start to feel pain arnd my incision.
2. I can not do crunches easily like before (if u see my tummy u will understand lol)
3. Sleeping on my tummy is always kind of uncomfortable, after I wake up I feel so much pressure arnd my incision, the pain reduces 10 minutes after waking up.

Some minor things that are also strange are sneezing (sudden pain like d place will tear apart), I like thongs a lot but I find I usually settle for full panties when I go lingerie shopping.

Thank God It's Friday (TGIF) PS 300

This week did not exactly turn out as planned. As part of my always renewing regimen I am supposed to wake up every morning by 5am, tell me who would want to wake up that early when they can only go to bed at 1am?
I had decided it was best to exercise very early in the morning and get it over with, start work early too and chose to get off anytime or put in more hours. All these things have been stuck in my head for a while and I have been kind of helpless.
This week a lot of people complained around me and all I could do was just to listen to them, thank God for my own situation and figure out what I can do to make the world a better place. On Monday a colleague complained about having to drop her child at school, pack up lunch, blankets and what have you. I thought to myself, 'shouldn't that be a way for you to get motivated to own your own business or become a boss instead of complaining?' Talk of how much we like to talk and how little we love to think.
 I read a post 2 days ago about the difference between a job and a career and it got me thinking about a looooot of things in my life. I think it's time to shut down those side things I have going on and face a least two of the best things that I love to do.
Life is a struggle, survival is really for the fittest. I can chose to be relaxed and in a comfortable zone and stay poor or chose to get working, sweaty and what have you, get rich and find a comfortable zone. There is a lot that can be achieved in an hour, waking up early might not sound fun, but making money does sound like fun, why not motivate yourself that way. Think about the fact that you are losing money as you are sleeping or procrastinating.
Get up and grind, get up and work, get up and run, get up and just get up!
Seriously I need to go to the theater and watch a bad ass movie and I can't wait for my mini weekendation....

God bless you hustle....

RIP Prince!

To Each Man His Own!

Just like in traffic, when you get to a stop light everyone is waiting for the light to turn green, no one cares about what's going on in another vehicle parked nearby, sometimes they might glance over smile, nod to acknowledge you if they are respectful enough, other times they even try to get ahead of you.
If you think anyone will stop what they are doing to sort you out in life, it will never happen.
The only person who stops all else to sort you out is God and your mother some times.
I find myself wondering why we have family, friends and well wishers, I find myself wondering why we throw parties. If I am sick or down, who notices my absence until a week or two later, why would I want these people who hardly missed me celebrate with me?
We all have a right to our actions though, this is just my thought.
Do not look at me funny when I say I want to take a drastic step on something.
Do not look at me funny when I put on a little weight or lost a little weight, guess what, it's none of your business.
I also do not expect you to tell me what to do with my life, if you support me fine, if not fine.
Life is funny, life is good, life is complicated, it is life.. ...

PS 100

It's Monday.
I usually like to wake up at 5am but I turn off my alarm once it rings, I open my eyes around 6:45 ish almost everyday and i immediately regret my actions, promise myself
to change and then I repeat the same thing the next day.
From the time I wake up, I don't lay on my bed again till around 12 midnight which is my normal bed time. If I sleep late that would be 2am.
I wasn't feeling myself today, I was slow, a little dehydrated and I cheated on my diet just because my brain craved for sugar. Hubby had to pick up our son because we had just one car available (please don't ask why). He asked me what was wrong, I told him I was exhausted then he suggested my iron probably dropped. Wow, it didn't occur to me, all this while I was feeling sorry for myself I should have just taken my vitamins.
I could not really do much just because of that.
On Wednesday I took the day off just to relax a little bit and study for a certification I really need in order to change my career.

..In life you just have to keep adding value to yourself or else you will die adding value to others. If you need to take a break off that stressful job to attend to issues that will move you forward, take some legal time off and do it.
..Sometimes it takes sharing your problem with someone else before you get a solution. The solution would have been there all along but someone has to point it out to you. As an entrepreneur you can never know it all, that is why you should surround yourself with good team members who would spot something you missed.

God bless our hustle!

Thank God it's Friday!

New post series coming up next week Friday. Weekly take on the busy life and how to just be happy regardless. Promises to be an exciting read every single week.

Are You Stagnant or Productive?

When you surround yourself with unproductive and stagnant people, they will equally make you stagnant and unproductive. Whenever you meet someone new ask them what they have been up to, ask them where they were years prior, ask them questions, don't just be friendly, be inquisitive. If they think you talk too much or you ask too many questions, they might actually not have anything going for them or anything to share.

If they have nothing but are willing to move forward, they will share whatever they are going through and ask you questions too. If they have new accomplishments, they will be willing to share. 

I learnt this on a personal level, when I was struggling with job search and moving on to the next level in my career, I used to hate the question...'what do you do'? I get upset after the conversation for days. Now I just can't wait to share what I am currently working on and what I am about to work on with anyone who cares to know.

Brother Gbola, Aunty Sidi, Uncle Gbenga!

Last week while watching my son play, I starting thinking about how his sibling will be a lot younger and I just could not help myself remembering how you had to put 'sister' or 'brother' in front of an older sibling's name.

When we were younger, we were jejely calling ourselves by name o. We went to my mum's best friends house, while playing, I called my brother and she almost slapped me. I looked so confused, I didn't know what I did wrong, is it not my brother again? She looked at my mum and blutted out 'ehn ehn Remi so you want to spoil these children, how can this small Romoke be calling Gbola (my brother) by his first name (please wetin be his name again)'? Anyway my mum being the typical naija woman who wants to save face warned me to start calling my brother 'Brother Gbola". Haaaa, it was as if I was given a death sentence, my brother was just laughing, what's his business?
The next day I started practicing it, it sounded so weird on my lips, any time he annoyed me I would shout 'brother Gbola ko Brother Gbola ni' (someone please translate me I can't translate this one lol). Now it has become a part of me and a lot of times I call him by his nickname (maybe that my mum's friend will slap me when she hears and tell me to call him brother...nickname now looool)

What about a wife calling all her husband's siblings aunt something or brother something
Friends calling eachother's husbands uncle something (in fact a friend requested I start calling her husband Uncle cos he is not my mate lol)
My sister calls me by my first name and she still respects me, she calls my husband by his first name and there is plenty respect.
When some people hear that their husband's friend's wife is like 2 to 4 years younger than they are, they request to be called aunty something, mummy something etc
My sister called my friend's husband by her first name one time and she gave her serious attitude, we never got a memo that her husband had to be called Uncle something...
To me everything is just confusing, what I do is I address people the way everyone around me addresses the person just to avoid friction, but to me it has nothing to do with respect I feel it's more of an ego thing (my opinion).

Does putting uncle,aunt,brother,sister mean you are respecting the person?

Anyway my kids will call themselves whatever I name them and there will still be respect.

What do you think?