I'm Back!

            I haven't been doing much in the way of gardening. Life got in the way. Mum got very sick and passed on last September. It's now the new year and I decided that it's high time I celebrate "growth". My garden is a dedication to mum, who was a super great gardener once.
            So I'm back! :)
            Just in case you're wondering.....my dwarf sunflowers actually bloomed. Yeah....))))))

            Isn't it just grand....I'll be planting more of these - use up all the seeds I have. Lets hope they're still good. These plants only grew to about a foot high and they're so cute!
            By the way, the balsams did pretty well too - despite the neglect. Only I was too preoccupied to even think of snapping pics. 3 eggplant trees survived. I even got a few eggplants from one of them. Also 1 okra plant made it along with a couple of pepper plants - even got okra and peppers from them. Oh, and got some spinach and Chinese kale as well. The carrots are stunted. I salute their survival capability given the fact that I did almost nothing to nurture them.
             Here's how they look now. I've transplanted them into bigger and nicer homes. I'm hoping they'll survive these experiments I'm putting them through - something I picked up from Praxxus55712 at youtube. Actually he did this for tomatoes but I thought I'd try it on the eggplants as well and see what'll happen :D

 

           
            I've sown some more peppers - we're BIG pepper eaters here in the tropics! Also some spinach [red variety], "ulam raja" [I don't know what the western name is for this plant], mint from cuttings [which I doubt will survive since the cuttings were pretty sad-looking to start with!], and more eggplants [my family loves them].

  

Baby spinach!!

            I'm planning on planting Chinese kale, zinnia, marigold, Japanese cucumbers, carrots, butterhead lettuce, four angled beans and bittergourd next. I don't have enough pots so they'll all be in various containers - translate that into whatever I can find around my home :D
            I have lots of space in my backyard but I haven't a clue on how to prepare garden beds! My brother, who happens to be a great gardener, has hurt his hand so he won't be able to help me until later. So, for now, my plants will be in pots, pans, plastic colanders, plastic bottles, milk bottles and whatever else I can scrounge up!

My sunflower saga.....

            I don't know what it is with me and sunflowers. Really! I tried to germinate almost a whole packet of them - and NONE, read NIL, NADA, ZILCH.....sprouted. I mean, I'm not the world's best gardener but I'm certainly not its worst either [I believe!]. I managed to sprout all the other seeds I bought. So maybe some didn't make it through infancy....but they germinated well enough! Except for the sunflowers......
            I felt challenged when I read the blogs and viewed youtube. ALL of those featured said that sunflowers are among the EASIEST plant to grow. Ouch! HUH!! I watched kids toss them into pots and voila....they got bright yellow sunflowers!! pffftttt......
            A friend said that it could be the seeds I bought. Maybe they weren't good. I think he was trying to make me feel better. But it made me pick up a couple of fresh packets of sunflowers when I bought my compost. I gently tossed a few into a cup, watered it and waited breathlessly for several days....AND....ta-da~~~~here they are!

            The packet says "Sunflower - Big Smile". Well, right now it's more me...with the big smile :) :) :)
            I'm praying that they'll make it through and give me these.......

            Wouldn't that just be so grand..... ;)

Gardening sure is challenging ;)

            I've planted these okra plants for the 4th time already!! Some mysterious bug loves them when they're about 5 inches tall. Nips their "necks" and leaves them drooping....and dead. So here I am germinating okra seeds...yet again. I insist on having homegrown okra no matter what :D

I'm praying that they'll survive this time around. I've yet to catch the culprit in action. My brother thinks it's the work of a grasshopper. I guess he knows what he's talking about since every plant he throws in soil thrives beautifully.

            The onions are doing well to date. I guess it's one of the easiest thing to grow - for me! I could virtually leave them alone and they'd still survive. Aaaah....my kind of plant :D  I've got onions strewn everywhere...and they're all growing nicely.



Even managed to get this last week ;)  Nothing to brag about I know...but for a gardening ignoramus like me, it's akin to a lifetime achievement! :D

The kailan [Chinese kale] have been transplanted into this planter as well as a recycled 5l bottle. Still have another batch to transplant. Which I'll have to work on real soon - like right after I'm done with blogging.

On the left are Japanese cucumbers and black eyed peas. Those are eggplants in the cups.
 
Top left is coriander. The leaves are taking shape already! Yea.... Carrots in the cups - this makes it my 2nd attempt at carrots. I'm hoping to keep those playful kittens from trampling them. I did read somewhere that if I were to mix coffee grounds with citrus peels and spread it on the soil, it would deter the cats. Must try this soonest.

            Seedlings ready for transplant - I think. But they look so tiny!

The lemon seeds I germinated. I'm into germinating seeds at the moment. I've got melons, guava, orange and more mango seeds in ziplock bags on my kitchen window. And avocado seeds suspended in water on my windowsill. I still have lots more mangos, rock melon, oranges and avocados to be consumed!

Balsam hanging from my clothesline.......

and......... 

semi-dead and very dead marigold-like plants.

Oh..on a happier note, I saw little shoots of butterhead lettuce, red okra and thyme this morning :)

Some grew, some died, some dying.....

            I've committed "herbicide" [as a fellow gardening friend puts it!] yet again! s.i.g.h....And the cute little kittens from next door are aiding and abetting me by frolicking on the flowerbeds and pots. Look at my poor pea plants.....they're all askew. And only a couple of spinach seedlings survived the frolicking :D Aaaaah well....how can I hold kittens responsible for this carnage ;)

Abg Enal said I could still save the pea plants. I should transplant them onto the plot at my backyard. Anuar said he'd do it. Yesterday, the backyard was nicely mowed so I can now see terraces which were made aeons ago when my brother gardened there. I should get Anuar to transplant all the mango and soursop trees there in a couple of weeks.

The mango plants seem to be doing well....so far! I've got more seeds being germinated. It's the mango season now so I have LOTS of seeds :D

 Tried germinating seeds using an egg tray. Some have germinated - spinach, sawi, cabbage, butterhead lettuce, sage. Lets hope I'll have better luck with them this time around.










Seedlings galore! Carrots, more spinach, okra [which some bug seem to love so much that NONE of the ones I sowed earlier survived past a few weeks]. The dill hasn't made an appearance yet.

Kailan seedlings. Thin straggly looking. What do I do with them now???

 Cili padi and eggplant seedlings.

 The store bought lemon seeds actually germinated! I'd probably not get any fruit even if the plants grow but I just love the fact that seeds sprouted! I have several types of seeds from fruits that I consumed that I'm trying to sprout just for the heck of it. 

I can actually see tiny coriander leaves! The chives next to it doesn't seem to want to see the world though. I wonder why....Oh, there are quite a fair bit of onion leaves in a couple of pots. I should pick some of them - they're getting too long.

The dying stevia and bunga tahi ayam. They seemed healthy enough when I brought them home from the nursery. My sister said that this happens sometimes. In my case, it's MOST times :D

I swear this cabbage plant hasn't grown a single millimeter since I last blogged about it!

I'm encouraged by the fact that many gardeners I know kill plants many, many times before they successfully grow them into maturity. So I shall endeavour...and persevere. Who knows...I may get to growing strong healthy plants faster than I imagined ;)

WISH ME LOTSA LUCK! I [and the plants] NEED YOUR PRAYERS :)

See how my garden grows!

            I'm amazed at myself. Seriously amazed! For someone who's more used to killing healthy plants, I've become someone who could actually g.r.o.w something! Although it's a little premature to predict the outcome of the plants I've grown, yet it gives me a certain satisfaction. Even if they all wither and die on me, I'd still feel a sense of achievement :)
            Okay, update! I transplanted the tomatoes and the solitary chilli plant. They seem to still be growing well - touch wood!

The one in the pot is a stevia plant I picked up at AEON Big. Curious to see if all that's touted about it is true :) I transplanted it into a bigger pot. Lots of roots in that plant!

 

My experiment with the kangkung didn't work so I bought a couple of fresh bunches and planted them - the way youtube said I should :D  Btw, I killed all the thriving watercress when I decided to experiment with it :P. Couldn't find any at AEON Big so it'll just have to wait until I find some....which I'll leave alone to grow!! Oh, the blue pail I got for RM3.90 at AEON Big [bought 6 of them]. I scored several holes on the bottom with a steak knife....ta-da! and I have a 4-gallon "pot" that should accomodate plants that need deep soil. Also shrubs like tomatoes, eggplants, chilli, and okra [my next project. I've got red and green ones]. 

            Check out my red and green spinach! And the beans - really is the easiest thing to grow, these beans. Not much maintenance required. I've yet to erect the trellis. Alan got me some bamboo a couple of days back - they're still languishing on the corridor! I wonder if the onions will survive....

Seems that it'll take a while yet before they'll sprout - IF they do at all!! I didn't know what to do with this 3-tier plastic rack so I decided to experiment growing herbs on it. I lined the shelves with newspaper and bin bag [holes cut into them]. I figure that if herbs can grow in the little soil shoved into plastic bottles, it should be able to grow here. We'll see......

   I've got coriander, chives, oregano, chinese and English parsley, and Genovese basil [whatever that is!]. I've got a couple more herb seeds that I'll plant alongside Chinese kale aka kailan. Seems that oregano should be planted with kailan as it keeps kailan-loving bugs away ;)

   I've moved the huge pot with sunflower seeds and onions to a sunny spot on the staircase. I hope the birds don't get to the seeds! I can't wait for the first sunflower shoots - they seem to take forever! I've also tried to germinate a couple in a little container on the "seedling" rack.

   The "Exotica" papaya seeds have germinated...yea!!!! I've turned soda bottle into self watering containers - they're working well so far. 

                  Btw, I've got enough seeds for an entire plantation! Anyone wants some? They're all nicely dried. Don't know if they'll germinate because I unwittingly broke the membranes of some of them and they sprouted! And now the sprouted ones are dried as well.....Maybe I should plant a few and find out eh.

    On the left [in the bigger pots]  are mango seeds which I germinated in ziplock bags. They had some nice roots so I'm hoping that at least a couple would grow into healthy plants. I had 6 seeds in all.

    2 soursop seeds germinated! Yea!! No news from the custard apple seeds as yet. I'm hoping that they're thriving down there and just being a little shy about saying "hello".

            I've germinated a couple of eggplants as well. The chilli seeds I planted a while back have germinated - I now have 3 chilli seedlings which I'll have to transplant into pots soon. That's cabbage in the shallow pot - 2 of them.                                                                                                                                

Carrot shoots. I think I may have to transplant them into a deeper container but it seems like a tough thing to do  since they're now growing in a big shallow container. Maybe I'll get some baby carrots from these and plant some more in a deep container.

Lettuce shoots. Really, really tiny.

            That's it for now. Please pray that my plants will survive! Oh, btw! the red deep containers - I got them at AEON Big for RM10.90 each. I used a steak knife to score holes in them. Pretty easy to do really.

            Yesterday, Auni requested that I grow the apple seeds she collected [which she has yet to pass on to me]. She seems to have forgotten about them today though! :D I did buy some balsam seeds as she requested "bunga keembung" earlier. That'll go on my "To-Do" list.