Some Gardening Work and a Lovely Feathered Couple.

After several days of rain (free watering for the garden + free water for the containers), days of sunshine was really welcomed and appreciated. I had been quite busy with other things this week and it is nice to spend almost the whole of today doing things in the garden (including playing hide-and-seek with Samuel and playing fetch with Marco). Finally I tested putting the three pots of fruit trees under the garage shelther without any form of protection and it is good! The possums did not come disturb my trees or make a meal out of them. Perhaps I was worrying too much.

The pot of lavendar bee pretty has been pruned quite a lot at the lower sides as the shoots were infested with green aphids. I have killed many of them using pyrethrum. This afternoon, I found a drowning ladybug in the pail and took it to the lavendar, hoping that it can feed on the aphids.

The dwarf orange tree on this rental property has been fruiting and flowering. I think this year the oranges will be likely sour again since I did not really bother about this tree very much. Nice citrus flower smells.

The citronella geranium (mosquito plant) http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/03/few-new-candidates-and-update.html has grown much more despite neglect and several broken lower branches. I should repotting it but am running out of larger pots.

The chilli padi seedlings (below) are suddenly growing a bit more since I gave it some vermicompost.

My kaffir lime has been growing a tiny branch? Sucker? Maybe I should pull it out.

Today, I repotted the aloe vera (once again!!!). I bought a new bag of potting mix just for succulents/cacti (Brand : Debco) and think it would love this mix better. Found another new pup growing. Yeah!!!

I also divided the pot of 3 dwarf snow pea seedlings into three pots. Hmmm...customer service at Diggers told me they grow to 60cm tall and a 30cm diameter pot is fine but I found that the seedlings' roots have developed quite extensively. I soaked the seedlings with seasol and hope they will manage alright.

I also pruned the lemon verbena (below) again to cause more bushy development. Looking forward to have more shoots for tea. Yum yum!

This large pot of mint is growing fantastically well. I trimmed off any runners and see if this will channel the plant's energy to producing larger leaves. I have a feeling it would.

I also for the first time after several weeks, removed the netting and plastic covering for my cayenne pepper (below), and pruned it to open up the plant. I have harvested most chillies. Only one is left to ripen.

I have erected some plastic protection for the few dwarf snow pea seedlings at the vege patch. So far so good, havent seen any destruction by pests yet.

I have been noticing this pair of love birds (spotted neck pigeons) frequenting my garden. Very loving couple...preening each other feathers and parking in the sunshine. Marco barks at them to chase them away. I have sprinkled some bird seeds around the area and hope they keep coming. So sweet!

Lots of Showers! Another 300 Litres!

Showers these few days...collected 300 litres again - front and backyards combined! Just right when the previous batch of collection was almost finished! Okay, I dont want anymore rain. The peach tree on this rental property has already put on new buds, dripping with rain water.

Are these clover or chickweeds? They are growing very well. I wish I have a goat. It will surely eat up all these for me.

The two rosemarys grown from some roadside cuttings...doing very well putting on new shoots but this specie has very fine leaves.

One (below) of the three pots of rosemarys propagated from the original plant. This one has not got any powdery mildew and putting on new shoots. Somehow I love propagating rosemarys because I feel a sense of achievement when I succeed as they are challenging to propagate.

I have forgotten to cover my vietnamese mint/laksa plant but well they seem to not mind the cold rain and cold nights. They are the easiest to grow in my garden - root easily, steady-growers, non-demanding and pest-free.

The lone spinach (below) has put on more leaves...slowly.

The snow pea seedlings are getting a little sunshine here and there this morning. With the rain, I can only open up the covers in the morning and replace the covers in the evening.

Likewise for the oriental radishes. I open their covers in the morning.

The three snow peas in the green house are growing well. I have to transfer them to the ground soon. When the rain goes.

My spring onions grown from bulbs have been producing a few rounds of harvest...I am too lazy to harvest cos I am not sure what to do with it...

These (below) are spring onions from seeds...Organic seeds...

The original pot of rosemary and the two babies looking like white christmas trees because I have drenched them with fungicide. Hope the powdery mildew wont return!

The Life of My Nasturtiums

I sowed the nasturtium seeds on 22 Feb this year (2009). When they sprouted, the seedlings looked really pale and sickly and they grew into rather sickly-looking plants. However, today, still in the same pot they have started out, they are producing many gorgeous orange and yellow blossoms. Everything from the plant is actually edible and can be used in salads...but I am not trying...haha

The picture below was taken right after I returned from Tasmania. The pot was growing so well from neglect :P.

I love nasturtiums for their beautiful round leaves. My son and I love dropping water on these glossy waterproof leaves...the water droplets look like silver mercury rolling about on the leaves. We can play game with the leaves...haha...

The picture below was taken before my Tasmania trip. The pot was not doing fantastically well. I had put it under netting as they are prone to aphids attack.

The picture here shows the young nasturtiums doing a bit better after addition of vermicompost from my worm farm.

This picture shows how pathetic looking the seedlings were in the beginning.

Pruning My New Apricot Moorpark.

Another gloomy day. Not as windy but forecast to have storm and hail later part of the day. My boy is attending a holiday children's programme organised by my church these few days. I did a bit of the sponsorship job behind the programme and it was rather challenging. Hope that the programme will truly impact the children in a positive manner.

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Now it is time for me to have a break without much distraction. I have some time alone doing work without having my maternal instinct switched on, always being on the lookout in case he trips and falls here or there. I miss him and hope he will not wander out of the hall without any supervision. Did not want him to go at first as he is not even 4 yet but I decided that I would let go and trust God for his safety. I repotted the aloe vera again. Even though Hubby has drilled more holes in this green shallow planter, the drainage still did not improve. Then I remember Kelvin Hendreck's book saying that the height of containers/pot depth make a lot of difference to the wetness of the potting mix. Average wetness is greater when it is in a shallow pot than when it is in a tall pot. The aloe vera has grown definitely but now it has this slight purplish tinge on it....strange by me. Hope it will not die on me especially when I saw several pups developing. Some gardener says they thrive on neglect...I wonder!

This is the Apricot Moorpark before pruning.

I bought a pair of cheaper pruners yesterday and after reading on this topic, experimented on the large already bald peach tree and then went for the apricot tree. Haha I was procrastinating pruning the apricot tree for fear that I will damage it but I did prune it after all! It was not too bad. Now only time will tell if I have indeed done the right job!

Another branch after pruning.

My poor rosemary plants are still having powdery mildew. Perhaps the fungicide prepared a while back has lost its effectiveness. I prepared a new bottle and practically drenched the plant with fungicide. It is so strange since I hardly water them and do not practise overhead watering. Wont be eating them for a while!

Seedlings' Update - Spring Onion, Purple Buk Choy, Oriental Radish, Snow Pea.

Possums are a huge problem for me as a gardener since I am renting a house next to a reserve with many tall trees and bushes. They are here every night and I can hear them moving on my roof. While they are cute creations, they are not very welcomed visitors for me. My spring onion seedings have all germinated under partial shade after sowing 16 days ago. Looking forward to spring onion omelette. I love the thin spring onions because they cook easier for omelettes.

My oriental radishes are growing rather slowly thanks to the gloomy weather and thus they have not been receiving much sunshine. I have them protected under plastic containers at night but I am already working on large proper covers for them once they develop more. Keeping my brain juice churning! In my previous batch of oriental radishes, they grew very fast and leafy but their leaves were practically eaten away by some mysterious bugs/creatures when I went holidaying in Tasmania. See their gorgeous leaves here. And when I returned 2.5 weeks later, it was like this.

The snow pea seedlings are getting me a bit concerned. They are growing well. It is just that they could be eaten up again. My whole purple king bean plant was eaten up without a trace. Now that the snow pea seedlings are still small, they are protected as I do with the oriental radishes and buk choy. But when they grow taller and bigger, I have to figure out a way to protect them at night. I cant camp out in the garden. Erecting a scarecrow is another idea but I think whoever visiting in the night is quite clever to see through my plot. I thought of using chicken wire to wrap around the growing pea plants but they prove not very flexible, and with the holes, the pea plants can still be destroyed. Then I thought of plastic sheets. Perhaps I can try that since they have no holes and are very flexible to go around the pea plants. Moreover, my pea plants are a mildew-resistant specie, so I need not worry about this problem with them all wrapped up at night.

The purple buk choys will suffer similar fate as the oriental radishes if not taken care of, so I will probably use covers for them once they grow bigger. They get pest problems such as caterpillars and aphids. I reckon pyrethrum sprays will have to be used on the leaves of the radishes and buk choy once aphids start coming.