Gardening Update

There was a few nice showers last night.
Harvesting pak choy, spinach, rocket, coriander, parsley, tung O/Garland Chrysanthemum, strawberries.

My two pots of thai basil propagated from market cuttings. They started flowering straight away and I had to pinch them off to generate more leaf growth.

Pak Choy Green in a pot and doing so well.

I harvested the pak choy for dishes over the next few days. They are really yummy for soup.

The pot is now home for some lemongrass which I have pulled up from one of the clumps. I am hoping they will grow thicker stems here. I replenished the pot with lots of composted manure.

Three of my strawberry plants which I had propagated have put on lots of flowers.

However, my joy was short-circuited when I found the flowers of two pots eaten up in the night. I highly suspected some animal walking on the fence and eating them.

I cracked my head over what to do to protect more flowers from being eaten. Finally I used some wire mesh, wrapped it over with strong plastic sheet and clamped it over the fence to form a cover over the plants. (above pic) Then I threw a layer of net over as a double layer of protection. I think whatever animal that returns will have a hard time trying to reach the flowers now, since its body weight will probably make it fall over that cover.

My tomato silvery fir plants grow bushy very quickly despite weekly pruning. Both have lots of flowers and also some fruits. This time I am very excited about growing tomatoes cos I have found a new way of eating them - salsa!!! Why didnt I think about doing home-made salsa before? It's yummy!

Rhubard Sydney Crimson is establishing very well. I like the idea that its new leaves are all crumpled and gradually they become pretty flat leaves.

Our little corn patch is doing great! I am already spotting the male corn flowers!

Candy Red watermelon seedlings finally taking off. I wonder if I seriously have time and space to grow some watermelons for Yates watermelon challenge. For the sake of free seeds and free fruits and fun, I will continue to nurture them.

Early spring when I looked at my lemon verbena, my heart sank. It was a dry leafless lifeless twig outside my bedrom window. I pruned it hoping it will spring to life. And it did!! Full of new growth!! Looking forward to making more lemon verbena tea this year.

Today, after thinking so hard and reading up a lot, I improved on how I am growing my water chestnut plants successfully. A new pot is hard to come by even if I have money to buy it.  I decided to use a strong plastic tub, add heavy clay soil (fortunately I kept some from our lawn project last Sept), composted manure and replanted the strongest plant there. I added water and the two goldfish that I bought. My son decided to name them Goldie and Fishie. How original is that hahahaha!!!

The original tub looks bad. The water is murky thanks to me putting in garden top soil which is a true disaster. The mud is also too shallow to accommodate so many growing plants. As much as it was a pain, I had to dig up several plants and dump them to avoid overcrowding. I wont be able to accommodate so many big tubs of water chestnuts as it would be too time consuming taking care of mosquito/algae problems. I read that one or two plants can give a lot of chestnuts, so if I am successful, I should just need two plants.

The kang kong seedlings which I have planted out a few days ago are doing well.

These carrot plants are home for tiny critters which fly very fast like whiteflies but they also hop and they are green. No idea what they are but hopefully they are not too pesky.

This is the first year our pomegranate tree produce a dozen or more flowers. Will I get to eat some pomegranates?

Caught Mr Spotted Neck sunbathing on my kang kong patch. He is so adorable. I think he comes every morning and coos on our roof. Almost works like a rooster and my alarm clock each morning. Poor guy still no girlfriend in sight. Recently another pair of pigeons also started visiting our garden.

This morning as I was inspecting our plum tree, I found possum poo! Not very good news. I have been suspecting them as the culprits which nipped off a lot of young plum shoots and stealing my plums. Now the poo confirms my suspicion. And I also think they are the culprits which ate my strawberry flowers. I have to soon put up nets for all the fruit trees and vegetables.

My boy and I spent a whole morning in the garden. He stumbled upon a dead bee and we had a great time examining it. We also studied some ants carrying eggs in their tunnels when we overturned a square tile at the vege patch. Lastly, we studied one common brown butterfly which I caught resting on the grape vine few nights ago before freeing it. It was Insects' Day!!!

A Quick Update.

9 Nov 2011 -  

Thunderstorms and heavy downpour with light hail overnight.
New kangkong / water spinach seeds germinated
Kangkong seedlings transplanted to patch B.
Coriander harvested. Coriander flowering.
Sown more pak choy, corn, spinach, carrot seeds.
Tung O / Edible Garland Chrysanthemum plant flowering.
Water chestnut plants taking off.
Harvesting rocket, spinach, snow peas, coriander and pak choy.

White flies problem.

Grapevine moth caterpillars on vine leaves.

The snow peas are slow to flower but once they do, their flowers quickly turn into pods and grow to maturity very soon.

So this (above) are unopened grape flowers of my Carolina Black Rose.

And this (above) is the flowers blooming. I could see both male and female flowers.

And this (above) is the cluster of grapes!!!

My pyrethrum daisies are a pretty sight.

They are the daisies which produce this chemical 'pyrethrum' that kills garden pests. I guess no insects will come close to them.

Never be sick of admiring my strawberry flowers - such daintiness, such sweetness in smell.

My hydrangeas are flowering soon but their leaves suffered burns by spring sun.

The lilies look even better this year, more blooms!

The Tung O / Edible Garland Chrysanthemum has flowered. I read that at this time, their leaves will be bitter. I hope the plant will self-sow before it dies.

Coriander flowers - I never knew they would be great at attract useful bug predators to my garden.

I am successful at growing choy sum (above) this round.

The pak choy and gai choy are allowed to flower so I can have new seeds, millions of them. Really enjoyable to watch bees clumber over the flowers out of my kitchen window.

Hooray that my water chestnut plants are growing!!! Hope to harvest some nice fresh crunchy corms in autumn!

Spring Harvest & Flowers and Aphid Control

24/25 October 2011 - Cloudy and drizzly.
25 October 2011 - Pioneer bean plants (sown much earlier) emerges.
25 October 2011 - Sown more water spinach/kang kong seeds in pots.
26 October 2011 - Sunny day
26 October 2011 - Loads of aphids on the underleaves of artichokes.
27 October 2011 - Warm spring day.
28 October 2011 -  Warm and windy day. Rains expected in the evening.  It's our 11th wedding anniversary! Off to have a nice meal!

Yesterday was a warm spring day.  My boy and I spent early morning watering the front garden.  I took the advice of one very helper gardener/blogger, Scarecrow, and blasted the under-leaves of my artichoke plants.  Their leaves were virtually coated with green aphids :

There were also lots of tiny winged insects which I strongly believe are lace-wings. However, I did not take chances and blasted all of them off the leaves. I was amazed at what a strong jet could do. Fortunately I have invested in a few fantastic nozzles. When I examined the plants later, they had most of the insects removed. They were on the ground so I decided to spray them with soap solution, in case they crawl up the plants.

Mr/Mrs Spotted Neck preening his feathers on the fence.

It was also a wonderful day watching the mynahs and spotted necked pigeons come feed in our garden. Oh I can stand at the kitchen window just watching these creatures. I told my son I wish I could stroke the pigeon in my hand but I know he/she would just feel feathery haha...

Mr/Mrs Spotted Neck balancing on the plate for seeds. Very funny to watch.

Mr/Mrs Spotted Neck decided to have a sun-bath.

I harvested more rocket from the planter. Oh they taste so yummy with sandwiches. Even my husband and son love them :

Also harvested my son's favourite herb, Coriander. He would eat them fresh off the plant :

The few pots of herbs (Vietnamese Mint, Bay, Coriander, Thyme) are doing well bathing in morning sun daily :

We were counting lady bug babies on the peach tree. There were more than 15 of various sizes. Oh thank you lady bugs for doing a good deed feeding on the aphids!!!

The first spring rose has opened. My only rose plant, a standard, was also plagued by aphids. Thankfully, my boy discovered them and we were able to spray with pyrethrum. My husband kept 'threatening' to pull up this rose as it is useless. Of course I objected because I have pruned it into a beautiful healthy plant. Was it my imagination, it actually have a mild fragrance now! :

Pak Choy flowers. Edible, pretty, dainty and very fragrant. They attract bees :

 This year, our fig (brown turkey) 'Figgy' is looking better than ever. But it only has two figs at the moment. I yearn for more! :

 Our grevillea has beautiful curly flowers.  I am going to try get some sweet nectar, just like the honeyeaters :

 As usual, the arum lilies never fail to disappoint. Such a pretty sight :

First Strawberry Delight, Rocket & Spinach.

Hooray! I harvested my first ripe strawberry delight yesterday before going to church. Super sweet and juicy! Cant wait for more to come!

The free rocket seeds given by Bunnings have provided us with yummy salad greens for sandwiches.

Kao Kee Vegetables.  They are growing well and I harvested the tender shoots for stir-fry together with my spinach so that the plants can become bushier.

One of the many clusters of Carolina Black Rose grapes.  I gave the whole vine a good trimming so that the larger clusters can grow better :

The spinach this year is doing very well. Very big and leafy :

 Here's the basketful of spinach and the kao kee vegetables on the left :

We had the spinach stir-fried with garlic, shitake and golden mushrooms.  Hubby said 'Yummy!'.