Purplish joy in my garden..

Heyo everyone!! This is just a quick entry on brinjal growing in my garden. Remember the brinjal plant that showed flower bud in the previous entry? Well, it had been one busy week for me and yes, I neglected my garden too!..Only counting  on Mr Warhammer to water them once a day (which I suspected he missed on some of the days). When coming back from work one day, to my dismay, the bud looked dried up and showed no hope at all..huhhuhuhu..Anyway, life goes on as usual and just yesterday, I really browsed through my garden when I saw a glimpse of purplish, oblong thing tucked away neatly between the leaves. It was my very first brinjal! I read in Mr Iskandar's blog that it should be plucked when it is most shining, so I plucked the courage and pluck it today..Look at my purple bundle of joy..:)

I know it was not much, but it means everything to me..I even showed to my daughter who did not recognize brinjal plant and happened to make mistake in her science exam the other day when 1 of the question asked which one is brinjal plant..As there is only 1 at the moment, I plan to just boil it and eat with some sambal belacan. See you again, guys!!

Selamat Eidul Fitri everyone!!

Selamat Hari Raya to all  Muslim readers!! Semoga kita akan terus istiqamah dalam menjalankan ibadat seperti mana pada bulan Ramadhan. Posting hari ni for the very 1st time adalah menggunakan bahasa rojak. Sebab ini adalah blog saya, so please bear with me ok? To cut the story short, remember my previous entry on my tomatoes? Well, only 2 plants bore me fruits. Tu pun 1 pokok, cuma 1 buah. Takpelah..lebih baik ada daripada tak ada kan?Cuba tengok ni..

Geram tengok sebab dah ranum sgt..Juicy sgt rasanya dan manis..Tak puas makan

Rasanya jenis tomato kecil. Besar sikit daripada tomato ceri. Tak pasti samada jenis baka M1T1 yang didermakan oleh Encik Iskandar daripada tanamsendiri.com atau baka benih yg dibeli daripada TESCO..Tak tau kenapa pokok tomato di kebun saya selalu kena penyakit yg putih-putih tu (lupa nama) kat bawah daunnya..Banyak dah dahan dan daun yg saya cantas.Musim ni, bendi pun tak berapa galak macam dulu. Kurus-kurus aje bendi kali ni. Mungkin tanah tak berapa nak subur dah agaknya...Anyway, semalam sebenarnya, saya ternampak 1 lagi benda yg mengujakan saya. Check it out, folks!

 Nampak tak ada puik bunga terung yg muncul? To tell you thetruth I am very impatient with brinjals. Dulu pernah tanam sekali. Dah naik 2 bulan macam tu je tumbesarannya, saya naik angin lalu saya cabut pokoknya. Tapi bila nampak terung berjuntai2 di laman Encik Iskandar, teringin nak tanam lagi. Yg ni pun saya tak pasti baka mana..samada baka 'bride' atau terung pendek. Yg penting, dah nampak putik bunga, hati saya sudah terubat. Mintak2lah, kali ni saya dapat merasa terung tanam sendiri.

Yg ni pulak nak cerita pasal kesum/ daun laksa. Saya hanya guna daun kesum bila nak masak asam pedas. Dah lama nak tanam daun kesum dalam bekas baru tapi x berkesempatan. Petang tadi, hujan-hujan saya pergi cucuk ranting kesum dalam pot baru. Kalau nak tau rahsia tanam kesum, ranting/ batang kesum yg dicucuk mestilah ranting yg baru. Kalau beli kat pasar dah agak layu, memang tak jadi..Ni saya berani cakap sebab saya dah bereksperimen banyak kali. Serai pun guna prinsip yg sama. Jenuh lama dulu saya cucuk batang serai x tumbuh2..rupanya nak kena serai baru..:)..Ni dia pot kesum yg baru.. Sebenarnya daunnya kena potong sedikit, tinggalkan top 2 leaves..tapi hujan punya pasal, bedal jelah..

Saya teringat time mula2 menjinakkan diri dengan hobi berkebun ni..teringin nak rasa sawi sendiri..Tapi tanam sawi asyik tak menjadi sahaja..Tapi entah kenapa,kali ni saya tanam sawi bawah porch. Ini kerana melalui eksperimen, saya dapati sawi tak boleh terlebih air siraman. Kalau musim hujan, matilah pokok-pokok sawi saya. So, kali ni saya tanam bawah porch yg kena matahari pagi dan siram sekali sehari sahaja. Kadang-kadang 2 kali sehari kalau tak sempat. Cuba tengok sawi saya ni. Dah 3 kali makan. Sawi ni jenis 'cut and come back'. Potong je daun dan batang sikit, tunggu seminggu 2 nanti dia tumbuh balik..

Seronok tau tanam sendiri. Macam hari tu, saya pulang bercuti di rumah mak dan mak mentua. Balik ke rumah, buka peti sejuk dah takde sayur untuk dimasak. Last2, keluar sahaja ke laman, potong sawi, petik bendi, dah boleh jadi lauk. macam hari ni, saya berlaukkan ikan merah masak asam pedas menggunakan daun kesum dan bendi tanam sendiri serta sawi goreng tanam sendiri. Ha, kan jimat namanya tu..bebas baja kimia, dan dijamin HALAL! Hehehe...Oleh itu, petang tadi, saya tanam serai baru dalam bekas polisterin yg saya ambil daripada makmal. Sebab serai depan rumah makin berkurangan dikerjakan saya. baik tanam yg baru..

Nanti nak tanam lagi dalam 2 lubang yg lain..hujan petang tadi kena buat apa yg boleh jelah..Think that's enuff for today..Saya ingin mengambil kesempatan to all readers, "Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin".

Lovely surprises over the weekend!

Sorry for the long hiatus, folks..got to catch up with work, adapting to the long forgotten environment, adapting to a new life style, etc..However, my hobby still going strong though there were times that the garden was totally ignored. My twin sister kept begging me to update this blog.so sis, here it is!Anyway, over the weekend I went for a walk in my garden, did some weeding and putting the chicken fertilizers on the plants..A few weeks earlier, I have sowed some brinjals (Bride type), mini cucumber, more okras and roselle seeds. This time I experimented with  the roselle seeds collected from my very own garden. I did not have much hope on the mini cucumber. Just take a look at her plight:

Mini cucumber ..drying up..

Next to the mini cucumber is my aster flower pot and galangal pot. I was weeding my galangal pot when I noticed an egg-shaped figure peeping straight at me. At first I thought, a bird is laying an egg in the galangal pot as it got very bushy (and maybe it looks like a nest to the bird) but to my amazement, look at what I found!

Maybe it's not very clear here..but it's a cucumber! They actually invade the galangal pot!! Naughty little cucumber..:)

I also got a glimpse of more cucumber flowers that promises more mini cucumber fruits! I think they dislike the pot I put them in..so they migrate to the neighbouring pots!Aha! Very naughty indeed!

Mini cucumber flowers..

The next day was raining cats and dogs, so no watering the plants that day. From my window, I devoured the scenery of my garden when something caught my attention..

A tomato fruit hanging from one of my 5 tomato plants!I tied it to a stick so that the branches won't break..

To tell you the truth, I almost giving up all hopes to grow tomatoes. The previous seed sowed were purchased from TESCO. But this time around I purchased from Mr. Iskandar from tanamsendiri.com. Then, when they started flowering, I pinched the upper part (the shoots) of the plant so that the nutrients were directed to the fruits and not at growing new leaves, etc. Before this, all my tomato plants either died from some kind of disease or the flowers did not turn into fruits. I was so ecstatic to see the fruits and hoped that they will turn to nice, fat, juicy tomatoes!

Tomato from another pot of tomato..I could stare at them all day long! (sighhhh..)

A few weeks back, I experimented sowing the roselle seeds collected from my very own plants..They have started to bear me fruits!

Now I can start my very own seed keeping..

Brinjals did not like to grow in my garden..Out of the 20 seeds sowed..only 1 become a true survivor in the garden. I am crazy about brinjals. One of my favorite dishes is brinjals cooked with spicy gravy (terung masak sambal). Hope this one feels welcomed in my humble garden.Please enjoy your stay here ya!

Brinjals (the Bride type)..

Guess, that's all, folks! Will update you soon on my tomato progress..if they turn out fine ok? No promises..:-)

"Happy Gardening, Folks!"

Gardening mode..

Wuzzup guys..Things are going a little slow in Ms Pinkie Rabbit's garden..but she has come back with a vengeance..Yup..a new era has emerged..What I mean is basically replacing old plants with new ones..This morning, I got an extra energy to pull out all ageing spinach plants from their roots and sowed the pots with celery, coriander and new jade pak choy..The rest of the stories are in the caption under the pics ok?

This coriander has already bolted. When they bolted they will give out smaller sized leaves..i continued plucking them to promote growth and they are doing fine..

I was astonished at the plight of this small chilli plant..She's so tiny but has already bearing me fruit..Though there is only one, but it kept me captivated just to watch her growing..

This is the big roselle plant that has already started to bear fruits..

This is the bigger pic of the roselle plant..

Remember my last entry on making your own liquid enzyme? I have started using them on my plants and eversince, my kaffir lime plants are growing new shoots and are looking healthier too..Next to them is my lemongrass (serai) plant that has been a given a new hair cut..:)

I dunno what I have in mind when I sowed both pak choy and daikon in the same pot..Now I dun have the heart to remove both..what the heck..juz leave them alone!..btw, the pak choy flowers look really pretty dun they?

Chives are growing rampantly in my garden, sharing the pot with the coriander

My now aging okras..The leaves had fallen out..The fruit was left to mature to bear me seeds..but I plant to test a new breed..not quite happy with this one,,but they really are faithful..

As already mentioned earlier, the spinach has been pulled out and I have already sowed them with coriander, celery and new jade pak choy..

To date I have already harvested about 15 roselle fruits..I know the amount is very little but I yearned to have a taste of home made roselle juice. This was made out from around 10 roselle fruits..Can't wait to taste them. I left them to cool down as I update my blog!The upper pic showed you the roselle seeds that are being dried for seed savings..

"Happy Gardening, Folks!!"

A bouquet of purple surprises..

Just a quick entry..I snapped this picture of lovely purple basil flower appearing from my cinnamon basil pot when I came back from work today..

Lovely purple surprises under my porch..

My row of Mediterranean herbs under my porch..

Western dinner..

Rice was out of the menu nowadays..sick and tired of eating rice the whole week..So we are having lasagne for dinner..It took me only 45 minutes to prepare everything and another 30 minutes to wait for them to baked into golden crusty perfection..Enjoy the pics..anybody interested in the recipe can request later, ok??

The lasagne was accompanied by a simple butterhead lettuce with a home-made thousand island dressing..

Golden crusty perfection!

Yummy!!

A looongg silence..

Aaaaaaaaahhhh..it has been a long silence..been buzy with life, folks..anyway, my edible garden was still given attention every now and then..most of the plants have grown well that they needed very minimal attention, such as the kale (kailan) and the okras..Some have also given me pleasant surprises such as the roselle plants which have started flowering..Enjoy my updates guys!!

My faithful okra plants..they have been bearing me with lovely fruits to be shared among my family..been putting them into my fish curry, asam pedas and even pasta (believe it or not)!

This sweet smelling flower plant (think it is jasmine, correct me if I'm wrong) was a gift from my O& G physician (cum our family friend) from Myanmar..Tq Dr SL!

This is Butterhead lettuce..they are not growing well in my garden..these are the only 2 survivors left..the rest has been wilted away some time ago..:(

Slow-bolting coriander purchased from tanamsendiri.com..One stalk has already bolted under the hot spell weather..but they are doing very well, sharing the pot with the chives and now, onion (pic not included)

My proud pot of kale (kailan).I have harvested them once for my beef soup and they just grow back again, looking so green and lush..been thinking to stir-fry them with some salted fish next week..look out kale, nx week I'm going to come and get you!!Hehehe..(evil laughter)..

Tomyam chillies plus bird chillies, both in the same small pot, purchased from Sg Buloh..they are doing quite ok..

Brinjals..they are doing quite well since I moved them out from under the shade, casted by the roselle plant..can't wait to have brinjals/eggplants in my garden..

A qick break..look what I found resting under the shade of my now aging okra plant..very pretty indeed..

Finally, the 4 month wait is over..this comes from the thin roselle plant..The other one was growing well compared to this one, but this one flowered first..actually they are 2 roselle plants sharing a medium sized pot..but they are doing better than the one in the big pot (I wonder why)..Maybe the one in the big pot has gone lazy to bear me those heavy, vitamin C enriched fruits..hahahaha..what a thought..

 

 

So guys, what are you waiting for?? Start growing your own food in your garden..If I can do it, you can too!

I fell in looove...with the daikon!!

Sorry for the lack of post guys..Anyway, today becomes a new era in the Pinkie Rabbit's household..yup...we are going to add another vegetable into our favourite veggies list..it's the daikon/ white radish or lobak putih! To tell you the truth I have quite an experience with daikon just a few weeks before..I bought a white daikon from the local supermarket which is quite huge..I made it into soup accompanied with my faithful spinach..n it tasted yucks!!It tasted like all I would imagine daikon would be ..hard, tasteless and bitter! We threw away the remaining daikon and was less interested in sowing more daikon seeds..Now, you see, from the previous post, I was having 2 daikon plants in my garden..This morning I took one look at my growing daikon..The whitish part of the daikon has emerged from under the ground and I decided to give it another try..So, I harvested both the daikon that was planted in a small pot.. One looked rather scrawny, a bit longer than the other one, which was a big round..I cleaned them both and after removing the dirt, they looked so white, so pure and divine (oopppsss.I got a little bit carried away) that I almost lost all desire to cook them! (ok, I'm exaggerating at this point..heheheh)..but nonetheless, I cut them up and just did a simple stir-frying with some onion and garlic..When I put them in the mouth, I was speechless..The whitish part was far from bitter..it has a nice tinge of sweetness that was undescribable (is there such word???) by words..unlike the daikon I bought a few weeks ago!  The leaves tasted just like bak choy but a bit tougher.. Though it's hard to persuade Mr Warhammer to like Daikon, I was determined to put this veggie on the family menu..I could now see the daikon swimming in my kids soup, stir frying it with some bak choy or spinach, etc..well folks, sorry for the rambling..gotta stop now before I continue blabbering more about my new sweetheart ..the daikon..Adios, people!!

One looked rather scrawny, but the other one looked fine to me..

Looking after a thorough peeling and washing..

Right after peeling...

A loooong break and todays harvest..

Heyo guys..so sooorrryyy for the long break..I had just submitting my final thesis draft to my supervisor and presenting my thesis to the department..Things are going rather slow in my garden..In fact, there were some failures that has been demotivating me lately.First, my tomatoes..they have grown so nicely and started flowering but to my dismay, the flower did not turn to fruits!This has happened twice! I wonder what went wrong..Next is my chilly plants.. I bought 1 pot from a nursery in Sg Buloh. They strated fruiting a lot, but the second harvest, the fruits were distorted..must be something wrong with my fertiliser but I couldnn't put my finger on it..The chilly plant I grew from seeds had also started flowering but did not turn into fruits!Anyway, this is part and parcel of being a farmer, right??Anyway, just enjoy other plants that I have in my garden guys!!

I am your new tour guide..I will give you a tour in my mom's vegetable garden..

Daikon  or white radish..they grow so well in this little pot..I just know that the leaves are also edible..they recommended stir-fry..

French bean climbing up my fence..thay have started flowering but no fruits yet..

My loyal okras or lady's finger..I have 5 of them and all started fruiting at the same time..Total harvest was 28 fruits..this plant was recommended for beginners..they are so easy to grow and maintain!

Tomato flowers..they just dried up and did not turn into fruits!

Spinach or bayam..for 2 days dinner..

Todays harvest..I plucked them right before going to work..

"Happy Gardening, Folks!!"