The twine shall meet ....

and ... met they did! The pinto bean vines from the dark and light sides grew towards each other and twined around each other for support. Life has got a meaning after all!!!






As planned, I fashioned a short trellis out of the BBQ grill for the wintermelon searching for support along the fence. If this works, I am going to get some more grills to fix along the fence for the pinto beans and the old cucumber plants, and also for the rockmelon so as to increase the plot ratio of my garden which I estimate to be about 2.6 currently.

"What is plot ratio?" you may ask. It is a term used by the URA in Singapore to specify how much living space we can build on any plot of land. In my case, by using the fences as growth areas for the creepers, I have actually increased my garden's potential productive area by another 1.6 times.

BTW the 5 okra seeds have germinated and one of the snap beans too. I have quickly moved the okra seedlings further apart and surprisingly the roots are already quite deep. Wonder if the snap bean will grow as fast as the pinto beans too.

Entwined

.... twined, entangled, it is one happy schemozzle of tendrils, coils and stems as the creeper plants go for the sun! I just got an idea to fashion a trellis for the creepers - out of an unused grill I bought from Daiso last week. Waste not want not!

The Way of the Sun

So, this is how plants grow - guided by the light of the sun. The winter melon has made a westerly turn and its tendrils are likely to anchor it along the top of the fence as seen here.



Through the gate, the garden looks contented. :)

In the morning ......

the plants once again look invigorated, ready to reach for the skies and grow and grow and grow ......

The winter melon plant is thriving but I wonder how is it that the newer part of the stem is thicker than the oldest part of the stem. I always thought that plants are thickest at their base.





















































The ginger is growing strong and the shoots are really flourishing, so the tuber must be expanding underground.



















Infestation of the turmeric leaves seemed to have been brought under control but I guess I must continue to be vigilant in spraying the leaves with the organic pesticide.










The light and dark sides of the pinto beans in the morning as they compete to take control of the fence.















The Batubulan plant is loving its new garden and it sits rather prettily on the batu giling, - must be enjoying being in the centre of things.













Last but not least, the local chilli I grew from seeds are also thriving next to the Thai Basil and their leaves look similar!







Overnight, the jasmine plant have been devoured by caterpillars as I have seen some yellow butterflies fluttering around my garden looking over the weekend. Sigh, what can I do to protect the plants for such natural predators - or I can just contribute to the life cycle of the butterflies by sacrificing non-essential plants.

More papaya seedlings were weeded out and two were transfered to the bad soil area to test if the soil has recovered.

Disaster!

My chilli plant died - from soil poisoning, I think! Last weekend, I noticed that a bag of burnt earth seemed too sandy and not like the other bags. I think there was too much potash in it which proved fatal for my chilli plant, sob, sob! Two papaya seedlings and a winter melon next to the chilli plant were also affected but not as badly.


I cut away almost all the leaves of the turmeric because it was infested with little translucent moths and some black bugs. The roots are all right - so I figured the leaves should grow back soon enough.

I guess life goes on and today I planted some okra and snap beans seeds that I bought and hopefully seedlings will sprout by next weekend, in time for my next update.



The lime is fruiting bountifully and I took one lime to make juice. The lime is much bigger than what I usually get from the market and it is also riper - I wonder if it will be sweeter.




The winter melon has reached the top of the fence and maybe now it will climb along it. Its stem and underside of the leaves has very fine prickly spines that I painfully discovered today when I unknowingly grabbed them while installing my automatic watering system.

My trusty old watering system is put into service once again as the days seem much hotter now and I worry that my beloved plants wilt before I water them in the evenings if I were out. I will set it for about 4.30 and do the manual round in the mornings.


Lemongrass may grow roots easily but it looks like not all of them are going to survive - only two look alive and have grown some leaves. The leaves should smell nice.

The red capsicum seedlings which have grown somewhat were split into two clumps and planted near the tomato, which by the way is doing poorly with the leaves browning out. Maybe I should avoid getting water onto the leaves when I water the garden.

Today I celebrate ......

.... my first earthworm!


Think me crazy if you will, but seriously, earthworms are to be celebrated and welcomed in a happy garden! Earthworms are garden helpers as they help to aerate the soil when they burrow, and their presence is an indication that the soil condition is healthy. But I wonder where and how this first citizen migrated to my little plot!


The second resident that I found today, the snail, is not so welcomed as snails are considered pests. Exactly why, I don't know!

Two toadstools, different from the umbrella gang, that appeared near the aloe and turmeric are also not welcomed. The bulb-head burst into a wet yucky slimy blob when I removed these two with my garden spade. Yucks!



White spots - on the underside of the chilli leaves are worrying. Guess this is the time to test out Irene's organic pesticide. I sprayed on the spots after I split the seedlings into two and replanted them, giving them more space to flourish. Maybe it was the dense foliage that resulted in the white spots thingy.


Constance's rosemary doing very well and sending up new shoots. I think I will pass it to her next week.


A melon is a melon - the leaves of the rock melon look similar to the winter melon's leaves. I topped up the soil for the rock melon to level it as it was a bit too waterlogged when it rains.




The two creeper plants, old cucumber and winter melon seemed to have settled down and are slowly climbing the fence.


The winter melon leaves look sizably impressive. I like the delicate serrated edges!!


In the picture above, some coiled tendrils ensure anchorage without growing pains for the winter melon.



It was so easy to prepare the lemon grass for planting. After peeling off the outer leaves and shortening the main stem, I soaked them in water for 3 days and voila, the roots and shoots appeared. I hope I have not planted them in the ground too soon but I think they should be all right!



The big bulge at the base of the turmeric must mean that the ginger is growing very well and I suppose I can harvest the tuber if I know what to use it for! Hahaha!



Nice to see these pinto bean shoots racing each other for the sky. I wonder when the pods will appear!



View from the top after I moved the cherry tomato plant to the centre as I felt that it was too crowded out next to the chilli. Hopefully it will do better from now on because some of its foliage have withered :( but there is one tomato ripening for my snack the next couple of days.:p

Rock me gently ...

.... rock me slowly, take it easy ..." from Andy Kim's "Rock Me Gently". This tune just got into my head this morning after I watered the garden and saw that the rock melon seedlings are growing happily in their corner. Hahaha! Pity I can't sing to save my life because if I could I would have burst into song in my little garden and I would have a singing happy garden or happy singing garden, whichever! :D:D

Constance's rosemary plant is doing great whereas another pot I propagated for myself is looking the pits :(

Weed defined!

What makes a weed? A wanted plant can become a weed if there are too many seedlings and the crowding makes the rest unhealthy. The over-zealous papaya seedlings were thus weeded out though I am not sure I chose the right ones to survive. I guess in the wild they would have weeded themselves out. The picture above is of the casualties of over-population!





The 3 new plants are lime, limau perut and pomelo planted in their respective spots. The pomelo is still looking sickly but hopefully when I use Irene's organic fertilize on the leaves they will improve in colour.


This ornamental plant has sentimental value. Originally from Indonesia more than ten years ago, it is quite hardy and the few times the shoots died off due to my neglect, they resurfaced when the conditions improved :) I even have a pet name for it "Batu Bulan" which means moonstone in Malay.


I really hope that my garden will rock soon - that is, the rock melon seedlings here will survive and give me the "rocks". For the record I threw these seeds into the ground about ten days ago. The seeds were from the juiciest sweetest rock melon I had eaten in a long time. I hope they are fertile seeds and have not been genetically modified at the original farm to prevent propagation.

Sunshine on my garden ....

... makes me happy ....

Yup. That is modified from the first line of John Denver's song "Sunshine On My Shoulders". My garden is happy, I think. The greenery has expanded somewhat as you can see in the pictures. I think I will just leave the plants to grow, fertilizing them now besides weeding and watering them. Oh, Irene just gave me a sample of organic fertilizer cum pesticide which will hopefully prevent aphids and other spiderly insects from terrorizing the fruits and leaves.

Oh, and a pair of Olive-backed Sunbirds came exploring in my garden. Fluttering around, I guessed they were looking for worms and nectar. Wonder where their nest is!

Hardscrabble!

Yeah! Yesterday I spent $117 for the soil and plants. That is on top of the initial soil and compost and some plants. I think all in I spent about $700 on the crops and earth!

What about the gate and fence and the preparation of the plot? I think my garden easily cost me $3,000! And that is not even counting my hard work and sweat! Why am I toting up now? Well, today I learnt a new word "hardscrabble" and decided to apply it to my situation :)

Extract from dictionary.com

hard·scrab·ble   
[hahrd-skrab-uhl] –adjective
providing or yielding meagerly in return for much effort; demanding or unrewarding: the hardscrabble existence of mountainside farmers.

It got me thinking - that is a lot of vegetables and fruits, hahaha! But of course, I am just kidding. I think the returns cannot be measure in output only but in the total extperience.


Anyway, I rearrange the plants and distributed some of the earth and compost, leveled up the lower areas. I moved the mint to the open area closer to the turmeric as it is on higher ground because the moisture from the daily deluge have rotted the newly minted leaves that I was eyeing for a soup :(

The Plot Thickens!

Just went to a plant nursery in Ang Mo Kio and bought 20 bags of burnt earth, 3 bags compost, 2 bags chicken feed and 3 new plants - Pomelo, lime and kaffir lime (limau perut)! The plants look a bit sick but I think they should be all right once I plant them into the ground.

Looks like a long afternoon for me as I will have to distribute the earth to level up the garden which floods in heavy rain. Maybe I should go to the gym first.

Bruising Purple, Blistering Red

I believe colour is a portent of potency! Look at the chillies here - (above picture) and in the foreground of picture below. The colour of the chilli is what I'd call a bruising purple having changed from a apple green (background) and it will be turning into a stinging red soon. These chillies are HOT!




The tendrils of the climber cucumber plant grow on alternate sides and they pack a couple of flexible spring coils after it has attached itself firmly on the supporting bamboo stick to allow for stretching and to avoid breaking. Nature is the original engineer - I think we still have lots to learn from it.



Yesterday I had the pleasure of savouring these cherry tomatoes that I harvested in the morning. What "they" say about fruits being left to ripen on the plant taste better than those store-bought ones is TRUE! Never enjoyed cherry tomatoes as much. Store-bought ones are usually on the sour side. This is one good reason to grow your own. That is what I am trying to do in this tiny plot of mine. So many plants so little land :( They can also be grown in pots but they need lots of sunshine :)



P.S. The potato seedling has died :(