Not one but two .... !

This morning, I had planned to harvest that sweet potato I spotted two days ago but ended up with two instead. It was a surprise find - I noticed a bulge in the soil next to the ginger and I thought "wow, my ginger has really grown - maybe I can dig out some for cooking." But surprise, surprise, it turned out to be a sweet potato tuber and I am puzzled as to how it got there. It was pat against the ginger some distance from the first tuber I was going to dig out.





The sweet potatoes were very thin-skinned, different from the ones I get from the market. After washing off the soil, they looked such a raw pink. I will probably make some sweet potato dessert soup and maybe steam some for a salad too.






Actually, from the top view of my garden, I can see how profusely the sweet potato plant has grown (it has taken over the whole fencing along the back lane) and I think I will most likely find more and probably bigger tubers underground :))

Bursting sweetness!

This morning is a very happy morning - I was doing some overdue weeding in the garden and generally tidying up the loose pots and dead roots when I chanced upon a wonderful sight - a sweet potato tuber bursting forth from the ground. Honestly, I had no idea what the profusely conquering sweet potato creepers were doing underground! I was just hoping that they were as productive in the soil and I had pondered how to check for signs of the tubers.



Well, I didn't have to - because the plump tuber just showed itself to me this morning. Wonder when it bursted through the soil - I didn't notice it until this morning because it was camouflaged by the ginger plant and the pomelo. Now I have a question - should I harvest it soon before it gets too fibrous??



The tarragon has also grown profusely, overshadowing the rosemary - maybe that is why the rosemary is infested as there is not enough sun for it.



Here are two pictures of the yam plant for the record - first one is when I planted it, and now, sprouting two plants. I think I should at least get two tubers? No? :)

Papaya GOne!

Well, the papaya was unceremoniously cut down with a curved saw in less than five minutes. It was definitely fruiting prolifically but the papayas were all stunted - why? :(



On the other hand, the sole custard apple fruit "born" more than 2 months ago took its time to grow to the size of a small apple today but I think it is still not ripe for the picking.







Meanwhile, the one twig of dill plant from my neighbour about 2 months back is now about 3 feet high and flourishing as the sun has shifted back to the south, giving it the luxury of full sunshine everyday. It seems to be the only plant doing well in the herbs patch :( - the rosemary keeps getting attacked by some spidery mites and since I don't use pesticide, I can only keep cutting off the infested leaves.



Overall, my happy garden has gone wild - the sweet potato is totally aggressive, traversing every other plant; its territory knows no bounds. The turmeric is also going wild in its pot and that is totally unexpected - the size of the pot is not big and is supposed to be a limiting factor to how big a plant can grow. Well, not so in the case of this happy turmeric.

I can really see nature at work in my garden and how the law of survival applies if there is no interference from man! I got a plant (whose name I know not) from my neighbour - from two sprigs in a pot it has like grown into a bush and is now 5-feet tall and growing, competing with the swarming sweet potato for territory.

The pandan (screw pine) is also suddenly prolific although it has taken its time and the strange thing about it is that sometimes it is not as fragrant as I expect it to be. Could it be the fertilizer? or what?

I also got some yam plants growing - from a tiny yam (the Chinese used this variety for the lantern festival celebrations on the lunar eight month full moon night). I stuck one into the grown and almost killed it, thinking it was a weed (having forgotten that I planted it there). Today it is sprouting with a few shoots - maybe by next year I don't need to buy yams from the market, hahaha!