Will it be bigger?

The second winter melon has grown somewhat and I have secured it from falling into the drain with a milk crate hooked to the fence. :) It is now almost 20 inches long and slimmer than the first melon but then, it is only 3 weeks old. Hopefully it still has another 2 weeks of growth because my messing around with the crate yesterday caused it to suddenly crash, pulling and tearing the part where the melon's stem joins the vine. There was a tear and sap seeped out but hopefully, it can still hold on.



Okra flowers are so pretty and the stigma is so velvety. This is the picture of my first flower taken yesterday. Today, the flower is gone and in its place is a fertilized pod (hopefully)!




Yesterday was also significant in that I fed the plants with my own homemade compost. Vegetable and fruit waste were composted for 6 months and the resulting compost was actually smell free and dry, nothing yucky at all ;)

Cycle of life!

Even as the sole winter melon grows and matures the vine is dying! That is the cycle of life and death I am witnessing in my garden! The seed has fulfilled its destiny and now that there is one fruit to bring forth hopes of a next generation of crops, the plant is dying in parts even as new shoots with more flowers are still spreading their tendrils and grip over whatever is in their way.



The winter melon is almost touching the ground as it gets bigger and turning a darker shade of green! I have been advised to harvest it only when it is a deep green - maybe in a few days' time.

Genetically Modified!

I suspect many of the vegetables and fruits that we buy are genetically modified to be infertile. More than we are told. Else how to explain those plants which I sowed from the seeds of cucumber I bought from the market and the pinto beans (also from the market) are all grown and flowering but not producing any cucumbers or bean pods.

The only exception is the wintermelon and I have this one fruit which is about two weeks old and still growing. My garden is now almost like an overgrown jungle but has this one "fruit" - it was 16 inches long and a girth of about 18 inches! I hope it will grow till 24 inches before I have to harvest it.

Don't count melons before they are grown!

It is said "Don't count your chickens before they are hatched!" - I guess it applies to my winter melons too! The first potential winter melon to land on my dining table looks like it is dying! The tail-end of the fruit looks shriveled and it has stopped growing! Maybe it was not fertilized or it is not good enough for the next generation of seeds.



Anyway, I got another to bank on - one relocated from the back lane into the garden and it looks like it is still growing.


Other female flowers are blooming and this one's looking forlorn on the fence while waiting patiently for the matchmaker bee!



The bee is busy on this male flower but I noticed that it avoided the female flowers!
Why ?_?



The perfect pentagonal petal star!



The stigma centre of the female winter melon flower looks like a well-filled samosa!



The hardy Bell Lily in bloom - I have always enjoy its short-lived beauty all these years. My lilies have been with me more than ten years.

Happy Art

Close examination of the winter melon plant reveals images of the artistry of mother nature. The stamen centre of the male winter melon flower is so striking! It is so beautiful, don't you agree? Maybe I should make a big print of it and put it on my wall! The growing shoot and coil look ready to spring their anchorage hold on whatever support within reach!




The phallic-looking female winter melon flowers below in various stages of development. They are respectively - bud, almost blooming and a fertilized pod that had already grown 3 inches long.





I feel somewhat overwhelmed by the winter melon gone mad across the length of the fence and across the drain, wherever they could expand their territory. It is wild, just wild! I had to train some of the growing vines back into within the garden as I want to be able to harvest some of the winter melon for myself when they are fully grown.

Finally, the flowers came

First it was the cucumber plant a few days ago and then, early this morning, I saw them - a big flower bud on the trellis! My, oh my! I counted 5 flowers and there were some more outside the fence. I was really taken by surprised although I have been looking out for them flowers. Somehow I missed them up on the rack and by this morning they are already quite developed!

The smaller yellow flowers of the cucumber plant!



The heavier winter melon flower bud!




Besides flowers, the winter melon is has rather graphically aesthetic leaves!




All it took was just one week for the winter melon to traverse the length of the fence and cover the trellises.



How the pinto beans have grown! I suppose they are the next candidate for flowering!




The okra seedling growing steadily - there are 5 of them. Hopefully they can give me a constant supply of lady's fingers or bendi as it is known in Malay!

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.