THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT...

I can't ask for a better gift this Christmas than this!

To me you are perfect!

If you have followed my journey trying to grow tomatoes you know of my struggles.  Ironically I am so obsessed with them and never gave up hope that one day I'll be able to pick some from the vines.  So seeing these three crimson juicy tomatoes ready for the picking is so surreal and I feel like I'm over the moon! 

My wish for the coming year will be to successfully grow more tomato plants and be able to harvest baskets of them. 

Merry Christmas everyone!   

 

WHERE ART THOU... BERRIES??

So I have a strawberry plant that sat on my lap bundled in disguise together with a bunch of roses during that two hours flight home.  It has been nine months since I came back from that flower market that saw me running berserk (no rage, no violent... just deliriously happy!) from garden to garden around that fifty acres of land where you can find every conceivable plants you can think off!  Add that to the strawberry plant / runner which presumably must be around two to three months old where I paid less than a dollar for it, I actually have on hand a toddler berry plant.

I'm just very bad with names.  I've came across how some creative people christened their free range chickens, pet snail (Hello Norman #WaveHands @seinemutti if you're reading this), kittens or even plants with such nice, cute and appropriate names. Alas I could only come up with Straw or Berry or Strawberry.

I wanted a name very badly for toddler berry but calling her Strawberry was just too predictable and quite a mouthful considering she's quite dainty.  Straw? That's not funny.  It reminded me of hot days when I can't wait to push a straw into my ice frizz drink.  The other straw would be just as bad.  Imagine a stalk of dry grain!  That's not a good omen since it's practically hot here 365 days and no I don't want my air-flown-hand-carried plant to suffer the fate of dried straws.

I love berries but Berry? So so not cool.  Someone named Barry might just pop his head round the corner if I started cooing "Berry... berry..." 

Hence this nameless toddler berry plant uprooted from the hill slopes of that cool region ended up in my mini garden.  On some days, she looks really well and I know it'll be soon before she becomes productive but on days she doesn't look so well, I could only sigh and turn to google for answer.  Today is one such day.

My search led me to this:  http://strawberryplants.org/2010/08/strawberry-plants-producing-runners-but-no-strawberries/

Thanks for the tips guys!

So here's the answers as to why my strawberry plant does not produce strawberries YET (take note of the Yet for I'm hoping she will produce SOON, fingers crossed!).

10 Reasons Strawberry Plants Don’t Produce Strawberries

1. Strawberry plants are too young

June-bearing strawberry plants will often produce few or no strawberries in the first year they are planted.  This is, in fact good for the long-term health of your plants and strawberry bed.  The energy that goes into a strawberry is not insignificant for a young strawberry plant.  Since strawberries are perennials that will produce a crop year after year, the best use of developmental energy is in establishing a strong, healthy root system and flower buds within the crown.  The better root system will exponentially increase the nutrient uptake for the second year.  And, those roots will be needed as the flower buds will turn into flowers that will turn into strawberries in year two.  This is why it is important to pinch off strawberry flowers in year one as described on the Growing Strawberries page.  Doing this in year one allows development of more buds and better roots.  This makes the plant healthy.  The healthy plant will then set a much larger harvest than it otherwise would without them.

What young?  Toddler-Berry is 9 months + another 2 - 3 months = 11 - 12 months.  A quick footed toddler would already be walking!  Still no flowers in sight *sigh*

 

2. Your strawberry plants have diseases or parasites or both

There are a host of strawberry pests and pathogens that literally suck the life out of strawberries.  In fact, you can view the most common ones on the Strawberry Plant page.  If your strawberries have an infection or infestation, they may simply be too sick to produce strawberries.

No diseases, no parasites... she's all clean. 

 

3. Your strawberries are thirsty (or drowning)

Strawberries can be finicky when it comes to their water requirements.  They have relatively shallow root systems.  This causes them to absorb the vast majority of their water from the top several inches of soil.  This is also the soil that dries out most quickly when the temperatures rise.  Since strawberry plants require a significant and steady amount of water (see the Growing Strawberries page, linked above) to produce best, constant drying out of the top layers of soil can cause the plants to go into “survival mode.”  They don’t produce many or good quality strawberries in dry dirt (if they survive).  Additionally, too much watering will halt plant growth and strawberry production.  In fact, the strawberry crowns will rot, and the plants will die if they remain in standing water for too long.  It is important to plant your strawberry plants in well-drained soil to prevent standing water from submerging any part of the strawberry plant.

I think they're just nice; either drying or drowning. 

 

4. Your strawberries aren’t getting pollinated

Most of the common varieties of strawberry plants have hermaphroditic flowers, meaning they have both “male” and “female” parts.  However, the flowers typically act as either male or female, not both.  This means that pollen from one flower has to make to to another flower in order for the strawberry to form.  So, if a strawberry plant is kept indoors in a window or outdoors on a screened in porch (or anywhere else where the pollinating insects won’t be successfully drawn to your plant, you likely won’t have any strawberries.

There's no flowers to begin with. 
#Sad #SoSad #SadAnnie #AnnieIsSad #StrawberriesDeprived #DeprivedOfStrawberries #NoBees #PoorBees #HungryBees

5. Your strawberry plants are starving

Strawberry plants are amazing.  They can manage to eke out their existence in some of the harshest places on earth.  In fact, one of my own crazy strawberry runners once rooted itself in the shelf of a cheap, pressboard bookshelf.  It had nothing to eat other than wood chips and whatever glue they use to stick those things together.  To my amazement, it survived and grew well.  It actually was only a inch or so smaller than the other runner plants put out from the same mother plant.  But, when the other plants fruited, this one did nothing.  In fact, it didn’t even produce a flower.  All that to say: your strawberry plants need the right nutrients.  Without the appropriate organic components, the plant may still grow, but it won’t provide you with any strawberries.

Compost + seaweed + powdered eggshells + ground coffee... except no cavier added.  
#TellMeINeedToKnowIfYouAreStillStarving


6. Your strawberry plants are high on NPK

Giving your strawberries too much food can also hurt strawberry production.  The Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium (NPK) fertilizers are generally formulated for specific growing purposes.  Using fertilizers that are of the wrong concentrations for strawberry plants, or even using way to much of an appropriate fertilizer can decrease strawberry production.  Often, the fertilizers cause excessive vegetative growth at the expense of strawberry production.  After all, why should the strawberry plant worry about propagating itself via strawberry seeds if it has so many nutrients tickling its roots that it can’t even think straight?

What high?  On food?

 

7. Your climate is wrong for strawberries

Most strawberries grown at the equator are grown at high elevations where it is cooler.  I don’t think it is possible for them to grow on Antarctica without serious human interventions.  While a few populated places on earth are completely unsuitable for any type of strawberry growth, strawberries will grow just about everywhere else.  If, however, the preferred combination of warmth and coolness is not attained, many varieties will not produce strawberries.  Most strawberry cultivars do best when the days are warm to hot (but not scorching) and the nights are cool to slightly warm.  This combination of warm days and cool nights will almost always result in the maximal strawberry production for almost any strawberry variety.  If you live somewhere where it is too hot, the plants may still grow, but the strawberries may be sparse or absent.

#HangsHeadInShameNo1

There's no spring-summer-autumn-winter here and everyday is practically a hot day.

8. Your strawberry plant variety is wrong for your climate

Strawberry breeding programs around the world are constantly trying to increase local yields by developing more suitable strawberry plants for specific regions.  This goal is often attained.  However, in creating specialized strawberry cultivars, some of the overall adaptability of these plants is bred out or lost.  When that happens, the new cultivars are sometimes successful only in specific climactic regions.  Buying a strawberry developed for Michigan strawberry growers, for example, may not grow well in southern Florida.  When the plants don’t thrive, they often don’t fruit.

#HangsHeadInShameNo2

It was so cold and breezy up there on that 50 acres plot. 

9. Your strawberry plants don’t like their home

Strawberry plants will grow well in containers.  If they are properly cared for, that is.  Container strawberries often do not have sufficient soil.  Their soil will dry out much more quickly than in-ground strawberry plants.  Their roots can get too hot.  If planted in nutrient deficient or poor strawberry-quality soil, the plants won’t be happy.  Regardless of whether a strawberry plant is planted in an inhospitable pot or inhospitable plot, the lack of a suitable home that results in any of the conditions above will diminish or eliminate berry production.  Unhappy plants don’t readily produce strawberries.

I need to have a heart-to-heart and face-to-face talk with ToddlerBerry.  "Tell me seriously.... Have you been unhappy?"  

10. You’ve been duped, lied to, or are misinformed

Occasionally, nurseries that sell strawberry plants get their facts mixed up.  If they sell a June-bearing strawberry variety to a customer wanting an everbearing variety so that they can have a decent crop toward the end of the season, the buyer will be frustrated when no strawberries come forth.  Be sure to check the characteristics of the cultivar you want to plant to make sure it is what you think it is and that it will perform well in your climate.  A great place to start is the Strawberry Varieties page.

So, if there are no strawberries on strawberry plants you have planted, or strawberry plants producing runners but no strawberries, evaluate each of the 10 reasons above and see if they apply to your situation.  If they do, remedying the problem will likely result in reaping a harvest!

No! No! No.... I was not!  It was such a good deal I pressed the note into her hand and made a hurried exit even before she could put a plastic dress over ToddlerBerry.

PS: ToddlerBerry does sounds like a berry nice name... yes?  Until she starts to flower, she will always be just ToddlerBerry.

I AM NOT ALONE

Does the temptation to buy tomatoes amount to suffering from OCD?  

I am obsessed with collecting tomato seeds and growing them.  Until I am successful and have a decent tomato patch, I will continue to buy them.  

I can't walk into a supermarket and not go to the veggies aisles in particular where the tomatoes are placed even if I do not have t-o-m-a-t-o on my shopping list for the day.   I still must wiggle my way there just to check them out and the chance of me putting some into my trolley even though there are tomatoes at home has always been high.  

I always thought I was the only one to behave in such a manner until today.  Well so I was at the supermarket standing in front of a huge box of tomatoes.  It didn't help that the tomatoes were huge;  have grooves and just of the perfect ripeness.  On top of that, the  packer was opening boxes and boxes of them and piling them up to form a little mountain where eager hands were waiting to grab them. 

Off course out of the many hands, one belongs to me.   I never imagine that one day I would be selecting and buying tomatoes as if I was buying a designer's handbag.  

An elderly lady who was beside me looked up and sheepishly said: "I can't resist all these tomatoes.  They're so nice.  I have some tomatoes at home but I still can't resist them." 

There was a familiar ring to what she said as if she was speaking on my behalf.  

"It's alright to buy more." I told her sounding all serious and grown up as I smiled secretly to myself. 

IT STARTED OFF SMALL...

It's amazing what a tiny seed could do.  A lot in fact.

I first grew it on my apartment's windowsills.  It was then brought to MSG and re-potted.   

A seed I grew from my window sill and brought to MSG for transplanting...

When it started to grow in height I left it to lean on a fence "for the time being while I find a better place."  It remained there till today and I have since harvested 2 big crops of approximate 100 beans twice in between many smaller harvest.

Harvest upon harvest

Apart from dosing them with water, I've not fed them anything until lately when I started to give them treats of grounded eggshells and coffee grounds.

Like all plants it has grown into maturity and I have saved some beans on the vines for future babies.  

For a container grown plant, it is more than I had expected.  Can't ask for more!  I reckon the beans love a good sea view too :)

Trellis of beans overlooking the sea

FRIENDS AND FOES

Chillies / Peppers and I are friends.

There's something about growing chillies / peppers that excite me all thanks to the weather here that is just so conducive to growing them.

Success rate is high as compared to growing tomatoes which has always been my biggest obsession and nightmare simultaneously.  

From experience they thrive even in the poorest soil with minimum water but I am not saying you should leave them thirsty.  It's just that you can get away for a few days without having to worry about them.  Off course like all other plants if you tend to their needs well, they will reward you handsomely.

My only grievance in growing chillies is that caterpillars like to strip my plants naked of leaves.  They just love to munch on those plants with smallish leaves while they steer clear of the bigger and tougher leaves.  Snails on the other hand do not fancy eating leaves.  They are a sophisticated lot and love nothing better than feasting on sweet peppers even if that is just my one and only on the branch!

 

While chillies and peppers are my friends, clearly the bugs and slugs are my biggest enemies especially since I am contemplating if I should focus on just growing different types of chillies and peppers in the near future.

Haven't you heard about the benefits of eating this hot stuff?  Well I'll leave the talking for another day... :)

DREAM OF A DREAM...

My love for tomatoes is legendary.  Many know that I have a mad crush over them especially dear Jo-Ann @couscous_jr.

I do enjoy eating tomatoes but not as much as I love collecting the seeds; photographing them and looking at Bakers Creed online shop where I am in love with all the tomatoes and want to add every variety of seed packs into my shopping cart. 

Last night instead of reading bedtime stories, I was admiring those gorgeous beauties posted on IG which left me drooling.       

Suddenly I found myself in the garden (Jo-Ann, you were posting those tempting tomatoes!) and stumbled upon a plant laden with tennis ball size luscious crimson tomatoes.  Naturally I was ecstatic!  Wow... vine ripen tomatoes!  I lifted one to take a picture and the fruit just dropped onto my palm. 

When you fed your head with varying shapes and colours of tomatoes just before bedtime, it was only natural you dreamed of them. 

Lesson learned.  I woke up and there were no tennis ball tomatoes.  So it's back to deciding between green zebra, pork chop or pink boar to grow.  

Never knew deciding which tomatoes to grow can be so hard!

THE GARDEN RULES!

The garden sits on top of my list of favourite places which is no surprise.  Coming in close is the kitchen which is a BIG surprise.  It relegates the bedroom to third position.

I am no Domestic Goddess but something about the kitchen just excites me these days for a simple reason that food yes food comes from there. 

Collecting seeds

I have enough seeds to start a farm and be a farmer but I am still collecting and saving seeds.  I feel guilty throwing away seeds even if they're from an orange which I know is unlikely to grow here.  However just saving the seeds and throwing them in the ground even if they don't germinate makes me happy.  I should say it's becoming a hobby or habit (depending on how you see it!) saving seeds and nothing makes me happier than sending someone seeds from my "seeds bank."  I feel like a million bucks if I learn that the seeds I sent germinated and grew successfully.  However don't pressurize yourself if they don't.  Didn't I say I have enough seeds to start a farm?  Seeds anyone?... just give me a buzz :)) 

Pickling & freezing garden produce 

As we're in a temperate region with no such luck of having seasonal changes in weather (spring, summer, fall, winter) apart from rainy season, we're just able to grow the same crops that suit our climate throughout the year.  You won't hear of such thing as picking summer produce to save for fall / winter.  However when you end up with many of a certain produce and can't eat them at one go, pickling & even freezing them are such wonderful ideas.  Seriously I'm more interested in seeing pretty bottles of floating pickles lining the kitchen countertop than eating them but they sure make wonderful gifts.  

Flowers for tea 

If you are a flower, beware.  There's a flower monster lurking something out there.  I take my flowers seriously; feeling, caressing and smelling them.  While I never imagine myself chomping on a bunch of flowers there's nothing I love more than sipping tea from flowers gathered in the garden.   

Concocting (new) recipes 

I never imagine myself making tempura from squash flowers but I did.  Have you tried omelette with squash flowers and cheese or even blue pea flowers tempura?  Enough said.  I am hungry.  Time I head to the kitchen.

Gardening is therapeutic  

Not too long ago, someone commented that my palms felt like sandpaper.  I never deny that.  Neither was I offended.  This just cemented the fact that I've been spending a lot of time in the garden. There's something nice about feeling the warm earth.  What? Gloves? 

From garden to kitchen it's all in a day's work.  Ok now time I seek comfort of the bedroom for some well deserved shut eye.

NUTTY LIKE ME?

One of the things I hate to do is preparing tomatoes for cooking.  They aren't different to handle just that I tend to complicate things a little bit.  I would be spending the longest time ever over the chopping board because like someone with OCD, I have to remove every single seed out of every single tomato that I use.  No kidding! 

I have nothing against these seeds but I just couldn't bear the thought of my molars crunching onto these teeny weeny ones.  In my mind I could conjure rows upon rows of sun-kissed tomatoes growing happily with just that fistful of seeds I collect.  

Just in case you're wondering how many plots of tomatoes I have since I am a habitual tomato seeds remover (remove all the seeds Annie!) well.... well... I actually don't even own a single plant right now with the exception of these if these seeds choose to sprout!

 
What is it exactly with tomatoes and me? *sigh* Hmmm.... it's really a love & hate kind of relationship.

Anyone out there just as nutty?  I certainly hope not!

 

I'M SWEARING OFF THEM

It was a short trip to attend a wedding of two very dear friends in Cianjur & Bandung / Indonesia.

After the last nightmare just six months ago to the same place, (no, the trip was perfect sans my excess baggage) the night before our departure, I was desperately weighing bags after bags; boxes after boxes while making frantic phone calls home to increase the baggage allowance to the max.  In between all the frenzy, I deliberated what to leave behind as I wanted to bring everything back with me.  So I told myself this time I was not taking any chances.  I had to shop sensitively and barred the famous Cihedeung Flower Market (where everything caught my eyes!) from taking a spot on my "must go, must see, must buy and must bring home" list.

I thought I sort of succeeded since it was a brief trip and the wedding took precedence until the day the wedding couple sent their Supir (chauffeur) to pick us.  Mr Supir is actually a family friend of theirs and he is KoKo (big brother) to us; a big obliging man with a generous smile and infectious laughter.  He spoiled me rotten and shared my joy every time I put something in my shopping basket "oh souvenirs for family and friends back home."  He would nod knowingly.

So off to the supermarket we went before the long drive to our friends' hometown.  I thought it was a safe place to shop just for local products until I saw a section selling plants!  Plants my friends.... plants! 

From then on, I was like a cockroach devoid of feelers with hardly any sense of direction.  Too excited for words, I circled the two huge metal stands that housed mostly succulents in all shapes and varieties.  I don't know very much about sucs except I know they don't last very long in my hands but no lying, the temptation was just too great to resist.  I was so afraid someone might grab them so I put several of them in my basket to show my partner in crime (both of us were running amok at the flower market on our previous visit).  I thought she didn't see them as she's crazy over succulents and are pretty good with them so I had to show her.  She could grow and propagate a succulent from just a tiny bit.  

The evil but shrewd girl saw on the sly but had resisted and headed for the toiletries section instead focusing on loading up body butter into her basket instead.  She was not only brave but clever whereas the more I looked at the carousel of plants, the more I couldn't resist.  It was a hard decision but after shortlisting several, I decided on this gorgeous two.  It was probably 5 times less what I would have to pay back home not that there aren't any here.  Don't we just love a good bargain?

I was so happy with my purchase and wow to nurture them until they flower.  Making them post for pictures was a natural thing.

A balcony shot outside our hotel room

 

Another shot much to the amusement of the groom's parents who happened to pass by

Off course as always whilst buying was fun, the bringing back home bit proved to be a real challenge.  

After what seemed like an eternity of thoughts, the metal steamer I bought in the local market came to my rescue.  It was by far my cheapest and most worthy purchase during that trip.  It has a cover and the size was just perfect!  Steamed sweet potatoes you can wait. 

Home safely in a metal steamer :)

It fitted Twinnie (I love giving them names) perfectly and that was how they came home with me; a little dishevelled but unscathed. 

I reminded Mum that Twinnie don't need any water so to leave them alone. If you read my "Back to School" entry (1 September 2014), Mum was one of the suspects in the Jady mishap.  I fed Twinnie in secret when Mum was not around lest she followed suit.  However she kept hinting to me that Twinnie looked dehydrated and I suspected like me, she was secretly bathing them.  

Today, exactly thirty five days since Twinnie arrived in my metal steamer, as I was trying to relocate them to a sunnier spot, everything just fell apart.  Twinnie simply crumbled!

 

I am soooo sorry Twinnie *hangs head in shame*

Naturally I was sad over the lost of Twinnie but then I was never successful before in growing sucs so it was no surprise I lost them both.  Mum said we're just not destined to grow them as we don't have green fingers for sucs.  I think we both contributed to the loss with me not sure if there was enough, just sufficient, too little or too much water.  With Mum's fondness for watering her plants, doesn't surprise me if she had discreetly gave them water baths in wake of this heatwave.

Really no more sucs for me.  I am staying away from them... seriously.  Remind me if you see me heading to the check out with one in my arms.

HELLO JUNE

Yay!

June is definitely my favourite month on the gardening calendar here on this island.  

 

It's "The King of Fruits" (durian) season and if you like me loves them, you will understand why.  

During durian season, the island sees an influx of visitors.  Some of these faces you see only during the durian season.  They come, they camp, they pick, they collect and then they leave happily ever after until their next hunt for the thorny fruit.  While this is often all in a day's work, for some it can turn into an overnight affair.  Camping the night means there are more chances to gather the fruit as durians reportedly fall late at night or in the wee hours of the morning.  

  
                     

It's a very common sight to see people carrying a fruit or two in their hands or people cycling past with durians in their baskets.  There are also the locals who pick enough to sell them to the visitors by going to the right plantations in search of the prized fruit.  I haven't got around to camping under the trees and letting mozzies feast on me as I laid in wait to hear that  much longed for thud under the tree.  However I did find two fruits by chance. One was the size of my clenched fist while the other the size of a rock melon.  These were durians the "professional pickers" will not even bat an eyelid let alone pick them.  They were unripe but I still wore that "I picked two king of fruits" smile!
  
The time is here again and I've seen people coming to the island in the morning and leaving at night heaving heavy sacks or unloading trolley bags onto boats.  I think it's worth the S$5.00 they pay for the return trip.  After all these are organic durians; free from additives (pesticides, growth hormones, etc) that some commercial growers feed their trees with the hope that they will yield heavy and perfect crops.  So if you pick a decent size one easily over a kilo that is enough to cover for the boat ride. 

I know of a couple that come almost every weekend.  They form such a perfect team!  During the course of their hunt, while one waits the other will run errands as sort of a break to stock up on drinks and food or to answer nature's call.  Picking durians is no mean feat.  Imagine camping under the trees fighting with the buzzing mozzies with your ears pricked for that sweet sound that will break the silence on those dried leaves and then racing to be the first to reach that prized fruit.  However at the end of the day despite the mozzie bites and perspiration, the bags and bags of fruit they get to lug home outweigh everything.   

This year, the harvest is expected to be  less than in the past as the locals have reported that monkeys... (oh you cheeky monkeys! ;) ) have pulled down some of the developing fruits.  Yes there's monkeys here on this island and let's just say they do like durians too :)) The sad thing for durian lovers is that in their excitement they pull down those unripe fruits too reducing the yield in the process.  

What is so special about durians on this island?  Imported ones from commercial farms can be had almost every other day.  They seem to magically appear so frequently whereas the durian trees here fruit mostly in June and with some luck maybe a smaller crop in November.  They are organically grown so they are as pure as can be.  

While durians are cholesterol free, they are packed with sugars but I can always settle for those bitter sweet ones right?  Bring them on... breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper and I'll gladly sink my teeth into these cottony creamy delightful treats.  I like :))

  

THOSE WERE THE DAYS...

It's funny that I used to love shopping for things like clothes, girly stuff (bags, shoes, etc) magazines and snacks.  Apart from buying them in the malls, I love going to the supermarkets and the first place I hit is usually the fruits and veggies aisles.

Well, I still shop and buy stuff but less bodycon dresses; instead outfits that take me easily into the garden.  I still can't resist a good bag if they're the size of a luggage that I could throw stuff that I need for the garden.  Gone are those gossipy mags.  In place are those filled with plants, flowers, fruits and veggies.  Sustainable living interests me.  Flipping through seed catalogues brings smile on my face.  What Hollywood tales?  

Everybody loves a good snack.  I still love my cookies, chips and chocolates.  I still head towards the fruits and veggies aisles when I am in the supermarkets.  Some things just don't change but some things do. 

These days I would rather visit the garden centre to buy a plant, a pot or a garden tool.  Shopping in malls is no longer a prime necessity.

See what makes me happy!

Loading up on plants even when I am thousands of miles away from home!

NO MELON PATCH YET

What is easy for someone may be otherwise for another or at least for me.

It was so easy to get the seedlings to sprout and I mean really easy.  I had underestimated and seedlings spilled over the small clay pot, each fighting with the other for a place.  There were just too many shoots that I didn't know which to choose and as an excuse to grow them all (as I always do!), I said to myself "everyone should be given a chance."

First attempt at growing rock melon saw a less than encouraging start.  Half way through even before it started to bloom the vines got hijacked by the bugs.  So it was premature goodbye. Certainly no morale booster.

Second attempt at growing butternut squash was slightly more encouraging giving hope of having the real deal .  The vines reached the flowering stage and there were even blooms.  Yes plenty of blooms but unfortunately no females in sight (sigh... sigh... sigh) and then the vines got swallowed by the bugs again gnawing at the leaves and flowers.  Everybody was raving about the tastiness of squash blooms and I just had to tried and I was eating blooms that have already been gnarled by bugs.

Third attempt to grow kabocha this time got eaten by the snails as soon as I re-potted the new shoots.

I have however not given up.  Bags of seeds just waiting for the right opportunity to sow but first to find a little space and lots of courage to start all over again!

LOOK... WHO CAME TO VISIT!

MSG welcomed the first overseas guests all the way from Switzerland recently. 

 

From L to R: Andrea, Pascale, Monika, Dominique

Local snacks and homemade Roselle tea from the backyard plus garden tours and seeds exchanges (what else when gardeners' meet if they don't exchange seeds!) were the order of the day.  The visit ended with refreshing popsicles from the lime laden trees plus loads of pictures for keepsake.

It was an exciting day with visits to the island's Spice Garden, tour around the island on bikes and picking seashells on the beach.  

It's amazing what technology and social media can do to unite people from around the globe to being friends.  In this case it was where gardeners in common meet. 

 

JUICY CRIMSON BELLS

The sun was disappearing fast over the horizon as I headed towards the jetty to catch the boat home.  Just in case you have not heard, home is actually in the city.

As there was a shortage of people to form the maximum 12 before the boat took off, to wild away time I whipped out my phone to take some shots of the last rays of sun disappearing over the water.

Then I remembered I had a bag of rose apples (also known as water apples or jambu air); nature's gift from the island in my carry all...

I emptied the juicy crimson fruit onto the wooden bench, placed them on a pot cover which happened to be in my bag (one of those odd things that I carry between my home and MSG or vice versa) set my phone on silent mode (so no one would look in my direction) and started to click away as I squatted on the rough cement floor.  

I always love taking shots in their natural setting.  Shooting these sweet mountain of juicy bells from my apartment surrounded by concrete walls are never quite the same.

I must have taken these fruit models in and out of my bag several times before I reckoned I had the ultimate shot.  

Oh the things I do just for a photo...!

SEEDS... OH SEEDS!

I collect chilli seeds even thought I know I would never be able to grow all those seeds and the garden will never have space for 50 other lime trees or 100 roselle plants.

I feel guilty if I throw away seeds when I cut fruits to juice and I feel insanely bad to chew on cucumber slices without removing the seeds!

Recently I ate some super sweet strawberries and was already imaging a patch of luscious berries waiting to be picked.  Sure I sank my teeth into those strawberries daintily and tried keeping those seeds.  At the end of eating just a few berries, I was in a mess... tee was stained when I squeezed on a berry too hard and it never felt the same eating berries without able to crunch the seeds in between your teeth.  I decided it was just too much work to deal with tiny little seeds so back to saving chillies and limes and roselle and ok, cucumber seeds too or any seeds that are bigger than a strawberry's.

Is it just me or someone out there rides on the same boat? 

I've heard of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) organisation / association and also smoking hotlines for those who are in serious need for help whether with alcohol or cigarettes.  Just wondering if there is any hotline I can call especially for people who are obsessing seeds and picking on them?  

Help Mom!!

THE ACCIDENTAL MUSTARD

I soaked a handful of mustard seeds having mistaken them for basil which once soaked and expanded can be added to drinks or desserts.  They were supposed to look like chia seeds when soaked.  However the mustard seeds remained unchanged and as I am seeds obsessed and every little seed means a lot to me, I threw the whole lot of the seeds without much of an expectation on my meant to be tomato patch which had succumbed to some hungry creatures.

Few days later, the ground was covered with tiny specks of greens and then this was followed by shoots that sprouted freely.  

It's ironic that sometimes you don't get what you wished and hoped for but when you least expect, things turned up more than you ever asked for.

It was exactly what happened to those mustard seeds now.  

 

Looks like soon, I'll be tucking into mustard salad, mustard stir fries and everything that is mustard including mustard flowers and seeds when the plants reach maturity!

Let's wait and see...

THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR

Things looked as if I was literally on a roll.

Planted 8 cucumber seeds from a seed pack and 3 robust looking seedlings burst through the soil on the first attempt.  That’s like a 37.5% success rate.  Not bad for a first timer.  A small voice in me said “Well done!”  I felt my head swelled a little as I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back!

Threw all the seeds from a store bought butternut pumpkin into a pot and within days a whole lot of greens appeared and very sturdy looking ones too.  Another “well done” echoed in my head.

Re-planted the 3 cucumber and 3 of the biggest butternut vines onto a “prime location” evicting gingers, the current tenant to another location.  I reckoned this prime location boosted a fence which Messrs cucumbers and butternuts would appreciate better than the rhizomes.

All seemed well and I was already dreaming of cubes and squashes.

Then without any sign of warning, the sky opened up and rained consecutively for a few days turning the prime lot waterlogged and residents there with broken limbs and disorientated.

The aftermath looked as if a cyclone had descended.

So that was Trial & Error, lesson #1

• Don’t put all the best together
• Prime location does not mean (safe) haven
• Take precautions… darlings!

Ok now I need to go and sow more cucumber seeds and say hello to the other surviving butternut vine and I am letting out the prime location.


PS:  Ginger sweetheart... do you want to return to your previous home?