SERIOUSLY WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

Seriously.  Is something wrong with me?

#1

I get so excited at the mere thought of going to a market or supermarket and just a walk around the fresh produce section is happiness to me. 

#2

If I am at the supermarket, I find myself heading towards the fresh produce section automatically even if I have a list of toiletries on my shopping list.

#3

When family or friends go abroad and asked if there's anything I like them to bring back, they get a little shock when I said "nothing really but I do love some seeds."  No particular seeds just simply seeds that I could sow and grow even if I know they will never reach maturity or even fruit in my lifetime. 

#4

I've taken to experimenting with prickling vegetables and fruits, preserving eggs, making my own juices and things that keep me in the kitchen.

I'm no Domestic Goddess and will never be that's for sure but something about eating stuff that come from your garden and kitchen is pure comfort.

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!   

 

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!

 

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!

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...

SEEDS OBSESSED

I am seeds obsessed.

(1)   I have a "seed bank" to store all my seeds.

(2)  I have a work station to work on my seeds.

(3)  I ate cucumbers and saved the seeds.

(4)  I made egg omelette with tomatoes sans the seeds. 

(5)  I have hundreds of the same type of seeds.

(6)  I bought capsicums for the seeds. 

(7)  I browsed through seed catalogues all the time.

(8)  I dried seeds on the window sills in my apartment.

(9)  I was angry when I discovered rats ate the melon seeds I was drying.

(10)  I asked Santa for seeds.

(11)   I was happy to receive seeds in place of other gifts.

(12)   I kept seeds in my bathroom.


Taking my obsession of seeds to the next level, I am still saving and collecting seeds.