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!!