The Gardener In Me - December 2017

Though small in size, I am most contented to own one. One where I could play getting my hands dirty with soil in exchange for the beautiful greens. What more if the greens are also deliciously edible.

Since coming back to my holiday ( vacation ) home days back, I have been out in the garden a number of times everyday. When I am not tending to the plants, I would be there admiring and watching them.

I was so happy the other day when I first saw my pumkin plant. I thought it has borne me fruits. Not one but many. A gardener friend ever warned me that it is not easy to get one. This is because the stamens and stigmas are in separate flowers. Unless pollination takes place, fruit will not come by. The process is a must. Either you make it happen with your hands or there are insects around to help you out. Pray hard that the insects would. The moment when I saw some yellow flowers with small fruits right below them, I thought real fruits have set. I felt just so lucky at that instance. However, when I searched the internet, I found that I was terribly wrong. Those were just normal unpollinated female flowers. (Sigh ) . What a disappointment!

Female flower

Male flower

However, despite the disappointment, I removed all the weeds from the planter. It was a real difficult task. I got my hands itched all over from contacts with the hairy pumpkin plant. Luckily, the itch went away soon. I wanted the pumpkin plant to grow at its best without having to compete with the weeds for nutrients, space and water. I still have high hopes that it will bear fruits somehow without my interference.

Heaps of weeds were removed. There were no signs of any Kailan plants ever germinated from the seeds which I had sown on the planter weeks back.

I planted some sweet potato cuttings inside the planter to fully utilise the empty space. Hopefully, there would be something for me to harvest the next time I come back.

After that I top-dressed the planter with coffee grounds ( crushed coffee fiber ) to add more nutrients to the soil. I even dilluted my homemade Eco-friendly Enzymes in water and applied it onto the soil and plants for better growth and more.

Coffee grounds used as fertilizer

Front yard planter after weeds removal and top-dressed with coffee grounds.

Having done all that were necessary at the front yard planter, I moved on to work at the backyard planter. I have harvested most of the vegetables and cooked them in my kitchen days before. I did not pull out the whole of the plants. Instead, I cut them low; leaving at least two nodes or more above the ground for them to continue growing. Unlike the front yard planter, weeds removal was much easier here as there were not too many of them. After the removal, I top-dressed the soil with coffee grounds and watered the plants with my dilluted, homemade Eco-friendly Enzymes .

Backyard planter top-dressed with coffee grounds

Backyard planter top-dressed with coffee grounds

A lepidoptera insect resting on my Gynura bicolor plant.

I have always wanted to add more planters to my garden. Having just two are definitely not enough to satisfy The Gardener In Me! Thus, I added 3 big pot planters to my backyard yesterday. I am hoping to plant some climbing edibles to beautify and screen-off the back neighbour's kitchen - for more privacy. However, I have yet to fill them up with soil. I guess I can only do so the next time I come back as I would be going for a 7-day retreat on the 23rd..

After the retreat, I would go back to Kuala Lumpur. Then, like always, I would have to leave my plants under the care of nature. All the best!