Garden Update - June, 2018

How super busy life had been recently! I was back to my small garden in Ipoh on the sixteen of this month. But only now I manage to really sit down and write an update about my garden there. I had been busy with work while I was in Ipoh. I had also spent a few days on reading the Infinite Life Sutra at a nearby Buddhist Society there. After that, I had joined Fourth Sis and her daughter for a few days at a beach resort on Tenggol Island, off Dungun, Terengganu ( some four to five hour drive from Kuala Lumpur ). There, we got to go out all day long every day - swimming by the beach, snorkeling out in the sea, strolling along the beautiful beach and lazying on swings under trees - until we had had enough. Thanks to the kind weather! It was only yesterday that we finally came back to our homes in Kuala Lumpur.

The weather had been rather dry and hot with no rain for quite some time before I went back to Ipoh. I was rather sad at the sight of my plants - at both my front and back yards. They were all in dire need of water - hot and thirsty. So, immediately after I got out from my car, I reached for the hose and gave them all a good, thorough bath and drink.

As I watered....

At My Front Yard Planter....

I saw a long, quite plump sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas ) tuber being half-exposed on the surface of the soil. After I was done with the watering, I carefully dug up the tuber. It looked pretty good except for its pest-affected half. I saw a suspected culprit - an insect, which I had failed to identify or had its picture captured, crawling out from it. There was nothing else I could do except to happily accept the fact that there would always be some ' uninvited creatures ' ( PESTS ) who would come and share my ' TREASURES '.

I removed the pest-affected half and threw it away onto some nearby bushes in the neighbourhood. After that, I washed the unaffected tuber clean with a gentle scrubber and left it on the kitchen floor to dry. Before I left Ipoh, I steamed the tuber and let Second Bro had it for breakfast as I knew he has always loved sweet potatoes. He said it was not sweet enough but the texture was great ( Perhaps the less-sweet taste has got to do with the variety - the Taiwan variety ). He loved and treasured it nonetheless - considering the fact that I HAD GROWN IT ORGANICALLY for months, I think?

I calculated three turmeric plants ( Cucurma longa ) that were already at least a foot tall. I had observed that others had remained more or less the same height as the last time I saw them ( about one and a half month back ).

.

At My Backyard Planter....

( Some bad, bad things... ),

I saw no signs of the winter melon plant ( Benincasa hispida ) ( which had already started to flower the last time I went back) ever existed. It must had been either gnawed alive by some pests or lost to other plants during competitions for nutrients or space or water.

I was rather sad to see that most of the Gynura bicolor plants had died because of the drought and hot sun. And, I was disappointed to see that the Madeira Vine ( Anredera cordifolia ) had not made any progress since the last time I saw them.

( Some good, good things... ),

I was happy to see the Butterfly Pea  ( Clitoria ternatea ) plants already trailed up to the top of the fence and were flowering. I gave them some pinching here and there so that they would become more bushy and so more flowers, hopefully.

I was fascinated to see the sweet potato vines ( Ipomoea batatas ) [ a different variety from the front yard ones ] having trailed far out of the planter to the concrete floor. And, like always, it was wonderful seeing the basil plants ( Ocimum basilicum ) growing ever strong despite the drought.

Even though there were some flowers and shoots that I could harvest, I did not do so. As I had got no time to cook. I let them be until the next time I go back. It would be lovely to see how different things are after a long absence - whether good or bad.

and ( Some wildlife sightings... I was lucky enough to be able to capture two of them in picture and video respectively... ).

A frog ' hiding ' in between the pebbles and brick stone...( somewhere in the middle of this picture )

A short video clip of a small, white butterfly dancing around the plants.

Overall ( at Both my Front and Back Yards ) ....

I noticed that most of my plants showed some nutrient deficiencies in their leaves. They did need some urgent feeding but I just did not have any fertilizer to feed them. I was unable to get my usual coffee ground supplies from Eldest Sis's neighbour, whose hot-brewed coffee business was a struggle during the Muslim's fasting month ( from mid May to mid June ).

All for now! Thank you for reading this! Bye!

A Day Out To Our Prime Minister's Hari Raya Open House.

On Friday, me, along with 80 thousand other ( mostly Malaysians ) flocked to our Prime Minister's Hari Raya Open House which was held at the garden of Seri Perdana (  overlooking the Prime Minister's office ) in Putrajaya. It was my first time. So, I had no idea I was actually going to join a huge crowd gathering!

Before I realised it, I was already stuck in the middle of the traffic jam!

It must had been some magnetic force that prompted me to move along with the lot of eager crowd who patiently and slowly inching their steps towards the entrance to the many large tents in the garden where the open house was held to welcome guests like us. 

Imagine how very eager we all were! It was an especially hot day. But surprisingly, none of us ( including ME - who usually dislike being in crowded and hot places ) seemed to have mind it at all! Despite being under the canopies of the many Rain trees that lined the walkway, it still felt very hot. I supposed none of us had not bathed in sweat.

Finally, after the long, long queue, THESE people had had their ' sumptuous lunches ' inside the tents!

And I had had mine. A plate of plain Briyani rice only ( as the side dishes were all meat-based and not catered for vegetarians ). Oh, but NO! I later found out that even this rice is sometimes cooked with chicken soup. Gosh, how I regret! I should have eaten just a cake or two to be safe!

As I left, I saw many happy faces posing in front of the big, open house sign board with gifts ( from our Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir ) in their hands for some photo-takings.

I was camera-shy. So, I took pictures of the many beautiful flowers and plants and the surrounding landscaped gardens instead.

It had been an unusually great and fun day out for me, being a part of an 80-Thousand Crowd Gathering. My only regret was not having a handshake with our Prime Minister! Not that I did not have a chance though. But that I was afraid he would be too tired.

Nevertheless, many thanks to our Prime Minister and his Cabinet - OUR NEW GOVERNMENT!

And finally, wishing all Muslims out there, A WONDERFUL HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI!

How Long Can This Spark of Interest in Gardening Last?

This past Sunday, I bartered an unused backpack for a bag of 28L Organic ( 6 in 1 ) Soil Mix and two bags of 3kg Black Soil with Fourth Sis's fellow Facebook Barter Group member. Even though the backpack cost much more that the soils, it was a most worthwhile deal to me. For at least the ' poor ' backpack has now found a new owner who would hopefully, appreciate and not abandon it at the corner of a store and forget about its presence after that - just like what I had carelessly done to it when it was with me. And needless to say, I got some precious, much-needed soils which I was most happy about.

The extent of our ( My and Eldest Sis's ) joy every time we talk about our gardens, seems to have sparked Fourth Sis's interest in gardening recently. She only has a small balcony space to start with. But that would be enough for her to play in at the moment. The soils which I had got from the deal were given to her to start some edibles ( which she is only keen in growing ) in pots. I helped her fill up her one and only empty pot ( which Eldest Sis had given her) with the whole bag of the 28L Organic ( 6 in 1 ) Soil Mix. After that, I tucked the sprouted Chayote gourd ( which I had earlier planned to have it planted at my backyard back in Ipoh ) into the soil somewhere in the middle of the pot and let her do the watering. She will have to do all the other works by herself like staking the plant or making it trail up a trellis when it grows taller some time later.

The other two bags of Black Soil will be used for the White Bitter Gourd seedling ( there were five initially but only one seems to be still standing now ) when she gets another empty pot which Eldest Sis had promised to give her later. And so, till then for this...

I keep my finger crossed that Fourth Sis's interest in gardening would last longer this time. Else, I would have to adopt her pots of plants in no time. Her interests in things were often ' short-lived ' in the past!

Mum's Best-loved Plant ( Allamanda cathartica ) Is Back!

When Mum was still around, we had a few Allamanda plants ( Allamanda cathartica ) planted in our garden. Mum got the plants from one of our neighbours. The plants were always covered with plenty of beautiful, bright-yellow, trumpet-like blooms throughout the year. Mum used to smile every time she went out to the garden and sat under the Rambutan tree, facing the row of blooming Allamandas. " Look there Jade, they are so beautiful! " She used to always point at the blooming lots and say to me. Seeing Mum's contented smile at the sight of the blooms, I couldn't disagree. I nodded my head and smiled back at her every time. Though they were actually nothing more than just ordinary blooms to me then.

After Mum passed away four years ago, my eldest brother redid the whole garden. He had all the Allamanda plants ( Mum's best-loved plants ) removed. My heart couldn't help it but went with them. I missed ( and still miss ) their beautiful, happy yellow blooms. ' Only Mum ' would know how much I have missed them! They are no longer ' just ordinary blooms '. They are the most beautiful and desired blooms of all. Seeing them are as good as seeing Mum.

So, when I was given an Allamanda cutting by a very kind neighbour ( who noticed me admiring her blooming Allamandas outside her house ) recently, I was most happy. Mum's best-loved plant is back! Not back to the same old garden though. I have put it to root inside a poly bag filled with some soils. Hopefully, it would successfully root so that I could have it planted inside one of the big pot planters at my backyard the next time I go back to Ipoh.


Till then... Wish me luck!