of Harvests, Radishes, New Herbs and Wildlife

It has been quite a while. With me having been to retreats, my one and only younger sister, Jane having returned from her volunteering works in China before flying off to the United Kingdom for her convocation few days back, and Fourth Sis and her daughter returning from their month-long holiday in Europe, lots and lots of news and stories and time together were shared and spent. Now that everything is back to normal, here I am, again, with a bit of news here and there to report from my small backyard garden here in Ipoh.

of Harvests ...

My Turmeric ( Cucurma longa ) plant was uprooted two weeks back to soothe my curious self and itchy hands. Oh, but how I regret not holding them back then! The harvest weighs a mere eighty five grams. So little compared to what Big Sis used to get from a single plant. I had them ( the harvest ) kept inside the fridge until this morning when I finally managed to find my time to have them cleaned, sliced to pieces and dried under the hot sun. Once they are completely dry ( maybe in a day or two time ), I will have them ground into powder form and sent to Fourth Sis house for her daily consumption with oats. Fourth Sis is a stage four ovarian cancer survivor and so far turmeric has been one of her saviours.

I have three Madeira Vines ( Anredera cordifolia ), one in a pot and two on the long, ground level planter that are good enough for harvest. For now, I think it would be enough to have just the leaves of this potted one harvested for my own's lunch tomorrow. But we will see after I have the leaves harvested tomorrow morning.

As usual, my Thai Basil ( Ocimum basilicum ) plants are growing very fast. So there were plenty for harvest again. Yesterday, I had them all trim-harvested and given away. The recipients were all very happy at the sight of them. They said they were very fragrant and looked delicious. I was happy to hear them say that. Not that I loved to hear good comments but that they were loved.

of Radishes ...

The weather had been very hot and dry during the past few weeks. There were at least four times when I found all my three Radish ( Raphanus sativus ) plants having completely wilted to ground level. Luckily, their condition were always reversible every time after I gave them a good drink. Now two of them already have radishes down there. Can you spot one of them in the picture below? 

of New Herbs ...

My friend brought cuttings of four types of herbs for me to plant some time back when she came visiting. Now they have all grown and are looking great.

Here they are, the four new types of herbs:

1. Misai Kucing or Cat's Whiskers ( Orthosiphon aristatus )

2. Mugwort ( Artemisia vulgaris )

3. Daun Kurma Merah or Hong Tian Wu or Sessile Joyweed ( Alternanthera sessilis )

4. Spearmint ( Mentha spicata )

of Wildlife ...

I have been wanting to grow beautiful pink Air Mata Pengantin or Bride's Tears or Coral Vine or Mexican Creeper ( Antigonon Leptopus ) like these ( Pictures taken from the side of a road near Ipoh ) for a long time in my garden to attract bees. But it seems ever difficult in my garden.

Mine has been taking forever to grow big and flower. And when it finally is going to flower now for the second time, it looks like the colour is not going to be as beautiful as the ones that are found growing in the wild. Anyway, I do hope the bees do not mind and would love them as they are.

This garden snail was seen coming up from the soil after I had my plants watered the other day. If you really look carefully, you will see that its shell still have some soils sticking on it. I believe all my Okinawan Spinach ( Gynura bicolor ) plants were trimmed by it and its gang. Not that I mind though when I am saying this. They are free to roam about and trim anything they like in my garden actually. I will not harbour any hard feelings towards them.

I always see beautiful dragonflies and butterflies dancing around my garden but never had the luck to have them captured in pictures or videos before. This morning was somehow, exceptional. What a lucky morning to me!

Got this little fellow ( dragonfly - corrected as ' damselfly ' ) that were resting carelessly on my Lantana camara plant captured in a picture. Not as big and beautiful as the others but I am quite contented.

And this fluttering beauty ( butterfly ) that seemed to dislike staying at one place for longer than a second, captured in a video.

Hope you enjoy them ( both the damselfly and the butterfly ) in picture and video as much as I do!

All for now! THANK YOU for reading this! Till next time! BYE!