What I did With My Mulberry Harvest.

Finally today, I had the last of my mulberry fruits harvested from this small, potted tree.

I had accumulated enough this time, so there began the second mulberry fruit spread- or jam-making adventure of my life! 😀

This time I had a kaffir lime (harvested from the garden this past week) added in. 

The outcome was satisfactory and slightly better than my first attempt's one, whereby I had used only mulberries and brown sugar. The jam, as expected, has a very rich fruit taste. The texture, though not as "smooth" as those store bought fruit jams, is not a problem to me.

Ingredients that I used ( I used whatever that were available at home):

1) mulberries from my garden (forgot to weigh first), crushed using a stone pestle.

2) 1 kaffir lime (juice + part of the rind, cut into very tiny pieces).

3) organic molasses sugar.

Here is how I had the jam made (This is merely for sharing how I had made mine. If you want to learn, do learn elsewhere ya, cos I'm very much an amateur still.):

1) I had the crushed mulberries + kaffir lime juice (squeezed-in) + some kaffir lime rind pieces, all mixed together inside a stainless steel bowl.

2) Then I got them double-boiled ( about 45 minutes or so ), before I had the molasses sugar added in.

3) Thought it would better for the jam to be thick and not too runny, I had it transferred into a small cooking pot and had it further-cooked for a few more minutes (until it had finally thickened).

4) Then I had the flame turned off.

5) The jam was later transfered into a small bowl for storage.

I have since enjoyed the jam with my soda crackers. 👍😀 

At long last, a green privacy screen is on the way!

I have long since wanted to have some kind of privacy screens; particularly at this part of my garden where my back neighbour can look straight into my garden through their dining hall's window.

Not that I think they want to see me on purpose. But the feeling that someone could easily see me from the other side of those forever closed, curtainless, black-tinted glass windows without me knowing it somehow makes me feel just not that comfortable.

I had, many a time, thought of using decorative items or pots of plants or even some climber plants to cover up the fence there but never once tried to make them happen.

" Alright, I will do it tomorrow! " I used to always tell myself every time. But then, as expected of the lazy me, that tomorrow never did come.

Finally, last week, those fast-growing accidental bitter gourds and hyacinth bean seedlings that I cared very much about had me dilly-dallying no more.

Pots were rearranged to make way and a vertical galvanised iron trellis was designed and constructed in a mere one day time for them.

The trellis, when covered with the vines, would hopefully give me a bit of privacy and make me feel more comfortable should I decide to put my previously bought garden table set out there to work or have my meals whenever I stay over at the house.. 😀

A Bit About My Soil Choice.

As always, I got my soil supply from this place near our old family home this past Tuesday.

I love the soil here because it is good, natural, earth. Not chemically treated or fertilized. Thus, most rich in welcome soil creatures and microorganisms ( though it did once, almost scare me to death with a black, shiny-skinned, 2 inch-long centipede in it ). 

Also, because it is not pre-bagged in environmentally-unfriendly, suffocating and possibly toxic plastic bags.

The place is a small, home-based cow farm. Supplying soil is only a small part of the farm's business. They would only dig for the soil within ( sometimes outside ) their farm and mix it with cow manure ( often fresh one ), upon receiving orders from their customers.

They sell their soil in loads and have them transported to their customers' places in bullock carts. It cost only RM 50 per cart-full load of cow manure plus top soil including bullock cart transport within the town.

Cheap and convenient. Just a phone call to them would have the soil arrive at our place. But I took pity on those poor, old cows! So, I would go and take the soil from the farm myself every time instead, though it would mean having to clean my car a bit after that. 

The farmer was often very accommodating to my request and prepared just a manageable one bag for me each time.

This is the bag of soil ( in a recycled sack ) awaiting my collection outside their house, that he got for me on the morning I ordered this past Tuesday. It is only RM 10.

I had since used it to partially fill up eight of my newly-bought pots and had some mixed fruit and vegetable seeds sown direct onto them.

Pray that some happy sprouts would emerge from them soon! Wish me luck! 😁

 

A Little Garden Makeover.

Bird's-eye view of my 22ft. X 11ft. garden after the makeover:

Read the little makeover story here:

The worker at the hardware shop where I bought sixty, cheap sand bricks from some weeks back could not imagine how these, to him, most ordinary and unattractive sand bricks could make a garden looked great when I told him I was going to use them for a little makeover in my small garden.

Sand bricks - ready for the makeover:

It was not surprising he could not imagine it. For after all, these bricks were not made for decoration purposes.  

But, why, you might wonder. Why did I choose these bricks and not those more decorative ones like granite or red bricks etc. ? 

Well, I had two distinct reasons. These bricks were super cheap in cost ( only RM 0.24 per piece ) and look, and they came in the colour I wanted. So, they should perfectly blend in into my ordinary looking, concrete, patio garden. Or so I thought.

I was right. The outcome was really good. To me, at least. Using them to edge the pot areas had indeed enhanced the overall look of my rectangular-shaped, concrete, patio garden.

The garden looked much more beautiful and neater than before. Not that I dislike an unorganized or a wild-looking one. But that, having it neat, just seemed most appropriate for mine. 

Before:

After:

And, with another twelve new pots added to it recently that resulted in the construction of a new pot area ( right in front of the garden's exit ), awaiting to be planted up, the garden is going to look even more fantastic and full soon! Hopefully! 

Newly-bought pots:

New pot area:

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

My beautiful Periwinkles were made " Skeletons " - Guess who the Culprit was?

My Periwinkles had been ever-beautiful, ever-flowering and ever-happy for as long as I could remember. 

It never failed to be the first of all my plants to happily greet and cheer me up every time I stepped into My Small Backyard Garden.

But not until sometime last week. When I had the " shock " of my life to be greeted by two " crying skeletons " instead.

Poor me! All I could hear were sounds of pain, " Ouch, Ouch, Ouchhh ...... and Ouchhhh! " blurting out from my very mouth as I tried to figure out what had happened!

There were lots of round, dark green, small bead-sized thing everywhere around the pot of " skeletons". But I had no idea at all what creature that could be, that was capable of gobbling up and turning all my Periwinkle leaves and flowers into something like that, almost overnight!

The silliness in me, had me imagined that pregnant, wild cat, which I had chased away days before for fear she would give birth to and raise her kitties at My Small Backyard Garden, coming back and destroyed them out of revenge. 

Silly indeed! As when I later stopped by to admire and smell one of my sweet-scented Jasmine ( Jasminum sambac ) blooms , .... 

.... my eyes suddenly happened to dart on this green, green guy ( a caterpillar ) with monstrous eyes clinging onto a stem not too far off! 

Immediately, I suspected it to be the culprit of the whole disaster. How right I was! Some googling later that day confirmed my suspicion! 

I did feel like throwing it far, far away. To an infinity place, if possible. But no. I could not. My garden was supposed to be a wildlife ( pests included )-friendly place. Moreover, knowing this guy would eventually morph into " an angel ", a beautiful butterfly or moth that I would love, I had to let it be where it was.

As for the " skeletons ", I had them trimmed in a way so they could grow back nicely! Hopefully!

Celebrating Chinese New Year AND Enjoying Some Harvests FROM My Small Backyard Garden.

That Thursday, the day before the eve of the Chinese New Year, Me, Third Bro, Fourth Sis and Fourth Sis's daughter, Jia Ying traveled back to Ipoh in Fourth Sis's car.

We exited to Gopeng from the North-South Expressway and stopped by at a friend's house there to take five of this homemade ' Nian Gao " ( Sticky Rice Cake ) which we had earlier ordered from her through the phone, before we headed north back to my home in Ipoh.

' Nian Gao ' in Banana leaf wrap. Photo credit : Big Sis ( Wen Sim )

For those who do not know, ' Nian Gao' ( translated as ' Year Cake ' ) or Sticky Rice Cake is a type of traditional Chinese cake made from glutinous rice flour and lots of sugar, mostly eaten during the Chinese New Year.

Now, does anyone of you remember these sweet potatoes which I had harvested back in early January? Which I had specially kept aside inside the refrigerator ( at our old family home in Batu Gajah where Big Bro and Second Bro stay ) for our Chinese New Year sweet soup-making use?

Well, let me tell you, they did not eventually make it to the pot of sweet soup that we had. Instead, they went into the frying pan. Because Third Bro suddenly came up with the idea to have them and all the " Nian Gao ' sliced, dipped in plain flour batter and deep-fried to make fried sweet potato- ' Nian Gao ' ' sandwiches '. It was quite a brilliant idea. The ' sandwiches ' turned up, oh, just so heavenly delicious! It is a shame their look in the picture do not do them justice.

We have had lots and lots of wonderful times together everyday with our other siblings that came back to and long time no see relatives that visited us at our old family home. 


We might have had the simplest of foods on all days compared to most celebrating Chinese families in the whole world during this festive season but we were all most contented and happy.

One of our set of simple, home-cooked vegetarian dishes. Photo credit: Jia Ying

How time always flies when we are happy! Very soon, it was time for everyone to go back to their own homes. 


Second Sis went back to Kuala Lumpur alone in her own car.


Third Bro, Fourth Sis and Jia Ying went back in the same car as we came back.


While I decided to stay back in Ipoh.


Fourth Sis loved to eat some of the vegetables that I grew at my small backyard garden. So, I had some harvested for her to bring back to her home in Kuala Lumpur on the morning she was to leave.


They were the ...


Ginger ( Zingiber officinale ),

Daun Kaduk ( Piper sarmentosum ), Red Stem Malabar Ceylon Spinach ( Basella alba ), Spearmint ( Mentha spicata )

and the Thai Basil ( Ocimum basilicum ).

She disliked ....

Ginseng Jawa ( Talinum paniculatum ),

Mugwort ( Artemisia vulgaris ),

Mulberry ( Morus alba ) leaves

and many other that I had aplenty in the garden.

So, I had some of them harvested and cooked for myself to enjoy after she ( they ) had left! ( Sometimes I do like to pamper myself a bit. Ha ha! )

The...

Ginseng Jawa leaves were lightly stir-fried with garlic,

and the Mugwort leaves were mixed with egg to make omelette for a fine noodle soup treat,

while the Mulberry leaves were used to brew a mug of cooling and nourishing, sweetened tea.

All of them tasted oh just so good! Beyond words! Yum yum! 

Finally, I hope it is not too late to wish all Chinese readers here, a very, very Happy Chinese New Year! And to everyone else, Stay Happy, Healthy and Safe always!

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

Finally it rained, after a long dry spell!

A short video clip of My Small Backyard Garden in Ipoh this morning when it rained. ( Video captured from an upper floor's room. )

It was a busy, busy garden that day!

My Small Backyard Garden this past Thursday - Pictures taken after I had all the chores done.

My Small Backyard Garden had been a particularly busy place and full of activities of all sorts this past Thursday!


I could be seen busy potting and repotting, fertilising, trimming and watering my plants the whole afternoon. 

Millipedes were seen busy wandering about the long, ground level and pot planters after I had all my plants fed with buffalo manure. 

Some snails which were initially found resting under the damp, little spaces under the two compost bins and some pot planters, were seen climbing up the Daun Kaduk ( Piper sarmentosum ), Frangipani ( Plumeria sp. ), and Okinawan Spinach ( Gynura bicolor ) plants in broad daylight afrer I had their resting places disturbed. 

A garden lizard was seen running for its dear life when I got near the potted Coconut Palm ( Cocos nucifera ) where it was found resting on, thinking I would bring harm of some sort.

A beautiful, pure white butterfly was seen fluttering around the now starting to flower Thai Basil ( Ocimum basilicum ) plants on the long, ground level planter.

At least two busy bees were seen busily buzzing around the remaining cluster of flowers of the potted Coral Vine ( Antigonon leptopus ).

Lots of larvae, worms and insects were seen busying themselves in the soil and compost bins for food.

And finally,  some forever unfavoured coo roo-c'too-coo sounds and unwelcomed sights of the neighbourhood pigeons from and at a neighbour's rooftop were heard at and seen from My Small Backyard Garden. Thank goodness they did not choose to land on mine!

 
         
ALL FOR NOW! THANK YOU FOR READING THIS! BYE!

Sweet Potatoes Again!

The recent dry and super hot days had my water-loving Sweet Potato ( Ipomoea batatas ) vines on the front planter looking extremely sad and ' thirsty ' when I returned to my home in Ipoh after my year-end retreat at a nearby Buddhist Society was over the other day. The pitiful sight of them had me wanted to pick up the water hose immediately and give them all a real good bath and drink. But, considering the fact that they were already five months old, I decided to have them all, removed and their edible enlarged roots ( sweet potatoes ), dug up instead. Before I had the whole planter, with the newly-planted Sweet Potato cuttings and the three, five months old Tapioca ( Manihot esculenta ) plants in it, thoroughly watered.

The dug up sweet potatoes weigh a mere 840 grams this time ( about half less than the last time ) but I am quite contented nevertheless. Because I had much of their leaves harvested and consumed this past five months. So the worth of growing the vines were definitely no less.

Yesterday, I had them all ( the sweet potatoes ) cleaned and kept inside the refrigerator for sweet soup-making on Chinese New Year day which is not too far off. 

Till then only, could I get to have a taste them! Oh, how I wish now, that time COULD FLY!

ALL FOR NOW! THANK YOU FOR READING THIS! BYE!