Chinese Kai Lan

I sowed lots of Kai Lan seeds a few months ago. Many seedlings grew and only one make it to harvest! Most the young seedlings are eaten by snails and some of them died from the scorching heat. This is the first time that I've grew Kai Lan and am not sure when is the right time to harvest! 

 Chinese Kai Lan, photo taken back in August 2012

Photo taken back in August 2012

 Harvested on 26th October 2012, homegrown organic Kai Lan, it's a beauty!
The leaves are firm, green and really fresh looking. I decided to harvest the plant as the bottom stalk is getting too long and the roots has grown sideways since I've planted it in a styrofoam container which is not deep enough, and it seems the right time to harvest.

Since it grows extremely well, I'll be getting some new seeds soon to try growing Kai Lan again. I stir-fried the leaves with some cabbages since it is not much. I half expected it to be slighter bitter like the ones that I sometimes buy from the market, but to my surprise it was crunchy and not bitter at all. Pesticide and fungicide free!

HAPPY GARDENING !

Beautiful Flower of The Turmeric Plant

I just love the smell of the turmeric leaves, extremely fragrant when cooked in dishes, used one whole leave when I cooked some chicken serai last week, so "wangi", (fragrant!).

Back in February, after I harvested my turmeric, I replanted the turmeric root with a young plant growing...well, here it is now.....

This plant was showing signs of wilting and I almost pulled it out a couple of months ago, but thought I'll wait a month or so, luckily I waited, it somehow decided to sprung back to life and is growing well now. Even reward me with a beautiful flower!

Photo : 23/10/2012

 Photo : 23/10/2012

 Photo : 26/10/2012

 Photo : 26/10/2012

 Photo : 26/10/2012

In just a matter of three days, the small yellow flowers are visible throughout, each in a pocket of its own! Beautiful!

 Photo : 26/10/2012

Photo : 26/10/2012

Just the flowers for the time being, it is not the time to harvest the turmeric rhizomes, as the rhizomes are not fully grown yet, I took a peek by gently digging the soil around it, no sign of big fat rhizomes! Usually it will take about a year before the rhizomes are matured enough to be harvested. Once the rhizomes have grown to a substantial size, it can be harvested partially by just cutting part of the rhizomes needed instead of harvesting the whole plant. Another indication that it is ready to be harvested is when the leaves starts to turn yellow and the stems are showing signs of drying. 

HAPPY GARDENING !!

From Pole to Tree

Found this little caterpillar on the telephone pole at my back yard. 

 A beautiful splash of green against the blackish-grey pole.

Took this little one and place it on my belimbing tree.

 Could not find the little one the next day! Must be hiding somewhere! Anyway, took pictures of the belimbing fruits instead!

The fruits even grow lying down on the ground!

Happy Gardening !

White Radish

Harvested two of my Radish plants a couple of weeks ago.

See the little snail under the leaf on the left? There are dozens of small snails like these that have been feasting on my new little radish seedlings! Especially, since it has been raining lately, they are everywhere, really a garden pest!

These radishes are a couple of months old, harvested them before they gets old and hardy.

 Nice! I made some radish kuih. But these are not enough, I bought a few from the market to add on!

Most of my new radish seedlings have been eaten by the snails. I removed the snails, there are less now, but I do see them again and again!

Happy Gardening !

A Bird Nest....Which Was Not Meant To Be

I spotted a bird nest up in my Belimbing Tree at my backyard about a month ago. It was too high for me to actually take a peek in the nest. I saw the mother bird sitting in the nest, with her head and yellow beak visible, looks like a sparrow, very small.

The bird nest, photo taken a month ago, when I first spotted it. It was nestled very nicely on my belimbing tree branch. I have not seen the mother bird since then except that one time. I did wondered about the eggs and baby bird after that, thought that the baby birds have hatched and flown away, leaving the nest.

Found an egg this afternoon in one of my empty pots under the belimbing tree, apparently the egg has dropped out of the nest, could there be a hole in the nest?

I guess that this egg has been here for a few weeks, that's why I have not seen the mother bird anymore. Anyway thought of putting it back even though I think that it is pointless now.

I got a ladder since it is quite high up on the tree, I was so sad to see that the nest has toppled to the side, that explained why the egg was on the ground. See the little twigs and strands that still hold the nest to the branch? Somehow it is not secure enough and the nest has toppled to the left, dropping the eggs on the ground. 

The opening of the nest is facing the side now. I feel so sad for the mother bird.

When I was sweeping the leaves on the ground, I found another egg, already cracked. And the one that I found earlier in the pot, it cracked too even when I picked it up gently. It was brittle, the inside is hollow but sticky at the sides.
I guess it was not meant to be. Hopefully the mother bird would make a better sturdier nest wherever she is the next time round.


Happy Gardening !

Some Plants from Sg. Buloh

I have not visited the nurseries in Sg. Buloh for more than a year, until about 2 months ago. That trip to Sg Buloh was not a planned trip at all! I went over to my sister's house visiting and one of my sisters suggested   a visit to Sg. Buloh nurseries, I of course, agreed immediately! My kind BIL drove us there. We did not intend to buy many plants, but by the time we drove back to my sister's house, the car was full of plants! :)

These are the plants that I got from Sg. Buloh nurseries

Lemon 

 Calamansi Lime

 Kaffir Lime

 Sweet Basil (Organic)

Lavandula, botanic name for Lavender (Organic)

There are a few more plants that I would love to bring home, but the car was already full, my sisters bought some plants too, and anyway this was not a planned trip. So I was happy with my plants that I've added to my otherwise at the moment "misery" garden.

I have received many emails enquiring about the nurseries in Sg. Buloh which I purchased all my herb plants from. It has been more than a year since my last visit, and this time, I managed to get the details of the nurseries that I went to.

I bought the Lemon tree from TSB Nursery, did not have much time to look round this nursery as I was specifically looking for a Lemon Tree. Three of us bought each one home, we are three happy sisters that day! Details of nursery as follows :

TSB Nursery

J.K.R.R. 471, Central Section

Lorong Raja (1), 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor

PTC : Tan Siew Bee

Tel No : 012-3138087 

I bought the rest of the plants from this nursery, Delima Tani (M) Sdn Bhd, funny thing is their name card states their address for their main nursery in Jalan Subang, they do not have the name card with the Sg. Buloh address. The branch in Sg. Buloh which I went to, has many other herb plants, like Thai Basil, Vietnam Basil, Rosemary, Thymes, Sage, Dill and many more. Stephanie of My Green Finder has done a post on their main nursery centre in Jalan Subang, click here and here to read more about their nurseries from Stephanie. To get to their nursery in Sg. Buloh, please contact them, details as follows :

Delima Tani (M) Sdn Bhd

Lot 49 & 50, Jalan Subang

Sg. Buloh, 47000 Selangor

PTC : Albert Goh Seng Kok

Tel No : 012-2034211

Both nurseries are along the same road, TSB comes first, and Delima Tani is a little distance away. Good luck in your search for herb plants, I hope you find what you are looking for!

Happy Gardening!

Growing Garlic Greens

Have you tried garlic greens before?  I sowed the cloves for the garlic greens, which I use in stir-fry dishes, noodles and pasta. 

Garlic greens are easy to grow. Firstly you will need some garlic cloves, just take some from your kitchen basket or buy some from the market.

23/03/2012 : Place the garlic cloves in the soil, with sharp end pointing up. Choose the big, plump cloves.

Cover completely and water, may add fertilizer.

05/04/2012 : Sprouted garlic greens 

11/04/2012 : Looking good

16/04/2012 : When the plants reached about 12" in height, it is time to harvest for the greens. They will be young and tender. I once waited a couple of weeks longer, and the garlic plants turn yellow and wilted. So now, after doing some research from the internet, I know that once they reaches a height of 12", it is the right time to harvest for the greens.

My harvested garlic greens 

Looks like "mini leeks"!

The garlic greens are great in stir-fries and noodles dishes. If you have not tried planting these before, give it a try, you just need a pot with some soil and some garlic cloves from your kitchen!

Happy Gardening !!

Update on Turmeric Plant

An update on my turmeric plant. I harvested all of my turmeric in early February, in my previous post here , and replanted some rhizomes for starting over. Less than two months later, the turmeric plant is thriving well and a new young plant has started to sprout from the rhizomes roots.

Turmeric plants. These are two separate plants with separate rhizomes which I replanted about two months ago. Seems to be growing well, such a pleasure to see this from my kitchen window.  :o)

My never-ending supply of spring onions! I have received a couple of emails regarding my post "How I Plant Sprouted Onions" which I posted back in September 2011. It is wonderful to know that the tutorial has helped a number of home gardeners to achieve the maximum harvest of spring onions from their onions. Thank you for reading my tutorial and for letting me know that it has worked for you too! 

Harvested some of the spring onions, and made some ....

Ham, spring onions and cheddar buns. I use sandwich ham for these buns. Chicken Sandwich Ham can be bought from any supermarket. These buns are really soft, fluffy and tasty.  The spring onions may be replaced with chives from your garden. If you would like to try out these buns, you may get the recipe over at my kitchen, here. Happy baking and enjoy your buns!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Gardening!

**

Pest!

Squash lady beetle larvae, the insect that destroys my bitter gourd plant in a matter of days! Found out from the internet that it actually circles the leaf area in which it is going to feed!

The leaves have a web-like pattern after being eaten by these pests.

They have a rather spikey body!

It moves quite fast too!

I was having a hard time getting a clear photo of this pest!

Finally, a clear shot! See the interesting pattern of the leaves after being eaten by them. These insects looks kinda cute and yucky too! Have you seen this creepy pest in your garden?


Happy Gardening !!!