Can It Get More Disappointing?

After a couple of months of waiting, these are what I got.

1 weird looking radish. The others didn't work out at all. Two beetroots, 1 is quite sizable while the other is smaller. The rest failed too.

The disappointment did not end here.

The larger beetroot was rotten. Spotted tiny ants outside and inside. They ate my beetroot and damaged my otherwise fine-looking beet!!! Why are there ants in this world? What good have they brought to mankind? They crawl everywhere - in the sugar jar, on the cookies and even inside the soil. Hate them, hate them, hate them!!!!!!!! Right now, they are like my biggest nemesis!

I was left with the other tiny beetroot, which I juiced with an apple and an orange. Manage to yield 1 cup of juice which I shared with my dearest hubby - 3 gulps each. The taste of the beetroot was slightly bitter and it certainly over-powered the taste of the apple and orange. Weirdly, I would describe the taste of beetroot as the taste you would imagine when you smell some rain-soaked soil. I wouldn't be sure why would you smell the soil but basically, it has very earthy taste, thus not many people like beetroot BUT it is loaded with good nutrients and vitamins.

Also, I just read somewhere that beetroot doesn't like manure. Probably now I know why I got such disappointing results.

So if you plan to grow beetroots, just use the usual fertilizer or compost and avoid using manure.

If the above disappointments were not enough, my winged bean seedling has also died. And my two long bean seeds failed to sprout. Need to start them again. Gardening really teaches you patience!

Growing Ginger In Container

Growing ginger is as easy as not growing it! So, it'll be a waste to not grow it if you have the right growing condition, which is essentially warm weather. The rest is just loamy soil, water and occasional feed of fertilizer. They thrive in partial shade or full sun. Basically, the same concept applies with growing turmeric.

I started out by planting about 5 or 6 small knobs of ginger (about an inch in size) with at least 1 visible 'eye' on it. An 'eye' is the part where a sprout is going to grow. Plant each knob half an inch deep in the soil and about 6 to 8 inches apart. Make sure the 'eye' is upwards so that the sprout can easily grow out of the soil. From my experience, it'll take about 2-3 weeks for the sprout to grow. Or could be slightly shorter or longer. During this stage, keep the soil moist but not water-logged. Ginger plant grows slowly but steadily. The leaves are quite ornamental and very fragrant. As the plant grows, you can lightly feed with chicken manure, but not too often. Once the plant is established, it can even withstand temporary drought in case you forgot to water. As the rhizomes grow and multiply, they will appear slightly on the surface of the soil. And the anticipation in wondering what lies beneath begins!

Below is my container of ginger after about a year of planting. Ginger can be harvested after about 8 months but I delayed and just left them in there.

I dug out half the amount of ginger rhizomes in the container on 9 March and below pictures show the harvest - before and after washing. My container was so compact as it was full of ginger.

Below is the pot with leftover plants on the right.




Today, I harvested the rest of the ginger.

And I replanted a few small rhizomes with the sprouts which I separated from larger rhizomes. But before that, the leftover clumps of roots in the soil need to be removed so that they will not hinder future growth. I just need to add a little bit more soil and the growing starts again.

One might think what did I do with so much ginger? Well, I gave some to my sisters and kept some for my own cooking. Many Asian food uses ginger and I read that leftover ginger can be frozen for longer usage. I'm so happy with my ginger harvest. Hoorah!!

Backyard Update March '12

My backyard has gone through several transformations since we moved in slightly over 2 yrs ago. Main challenge in maintaining it was of course, every home gardener's nightmare...weeds weeds and weeds that are so stubborn and just wouldn't die off no matter how many roots you pull out. The weeds root system is so invasive that they would just grow and grow in the whole row of backyard from one neighbor to another. We got tired of seeing how messy the backyard can get with overgrown weeds (and they grow so fast!!) and becoming potential home for snakes (yes, they have been spotted!!!), so we decided to lay bricks and tiles. The weeds still find its way out for sunlight at every nook and corner but overall they are pretty much under better control now. We've also started to plant in polystyrene containers collected from anywhere and everywhere we can get. There's a long list of plants yet to be planted but in the last 2 months or so, here are what that are growing.

Currently there are bamboo mustard green (2 stalks left as I've harvested some already - I don't quite like this variety as it's kinda bitter), spring onions, celery, chives, beetroot, radish, ladies' finger and brinjal plants. My dwarf beans in the top left container do not seem to be sprouting this time. I planted 6 seeds and only 1 has sprouted.

Here's a beetroot. It's tiny but I'm not complaining. Think I'll probably juice it with a mixture of other fruits.

Flower of chive. My neighbor in Melaka gave me a few of her plants and I re-planted them after a few hours later. I thought they wouldn't survive but they did. In fact, they've surpassed my expectation. Chive plants seem to transplant easily and although they may look like they're wilting in the first few days after transplanting, just leave them be. They just need some time to pick things up. Chives are great as cut-and-grow again. New shoots will start growing in just a matter of few days only. Our plants are flowering quite frequently. I'll be collecting the seeds for sure.




Winged bean plant. Needs to be transplanted into a 5 gallon bucket. Am trying to see if it can thrive in a pot. Hope it can and that we'll get some beans for chili stir fry soon.




The winged bean plant will soon grow on the top level vertical trellis. Am saving the smaller lower level trellis for cucumbers. Hopefully they will sprout successful first of all.

Here's another pic of the top level trellis. We've laid 2x2 feet tiles to prevent weeds. This is my short cut trellis. 3 long poles inserted randomly in and out of the chicken coop wire and just stick them into the ground. Not sure if they will hold, so only time will tell, if my winged bean grows successfully.




Our 2nd bitter gourd from the same single plant we have.

One of the radish plant has started to flower.

Plan to sow more seeds next week when time permits. Happy gardening!

Growing Celery in Containers

Celery is known to be a cool weather crop, so I'm pleasantly surprised that my celery plants are growing rather well, although not as large as supermarket ones, under the scorching heat and high temperatures of the Malaysian lowlands. What started as an experimental scattering of a few seeds in a container of soil has turned out into these lush and lovely pots of greens. The seeds were given to me by my sister and when they sprouted I actually forgotten what they were. When the sprouts were 2 inches tall, I transplanted into other larger pots. I now have 6 plants with 4 growing well and ready for harvest soon. Since Chinese New Year is next Monday and my family will be cooking up a feast for Chinese New Year's eve prayers and family reunion dinner this Sunday, I plan to harvest 2 plants for my trip back to Melaka.

2 plants growing in my 1st pot

Another 2 plants in the other pot

Celery is said to be high in vitamin A, and also contains vitamin B and C. It has a fair amount of sodium, calcium and phosphorus, as well as potassium, chlorine, magnesium and iron. It is also high in roughage - must be good for the bowel system :). Other benefits of celery I read include good for calming and soothing the nerves; it helps clean out the kidney and promotes urine; it helps gout by increasing the elimination of uric acid.

Celery is a heavy feeder plant and I regularly used organic chicken manure to feed my plants. Frequent watering is needed - the soil should not be waterlogged but should always be damp. I read about the blanching technique for celery in order to make it less bitter by covering the stems close to the soil. For this, more soil can be added to create a mount surrounding the base or a thick cardboard can also be used to wrap around the base of the stem about few inches high. This will block light from reaching the base of the stem and result in white stem, just like what one gets from supermarket celery. Although it'll reduce the bitterness, blanching will also reduce the nutritions in the plant. I did the 2nd method on one of my plants but after 3 days, 2 stalks had begun to wilt. So I decided not to blanch it, esp with my limited experience. I'll happily settle for as green as can be celery, whether bitter or not. I can't wait to see how my celery will taste like. Can't wait to stir fry them this weekend!

Happy Chinese New Year to all!

Growing Mint As A Wonderful Edging Plant

If there is only one type of herb I am allowed to grow, without a doubt mint will be my top choice. I just love mint! I bought two pots of lush and healthy mint plant a while back, separated them into several clumps and replanted them in the narrow strip of soil at my porch.

They spread so fast and within a month, this lovely herb has shrouded over almost the entire strip. Mint is just perfect to be grown as edging plant.

If I have a big garden, I would even dedicate a huge patch just for mint and I wouldn't inhibit its growth. Whenever I need an aromatic whiff of it, all I need to do is to give the plant a gentle shake and its lovely minty fragrance will waft through the air. But if its a breezy day, I just need to stand near it to smell it. Aghhhh...lovely!

Mint leaves are great addition to a cup of tea. Chop some and throw in a salad is another delightful and easy to use option.

A lovely pot of mint at just RM5.00 which I bought at a nearby local nursery

I tore the plants into clumps and replanted them in the ground on 11 Sept 2011

Photos below were taken end of last month, October. Show just how fast mint can spread. Mint needs well-drained soil and a light occasional feed of fertilizer.

However as of today, I'm sad to say that so many of my mint leaves have been eaten by bugs - must be grasshoppers and caterpillars. My sister spotted two baby caterpillars today. Guess I'm not the only one who loves mint. Sigh...hope they will grow new shoots soon and be lush again.

Till then, happy gardening. Next up will be an update on my container veggies, in particular celery!!

Growing Turmeric Rhizomes

Yesterday was a happy day of 'yellow discovery'!

I got the grass cutter man to come over yesterday to clear the messy and uncontrolled weeds that have taken over my whole backyard. The current rainy season has sped up the foliage growth and it was an eye sore. Anyway, I had a new garden idea so I needed to get the mess cleared real quick before my enthusiasm fades away.

After the weeds were cleared, I spotted something bright yellow just slightly above the soil surface. I remembered I had buried 2 small knobs of turmeric rhizomes last year and knew that perhaps they had grown bigger since the turmeric leaves have all wilted off. Armed with a garden scraper I dug out that small patch and I found a turmeric. Then, it seems like there was another one next to it as I cleared off more earth. I continued to dig. And I found not one but another 3 knobs of this yellow treasures! On what seems like an endless joy, I found more and more of these rhizomes! I followed the trail of the roots underneath the soil and found a huge clump of rhizomes a feet away from the first spot. It was such a surprising and truly joyful find indeed!!

I collected almost a colander full of turmeric!!! Woooohhhhooooo!!! I did not expect that they could grow, much less multiply to so many, under the clay-like soil condition. What started as an experiment ended up as a victory yield and I am a very happy home gardener now :D)))

1. Freshly dug out turmeric rhizomes

2. All washed and ready to be sun-dried for a while

3. I collected almost 700 g of turmeric

How to grow turmeric:

Turmeric is actually the rhizome of the turmeric plant, much like ginger. Apparently these two plants belong to the same family.

Start by buying a fresh clump of turmeric from the market and nib off the small rhizomes where a bud or two have started to show. Plant the rhizomes about 2 inches in the soil and about 20 cm apart. Loamy and fertile soil are best for growing turmeric. It also needs full sunlight. Slight shade will not do any harm but it won't thrive under heavy shade. It takes about a year for the rhizomes to multiply underneath the soil.

The plant will grow bearing very fragrant long leaves that are commonly used in Asian cooking. Some plants will bear pretty flowers too. The plant itself is pretty and ornamental.

Turmeric is a key ingredient in curry recipes as well as in many of my Nyonya culture cuisine. It is said to carry a natural antiseptic property beneficial for healing wounds. Looks like I'll be doing quite a bit of spice blending in my kitchen this week. Yippee!!! I'm so happy!

Seriously, growing turmeric is so easy and maintenance-free! Now I can't wait to harvest my ginger which I planted in a container.

Happy gardening!

Capsicum

Each time I visit some of my favorite garden & veggie patch blogs, I get so envious (in a good way of course :) of the gardening space they have and the variety of plants they could grow which of course leads to bountiful harvest. As much as I would love to have a spacious garden, I can only be satisfied with my plants in my containers and cherish my small harvest from time to time.

For now, one of my containers is growing capsicum. I am happy that it works out so I've sowed some more seeds in 4 other containers. I guess other plants will have to wait for its turn to occupy the pots.

This is my second capsicum and I've eaten it before the ants could damage it, like my first capsicum. I hate those pesky ants! The crawl all over my capsicum and chili plants and they encourage the growth of the white powdery mildew. What I did was to boil a few dried chilies and use the water mixed with a few drops of dishwater liquid and cooking oil, give it a good shake and spray at the ants and powdery mildew on infected plant. This needs to be done every day in the morning or evening until the disease is gone. I tend to forget and the disease multiplied before I could control it. That was what happened to my beautiful marigold plants that I had to sadly pull out last month. If anyone has more lethal solution to get rid of ants and the powdery mildew insect...please please share :D!

I am really getting a hang at growing capsicums now. It was sweet and crunchy but a little thin. I should perhaps use more organic fertiliser to fatten it.

Capsicums are really easy to grow. Just scatter the seeds of a capsicum that you buy from the market and they will sprout in less than a week. It's easy to care too...just water as normal and feed with fertiliser once every 2 weeks.