Cut sunflowers

I cut a few stalks of sunflowers from my plot and brought them home to admire! They are simply beautiful!!

Brinjal - hand pollination

This morning, I spotted another brinjal flower blooming in the new plot... So I decided to try the hand pollination using a vibrator... Guess what! I literally saw a gush of pollens being released when I used the vibrator! It happened over a second and after that, there is no more pollens being released no matter how long I used the vibrator!! Wow, first time I ever seen this!! Amazing nature indeed... I will observe over the next few days if this method works! I sure hope so!!

Disgusting worms!

These disgusting worms are all over the new and old plot! They are indeed farmer's nightmare!

Winged bean

One of my winged bean plant reaching the top of the trellis and seems like lost! LOL... guess they know that it is no longer possible to climb upwards! Now I think this plot with 5 cucumbers and 3 winged beans is a bit too crowded - too many climbers!

Red okra - fruit

Okras are easy to grow (except for the aphids!) - don't have to worry about pollination basically and after they flower, you can expect a fruit! The little red okra fruit is white now... guess they will turn red as they grow older...

Seedlings eaten up by worms!

My poor seedlings are being eaten up by worms! For the recent weeks, the plots are invaded by worms! We wonder why this is so! Every day, I caught at least 5 worms .. Yucks! It zapped my energy every time I see one and had no choice but to remove & kill them! Sigh... indeed demoralising as a farmer to see your crops destroyed in this way!

Epsom salt

I bought a pack of epsom salt the other day from the organic store. I was looking for help for my shrivelled chilli padi and I read that perhaps epsom salt is able to remedy the situation. I added a pinch of the salt to my pot of chilli padi at home as it was suffering from the shrivel-leave syndrome. 2 days after I put the epsom salt, my chilli padi suddenly had a spurt of growth and I noticed that the leaves are especially green! I read too that epsom salt can turn the leaves very green! I gotta wait for another week or so to determine if it helps with the shrivel-leave syndrome! In any case, this morning, I dissolved some epsom salt in water and sprayed on my tomato plants and chilli padi plants in the plots... I hope to see a miracle in the next few days!

Curry leave plant

This curry leave plant popped up from one of the plot out of nowhere! Decided to keep it instead of killing it since there are so many curry leave plants around! I hope it will help me to repel pests!

Brinjal flower wilted & dropped off!

Oh dear, the brinjal flower wilted and then dropped off! Think it was not pollinated, that's why. I googled last night and it seems that they need to be pollinated by the bees - the bees flapping wings will release the pollens. To do hand pollination, one can try a vibrating toothbrush. I will try this method when the next one flower again... Bees are nowhere found in the plot so I gotta do hand pollination... hopefully it will work.... so sad that it did not turn into a fruit.

Red okra - flowering

2 of my red okra is flowering this morning! Yeah.... the flower is exactly the same colour as the green okra...

Roselle drink!

Yummy... after boiling for a while, I added in some honey and it was refreshing indeed!

Green okra - 2nd fruit

Now I have 2 okras in the making....yum yum

Edamame

Edamame looking more & more like edamame.. This is another plant that I highly recommend for beginners! Sprout very fast & grow super fast too... Good for motivating beginner farmers :-) Only thing is it is not easy to find their seeds locally.... I guess I will have to let some of the pods mature so that I can collect and save some seeds for future planting...

Kang kong - after 4 harvests

I have so far harvested 4 times from my kang kong plot! Very productive indeed.... They are also kind of fuss free vegetable to grow... Sprout fast, grow fast & highly productive! A good choice for beginners indeed!

Winged bean

One of my winged bean climbing to the top of the trellis soon... I hope they bush out soon! So looking forward to seeing the tiny blue blooms! The winged bean plant (see picture below) has finally latched onto the trellis.... So I am left with one final plant that has not extended its tendrils yet...

Roselle - harvest!

Harvested 5 roselle fruit today! Peeled off the calyx (sp?) and they are boiling now as I am writing this update! Will dry the seed at the centre and then grow more so that I can have more harvest! They are kind of easy to grow and quite pest free in a way.... after my worms experience with vegetables, I think it is good to grow some plants that are pest free!

Passion fruit

My passion fruit seems to be growing well... new shoots growing .. yeah! looking forward to them climbing all over...

Brinjal

My brinjals in the new plot is blooming....

Edamame

I think it is indeed very easy to grow edamame... They do not need much care and they grow by themselves in a way... And they fruit so early which means I can get a harvest within 1 month! Love them! Hope they are sweet and tasty.. Can't wait to eat them.

French bean

My french bean seedlings are growing well... extending its feelers upwards... I wonder if they are climbers....? Some sites that I visited said they are not while others say they are! Puzzling.. maybe it depends on the variety.... And mine seems to be climbers as they extend out just like the winged bean

Worms!

Oh mine! The worms are back! They have started feasting on the leaves of the plants.. Sigh... How to get rid of pests!!!! They are indeed a farmer's nightmare!! And I am dealing with aphids everywhere.... nightmare!

Sunflowers

The sunflowers are blooming now... a few of them now... Wish they are not turning in that direction where I can't admire them... sigh... I have sowed a few more in the new plot and they have sprouted... looking forward to their blooms next month... this time, I will be able to admire them from the front!!

Mulberry fruits

I plucked this dark red one this morning to try and it is still a bit sour.. Guess I have to wait a bit longer....

Watermelon - flower

Look at those ants gathering around the centre of the watermelon flower!!!

Periwinkle

My periwinkle doing very well.. growing new shoots and leaves and flowers!

Little okra

Got a better picture of my first little okra in the making... probably can pluck to eat in 2 day's time as they can grow really fast! How to check if they are ripe? Well, bend the tail end of it... as long as they are bendable, they are not OLD so can pluck!

Kang kong flower

Surprised spot this morning! The flower of the kang kong! Looks like morning glory...

Green bayam vs Red bayam

The red bayam was sowed on 23 Mar and today is 26 Mar... It only took them 3 days to appear... but they are super tiny...! The green bayam was sowed last week or so (I actually did not record, oh mine!).... so they are much older...

Brinjal - flower!

Surprising, the pot of brinjal that I have at my balcony is the first to produce a flower for me! I hope they fruit after that!

Roselle

I think some of the fruits are ready for harvest!

Honeydew

Some silly worm is eating up the leaves of one of my honeydew plant....

Edamame

I think I am seeing some edamame pods this morning....! Wow, they really grow so fast... I sowed the seeds on 23 Feb and just over a month, the pods are appearing... I think I can squeese into the plot a few more plants...!

More mulberry fruits!

Yummy.....! Most are turning pinkish now... Gotta wait till they turned dark red then it will be sweet & ripe for picking...! I did a stem cutting the other day and surprising, buds are coming out.. It is a bit blur in this picture - will take more pictures in a few days' time....

First Okra in the making!

After the flower wilted, the fruit pod is evident! I am going to have my first self grown okra very soon! Yummy!

Cucumbers

Finally the tendrils of my cucumbers are latching onto the string for support! The leaves are getting huge of late.. wondering if it is due to the enzyme that I made myself .... the molasses' smell is still very strong... molasses are supposed to be full of nitrogen which will make leaves grow big!

Farm visit

Yesterday, I went to a farm in Sungei Tengah.... See how they grow their vegetables so fast to one another! The little seedlings in a plate ..... so cute!

Garbage Enzyme

I did my own garbage enzyme yesterday.... ratio is 1:3:10 (brown sugar/molasses:garbage:water). The garbage I used yesterday was orange skin.... Hopefully it will turn out alright! 3 months is a long way!