Wife. Mother. Homekeeper by Choice.
Archive for the ‘The Novice Gardener’ Category.
Train up a child the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
This is one of the makeshift cages I made for the tomato plants. Tomato plants tend to bend so they need such structures for support.
This is my very first tomato cage. Four barbecue sticks and a plastic rope. Continue reading ‘Parenting My Tomato Plants’ »
The ants made a clay pot their territory, and I found that out the hard way. I wanted to use that pot for something else, so I tried to pull the plant out. Monstrous red ants immediately popped out from under the soil and attacked my hands. Ouchie!
I immediately poured buckets of water into the pot. I gleefully watched the ants drown, and those who managed to escape the water I promptly sprayed with insecticide. Haha!
The next day however, the ants were back with a vengeance. They left the pot alright, but made my veggie plant box their new haven!
I am supposed to give basil plants to Imom and Mai. I don’t remember the others I promised to give plants to, so I prepared extra pots, just in case.
I took this as an opportunity to make a little experiment. I have learned that it’s easy to grow basil from seed, but I want to see if I can grow basil from a stem cutting. The two pots beside the cuttings contain basil seeds.
I also planted flat-leaf parsley seeds on those two pots in front. I have more seeds to plant in more pots, but I think I have to buy markers first lest I get confused.
Remember my bitter gourds and the teepee my husband set up for them? Continue reading ‘I Did Some Planting’ »
The pandan plant has a lot of babies, so I took some for a friend and my mom.
The basil is also so lush. I snipped some stems for a friend.
I like giving away some of my harvest to my loved ones. It gives me pleasure to know that they too are able to enjoy what I planted. Then the plants become even more lush, thus there is more harvest to share. Now that’s good karma!
I’ve been looking for spring onion and kangkong seeds, so when I saw this packet by Ramgo Seeds in the hardware store, I immediately got myself one.
The ampalaya (bitter gourd) seedlings are ready to move out of the container.
But as I have mentioned in my previous post, we don’t have much land around the house. Growing vines may prove to be a challenge.
Thankfully, I did find some ideas on the net which could work for me. I excitedly bought some materials and was soon able to transfer the plants to a bigger container.
I have been growing a lot of veggies from seeds since last month, and I think I’m giving the impression that my backyard is a paradise of greenery.
The truth is the entire area outside our house is pebble-washed and tiled.
No doubt, it’s calamansi season. It’s pretty easy to know - the outskirts of a market are dotted with bags of calamansi for sale. And a kilo costs PHP 10, or roughly US$0.22. Continue reading ‘Calamansi Season’ »
It rained for days and it was inconvenient, but I’m thankful for it because my plants flourished.
The bitter gourd (ampalaya) seeds germinated earlier than I expected. Two days ago, the seeds’ shells came off. Yesterday, the little stem stood up. And this morning, the leaves came out.
Again, these seeds did not come from the store. These were from the gourd itself, dried and later planted in potting soil. I don’t know yet if this will bear fruit - we will all find out soon, and I’m very excited about it.
It’s alright if no gourd comes out of it. At least we can use the leaves on sauteed mung beans (ginisang monggo), one of my favorite comfort foods. Hubby and I love it when the dish has lots and lots of ampalaya leaves. Continue reading ‘Thank You, Rain’ »
I planted a handful of bok choy seeds in a pot of soil-less mix last week. This morning I was greeted by these spots of green.
I will transfer them in a larger pot, hopefully, in a week or two. The seed packet says I will be able to harvest them in 35 days. I am so excited, I can already imagine the steaming plate of sauteed vegetables on our table. Continue reading ‘Beginnings’ »
