Hi
Even if buying herbs and veggies only cause a small dent in my food budget I still want to plant them for own use. It is much more convenient especially in an 'emergency' situation to pluck chilies in the backyard than to drive to the market to buy them or when you only need one or two for your simple lunch cooking.
Herbs such as curry leaves, the market people will sell them tied in bundles whereas you only require a stalk or two. I don't cook curry every day why would I want it more. Of course, it can last good for a week or two but then I don't like my fridge cluttered.
I became more interested to have my own kitchen garden plants when seeing other people growing them so successfully. It looks so easy to have pots and pots of healthy growing sawi and kangkung. That's what I see on the internet on many gardening blogs and websites. I feel encouraged and inspired.
I have thought of doing some hydroponic planting and plan to put the system against the kitchen wall. I imagine how nice and green the wall will be if combined with a vertical garden there. But I can't do what I dream.
The reality is my place is a rampage ground for the monkeys. Quite often groups of them will come, big small, mother father brothers sisters, the whole clan, they will just go on a rampage. Real destroyer. So I better not dream too big.
I just make do with easy growing kitchen plants like karuveppilai, turmeric, lemongrass and such. Also in my collection are the limes chilies basil parsley and green onion. I grow them in ordinary pots and containers and the shrub type directly on the ground.
About my gardening space, well my good friend the neighbor used to say she is envious of the planting area that I have. I must be thankful for what I have though originally the area was bigger. I kind of regret for having part of the area taken up by the kitchen extension. Now the edible plants and ornamental plants are haphazardly placed for lack of space.
As of now, I am not very happy with my gardening progress. Some plants look very promising only at the earlier growth. The chilies rot before they are ripe. The curry leaves shriveled under the attack of the tiny waisted black bugs, sigh. Just a tiny venture but so many challenges.
I don't take things too seriously after all my gardening is just a pastime. I do enjoy doing it but not as much as I enjoy tennis. Two different things not appropriate to compare really. But then if I ever have to hang up my racket and say goodbye to tennis due to wobbling knees, then the next good thing to do is garden more seriously.
However not serious am quite happy with the humble result. I have not been buying the bird chilies parsley lemongrass and a few others for quite some time already.
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| Cili Padi, monkeys won't eat them |
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| Pegaga has many health benefits |
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| Parsley sowed from seeds, planted in an improvised self-watering container |
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| Basil, sowed from seeds bought from the sundry shop |
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| A surprise, small chili plant sending out fruits |
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| Pandan got to be hidden from the monkeys |
Some plants I don't know how it ended in my garden, perhaps from kitchen scraps that I threw out. So take good care of them. Sometimes the effort is useless. Just like this tomato plant. It flowers but the flowers never develop into fruits. The man in my house said that is a male plant! Nevermind, as long as it is green and healthy I would just keep it.
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| Tomato plant? |
Then there are cases of mistaken identity . . . I care for them I nourish them but they turn out to be weeds.
See it is so healthy. It's not brinjal.
And this, below, when small it looked like chili plant so let it grow. Its fruit is the size of a pea only. Thought some kind of exotic expensive chili hehe. Wonder how the seeds ended here, ahh its the bird, must be.
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| Chili plant look-alike |
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| Pea-sizes purple fruit |
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| Frequent visitor |
Monkeys aside, being surrounded by natural environment gardening put me in a good mood. It is a good way of occupying my free time.
Happy gardening, bye . . .
