Lady's finger - an update

It's been long since I planted and harvest lady's finger successfully! I think almost a year! Last year was not so productive year as I myself was not productive in the garden! This year I would like to be back to garden!

My first batch or 4 lady's fingers are growing rapidly! Have flowered and produce enough for my cooking especially fish curry!

The lady's finger's flowers are just so pretty! They look so delicate in yellow and red colour!

The lady's finger!

Pak Choy update

The above Pak choy was planted 3 weeks earlier than the one on the ground.

Pak Choy adding more leaves after first harvest

 Pak Choy on the ground.

Cempedak tree

Artocarpus integer, commonly known as cempedak , is a species of tree in the same genus as breadfruit and jackfruit. It is native to southeast Asia.

Information from Wikipedia:

" Cempedak trees are large, evergreen trees. They can grow to a height of 20 m, although most only reach a dozen meters. The trees are monoecious, with male and female flowers growing on the same tree. There are many varieties, although few are named. The vigorously growing tree can bear heavy crops of fruit once or twice a year.

Fruit
The syncarp may be cylindrical to spherical in shape, and ranges from 10 to 15 cm across and 20 to 35 cm in length.[1] The thin and leathery skin is greenish, yellowish to brownish in color, and patterned with hexagons that are either raised protuberances or flat eye facets.
The fleshy, edible arils surround the large, inedible seeds in a thick layer. It is yellowish-white to orange in color, sweet and fragrant, soft, slippery and slimy on the tongue and a bit fibrous. The taste of the fruit is similar to the related jackfruit and breadfruit with a hint of durian. The seeds are flattened spheres or elongated, about 2–3 cm in length.

Uses
The fruit is very popular in its native area, and is becoming so in Queensland. The flesh can be eaten fresh or after being processed. Fritters made by dipping arils in batter and frying in oil are sold in the streets of Malaysia. The seeds can be fried, boiled or grilled and then peeled and eaten with a little salt mixture. They taste similar to water chestnuts. The young fruit, like young jackfruit, can be used as a vegetable.[1]
The wood is of good quality, strong and durable, so it is often used as building material for home furnishings or boats. The fibrous bark can be used to make ropes. Yellow dye can also be produced from the wood.[1]
In Borneo, the skin of the cempedak (or tiwadak in Banjarese) can be processed into food called mandai or some call dami. Mandai is made by peeling the fruit until it looks white, then soaking in brine to preserve and soften the texture. The fruit may be soaked for a few hours or even up to a month. Mandai is usually consumed by frying until brown."

I planted Cempedak a year ago with jackfruit. Looking at the price of cempedak in wet market make me almost fainted! It's just so expensive but the taste is so good to resist!

GBBD - February 2014

Mussaenda luteola commonly known as little star from heaven!

It's great to have the sun shining all day long. But...... it's extremely very warm here! There is no rain for almost 2 months!

Everywhere I can hear people talking about how good to have a little shower! I wish for rain too! I feel so guilty now..... I was cursing the rain so much 2 months ago! It does too much damage to my little garden and now I regret for it.......I hope there will be rain!

I guess the flowering plants don't mind the hot sun! With watering done once a day they seems to be very happy!


 Hibuscus must be the champion! They seems to be flowering so much now!

 Plumeria is beyond my height to photograph them!

For more flowers blooming around the world, visit may dream

Pak Choy

I have planted and harvested so much Pak Choy last time. They were so sweet and tasty to cook with garlic and ginger.

After some time, I stop planting them to make way to other vegetables. My garden is not so big to accommodate all of them in one go. Moreover, I read somewhere that planting the same vegetable on the same bed is not good idea. It will make the nutrition level drop dramatically. When we circulate the vegetable planting, the nutrition will be balanced. Sometimes back in November last year I tried planting them again but with no success. They did not grow as I expected. Snails ate almost all the seedlings and the wet weather kill the young seedling too!

As the weather is warm now, I tried sowing the seeds again. So far they are growing well. I hope I will harvest handful of them!

Pokok Nangka @ jackfruit

I have planted the jack fruit seedling almost a year ago! But they have been dormant all this while. Year 2014 must be a good year for it as I can see a very good progress on the tree within a month! The tree has put up a lot of leaves and growth. The best part is the fruit! I don't think the fruit will grow big as the tree is still not matured but I'm happy to see the tree growing well!

The fruits are so sweet and pack with antioxidant and protien! I just love the taste! Indians use the seeds in curries too! They taste so good!

The fruits has very strong smell similar to durian when ripe! 

 I need to wait another 3-4 years before It produce big and sweet fruits !

Bird watch in the garden

This is my first post on birds in my garden. I use to see many birds in my garden including wild parrots but i never once took any photos.

Yesterday was my first time to capture the birds visiting my garden. They look so content flying up and down. May be playing with each others......chasing each others.

 Three little birds on the gate

the fourth bird join the group..... They look like brown thrasher species  but I'm not so sure...

KangKung - an update

Kangkung seems to be growing well in the garden now despite the hot weather. I seldom have time to water twice but they strive well.

I have harvested them few times and they don't mind the cuts I guess!

Grasshoppers have been testing their teeth on the leaves but at the moment I don't mind to share some with them. I realize that big grasshopper or we call it "belalang kunyit" always give me trouble! Every time they munch the leaves, the vegetables become dormant , the growth slow down, the leaves turn brown and the whole bunch of kangkung disappear. May be the big grasshoppers carries some fungus or bacteria in their mouth!