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Wednesday, 30 January 2013

happy new year

Yes yes, I know..
Its been almost one month since the new year started, but for my garden, the year started late.
I cleared out many overgrown and straggly plants, mostly thai basil and holy basil. I did not have the heart to remove them when they were seedlings, hence had to pay the price of them taking over my rose pots.
I have saved my rose plants, I think. Till I see new growth, I am never sure whether I have managed to kill my plants. Hope the day soon comes when I can be confident about transplanting roses...
I sowed some seeds - Tomato (marmanade and st. pierre), capsicum (chocolate), bird's eye chilli; all seeds from geekgardener/ garden guru. Good germination, though the peppers were slower. I also sowed a hybrid brinjal variety from amar seeds, picture on the cover showed a long green and white brinjal
I have now transplanted them into suitable containers and hope to get a good harvest. :-)
For that I will  need to follow a more disciplined schedule of fertilizing and maintaining my plants.
That reminds me of my new year resolution for 2013. This year I propose to make resolutions which I am decently able to keep, foremost being to fertilize every fortnight, not to allow stray plants, mulch and keep posting.
Sounds like a tall order..
Only time will tell..
A few pics of my prized possessions- their status keeps changing...



Rosemary, yet to be used in any specific dish, has a lovely smell and taste, can be munched on whenever in the garden





Thai basil, one of the strays which was saved and planted into its own home






tomatoes, which variety? probably wild


brinjal, this was supposed to be white variety
however I get pale green fruits frm this plant. I also have another plant which was supposed to be long purple, however, I get very small ones. I am not complaining though, that plant is a veteran of my kitchen garden for at least six - eight months - giving at least 4-5 brinjals at each harvest




capsicum, will turn yellow when ripe if I can hang on till then






rajnigandha, the double whorled variety. this is comparatively less fragrant than the single one,














the gandhraj/ cape jasmine flowered for the first time, now I understand why some ladies wear this flower in their hair even when it has turned yellow; it has a heady fragrance;  the flower was on the plant for a week when it turned from white to yellow






and finally the exotic (in my garden) red amaryllis lily which is flowering now
amaryllis lily with my garden protector- the spider

On that beautiful note, I take leave of my blog till my next post
Happy gardening!


Friday, 30 November 2012

Radish harvest

Hi!
As promised, I am back with the radish harvest.
Red round radish (French Breakfast) was sowed in the month of October. I forgot to note the time of sowing this time. I fertilized every fortnight with NPK 1:1:1. Else I did not give this veggie any attention.
There was a time I was on tenterhooks as the neighbourhood cat thought that I had kept out a litter bin for her! However, a few sticks poked in the soil deterred her/him from exploring!

I harvested about a dozen of the red globes on the 24th of Nov.
Radish harvest

And immediately used them for making radish raita with some home grown mint leaves thrown in. Tasted really yummy, not very pungent, even the kids relished it.
Mooli (Radish) Raita
 The leaves of this particular variety is another taste altogether; probably the non-pungency of the root is compensated by the taste and texture of the leaves. The leaves of this variety are rough and a bit prickly.
I did not notice any leaf miners.  I will use these for making a gravy style curry of mustard, spinach and radish leaves; a different version of the the typical saron ka saag.

Radishes don't take very long to grow- from sowing to harvesting it was under two months. I don't think any other veggie can compete in this aspect. Also, they are very easy to grow, not much care is required, except that the soil has to be sufficiently loose, watering regular and you should harvest before the bulbs get stringy.

Another veggie to look forward to is the bitter gourd which has started fruiting on the balcony.
the first bitter gourd
still a baby bitter gourd
 Next to combat the taste of the previous harvests, I can dish up these...
Adenium in full bloom

a funny marigold
fresh mint

 And that's all for now till I sow some fresh seeds..

Happy Gardening!