Tried building a coffee table

Coffee table project. All I can say is that i tried...

Couldn't get the legs to be parallel to each other, plus it was really shaky and fragile. The reasons for this...
- my limited carpentry knowledge
- the pallet wood top was old and soft (softer compared to the legs)
- limited screws and nails. With this covid lockdown we are going thru, there are no hardware shops opened. So I ended up using a mixture of nails, screws and staples, whatever I had that matched closest to the size I needed.

28 March 2020:
Gave the top a coat of what I used for the bench restore. Did some reinforcing underneath the table top. Legs were still shaky and not parallel. I think the legs were too long maybe.

Had to add some more reinforcements lower down which spoilt the minimalist look but fixed the parallel legs issue...

And it's a bit less shaky. If it lasts a couple a months I will be happy.

Can't propagate Ulam Raja

Most of the plants/veggie we have can be propagated with a cutting. I tried it with the Ulam Raja but it didnt work.
Firstly tried placing the cutting in water. It stayed alive but never sprouted roots.

The positive side to this was the stem that I cut it from sprouted new growth at the cut.

I tried another cutting today, this time placing it directly into moist soil.

The plant lasted only a few hours!

Only then did I do some research... this plant can only grow from seed :(

I have 4 tiny plants all grouped together in the garden. Tomorrow I am thinking maybe dig them up and try to spread them out a bit, hopefully to give the cutting points room to grow new branches. It just might be leaves that grow but we will see over time.

26 March 2020: Maybe i can propagate it. I found this article...
http://mytutorlist.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-to-propagate-cosmos.html
The leaves look a lot like the Ulam Raja. I will try this tomorrow.

30 March 2020: Haven't tried the new way yet. The original cutting that looked dead now shows some signs of life (just barely)

Tidying up project

So the left side of the house looked like this...

What a mess!

After laying out most of the stuff on our porch/driveway, it looked like this...

A bigger mess!! And that was not all of it!

Anyways I passed a lot of the plastic bottles to our neighbour who makes a few bucks from selling it. The bottles were for veggie planting experiments. If I ever get around to it, then I will start collecting again.

I had enough wood to make only 2 sides to the storage enclosure. but I think it served the purpose of keeping lots of stuff out of sight....

I had a heap of sticks and planks leaning on the grill...

Covered all that with a curtain (sack)...

They just announced another 2 weeks of the MCO (Movement Control Order). It was wishful thinking that it wouldn't happen. The reality is that we are going to be stuck here for quite some time before we cross this hurdle.

Lockdown project - pallet wood storage box

Spent most of today dismantling 2 pallets.

Used a car jack to pry apart some joints...

Also used this no nonsense video which really helped coz it showed you how to do it with no special tools.

The wood would go towards making some sort of storage box where I can stuff unsightly things.

Kangkung flower!!

What a sight!!

I have never seen a kangkung flower before.

It's one if the prettiest I've seen, classic lines and clean colour.

Lockdown project - fence and gate.

Today's harvest

Malaysia is on lockdown. So the past 3 days I have been keeping myself occupied building a fence around the pond and veggies, plus a simple gate.

The wood was mostly from pallets. Each piece was cut down the middle to provide 1 inch wide pillars, and maybe 1+ cm thick. 

I fastened the fence to the wood using heavy duty staples. In fact I experimented making the door using only staples. Both front and back like this...

Only time will tell if it works.

Btw I used this guide to build the gate. Really well explained and illustrated.

Tomorrow will be the toughest, putting hinges and planting a post that will be secure enough to hold the gate.

Bought my first powertool... a jigsaw

I have a powered drill but that was from my dad. But this was the first for me...

Dewalt DW349R jigsaw. Comes with a 3 year warranty.
Most memorable part of doing research on this before buying...sorting thru quite a few pages about jigsaw puzzles.

This was the makeshift working surface for the saw. A bit wobbly and dangerous though.

My first cut...

I need to watch more Youtube coz I had difficulty starting the cut without damaging/splintering the wood. These pieces will act as posts for the garden fence. The angled end so that I can hammer it into the earth. 

Misai Kucing starting to flower BUT...

The buds are out so fingers crossed this plant gives lots of flowers. The priority for me is to have flowers that attract bees. Currently there are next to zero bees in this area.

You can see the cardboard garden to the right in the background. Its working quite well and I will do an update on it in a later post.

Back to the Misai Kucing... BUT the leaves are being attacked. Lots of yellow patches. I have pruned heavily in the hope that the plant gets stronger over time.

23Mar2020 update: The white petals are visible...

24Mar2020 update: The "misai kucing" (cats whiskers) !!!

Calling all bees... please visit our Farm In The City.

Fatty

I came across this fat kangkung stem during today's harvest!! Never seen them this big before. The Climbing Perch (Puyu) pond water must be doing its job :)