bitter gourd ripens fast

I couldn't see to the garden for 2 days and this was what I harvested from the bitter gourd vine. Thank God no insects got to it.

Luckily it wasn't mushy, just slightly on some parts. Most of it was still useable. Did the usual coat with salt for an hour, then rinse. I chucked it into a hot pan, then added garlic. A bit of soy sauce and (homemade pineapple) vinegar for flavour... I like the mix of 3 flavours... bitter, salty and sour. And finally when dry/fried enough, scrambled in an egg. 

losing nearly 50% kangkung to white flies

These tiny white flies suck the life out of plants. and they multiply underneath the leaves which make them tough to spot. They seem to love kangkung and chili leaves.

You can see clear evidence of them here...

making way for banana tree #5

 Just finished chopping down and composting tree #3. Tree #4 is relatively straight.

I will choose which shoot to allow to grow into #5 once #4 puts out the final leaf with the fruit. 

Too many split bananas

Too many split bananas. I was hoping it would ripen from top to bottom but it's all happening at the same time. Time to harvest it all. As we removed each comb, starting the top-most, we found more and more damaged fruit hiding below. 

Most went into the compost, some went into a fertiliser tea.

The tree was smaller than the earlier ones and we didn't expect to get as many fruits this time. True we had less fruit but they were definitely fatter. Sweetness... I think the first tree was the best, but this one was still sweet. 

The harvest today. Total haul about 7 combs, no make that 8 coz we cut one a couple of days back thats not in this pic.

Artificial vinegar with a SCOBY!

haha just kidding. I placed my 1st attempt at ACV in this old vinegar bottle. 

The ACV was not as strong as I wanted so relegated it to washing veggies and cleaning. It grew a healthy-looking SCOBY though.

Mixed salad

 An assortment from the garden for today's lunch... mostly leaves with some damage

That long funny odd shaped leaf on the top right is one of the newer greens I have started. There is also a small curly leaf kale plant that I completely uprooted coz it was small and yellowing before I could harvest any mature leaves. A tiny brinjal. Bottom left was a  Malabar spinach shoot that popped up between some other plant. It was far from any climbing surface so removed it. The flat kale on the top left were mostly leaves with browning tips. Oh yeah and some tomatoes from our dying plant that just keeps on giving!!

banana tree #3 starting to ripen fruit

I should have cut this comb earlier. 

After realising one fruit was overripe and had split, I cut the whole comb and ...F*&@!!! discovered I had lost 4! 

My fault completely for not removing it earlier. 

The smell was so sweet and strong. So dumped them into the compost with a brick on top of the lid in case it attracts big-ish pests like squirrels, bats, whatever.

Replacing some neem leaves

 The neem has been soaking in water for over a month now. The water has turned into a tea colour. 

There are some chili and garlic scraps in there too. Removed a bunch of old leaves (into the compost) and replaced with some new ones...

chili plant

Neighbour passed me a few chili plants to try out...

24 Dec 2020 update: I have 3 growing. My neighbour warned me it would attract pests. I have managed to keep them at bay. But the leaves on 2 of the plants are really off.

The 3rd one is looking better.

Flowers have appeared. I hope they survive and get pollinated. 

The 3 plants were planted at the same time, and next to each other. This healthier one gets the most sun, so maybe that's a priority for the next chili plant I try growing. 

31Dec2020 update : the flowers aren't doing well. the petals are all dropping off.

5Jan2021 update: chili!!!!!

I spotted a couple which managed to fruit. There's hope yet.

28 Jan 2021 update: Despite the leaves being yellow, the fruit are doing good. 

3 Feb 2021 update: Changing colour!

apple cider vinegar number 3

Time to clear out the freezer. Accumulated 1 kg of apple scraps, 1032g to be precise.

Ori recipe calls for 1 heaped teaspoon sugar per apple. According to Google, medium apple is about 180g so added 6 heaped teaspoons of sugar.

200ml of my ginger bug to act as the yeast at the start of stage 1 in the fermentation.

Enough water to cover, which was 1400ml.

Weighed it down with a bag of water.

Will leave for 2 weeks before decanting and adding the mother from the last batch.

 

Nandos tomato

 Bought some takeaway from Nandos. Their chicken is the best. It cam with a mixed salad. The tomato was almost a perfect circle, and sweet... sweeter than our tomatoes.BUT I would choose ours every time. Ours is more firm, and you can taste the fact that it was plucked minutes ago.

I'm holding the Nandos tomato. The five on the plate are ours. fyi the veggie on the right is called ivy gourd. One of the houses I pass by while exercising... the owner gave me a bunch. (The same lady who gave me the sayur manis some time back)

Bentong ginger from Bentong

Ginger plant #3

Just came back from Bentong. Bought a few pieces of ginger that were selling at half price coz it was old and drying out. 

But it had quite a few shoots starting up so I thought I would give it a chance, planting some of it. 

This piece was about 15cm long, 12cm wide. And it had 3 main parts...

All the best Bentong ginger #2. 

23Oct2020: a few shoots appearing.

10 May 2021 update: harvested.

Learnt easier way counter the leaning banana tree

The tree is slanting badly. Previously it was a 2 person (tough) job to counter the slanting tree with a rope. But it was all because we didnt know the proper knot. Anyways I came across this which makes it so much easier...

Forward to 6:41 for the one I used.

Fish pond water must be slowly paying off

The fish pond water is the main source of nutrients for the plants. The brinjal has been fruiting more and slightly bigger too. 

Ignore the bitter gourd. That fellow is big coz my expert neighbour takes care of it.