Monday 30 May 2011

The Kitchen Garden

Tumeric, lime, lemongrass and curry
Curry leaves, hidden behind the lime in picture above

Pandan outside the home perimeter. My ex-neighbor received a warning letter from PJC for planting tapioca outside hers. My pandan has so far dodged the authorities, or more likey they just let it be...
Chilies, one in a broken pot and another on the vegetable patch. Where is the rest of the vegetable patch? Well...there is a patch but no vegetables yet. Watch this space

Pandan has been used for nasi lemak and to flavour the gula melaka for sagu gula melaka and made someone very happy, yum, yum. Curry leaves - what else? to make various types of curries ie chicken, beef, brinjals.  Lime, lemongrass and tumeric leaves for rendang, masak lemak cili padi. The repertoire of receipes is limited but I also cook!

Planning the garden

 
Read this book when I was starting the garden, a lot of useful information - marked the pages with the yellow stickers
See...very useful
So I made a plan for my garden...like so
First, decide which type of garden that you want to have. I love the English Cottage Garden best ( hate Rock Garden and Japanese Garden), but this is the tropics! Besides, I don't do well with flowering plants especially the Cottage Garden must have ie roses. And I have no idea how the plants are arranged to give that rambling look. Its called 'layering' - taller plants at the back, shorter ones at the front but still I have no clue how to do it. So...I decided I will have a Tropical English Garden instead (the only one ever existed I'm sure), with a kitchen garden at the back and my favourite fruit trees as well.

Thursday 26 May 2011

Snail

How did this one got up there? This is about 1 m high


Saturday 21 May 2011

Currently blooming...

I think this is a type of rhododendron. The leaves are very much like our common senduduk but the flower is not quite the same. Very good at flowering all the time
One of the most elegant flowers, orchids

Another one...just as elegant
Cheerful yellow hibiscus
Yesterday-today-tomorrow but only two colours for today
Is this a type of lavender?
Rain lilies

White bougainvillea
Begonia with tiny pink flowers
Japanese rose? The Japanese surely have a different name for it
Pink periwinkle

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Simply Gardenology

Almost everything is both art and science. How much art and how much science depend on how you look at it. Here…are the adventures in the art and science of gardening from someone who does it just simply…