A visit to a Permaculture Garden

Dear Family & Friends

One cold autumn's day, we got the opportunity to visit a permaculture garden open day event. We are very keen on this gardening method because it's more natural to do so. 

sharing and learning from each other

I read and watched so many videos to guide me along, but this is my first time to actually see a garden demonstration with other like-minded people. 

a pond to encourage a balance garden system

My fear of putting a pond in our garden is reassured. I wanted a pond to give home to frogs so they can eat the pest such as slugs and snails...on the other hand, I don't want to make a habitat for mosquitoes. I've learned that if you make a proper pond specifically to home the frogs...no mosquitoes will survive either! So... a natural pond building project is on my garden wish list now.

never leave soil exposed to wind and sun...mulch and let plants grow as cover

I'm not really attracted to a clean manicured garden. It's lovely to look at...but it is a lot of work to maintain. I just can't see the logic behind it and it's too much for me. To see veggies and flowers growing together in random to benefit each other is more appealing! Basically, it draws beneficial insects to take care of the garden pest and diseases. Soil is enriched which means our food is much more nutricious in it's content too...plus...lesser work por moi:)

mounting soil to create beds and trenches to hold water next to it

I've seen swales and mounted garden beds in demonstration. It's all makes sense and I really have to focus on implementing this as we have very dry garden. Mulching is a key issue. I want to direct my work energy in a more efficient way when gardening.

recycling what you have to use in the garden...forget about buying garden furniture

There's also the importance of understanding how some trees and shrubs can improve soil and retain moisture. In a forest, everything grows by itself in a rich and abundant way, with no human help nor intervention. No chemical fertilizers nor spray needed!

free leave mulches falling from existing trees - nature's beauty

Putting a lot of mulch in the garden is only a good thing for water retention and soil nutrients. So...don't sweep the garden clean...it's not necessary. Our soil is supposed to be dirty...that's why we also refer or call it 'dirt'.

propagating herbs to fill up one's garden is a good, cheap, and easy option

Working with nature is easier...I need to be wise and work is not about slavery. Keeping things simple is best for us. To solve my thirsty garden situation for next year, I started making swales while the ground was soft. All that digging kept me real warm on a very cold day but I didn't managed to finish all that I intent to do. It was time to have a break. The old body is going to groan badly tonight but tomorrow is coming with another sunny day to carry on.

All for today.. hope you have a good day too.

Yours

Preparations for next year's garden

Dear Family & Friends

For me, autumn seems to be the saddest season of the four we get in a year...but saying that...the cheerful perennial flowering plant - Chrysanthemum, flowers at this time of the year. I have so many of these plants lined in our garden and it does bring in a lot of cheers when most of the other plants starts to go  into deep sleep.

my new pink chrysanthemum gift plant from a sales lady in a garden shop

So, this year I planted more chrysanthemum, adding a few more new colour varieties too. I propagated a lot of the old ones to line up every nooks in our garden as well. If nothing else, next year will surely be a cheerful autumn season when they all come into bloom!

planted a long line of chrysanthemum to form a mini hedge

The man in our house has plan to upgrade the little hut in one corner of our garden for next year. Perhaps we will turn it into a summer kitchen?! With this in mind, I decided to change and upgrade the garden area leading to this little hut too. I will put a new pathway in the middle of this garden, under the cover of the lined grape vines. It should look good...

creating a new pathway under the grapevine area leading to the little hut at the end

There were three bushes of gooseberries in this area where the new pathway goes. We had to relocate them to a more sunny location, in between fruit trees in our newly created mini orchard. We were so happy with the outcome. Out of the three bushes, we managed to divide it into nine more gooseberry plants:)

lined up gooseberry bushes in between fruit trees

There are many division and propagations to do at this time of the year. It is the best way to fill up the garden with plants without spending a single penny!

We find gardening a very satisfying job...like my husband says: 'Annie lives in the garden!' If weather permits, I surely would! For now, our winter season has already arrived. The first snow of this season has already poured in...nothing much I could do. Hope you still can find some happy gardening days where you are!

Yours

Autumn fruit trees planting

Dear Family & Friends

So far, we have forty or so fruit trees already planted in our garden. But I thought I would still need around 6 more trees to fill up the mini orchard that I'm establishing. We dropped by the garden shop and brought home more fruit trees to join in the garden...probably after this, our garden won't and can't take more anymore!

Positioning the tree:  We're told to face the graft point facing 'south'

Fruit trees are good investment. Once established, they will bear fruits for years to come, with minimal care requirements. And who doesn't love fruits?  Fruits are good food!

It's good to add compost for a healthy start

Here's the five trees we planted this season:

1. Got another almond nut tree for a second tree. The first one is still OK but after 3 years, it is not really growing fast! So we need a back up.
2. A honey pear tree. The Sales lady went into detailed explanation on how sweet like honey the fruit is..and harvest time is later than other pear varieties. So I was sold out on that!
3. A pomagranate tree. This one cost only 4 euros...I paid 8 euros for the same tree two years ago, unfortunately it died on me...so, I want to have another go...after all, it's cheaper this time! Although all other fruit trees are priced for 2.50 euros only:)
4. A mystery tree. It looks like longish red fruit in clusters on the picture. I couldn't get the translated name in English. The sales lady said it's good for compote or as fruit juice. Sold again!
5. Persimmon. I've been looking for this fruit tree for years. Finally we found one! 

Planting fruit trees is a very satisfying job

Now that these trees are planted...we hope that by spring time, we will start seeing new shoots. In about three years, if not earlier, they would start bearing fruits for us to eat. Fruit trees take time to give the return, so it's good to plant them as soon as possible.

Another autumn gardening chore is done....but there's more for us to do. 

Wishing you a happy gardening day too:)

Yours,

I'm not sweeping the garden.

Dear Family & Friends

A sunny cool autumn day...crispy air to start with...but once I get going in the garden, it is still pleasant out there. Our village people are all very busy cleaning up their garden. Every plants harvested and yanked out. Most of our village neighbours' garden are immaculately clean...not a drop of dead leaf! They put them all in the dumpster!!  

my autumn garden

Mine still looks fairly full, although some plants has already given up, some are still hanging on. Perhaps I should chop them down as they are not so pretty anymore...but I still see a lot of butterflies and bees still hovering and benefiting it's last blooms....I just don't have the heart to take their food source out for the sake of a clean looking garden. So, my excuse of leaving half dead flowering bushes! I also let fallen Quince fruits on the ground to rot...because many butterflies enjoy the rotting fruit sap. Insects are still very busy during the sunny hours of the day...but when colder days arrive, food source will be very limited for them:(

we mulched garden beds with as much autumn leaves as we could collect

I'm not aiming for a perfectly clean garden...it's good to leave them messy for the benefit of the soil microbes. In fact, we're gathering the fallen autumn leaves from the village centre to cover and enrich our soil....now..this practice puzzles our neighbours even more!!

another beautiful day promised for tomorrow

Our sun has gone away on holiday for the past few days...now it's back...I've got to go out and face my chores. I wish you a happy gardening day ...or simply a nice day outside for a couple of hours too:)

Yours

The Cucamelon

Dear Family & Friends

From time to time, I get adventurous and would try growing food that I never grew or have eaten before. Cucamelon is one of them. A blogger at www.englishhomestead.com offered some seed, although I'm most timid to come forward, I summoned all courage because I've been fascinated about this plant but didn't know where I could buy them from locally. I'm ever so grateful for Kevin's kindness since and will always be.

The cucamelon has now settled happily in our garden:)

The first year with growing cucamelon wasn't a success. I only got about four tiny fruits. I was anxious but I managed to save all four fruits for seeds. Perhaps these seeds got acclimatized to our climate, because this year, the plants just took off with great enthusiasm! 

cucamelons are so cute...looks like a miniature watermelon, doesn't it?

I'm harvesting cucamelons every other day and it's producing many tiny fruit that taste lemony..my first time to taste this and we like it for snacking!

close up look of a cut cucamelon

Cucamelon or mouse melon is more a cucumber to me than a melon:) It's cute and perfect as snack food. It's very prolific in producing fruits! Cucamelon will just have to stay and join our happy garden onwards.

It's a climbing vine and they grow on a fast rate - by the minute!

When we garden, we don't just grow fruits and veggies...but we also grow knowledge. It's another good reason why we garden.

Be encouraged to garden and wishing you a happy gardening time:)

Yours

Success and Failures in our garden

Dear Family & Friends

Every gardening year is different from the last. Most of it has something to do with the weather pattern, the timing of sowing and planting, plus soil condition. There's always the successes and failures - but that is not important...I just take in the joy of all surprises that comes our way, then dream and hope for a better one - next time!

My first time success with luffa - I'm happy:)

I have my share of garden failures, but today I am sharing you my garden joy. As you can see, this year I pat myself for I managed to grow luffa that bear us some fruits to eat and use - for the first time after my 3 attempts!! It took me 3 years!!

This one will be left to become sponge and for seed saving

Look...just loook!! The fruit looks good, heavy and big, although the leaves and the whole plant seems pathetically small. I have about 10 fruits out of the whole packet of seeds I've sown in early summer, which came to about 5 plants! I am already happy with that. I will leave 3 big fruits to dry, get its seeds (my very own this time) and turn it into luffa sponge. The rest of the fruits will be cooked. It's delicious eaten as stir fry with garlic and tomatoes - using the young fruits.

my rows of 5 buckets of the exotic kang kong plant:)

Another exotic plant that I never give up with is the Kang Kong. (also known as water spinach or cong xin cai). It's not a local plant, so it gives me a lot of challenges...but it's my comfort food. As a child I never like eating veggies but somehow I like eating this, stir fried with just garlic and salt.

leafy kangkong greens which is a cut and come again plant

This plant doesn't grow robustly here as it is more of a tropical plant. I plant them in buckets and water them as much as I should. Every now and again, I snip the leaves for cooking...you need a lot of it because they just shrink once cooked. Oh...it's so precious here -that I have to divide a small bowl of this stir fry into 4 to share...LOL! I'm thinking of ways to overwinter them so that next year I can replant a lot more - for the moment, I'm not too sure if I will succeed on this plan.

Aloe vera,  boxwood cuttings, apples from seeds, citrus plant - growing in pots for the time being

There are many other plants I like to grow which need extra care that I'm not prepared to do. This year, I grew aloe vera. From last winter's mandarin oranges we ate, two citrus plants sprouted from seeds! A few boxwood cuttings I potted because I'm hoping to trim them for indoor decor. There's few apples that sprouted from seeds that came along the pot of tomato seedlings that a neighbor gave us this year. These are bits and pieces of plants that I'm experimenting with:)

our boxwood that was attacked by moth :( really sad looking.

When you learn as you go, everything seems exciting. Although not everything will go well as I dream it to be. The above photo of a big boxwood in our garden was attacked by moth this year. I didn't know and understand what was happening that time - until the aftermath. Now...I'm wiser...just hoping it will recover.

drying onion seed head blown by the wind and landed into this tub

It's time to sow veggie seeds that would grow in cooler days. I should be more meticulous with this chore, but sometimes it doesn't turn out as I planned it to be. In a tub of soil fell my onion seed head, blown by the wind, so they sprout in bunches. It's still a keeper...I will dig and separate them individually to replant on garden beds later on. For the moment they are all growing haphazardly:) They're happy - I'm happy:) 

Sometimes it's good to just chill out. I wish you a happy week too:)

Yours

Making a garden room

Dear Family & Friends

As years pass by, slowly I see our garden getting more established. The trees are taking shape, the perennial plants are happy where we planted them as they come back year after year. Annual plants are left to seed, so they can replant themselves the following year. Our goal is to have minimum maintenance garden...and it is taking place:) 

In progress garden room project by the water well area

Gardening is not a big chore...only if you choose it to be. Having found some inspiration, we recently made a garden room around the water well area. With just a few long straight tree branches we stole took from a nearby private land forest (there was no one to ask), we simply attached it to four post. This year I planted bottle gourd to climb over it to form a green living wall. A wooden cover is also made to cover the top of the well. The next thing I plan to do is to stick a mosaic tiles around the well structure. That's coming soon as time permits. Planned projects sometimes take time...but it's all part of gardening...a day at a time!

Stone crop sedum started to bloom

The ground around the water well is poor and sandy. But I've noticed that the stone crop sedum I've planted last year started blooming! Obviously the plant likes the stony soil in that area.

...with pretty pale pink colour

There's a lot of pleasant surprises I find in the garden...the beauty of this sedum flowers are just some of the little joys that I think everyone should have from time to time. Have you found some time to enjoy the beauty around you lately?

Hope you have a lovely day that will bring you great joy too:)

Yours

A dog who loves flower came to visit

Dear Family & Friends

While doing some work outside by the roadside garden of our home, a stray dog came by. He looked hungry, so the two girls went in the house to get some food for him. He happily ate it.

a stray dog came passing by... and we served him a dainty sandwich...

He hang around for a while to watch us tend the little garden by the roadside.

afterwards, he helped himself to a stem of summer flower we were growing...

The next thing we knew, he went and grab a stem of rudbeckia flower that we grew in our roadside garden.

He stayed awhile to watch us worked, then, he got up and remembered to pick up the bloom

He carried it with him...and I think he is taking it back to where he lives. I've never seen a dog who knows how to take cut flower home...perhaps, it's for his girlfriend!

I'm sure he said thank you and goodbye as he heads home taking the flower with him :)

Glad this dog got a sandwich from the girls that day and even had a helping with a beautiful cut flower to take away:) We haven't seen the dog come by again...perhaps he got married and life got busy.

Oh...just a silly dog story for you today. But I do hope you have a good day and wishing you - all good things your way too:)

Yours

Our Herbal Garden - Cottage Garden in May

Dear Family & Friends

It had been a tough week. The fire disaster in Fort McMurray in Alberta was a sad shocking news for me, as my brother's house was one of those that was burned down completely:(  but at least no one is injured. In our home, 2 out of 4 got food poisoning after enjoying a plate of yummy roast mutton and risotto rice from our neighbour. We were knocked out flat for two full days...at least. The two girls were spared because they are always skeptical about eating meat!

chamomille blooms 

So, it was time to indulge on more herbal tea to aid the mind and body. Chamomille is growing all over the garden. They are very good herbal tea to calm you down of stress...just a soothing thing for the mind and body.  It's also time to collect chamomille to dry them for future use when season is over.

chamomille tea

I must show you the state of my herbal garden since mid-april till this day. It is just so full that we really need to get our acts together...to gather and use them. They are also starting to bloom making the garden look so pretty in their chaotic stage.

my herb garden is packed

In our vegetable garden...it's more or less the same...everything is filled to the brim with veggies going into full bloom...sending all sorts of bees and butterflies in frenzy! Most of them are winter veggies bolting into seeds. I just love this sort of chaos. Soon, I will collect the seeds to store for future sowing and use.

the vegetable garden is chaotic and beautiful

This year, the granny bonnet plant decided to sow themselves everywhere too...so this spring, there's just so many flower heads that attract great big blue bees that sounds like hovering helicopter.

granny's bonnet - aquigelia are everywhere too

I know the garden is always calling my name...but, I feel like chilling out a bit with more cups of herbal tea. Life sometimes calls us to the slow lane too. Wishing you a much better week than what I had.

Yours

What a blessing!

Dear Family & Friends

All hidden bulbs in the ground have slowly presented themselves. I planted grape hyacinths a few years back and they have multiplied themselves since then. I love the blue flowers, although the leaves looks a bit messy...nonetheless, I still like them the way they are. I have been propagating it, simply by dividing and planting them in every corners of the garden.

Aren't these blue grape hyacinth beautiful?

All these gardening chores sometimes makes me forget about the time...the lunch time. But I am glad that if I prepare the meal before I venture to the garden...and assign my little girl to keep an eye on the cooking...she would even dish it out to make it presentable for all to enjoy.

Giving and sharing her love with this meal presentation

And yes, they have to remember to call me back into the house for the family lunch together... perhaps, I should carry some sort of a timer with me...From time to time, giving responsibility to your children, you also give them the sense of achievement, and working as part of the family unites us and brings us even more closer.

our simple family lunch presented with much love

Today, I just have to scrape and wash the dirt off my fingernails from gardening and I am ready to enjoy a beautifully presented lunch meal. I am blessed. I wish you all the blessings too:)

Yours 

Do you do seasonal chores?

Dear Family & Friends

There are things we tend to do in season.. planting certain plants are one of those. I usually go to the market to get my onion sets for planting, but this year, I want to grow 'shallots' instead. After explaining what a shallot is to a grandfather market vendor, he assured me that the onion sets I'm buying would produce multiple onions per plant. Sounds like shallot, although it looks just like the usual onion sets to me!! I got 1/2 a kilo worth costing just under 50 pence:) and this will be enough, if not more, for our whole year's supply!

My first shallot sets to grow in the garden this year

Whilst I'm busy sowing, planting, and growing things in the garden, inside the house, my girls are also inspired to arrange and rearange their bedroom layout and clothes in their wardrobe and drawers.

shirts neatly  rolled in drawer - done by colour and design..I heard!

Sometimes, chores that are repetitive, done seasonally, can bring comfort. At least they don't require much thinking and for a minute or two, the brain cells can have a little holiday break;P That's how I figure it for myself.

Well, I wish you have some comfort in everything that you are doing today too. Enjoy the work of your hands this week:)

Yours

The beginning of our Garden

Dear Family & Friends

Year 2011, our garden was a wilderness. We bought it as an unoccupied property for a couple of years. There were few fruit trees: Quince, apples, pear, plum and cherry...besides that, lots of overgrown self seeding weeds everywhere. To be honest with you, I have no clue on how to start gardening. But I know that I must do something rather than nothing.

This was our garden when we first arrived in this home

The sight was overwhelming...everywhere was messy and we don't have much help except for our own little family of four in a foreign land. Some days, I feel just like this little girl in the photo below! 

Desperate or Exhausted?

Yet, we never allow defeat before we even got the chance to give it a try. Out of the sky flew a white lost hen...no one owns it and it became ours. Our first hen stayed and roamed in our garden...I'm sure she was somehow responsible in keeping down the pesky bugs in our garden and contributed some valuable food manure to aid our dead soil. and...she was a fun character!

Our first chicken tractor...our only garden helper in our little jungle

The beginning was tough...the weeds were self seeding faster than we could stop them...the summer heat caused them to grow taller than my little girls. Little by little, the task was tackled...many nights ,the weary body was comforted with a goodnight rest and ready to start again the following morning.

This was the healthy tall weed variety we used to grow

The goal was not to have a jungle...I wanted a garden to grow good food for the family. Without giving up, our garden eventually became our food source...not just for people...but also for the ecology...at least the plot that we live in. We now have a beautiful natural garden and it is getting better each year.

Can't leave grass to grow as tall as me because we don't have giraffes to feed

I read somewhere that: 

•  if you want to be happy for a short time...get drunk
• if you want to be happy for a long time ...fall in love
• if you want to be happy forever... take gardening

I'm not sure all of the above are true...but I can say that the last strategy point does bring therapeutic joy to living. 

Wishing you a successful strategy. Happy Gardening.

Yours