Edibles Growing In My Garden

These days, I have not been out for foodie hunt so today, I will share about the edibles growing in my garden.

Bitter Lettuce.

I got the seeds from a friend.

From the first sowing of seeds, only 2 seedlings sprouted successfully.

I thought the success rate was low, so I sowed all the remaining seeds and these sprouted. These are now grown in the veggie patch in front of my house next to my neighbour's.

Corn plants in the front veggie patch.

I have 4 yam beans growing in black plastic bags in the front garden. Hope there is something for me to harvest in the near future.

Skinny cauliflower plants.

Green brinjals.

Chili plants are still fruiting.

Snake long beans seedlings newly transferred to these big pots.

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We found the following mural during our short trip to Penang in 2022.

Children flying kites.

This mural was painted on the side wall of a corner shop.

Linking to Monday Mural.

The rich man thinks of his wealth as an impregnable defense,

a high wall of safety. What a dreamer!

(Proverbs 18:11, The Living Bible-TLB)

Cucumbers, Brinjals, Long Beans & Cauliflower From My Garden

Today's post is a mixture of bits and pieces or mish mash of photos I have taken.

Passing by 2 pigeons on one of our morning walk.

Waiting for this home grown plant to bear cauliflower.

Cucumbers hanging from the vine in my garden.

Green brinjals or eggplants harvested from 3 plants.

The above were harvested one day earlier.

One of the long beans is more than 25 inches long.

Every now and then, I have to check for these mealy bugs that hide under the brinjal leaves. I have to cut them off to prevent them from spreading to other leaves.

These black ants love to feed on the mealy bugs and also help to spread the mealy bugs to other plants. Someone recommended using washing dishes liquid detergent and water solution to spray on them which I have yet to test it out.

One evening I found this dragonfly clinging on the edge of a wooden frame on the wall.

It was showing its belly or the underside of its body. I tried to catch it to release it outside the house but it flew away and I couldn't find it. I found it dead on the floor the next morning. If it didn't fly away, I could have saved it.

Linking to Saturday's Critters.

A witness who tells the truth saves good men from being sentenced

to death, but a false witness is a traitor.

(Proverbs 14:25, The Living Bible-TLB)

Bananas & Cauliflower In My Garden

In an earlier post, I mentioned how my potted banana tree has started to bear fruit. That was about a month ago.

I wanted to plant a banana tree for the leaves for cooking purposes. As the tree grows taller, the leaves were beyond my reach and I was thinking of cutting down the tree. Before I could actually cut it down, I noticed it has started to bear fruit. What a pleasant surprise and I was overjoyed.

Here you can see the small green bananas.

It actually has 3 combs of bananas on the stalk.

There is one big comb and 2 smaller combs of bananas.

Every morning I check on the bananas. I don't know how long they will take to ripen.

Every banana tree will bear fruit only once.

Before these bananas ripen, the mother plant has already sent forth 2 small shoots coming out from the soil. I will be getting 2 new banana plants to replace this one.

A cauliflower seedling in a pot in my garden.

Cauliflower plant growing in another pot.

I am eagerly looking forward to see sign of a cauliflower.

My home grown cauliflower, harvested a few months earlier.

It is very encouraging to see the plants growing well and getting to harvest my garden's produce.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday & My Corner of the World.

Even in old age they will still produce fruit

and be vital and green.

(Psalm 92:14, The Living Bible-TLB)

Growing Cauliflower In My Garden

This is the 2nd time I tried to grow cauliflower in my garden. The first time was in January, 2018 and the cauliflower didn't turn out well and was small in size. If you are interested, you can click here to read about it. I sowed a few cauliflower seeds and only 3 sprouted. I forgot to jot down the date, so I can't tell you how long it took for the cauliflower to form. When the seedlings were big enough, I transferred them into individual bigger pots.

They kept growing and everyday, I will be looking out for sign of cauliflower.

I even peeped into the centre to check.

The leaves were big and waxy on the surface.

I even doubted whether the seeds I sowed were Chinese Kai Lan or Cauliflower.

Finally, one morning I noticed something different at the centre.

I used my hand phone to zoom in to take a closer look.

Yes! This was clearly a cauliflower! Hooray!

The 3 plants formed their cauliflower at different time.

From the size of a ping pong ball, it grew to the size of a tennis ball.

Beautiful cauliflower.

Can you see the little fly resting on the cauliflower?

This is another one of the cauliflower.

Beautiful creamy colour.

Out of the 3 plants, this was the first cauliflower to form. Before I could harvest it, it started to turn purple. One of the reasons could be due to over exposure to the sun. I checked with Google and found that it is still edible but the taste may not be as good as the normal white or beige.

This cauliflower was about the size of my palm at the time of harvest.

I blanched the cauliflower and drizzled garlic oil and roasted sesame dressing for dinner.

This is the 2nd cauliflower which I have just harvested together with some green chilies. These green chilies will rot before they are fully ripen. A check with Google revealed that it could be due to blossom end rot which is deficiency in calcium in the soil. Some said it could be due to too much water.

I still have one last cauliflower in the garden waiting to be harvested any day soon. This is the best part of gardening. Getting to see the plants grow, harvesting and getting to taste the fruits is the best reward. Feeling very encouraged, I am going to sow some more cauliflower seeds again.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday & My Corner of the World.

Anxious hearts are very heavy,

but a word of encouragement does wonders!

(Proverbs 12:25, The Living Bible-TLB)

Spicy Fried Noodle, Stewed Tai Sai Keok & Confinement Noodle

This was a Saturday morning. The morning was nice and cool, very quiet and peaceful. I opened the gate and went out to take some sunrise shots.

Sunrise at 6:50am.

6:58am - getting ready to start our morning walk.

When we passed by this house, the dog was as usual sitting on top of the car, guarding the front of the house.

On the way back home, we stopped to buy a packet of economy spicy fried noodle (Indian style). That morning, I don't feel like eating spicy fried noodle. I ate 4 cream crackers with peanut jam and apricot jam.

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Lunch

Our neighbour bought for us stewed pork leg and chicken feet aka "big small leg" (tai sai keok in Cantonese).

It was still hot and smelled nice.

I cooked dried noodle. No need to toss with oil or soy sauce. Just toss the noodle with the stewed gravy. Thanks to our neighbour for this delicious lunch.

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Home cooked dinner.

Cauliflower harvested from my garden. This cauliflower started off looking like the normal white cauliflower. Then as it grows bigger, purple tinge started to appear. I googled and found that it is edible as long as there is no strange smell or any infestation.

I washed and cut the cauliflower into small pieces. Then I blanched the cauliflower in hot boiling water. Drizzled with some roasted sesame dressing.

That evening I cooked "confinement noodle soup" with my home made glutinous rice wine. It is called confinement noodle because this is good for women who have just given birth. This confinement soup helps to warm up their body post delivery during the confinement month.

Ingredients used for the soup: Sesame oil, ginger strips, minced meat, wood fungus cut into strips, red dates, goji berries, rice wine, water and salt to taste. The amount of wine and water depends on your personal preference.

I added 2 fried eggs and for noodle, I used Sitiawan meesua (thick version). It is about the size of the rice vermicelli. I personally prefer the thinner version. This confinement soup also goes well with rice. It is best eaten during the monsoon seasons to help keep us warm.

He sends the snow in all its lovely whiteness,

scatters the frost upon the ground,

and hurls the hail upon the earth.

Who can stand before his freezing cold?

But then he calls for warmer weather,

and the spring winds blow and all the river ice is broken.

(Psalm 147:16-18, The Living Bible-TLB)