MY GARDENING ACTIVITY DIARY - 6TH JULY

My gardening activities had gone up a few notches, and this was made possible with the help of Mr. Eko who comes to my house regularly.

Today we tried to plant the seeds of Winged Beans [LOCAL: Kacang Botol] and Sweet Corns.

We also tried to get a few pieces of Sugar Cane plants cultivated outside the house fence.

We will see whether the project is going to be a success or not.

HARVESTING TAPIOCA IN THE GARDEN AND THE END PRODUCTS

My helper, Mr. Eko, was happy to see there were tapioca plants in the garden behind my house. I planted them many years ago but had never dug up any. Only the young leaves of the plants were picked to be cooked and eaten.

The harvest was in abundance and we had had all sorts of tapioca based food prepared in the kitchen.

The tapioca was steamed in Mr. Eko's house.

Meanwhile, my sister had the tapioca fried.

Mr, Eko was kind enough to give me an Indonesian food: grated fried tapioca which was delicious.

We plan to plant more tapioca for the next project in the garden.

FROM THE BOX INTO THE POTS

A package was placed beside the front door and I realized its presence early in the morning as I was coming home from the "surau" [TRANSLATE: small mosque] on Sunday morning, 30th June 2024.

The name of the sender was not written on the box or anywhere but I could easily guess who the sender was. There were six packets of Rain Lily plants couriered straight to my house by a friend who also shares the same passion.

Only two days after opening the box, I had the opportunity to transfer the plants into the pots. I actually bought the pots from the nursery near my house on Sunday evening, and I still have organic soil stock at home.

I managed to do complete the task and prayed that it would not rain before I finished my job. It had been raining these few days here and gardening would not be something possible when it rained non stop. It is now time to pray for the plants to grow healthily and bloom later.

the expected blooms

Thanks again to Puan Sharon Taty Mokhtar, a friend of UPM TESL Class of 1993, for sending me the plants. And this was not the first or second time she did that. Only Allah may repay your kind gesture.

GETTING MY TIME KILLED

This MCO [movement control order] has limited one's movements and activities so I have to find a way to kill time. My organic soil was delivered to my house and I am so ready to play gardener again. This should be the third time I got my gardening items sent to my doorsteps, which was very convenient. Hence, I could things bought in bulk, something my (old) car could not accommodate.

There are numerous projects in my head so just hope I have both the time and determination to make all the plans work.

DETERMINATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS

I remembered I bought three packets of vegetable seeds earlier during the MCO period and I guess I had to not let these seeds go to waste even though my first and second attempts at sowing were in vain.

So we shall wait for a few more weeks to see if any vegetables or plants will sprout out of the soil.

From the previous activity, there is only one lady finger plant that is growing healthily and hope that it will survive for many more weeks to come.

THE DAY THE NURSERY CAME TO ME

I am so ready to start gardening again after the fasting month. I tried not to be under the hot, scorching sun in the month of Ramadhan for the fear I might get thirsty easily. Today, my stock of organic top soil and fertilizer and other related items were sent to my home as I bought quite a lot this time.

I actually went to "Nature at Work" Nursery the day before [27th MAY} to get all the things I wanted. To my surprise, there were a lot of visitors to the place and it was even difficult to secure a parking spot. People seem to be more interested and excited to do gardening during the MCO [Movement Control Order] period.

As the new normal, everybody would have to register their names and sanitize their hands so as to prevent from being infected by the evil COVID-19 virus.

I had to tell myself not to buy any new plants as I still need to tend many others that I already have at home. Let's pray for sunny days ahead as the intermittent regular rain is not good fot gardening.

THE KPI THAT WAS ACHIEVED DURING THE MCO PERIOD TODAY

Too much focus had been put to all kinds of work in the backyard and it was time to shift the attention to the front lawn. It was time for repotting activity for the hibiscus plants that needed new and nutritious soil as well as bigger spaces to live in.

Fortunately, I always keep some organic soil and pots at home as they would be important if I suddenly decide to carry out gardening.

before

To be able to get the hibiscus plant out of the old pots was already an achievement. Sometimes they would get stuck and pulling them out could cause damage to the plants.

Just look at the intertwined roots that looked like the intestines which had to be cut off. No wonder the plants' growth was stunted and they looked unhealthy.

after

The task was successfully done and the KPI of the day was achieved. While some people posted on the social media their skin complexion has become a few tones brighter after staying for too long inside the house, on the contrary, my tan is already a few shades darker. With all the gardening work in the sun, I manage to maintain all the three criteria nonetheless: tall, dark and handsome.

As you can see, my organic soil stock is running dangerously low. I will have to call the nursery I use to visit and ask the boss or the staff whether they could do delivery during the MCO period. For the time being, let's just pray the hibiscus plants in the three pots will be growing well and healthy.

THE FARMING ACTIVITY MUST GO ON DURING THE MCO PERIOD

We were informed yesterday the Movement Control Order would be extended for the next phase to fight against the COVID-19. Quick action must be taken so that I will have something to do for the next 17 days onward. So let's experiment more as I still have packets of unopened vegetables seeds in the drawer. I am planting Angle Luffa [Malay: Petola] and Angle Bean (printed on the packets) but I check the Internet, it is called Winged Bean [Malay: Kacang Botol, or is it Kacang Botor?]

winged beans seeds

luffa seeds

the luffa seeds went into this

the winged beans seeds safely planted

Now I shall religiously observe every single day if any new shoots would protrude out of the soil.

If you are wondering, how is the progress of my previous attempt sowing the seeds of the lady fingers and long beans [READ HERE],  here are the results after 18 days. Nothing happened in the DIY pot containing the long beans seeds BUT three small plants popped out in the lady's fingers container. Let's pray they will grow strong and healthy so I can transfer them into bigger pots.

GARDENING DURING THE MCO PERIOD

24th MARCH 2020 ~ This gardening project was done in the closest proximity to the front door of my house during the Movement Control Order (MCO), or any other relevant names given, of the corona virus outbreak.

I found these packets of vegetable seeds in the drawer and so happened I had stock of organic soil bought earlier from the nursery. The first step was to cut the two huge water bottles I had at home and reuse them as the temporary pots. After cutting the plastic containers into half, I had to drill a few holes at the bottom so as to allow extra water to flow out of the soil.

To make long story short, the seeds were safely sowed in the pots and let's wait and see whether this project will be successful. Hope I could have my own vegetables in the garden really soon. And I have 21 long days to carry out my observation and at the same time to find other things to do to occupy my time. *sigh*