bloom & harvest!

More photos from my tiny garden! Maybe its because its the rainy season, the plants grew really well~ plants in mounds on top of the raised beds! Let me share some more of my favorite here!

 My tiny 'common jasmine orange' bloom this morning {aka murraya paniculata}!

Plant with sweet-smelling flowers, very fragrant ones! Some said it smell close to frangipani, some said gardenia, or jasmine! 

Personally, i think it smells like frangipani.

Can you believe that i grow them from little seeds? The plant nursery owner plucked few of the red fruits from the tree and gave it to me, and asked me to try and grow myself.

Now, this smell like jasmine! hehe ~ my jasmine that bloom once in awhile!

If you have jasmine plant, ill recommend you hand-picking some of the flowers, boil pot of water and make a cup of 
tea with fresh jasmine blossoms. You will know what is the difference! 

 Transplanted some of the basil seedlings into a bigger space - wooden box that i picked up from recycling center! This is the smallest box, i got one in medium and one in large size, they are used for spring onions growing!

Harvest part of my pandan leaves over the weekend, gave 2 bright bunches to our neighbor / another 2 for the grocery store that near my house, initially i'm given it as a gift, but the lady boss said they are going to sell it~ so as the exchange of goods - they gave me some calamansi & pay me another RM1.80 for that 2 bunches! ^_^ How great that can earn some money from what i grow, it made me so happy!

on-growing spring onions! 

  My 'giant' aloe vera plant is growing way too big and has a bit out of control! Hehe, also i have just transplanted them into a BIG pot!

Lately, i am attempting to make DIY aloe vera gel myself and also to cook chinese sweet dessert! The diy aloe vera gel are use to reduce my acne problem & pimple scarring! Been watching lots of related video on youtube and info from the web!

Will share if its really effective. Kids, don't try it yourself as
outer skin of the aloe vera plant can be toxic. Only aloe vera gel at the center part can be consume & use on your skin.

Have you ever try sauté fresh aloe with sesame? I am going to try that!

Enjoy pruning and pinching the butterfly pea plant regularly, it will become more bushy and it will rebloom again and again! 

my favorite succulent plant lately, bought a little pot last year christmas and now i have 2 pots from propagating!

plants in my garden lately

This is how things are going in my garden, malaysia has been having a bit of a rainy season lately!

everything looks green, fresh and lively after the rains!

My sweet basil plants grow faster, thicker & fuller now! Currently browsing on recipes using fresh basil! In my to-cook list - thai basil chicken, pad ka-prao (spicy stir fry minced pork with basil), spicy egg plant with sweet basil and many more.

Say hello to my favourite plant - hydrangea, it has the most beautiful flower. I have about 6 pots of hydrangeas at home. Dad gave me few pots when i moved in to my new home, then i propagate some new babies from the cuttings/stems.

My hydrangea have just recovered, they almost died during my chinese new year holiday last 2 months. As we went home for about 2 weeks, no one is helping us to water the plants, and the weather has been so warm, not rain fall in that period. I came home and saw my 'dried up' hydrangeas,  it makes me so sad to see them like this. Then i trim all the dried leaves, add more soil and feed them with organic fertilizer. And now, this is how they look like! Yays ~

Recently, i have been in love with camellia japonica type of flower i discovered from the photo which my brother sent me while he was traveling in Nepal last 2 weeks, it has an amazingly beautiful flower. Looking for the seed and grow my own camellia!

 The start of boll development, but lots of ants like to hide and lay eggs underneath the leaves.

The mature cotton boll waiting for the harvest.

Broccoli seedling, will need to switch to a bigger pot or growing on the ground.

My first experiments with propagation, and this is the result! Can't believe it grow from a
teeny tiny baby.

I have a little happy garden, how about yours?

Little Forest: Summer & Autumn 

Watched this fantastic movie yesterday night, and I am so so so in love with it.
Have a look on the movie webpage or fb page, or the movie trailer!
It was a culinary & lifestyle movie, starred by Ai Hashimoto.
Story about a girl - Ichiko who live a simpler life, living in the days of self-sufficiency, among nature and harvest follow the seasons and eating foods she makes from seasonal ingredients.

Can't wait to watch the 2nd part - Little Forest: Winter & Spring
Here's a sneak peek on 2nd part!

  * Movie posters / image sources from asianwiki

garden space - saving tips!

Our home garden is small, we only have a small lawn and have to make use of the small space. I enjoy gardening, and love the space-saving garden shelf we had at the porch, and this is how it looks currently! I took this picture yesterday evening when i got home from work, although i feel tiring, somehow i feel recharged when i see the plants growing up healthily.

Every time I turn off the vehicle engine, the first thing i do is to walk near my plants and observe how they are growing, i am always seem so fascinated by the living greens! 

Can you see all the baby seedling at the very first row? They are baby sweet basil & baby broccoli & baby cabbages, they will be ready for harvest after 2.5 more months! I can't wait to see. ^^

 Grow baby, grow! 

a type of beautiful herb

Last weekend, i went shopping for plants for my garden in selangor green lane located at sg.buloh, which has many huge nurseries situated along that road. It's a super great place for plant lovers, you can stop, take a deep breath and smell in the floral wonderland. Plant nurseries there filled with a huge variety of ornamental plants, fruit trees, different type of succulents.
I wanted to grow more herbs to use in cooking, there are few types of herbs in my garden right now, like sweet basil, thai basil, curry tree, mint & pandanus.

At first, i am planning to get a pot of rosemary plant. But then I stumbled upon another cute pot of herb, with very broad, thick, succulent-like, oval shape leaves with nice aroma. It smells like oregano. Yes and it goes by the name of 'cuban oregano'. How about trying a new recipe for grilled cuban oregano chicken next? Sounds like a brilliant idea doesn't it?

Look at my tiny sweet basil seedlings, aren't they lovely! 💕