Rocking rocket

I can never quite understand how to take care of rocket. When I lavish too much care and attention, they collapse and die. But when I leave them in our office's balcony, they seem to thrive. Mind you, our balcony is so hot, most plants just drop dead. 

These two pots of rocket have been here for months. Sometimes they get wrinkly from the heat but after dousing with water, they bounce back to life again.

I'm going to cut some leaves for dinner tonight. The more I cut, the faster new leaves will grow!

Growing microgreens

My garden is in a mess and I'm running out of space to grow veggies. I'm relying on my wonder kit to grow sunflower shoots and baby lettuce now.

Radish

Radish is just about the easiest vegetable to grow. The seeds germinate very quickly and sprouts can be harvested for salad in a week.

Otherwise, just leave them alone to mature. While waiting to harvest the root, you can enjoy the pretty white blooms too.

What is there not to like about radish? I make a quick pickle using garlic, chilli powder, vinegar, salt and sugar. So easy yet yummy.

Flowers everywhere

Just want to share this gorgeous scene in our neighbourhood today.

Growing cabbage

It really is very possible to grow cabbage in Singapore. If you grow them in the ground, they can get really big. What you need to do is to get seeds that can tolerate our heat and humidity. These are grown by my friends using seeds from Urban Farm & Barn.

Big tomato fan

I must admit it. I'm a big fan of tomatoes. We eat heaps of them every week - in our pizza, salads, steamed fish and stir fries. Hence I will not stop growing them, no matter how challenging it is to keep them alive and well.

The best tomatoes I have eaten were in Sorrento, Italy in a very simple caprese salad. It's hard to describe how such a humble tomato can bring so much satisfaction.

If you ever grow your own tomatoes and leave them to ripen on the vine, perhaps you will understand why I'm addicted to growing them.

While it is true that tomato plants are very prone to pests, I try to take a break for a few months after my plants die before starting a new batch. It probably helps to keep the situation under control. 

This new batch I'm growing is from a pack of seeds my friend brought back from Germany. They grow very quickly into strong and healthy plants. I started seeing lots of flowers in a month.

When I prune the leaves, I see lots of white bugs underneath. Luckily the plants are healthy, so they are not affected by the bugs at all.

 

I'm pretty ruthless when it comes to pruning. All these glossy leaves are of not much use to the plant. You want the plant to channel all its energy towards nurturing the fruits, not the leaves.

 I've got loads of pollinators in my garden, so my plants are always flowering and fruiting. The calamansi plants are forever laden with fruits.  Even the curry plants are producing berries. And of course, the tomatoes too!

Revival

  

With the year end downpours, my garden is turning into a jungle. Besides the annoying weeds showing up everywhere, I'm also very amused to see other plants appearing out of nowhere. These were plants that I had grown over the years but were long gone. They have revived!

I've got a few snakeweed shoots growing strong. They can grow into huge plants! Oh no, I don't have the space for them.

 This weed called common asystasia is growing all over my garden. They're fast growers but thank goodness, are easy to get rid of as well due to the shallow roots.

I love it when periwinkle flowers peek out here and there in my garden. They grow easily from the seeds dispersed and needless to say, they're a common sight in my garden.

This passiflora foetida (we called them chow pok in our childhood) is suddenly growing furiously in my garden. It is creeping all over my plants but I'm hesitant to remove it because the fruits attract birds. I'm pretty sure this plant is propogated by birds as I've never had this plant growing in my garden before.

 My son brought back some bidens seed years ago and this seed has never stopped flourishing in my garden. They can grow into large plants with lots of flowers which attract butterflies.

 I used to have the ceylon spinach growing years ago. For some reason, this new plant suddenly sprouted in one corner. I never quite knew what to do with this plant until I ate the leaves fried in spicy sambal in Jakarta.

When I spotted this singular leaf, I was so happy. I used to grow this plant (angel's wing?) some years ago but it didn't survive for long. The roots are still healthy which explains this sudden sprout.

 This is another long forgotten plant that I used to have which completely dissappeared eventually. One new leaf has popped up. Hope it will mutiply and flourish again.

 The most common plant growing in my garden now is Thai basil. The seeds from the plants  scatter everywhere and I'm blessed with so many basil plants that I can make basil chicken anytime I want.

 My mint plants have also multiplied. They're easy to propagate through stem cuttings. Simply snip and poke them in the soil. They thrive in wet and shady corners.

Eversince I poked some sweet potato stems in a pot, they have never stopped growing. The leaves are so pretty and they're delicious fried in spicy sambal. They grow effortlessly too.

 Finally, the episias are thriving in the shade. The leaves burn under the sun, but when they find the right spot away from direct sunlight, they're such a pretty sight to behold. These plants multiply quickly and will flower even without much care.