Purple corn

Got a little chunk of purple corn cob from a friend's garden at the start of the year. It was not a fully formed corn, that has dried up due to draught. A couple of kernels sprouted on first attempt but very quickly dwindled into nothing. 

On a whim, I put the remaining few kernels in the ground in April 2016, with very little expectations.

A week later, 2 little shoots sprouted amidst the garden weeds. As I was no longer sure if it's the corn and if they might survive, I decided to leave them to their own devices. 

Update 7 May 2016:

One of the little shoots stayed on. It grew quickly. I am sure this is the corn by now, because it is certainly growing faster and taller than common grass. Plus, there is a distinctive purple tinge at the base of the stalk. Really looking forward!

Update 5 Jun 2016:

It had been about a month (4 weeks) and the corn is still going strong. It has thrown out 6 sets of leaves and seem to be developing some sort of flower buds. 

A spray of tiny grain-like flowers were thrown out at the top in a few days. A friend mentioned that the corn cob will develop mid-stalk. So it's back to fingers crossed.

Update 19 Jun 2016:

A happy camper popped out about 10 days after the flowers emerged. This is about 3 days old.

If you look carefully, it is sprouting out from the middle of the stalk, around the 3rd set of leaves. 

A little late, but this is the spray of the spent flowers that have dried up by now. 

Mottled Emigrant Butterfly

We are currently working on the front patch. One of the first plants we put in the ground was a small cutting of Seven Golden Candlesticks (Senna alata), a flowering plant with gorgeous yellow blossoms.

The Senna alata attracted a lovely visitor. A quick online search reveals that it's a Mottled Emigrant, one of the commonest and most widespread species of Catopsilia in Malaya. However, it is the rarest of the three Catopsilia species in Singapore. The Mottled Emigrant feeds almost exclusively on young to middle aged Senna alata leaflets.

On 1st May 2016, a Mottled Emigrant butterfly was fluttering amongst the leaflets of the Senna alata. Upon closer inspection, I realised the little beauty was laying bullet shaped white eggs individually on leaflets. Unsure if they were eggs, I let them be. There were easily 30 eggs scattered around the cutting.

Over the next couple of days, first insta caterpillars are spotted on the leaflets. I quickly rounded up the little cuties in glass bottles, before they murder the tiny Senna alata cutting.

Interestingly, there were many new leaf shoots which grew quickly, so we had enough to feed the bunch of caterpillars.

The Mottled Emigrant caterpillar remain predominantly green until thereabouts of 4th insta, when a band of white, yellow and black appears on its side. 

Not for the squeamish, but they are a rather fast growing bunch.

On the 6th-7th day, we spotted some of the first pre-pupatory larvae, curled up in preparation for pupation.

Our first pupas are spotted on Day 07. The most lovely shade of green.

Today we released our very first batch of 4 Mottled Emigrant butterflies!! They are a pale tinge of green, with beautiful black edge on their backs. 

Looking forward to rearing, photographing and discovering more about these beauties. 

Found comprehensive information on this lovely blog:

http://butterflycircle.blogspot.sg/2010/02/life-history-of-mottled-emigrant.html?m=1

Common weed: Purslane (edible)

I have started collecting common weeds. It's amazing as I find out more about these weeds, to discover that some are edible, and some are even considered medicinal. So I will start to document the collection and my findings.

This is the common purslane (Portulaca Oleracea).

I found it growing in the garden and transferred it into a pot.

A quick google reveals that the portulaca sp eaten locally is commonly called Sayur Beremi or Geylang Pasir. It likes soggy ground and was a staple during the War as a green vegetable.

 

Found this gem botanical illustration on: 

http://www.wikiwand.com/ms/Gelang_pasir

Someone described trying a Mesclun salad with endives and purslane. The purslane was juicy and possibly marinated in lemon juice to give it more flavor. Sounds like a lovely idea.

Found a lovely blog post that clarifies the portulaca species and even includes a sambal recipe:

http://nyonyapendekmelaka.blogspot.sg/2012/04/portulaca-flower-weed-herb-or-veggie.html?m=1

The gist of it:

Portulaca grandiflora (inedible) is a flowering plant, whilst portulaca oleracea (edible) is a weed, herb and vegetable.

Update 26 Jun 2016:

I started introducing edible weeds into the front garden. It has been 2 weeks. This one looks happy to be where it is. Tiny flower buds are forming. 

Salad greens

Figs are in season recently and I enjoyed a lovely summer salad, complete with herbs from our own herb rack. It's amazing what a bunch of basil and a sprig of mint can do to a salad. 

It inspired me to try to work towards growing a bowl of salad sourced entirely from our garden. 

Starting with rockets and Mizuna. Planted the seeds on 17 Jan 2016. Seedlings spotted by 2nd day. 

The seedlings are very fast growing. They are 15-20mm by the 6th day.

So we potted the stronger seedlings. These are the Mizunas. 

Now it's time to keep fingers crossed again...

Update 2 feb 2016: 

The Mizunas are getting really pretty, with the leaves growing out. 

Cannot wait...

Update 10 Feb 2016:

Two and a half weeks after setting up our salad boxes from seeds, we are enjoying a mini harvest of fresh salad greens, literally from garden to table. 

Apart from the basil and mint, we harvested Mizunas and rockets.

These boxes look so happy and cheerful and they add so much zest to the salad.

Update 22 Mar 2016:

We have found a more permanent home for the 'salad bar'.

From top:

1st rack - basil cress

2nd rack - Thai basil & Mizunas

3rd rack - tomatoes & Mizunas

4th rack - rockets

Mizunas getting big and lush.

These rockets are really spicy. 

We sowed some wild rockets amidst the rockets on 20 mar 2016. These little seedlings are 2-day-old.

Next up, we will probably work on the milder greens. Xo

Chilli Padi

We got this happy little camper a while back.

I use Bioflora to fertilise weekly. Noticed that without fertilising, the drop in yield is apparent. So far this little pot has been offering 5-6 little babies every week. Enough for our own consumption and occasionally sharing. 

This little pot is so hardworking. I have considered repotting but decided to not rock the boat unnecessarily, in case there is transfer shock. I am also not too sure what type of soil is suitable. So I will just let it be for now.

These little Chilli Padi(s) are spicy, but not excessively. I harvest them green or just before they turn red. I am very consistent with the harvesting and do not let them age on the plant. It is important to be very careful when harvesting, because the flowers are very fragile and drop off quickly if agitated. 

Potatoes

There have been mixed reviews about the possibility of growing potatoes in tropical Singapore. Most say no, but a few affirmative voices have prompted me to give it a shot, even though the best case only promised very tiny potatoes.

I had a sprouting potato that has been sitting on my kitchen sill since April 2015. I have been pensive to start because of the mixed reviews. 

On 13 Sep 2015, signs of decay is spotted on the sprouting potato, so I was finally obliged. I cut out the unaffected shoot and buried it in a bag of soil to try. 

I inverted a canvas rice bag, and filled it with a mix of: garden soil, potting mix and compost. I filled the bag with 10cm of soil, placed the shoot cutting in and covered it with about 7cm of soil.

Nothing happened on the first few days.

On 16 Sep 2015, the first sign of life peeked through the soil despite the torrential rains and I was relieved that something finally happened. 

On 19 Sep 2015, the little shoot had put out more leaves. So from now it's a waiting game. The game plan is to wait for growth and start moulding the soil up every time the greens hit 4inches (about 10cm).

Carrots

We enjoyed some organic finger carrots and decided to grow some carrot tops to see where they would go. 

On 8 Jul 2015, the carrots had greens on top, so there was a chance that they might grow.

This was a day after leaving them in water. Sprouting occurs.

On the 3rd day, shoots are seen. About a week later, I popped them into a pot. 

By 31 Jul the carrot tops were lush and green. 

Update 19 Sep 2015:

Nothing much happened to the carrot tops. Read that they should just hopefully bolt and develop seeds and eventually die back. One thing for sure, there would be no carrots.

On 5 Sep 2015, I sowed some carrot seeds in our seeding ice tray. 

By 11 Sep 2015, the seeds started sprouting. 

On 19 Sep 2015, potted the seedlings in soil. This pot is rather small - about 15cm wide and 17cm deep. I kept 2 pots of 5 seedlings each. So that's a total of 10 seedlings to try.

A little update on the carrot tops. It's been about 9 weeks after we grew the carrot tops. They are no longer green and lush. Some of the leaves have even started to turn red but there are no signs of flowers. This could be a lost cause. But they are very fancy and rather ornamental to have around.

Update 26 Sep 2015:

It's been about 3 weeks since we sowed the carrot seeds and a week since we put it in the soil. The distinctive carrot leaves are finally showing up. Such joy!

As for the carrot tops, the filigree leaves are just so lovely, I put them in little pots and enjoy the prettiness on the dining table. Xo

Update 2 Feb 2016:

It has been slightly over 16 weeks (4 months) since we planted the carrot seeds. 

We grow them in thin but tall containers. They are so pretty and resilient. We have been travelling, so we have returned a couple of times to dried up carrot tips, but always seem to revive them with a lot of water.

Recently, due to the rainy season, the leaves have been growing lush and happy. We are starting to spot some carrots peeking out of the surface of the soil too!

Xiao Bai Cai (Bak Choy)

I started a seed tray of 小白菜 Bak Choy on 12 Sep 2015. These are little growing machines! By the next day, little shoots have started to appear.

This is how they have grown on the 3rd day! I have 1 seed in each cubby hole of the ice tray. We are looking at more than 80% success rate. 

Seedlings have grown to about 1.5cm. Now let's pray they keep up the good work!

Update 17 Sep 2015:

On the 5th day, I transferred the seedlings into individual cups. These are mini cupcake cups, around 3.5cm wide. Seedlings are about 2-2.5cm

Update 19 Sep 15:

It's been 1 week since we sowed the Bak Choy seeds. 

Potted the seedlings in a 40cm (l) X 15cm (w) X 15cm (h) trough. Seedlings are about 2.5-3.5cm. I have 2 troughs and about 32 seedlings in total. 

Update 26 Sep 2015: 

It's been 2 weeks since we sowed the seeds and the bak choy has grown.

These babies just sprout so quickly after potting in soil. I use chicken poo to fertilise weekly. Hope this works!

Stevia

Here is another mysterious plant. I got it from the nursery and the gardener called it 甜菊 (sweet chrysanthemum).

He explained that the sweet leaves can be used as a sugar alternative! Because I like to enjoy a daily cup of tea, this is exactly what I have been hunting around for. Gardener explained that boiling in water releases the sweetness of the leaves.

These floral buds will bloom into little white lovelies!

Update 10 Sep 15:

So I have gone on a wild goose chase trying to identify this plant. I can safely conclude that it is Stevia (甜菊). A South American native plant, also commonly called honey leaf plant, sweet chrysanthemum, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, etc.

Found a comprehensive article stating its benefits: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/stevia-plant.html

But Stevia brings to mind the artificial sweeteners scares of being carcinogenic and used as a contraceptive. So some research is needed before trying it out.

Regarding its carcinogenic properties, appears that there is a general consensus that altered Strvia is the most damaging. The natural, unprocessed versions seem alright. Here is a rather comrehensive article: http://draxe.com/stevia-side-effects/

Regarding its contraceptive properties, the fear stem from its traditional use among the indigenous populations of South America as a contraceptive. Lab tests are not unanimously conclusive. Depending on website agendas, articles also sway.

I think this independent post by Norished Kitechen voicing their stand on Stevia, sort of sums up my current take.

http://nourishedkitchen.com/whats-your-take-on-stevia/

"How do I use stevia now? Occasionally I find myself served an herbal tea that has stevia leaves added to it. Meh.  I finish the cup and don’t ask for more." 

- Nourished Kitchen

In case I might have a change of heart and become more confident, here is how to use the fresh leaves.

Fresh stevia leaves can be used to sweeten tea or in sauces. A few fresh stevia and mint leaves will make a refreshing herbal tea when steeped in a cup of boiling water.