Monday Journal: A Lil Garden Update

Saying hello to Monday here in DD. The morning is unusually loud, with machines buzzing in the distance (trams, tractors, motorized sprayers; even the dogs are barking). People are starting the week energetically, so we chimed in because we didn't want to let the vibe pass us by.😁

The hubby and Brando went on to fix the water pipes and the garden hose so we would have an uninterrupted water supply during these drier days. My gardening mood, on the other hand, got activated.

I had to take the seedling trays out for sunlight and water them. The Bok choy had been in the shade over the weekend, and their stems had grown elongated. I imagine they'd be growing more leaves in the next few days, and perhaps their stems would get firmer too.

The water spinach seedlings are okay. I thought I'd let them grow a little taller before moving them into the grow box. The hubby suggested having some transplanted onto the plot, but we will see. It can be difficult to keep them healthy and pest-free when grown in the soil.

Meanwhile, the last batch of lettuce in the tuna box is looking fresh and healthy. There are no signs of them forming heads yet. Even so, they would be harvested soon.

I then took a lil backyard tour to check on the other things. The beans sown in two mulched plots over a week ago have sprouted, and worms have started ravaging the leaves. Some weeds are also showing up beside them. These are just a few of the challenges when growing things. Pests, worms, weeds, and others tend to get in the way.

Anyway, just a few meters from the greenhouse storage, the eggplants are flowering and fruiting. I lost count of how many times these plants have produced fruit, but I'm glad they are still thriving. They are the longest-surviving variety we have had so far.

The chili beside them is quite resilient too. Most of its fruits are now ripe. However, they won't be harvested until they fall off since no one needs that much hot spice around here. I doubt the birds like them too.

Surprisingly, one of the mulberry plants beside the storage started bearing fruit despite having only a few leaves on its stems. The birds would be happy when these little berries grow bigger and ripen.

The lemongrass in the bucket is growing nicely too! We plan to grow more around the property as ornamental and privacy barriers, since we don't really drink lemongrass tea or know how to extract its oil. But who knows, we'd learn along the way.

And lastly, just a glimpse of a new experiment—growing potatoes on mulched fields.😁

Others who have tried this method say it was good. No hill-up needed, no weed problem, and such. This is pretty new to us, so it's interesting to see how the harvest would turn out.

And there goes my lil DD garden update. Cheers to a fantastic new week!