It's raining trouble in my garden at the moment. It's not that I did not anticipate it, but I guess I did not to this extent. There are pests of every kind, water logging leading to root rot and just too much rain. On Saturday the 3rd of September it rained almost 12cm and even for my city this is a little over the top. Just imagine the state of my garden.
Insects, pests of every kind abound here at the moment. The fury of the rain wipes the plants of every flower, you guessed right there is little or no harvest. No matter how many times I spray organic bug sprays the rains clean it up in a few hours and I am back to square one. Tomatoes that were doing so well suddenly started to rot and drop of the plants. I have a war on my hands. Sometimes being a purely organic gardener stinks.
Natural pesticides weren't effective as the rain washes away all the pesticide within no time. The pest have a great day eating up the flowers and fruits even before they mature. Thankfully nature has a way of combating every problem it brings.
The praying mantis which have been multiplying in my garden have been eating the butterflies which lay eggs by the hundreds around this time of the year. The caterpillars are almost difficult to handle once the come out of their eggs. They eat like giants and destroy plants at a rate you never thought possible.
On a positive note we still harvest a few veggies or fruits every few days. This is today's harvest. The harvest would normally be much bigger, but I am happy with what we have. Things could have been worse considering the fact that we have had rain almost everyday since the 1st of July in copious amounts.
The turmeric is not doing all that bad I guess. Its seems to be enjoying the rain and the absence of the harsh sun that burns through its leaves. Yet, I am sure you see the amount of havoc the grasshoppers have been doing to the plants. I harvested a whole bunch of leaves last week to make a sweet, fragrant dish with rice, jack fruit, coconut and brown sugar wrapped in those leaves.
Another plant which is doing okay is the lime. Though many of the flowers have fallen and I am not sure if even half the tiny fruits will survive the rest of the season, we will still have enough from this one foot high plant to make pickles and juice.
Being someone who doesn't let negative things overwhelm and annoy me I focused my attention on things that could still be done without whining and mourning about the problems at hand.
I have a number of plants growing in coconut shells since I decided to try out different ways of growing plants. The idea of hanging plants growing in coconut shells seemed new and unique to me. I had varieties of sedum, orchids, ivy growing in these natural containers and they have been doing well. I need to mention here that the orchid have been doing extremely well in these coconut shells. I decided to see if it was possible to get more than one plant to grow in these coconut shells at the same time. I tried and I hope you like the out come. I love the rustic look of these hanging containers in my garden. I am sure they would look stunning when the plants latch on to the shell and start to grow.
At first I chose a shell which had some Ivy growing in it already. Then I collected all the plants I thought I could grow around it. I collected mainly sedums and succulents which don't require too much water and care. This being first time I cut into a coconut shell I did face a whole bunch of problems.
The coconut shell being old and dry from the outside did pose a huge problem, but I wasn't willing to give up yet. I tried a saw, a hacksaw blade but to no avail. Then I used an old knife and a weed puller to tunnel my way through the hardened fibrous shell and the tough wood like shell Inside.
That done the next was easy-peasy. I arranged the plants as best as I could in the small opening and I used small pieces of coconut shell to ensure that the soil didn't seep out with the rain and the normal watering routine.
This arrangement has been growing since the beginning of August. A couple of sedums have fallen off with the heavy winds and rain, I didn't worry about that too much.The growth has been amazing, I did not expect much since there is every little soil and the plants didn't seem very secure at first. I wanted to give the shell a coat of varnish, but decided to leave the shell as it is.
Learning from my experience
Cutting through the shell would have been easier if I had soaked the shell in water for a couple of weeks before starting the project.
Selecting a shell with a plant already growing in it didn't give me that luxury, I also had to ensure that the ivy was not damaged as I tunneled my way through the shell. I learned that I could do better if I started the project from scratch next time.
I could paint it in natural colors and give it a coat of varnish to make it weather proof. I could also use a drill to make many holes and the plant many plants if I decide to do so in the future.
As far as pests or rains go, I take things as it comes. There is no point in worrying over what happens when you've done all you can. This bitter melon plant was doing so well producing enough fruits for me and then it started to wilt and die. I tried my best to save it, but what had to happen happened. Life is short I believe its important to learn to take each day as it comes with its joys and sorrows.
Sapodilla fruit from my garden
Thanks for all the support and the encouragement from 
Hope you enjoyed this post. Until my next garden post Happy gardening everyone!
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