Markisa and Okra

I never thought such combination would work: markisa and okra together. Markisa is a climber, and will climb to the sky. Okra is destined to stay low with beautiful flowers and fruits. Of many vegetables I have grown, okra is most demanding. I have to see okra everyday, because the fruits grow by inches. We pick okra every morning, 3 for us, the rest for the neighbours.

I managed to put up simple triangular trellis for markisa to climb and for okra to grow at the bottom. The woods were taken from Hafi's place some months ago. It was only last week that I manage to put them up.  

Markisa/passionfruit: tendrils holding on

 I could have allowed markisa use fence to climb, but having trellis on my side is best. It would be easier for me to look after markisa and of course, do fruit picking when ripening season comes. Markisa grows well so far, earlier with simple yellowish leaves, one on each side of the main stem. Now markisa is showing it's true character, producing long tendrils and leaves branching out into three. They look very much like okra leaves.... How can I forget the single markisa given by Azura some months ago, a gift that manage to multiply. Razali has a few climbing crazily over his fence. So there we are, the connectivity made possible through markisa, a little gift from Azura.

Okra / Lady's fingers/Bendi

It's markisa I am looking for. Okra is temporary. By the time okra is about to die, markisa is almost ready to bear fruits..... In transformational leadership approach, it's like setting the road map to ultimately pick markisa fruits and while waiting,  okra/lady's fingers/bendi acts as one of the many quick wins to keep positive momentum going and  to maintain the right enthusiasm throughout the long wait.

Now I don't have much time to see the rest. By 1st November they start packing, and by 4th the latest, we will be in Johor Bahru already, a new place, a new page, a new garden.

bangchik and kakdah
Tanah Merah, Kelantan.

Update:

• SMS from a friend of Shah Alam days: The road diverged in a wood, and abangchik has chosen the one less traveled by, and it makes all the difference.
• Email from a friend of Ipoh days. Wah! petani modenn la ni! elokla tu beras pun nak naik harga!
• SMS from a friend of Seremban days: Malae2 gini.... Org dok kebung doh... Esok pulok laa.
• SMS from a friend of Putrajaya days: ke JB?.... kali ini sy benar2 pasti
• SMS from a friend of Tanjung Malim days: Deepavali = Depalari = Depa lari ke JB.