My little vegetable garden: weeds

Showing posts with label weeds. Show all posts

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Oxalis barrelieri remains as weeds

Much has been said about Oxalis barrelieri on its medicinal benefits, but it remains as weeds, growing freely as it likes.. Since my lawn is regularly mowed, it cant appear in the center of things. True to its wild traits,Oxalis barrelieri emerge at awkward places where lawnmower would not venture; flower pots, edges of lawn, near drains, underneath trees.

The berries taste exactly like starfruits (belimbing), therefore it is widely known as belimbing tanah or belimbing pasir in Malaysia.

Oxalis barrelieri - Belimbing pasir

Bangchik and Kakdah

Putrajaya Backyard Garden

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Weeds - mostly unwanted, but a necessity.

A friend once mentioned this " Once a weed, now a veggie that feed the whole world ". Weeds are here for a reason, they keep growing without our care and attention. They may not fit well in a garden, but they definitely fit well within the big eco-system.

The first weed is of climbing type.

It will climb any tree to the highest point,

and build a dense canopy.

WEED 1 - Climbing weed

The second weed never grow tall.

They will not reach a foot high. In a way, they act as ground cover,

keeping the soil moist and healthy.

WEED 2 - common weed in a container

We don't know where the weeds come from, definitely we never specifically grow and nurture them. No matter how often we do weeding, they will surely come back. I suppose we got to be friendly with them, and understand their purpose { Great Stems} of existence here on earth.

_____________bangchik and kakdah_____________

my little vegetable garden

SERI KEMBANGAN

Friday, June 8, 2012

being away from home.

The right to live, the right for voices to be heard, and finally the right to vote in democratic countries. Plants Kingdom operates on a similar system, every single plant or grass has the right to grow. And grow they did, to a point some will suffocate and overrun the others. Over time plants make adjustments to live happily, when bigger plant grow taller and stronger giving shade to weeds on the ground. What looks like a decent offer from bigger plants in the form of shade and cooler surroundings, is in fact very detrimental to weeds. Then weeds has less chance to grow in shady area, but make no mistake, they are always ready to surge and grow once the shade is gone.

Chili plants are not dense, therefore no real shade on the ground. Weeds and chili plants fight for space in their plant kingdom. But a gardener like me, set out to grow vegetables such as chili, but definitely not weeds / grass. I jumped in to intervene and pulled out weeds. The weather was a little bit hot and dry.

............ b e f o r e t h e w e e k e n d ............

2nd and 3rd of June 2012

weeds suffocating rows of chili

I am guilty for being away too often,

neglecting our little vegetable garden.

weeding had just started

I need the whole weekend

to clear up the weeds

heap of grass and plants.

............ a f t e r t h e w e e k e n d ............

pictures taken on Wednesday 6th June 2012 at noon.
after a good workout over the weekend.

VEGETABLE GARDEN : low view

GARDEN FROM BALCONY: The left side

GARDEN FROM BALCONY: The right side

GARDEN FROM BALCONY: The centre

The pathway is for Kakdah to get to the cloth lines,
one on the right and another on the left. The clothlines are more than enough for the two of us, so the left cloth lines are dedicated to markisa / passionfruits vines.

At the far end, there are 2000 polybags of chili also planted over the weekend.
I will write about the project soon. Pictures are displayed here to show
how much can be done over the weekend
to clear up the weeds,
a good scrub,
a haircut,
a facelift.

We keep pulling out weeds, but weeds keep coming back.

It's a reminder that we are here to co exist

and learn to adapt.

........... b a n g c h i k a n d k a k d a h ..........

j o h o r

Monday, March 21, 2011

Taking a weed home, passionflower or pokok letup

A weed is not a weed when it is desired and treasured. We noticed pokok letup, climbing up a fence one day while jogging early in the morning. The fruits were hairy and felt oily. The flowers were majestic. Many houses round here are still empty, and the vine was climbing up on the fence of one empty house. We waited until the fruit turned yellow and picked, .... Alas, I didn't bring along Nikon to snap the beautiful passionflowers.

Pokok letup is my childhood delight. Modern life somehow cut off far too many childhood pages. Forests are bulldozed to make way for development. Vines endemic to Malaysia are hard to find. Everyone seem to be pulling out weeds, but today I am taking a weed home. I hope they will germinate and grow here with beautiful flowers and fruits.

Ripe passionflower fruits/ buah letup yang masak

Passionflower fruits: the inside

Seeds from two dry fruits

Taking a weed home is my way of celebrating Earth Day.

bangchik and kakdah

Taman Kota Harmoni, Tanah Merah, Malaysia.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

The wilderness of nature

Nature has its own tempo, best seen in its wilderness, untouched, unhindered. I was traveling up towards Kelantan when nature in its wilderness attracted my attention. The camera was ever ready to click. It was around Bentong area, just before Petronas R&R.