1. Lady's fingers or Okra
six of them
2. Lady's fingers or Okra
banana pisang tanduk ~ at one end
sweet potatoes ~ at the other end
3. Lady's fingers or Okra
a pair between basil and white chilies
Very much visible are young marigold and a few spinach
the first six ladys fingers
The vegetable bed in the first two photographs was once our compost pile. I never had a machine to churn compost. Leaves, grass cuttings and leftover veggies were all piled up on the ground. After months, decomposition brings the pile down, At the right time, we clear up the place and turn it into a little vegetable garden bed.
One end is occupied by pisang tanduk, our latest banana inclusion in the garden. On the other end is sweet potatoes. Banana will take the whole year to bloom and bear fruit, and sweet potatoes require half a year to swell with tubers in the ground. We are following the growth of banana closely. Sweet potato is grown for the beautiful leaves. At this stage, it serve as ornamental.
Six lady's fingers were featured two weeks ago when they were still young at 4 - 5 leaves. The stems were slender then, and the space in between plants was very obvious. Now, the gaps are all closed up, leaves touching leaves, and in short lady's fingers really span the vegetable bed. Grasshoppers do make their presence felt by creating holes on the leaves.
Other than that, these little plants
are growing healthily at quite a pace.
The other four lady's fingers
The other four are placed on the much larger vegetable bed where brinjals and white chilies are. A pair is squeezed in between basil and white chilies and the other pair is between sunflower and asin-asin. These four are a little bit lanky, growing in a tighter space. But they are making real effort to squeeze through for more space to breath and extra height to bask in the sun.
I think they will soon bloom
bangchik
Putrajaya Malaysia
Oh to be able to grow sweet potatoes, that whole "it takes half a year" thing would be why I can't just grow them out in my garden, nor okra, and sure as heck no bananas. Is there something you can't grow because of your weather?! I like the way you do your compost and then turn it into a garden bed.
ReplyDeleteI like the name "Lady Fingers" much better then "Okra". How exciting to be growing a banana plant. I look forward to seeing it's growth this coming year.
ReplyDeleteI love your method of composting! A lesson to all gardeners.
ReplyDeleteI'm growing okra for the first time this year. I hope it looks as nice as yours eventually. I started it in the greenhouse since our growing season is so short.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the flowers!
Your veggie plants are looking very healthy. I bet they love the fact that they're planted on what was the compost heap.
ReplyDeleteI love Okra blooms. Not sure about the okra though, but the blooms are gorgeous. I can't wait to see your plants flower.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of Okra being called lady fingers, a very nice change of name.
ReplyDeletefantastic...
ReplyDeleteEverything looks so healthy - oh well done you and your magic green fingers! Oh to grow sweet potato, I'm sure it tastes utterly fab straight from the garden, unlike jet lagged ones we get, ahaha. I look forward to watching all these beauties mature - yummmy xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks friends and bloggers for the visits and comments.
ReplyDelete~Lanny
I thought the crude piling up of organic material to decompose is very practical and very natural. Decomposition in forest is treated this way by nature for million of years. Oil palm plantations in Malaysia treat cut leaves this way too. Snails and slugs like this very much and make it as their temporary home.
~Noelle
Lady fingers sound very elegant. We call them "kacang bendi" in our language. In certain dialect, they are just referred to as "kacang lendir". Do visit and check the progress of our new banana, pisang tanduk.
~pamsenglishgarden
It is crude and practical. I am sure some can try this method for a change. But we are living in a residential area, so we have to take extra effort and precaution to turn compost pile as something nice, neat and tidy. So far no complain from neighbours.
~JGH
Good luck to your okra. It probably turns out better with controlled environment of a greenhouse. Growing okra on a gardening bed in the open is like sending them to a battle. They are bitten and chewed by pests. Sun and Rain can sometimes show no mercy to these plants. But they will survive....
~ bangchik
Thanks friends and bloggers for the visits and comments.
ReplyDelete~Jo
It probably be true that they are happy growing on what was a compost heap. The soil is so loamy and on top of that I add organic fertilizer in the form of poultry fertilizer pellets.
~Curbstone Valley Farm
Their flowers even though last only for a single day, are most beautiful. Big flowers indeed. The colour is soft yellowish white. They will bloom soon I think.
~Janet
Nice name for a change, very feminine. They taste nice too in curry!
~bangchik
~Cath J
ReplyDeleteThanks. Okra seems to alright at this age. Problems do come at later age, just like us humans. I hope your cabbage will continue growing.
~AaronVFT
For the size of our little vegetable garden, it looks like we grow a lot. Just a few of each. It is a pleasure to learn about growing them. They are quite individual in nature, each vegetable.
~Carrie
These sweet potatoes really crawl, almost a few inches each day. I have to control their growth by pruning. I cant afford to see them spreading to all over the place. For the moment the intention is for their leaves, creating a little ornamental section.
Bangchik
Putrajaya, Malaysia
All of your vegetable seem to be growing so nicely. Congratulations. Mine are a little slow (it's barely over 60 degrees here)
ReplyDelete~Prospero
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit and comment. The vegetables in my garden has been showing their kindness, submitting themselves to growing before the pests plunge in to do their part. Yes, the weather is fine thus further improve the positive elements. Yours will grow fast soon.
~bangchik