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

Oxalis barrelieri - Belimbing pasir

Oxalis barrelieri - Belimbing pasir

Oxalis barrelieri - Belimbing pasir

Bangchik and Kakdah

Putrajaya Backyard Garden

Passionfruit vine is crawling

Over here it is known as markisa, a vine that lasts for more than 5 years.  It will start flowering and fruiting after a year.  I germinated quite a number of them last year, most were given away to friends, 2 of them planted in Seri Iskandar home garden and one is grown here in Putrajaya backyard garden.

Passiflora_edulis , Markisa (Melayu) 

passionfruit (English), maracuya (Spanish) , granadille (French), 

maracuja (Portugese), liliko'i (Hawaiian) 

Passionfruit vine - markisa

Passionfruit vine - markisa

Passionfruit vine - markisa

Passionfruit vine - markisa
with bamboo trellis

The passionfruit vines will thicken and eventually cover up the whole trellis. In the meantime , taro (keladi) can still grow and use the space underneath.

Bangchik and Kakdah

Putrajaya Backyard Garden

Morinda citrifolia shoots and fruits ~ Mengkudu

Everybody around here call this tree as mengkudu. To germinate mengkudu seeds, one has to be extremely patient because the seeds take three months to germinate.  I remembered that very well because I was about to give up and wanting to throw the seemingly dormant seeds away. The better side of me took pity and put them in a pot and let nature handle them. Yes, its three long months to see little roots coming out. Once it set foot or rather root on the ground, it keeps on growing.  After a year and a half its almost 6 feet and it has lovely fruits as well.

I remembered putting all garden waste, leaves, and empty clay pots on  5 feet diameter spot, and left the organic matter to rot for about 3 months.  The first to be planted right in the centre there was one lucky mengkudu seedling, and later followed by other plants as companions The decayed organic matter must have soften the soil and make it really fertile for mengkudu tree to grow that fast. Another friend who had been given seedlings, had his tree half the size.

Before fruits mature, they had to go developmental phases

buah mengkudu ( the fruit of Morinda citrifolia)

buah mengkudu

buah mengkudu

buah mengkudu

Kakdah had tried using mengkudu shoots as ulam or salad. I expect it to be bitter, but it turned out to like cooked cabbage. The fruit is something else. When it is ripe, it smells awful, but it has all the medicinal values where extracts had long been packed and sold in drug stores.

bangchik and kakdah

putrajaya backyard garden