Shutterbug's Blog

Living with Multiple Myeloma in Hyderabad , India . Random musings .


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My Kitchen Garden

Rains are finally here and I am excited to do some serious gardening. I do not have a lot of space for plants ,but I hope to make maximum use of the available space and will be using containers too. I will also be using home made compost and pesticides. Basically trying to grow the organic way 🙂 .

I got a few Chilli saplings from an Organic Store that I visit often. I was surprised to see a few chilli saplings sprouting on their own in my little patch. A few dried/ripe chillies from my chilli plants in the previous season must have got into the soil and were hiding there till the right moment 🙂

Removed the whole Mint patch that I had and planted fresh stems from a bunch of Mint that I got from the store. The previous patch was getting sparse and started drying up. I harvested the leaves several times during Summer.

My Malabar Spinach is growing well. I grew them from the seeds of a lone plant that I had. I have already harvested the leaves twice and is ready for harvesting again.

I successfully made my first batch of Organic Compost during the recent summer months. I have started using this compost for my plants. Feeling good .

Thankfully my plants are not infected with any pests as of now.

I also put a few pieces of ginger and Turmeric in the soil. Got to wait and see how well they do.

I am also experimenting with Coriander cuttings. Replanted a few root cuttings from a coriander bunch that I got from the store. Growing coriander from seeds is a long and slow process. Hope this trick works though I am not confident it will work. Will probably sow the seeds directly in a couple of days.

I sowed seeds of Bitter gourd , Ridge gourd , Snake gourd and cluster beans . I see that a few seeds of cluster beans have sprouted , the rest haven’t . Don’t really know the reason. Either the seeds are not good or I watered a lot. Will continue to sow them again and again until I succeed.

Also sowed a few seeds of Khatta palak (Hindi) or Chukka Koora (Telugu) .

Will also sow Fenugreek/Methi seeds in a day or two . These seeds sprout real fast.

Watching a seed sprout,  the first leaves , the budding , the flowering , the fruits/veggies growing bigger and finally the harvesting , all the activity makes me more energetic . I feel like I am absorbing Energy from nature. I look forward to the next morning to see how they are growing. There is an underlying hope when you are into Gardening . No wonder my Doctor told me to do some Gardening way back in 2012 🙂 . 

That’s it for now. Will post pics of how these babies are doing , in a few weeks.

 


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New Planters for the plants on my Balcony

It is Spring season here in India at this time of the year. It is so tempting to buy flowering plants ,especially when you pass by ‘plant nurseries’ which are brimming with a variety of them.

I had bought some flowering plants which were sold in plastic pouches. These are seasonal flowers and flower for 2-3 months during the year.

The plastic pouches are black in colour and have a dull look ,hence i wanted to place them in beautiful Planters.

I was browsing the net for ‘Pots and Planters’ that could be ordered online. Came across several websites selling varieties of Planters in plastic, ceramic and metal .

I had ordered a few from Fabfurnish.com . They have a fabulous collection .

The Planters have arrived and here they are 🙂

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Aren’t they are lovely ?!

Once these plants stop flowering , i hope to replace them with other seasonal flowers.


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Petunias on our balcony .

This is the season of flowers.
Plant nurseries in the city are brimming with Marigolds, Chrysanthemum , Petunia , Dahlia and Hibiscus of various colours.
Petunia is my favourite. These plants hardly require any maintenance.

I bought these a month ago and they have been flowering ever since.

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These bright and beautiful flowers welcome me home every day when I get back from work.

I placed them on the balcony sill where the plants get good sunshine.

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These plants do not attract any pests/disease which is the biggest plus point.

I love plants and gardening but I hate pests 🙂