Saturday, June 18, 2011

Blog wooden sign gift

I had a lovely surprise in my mailbox many weeks ago. Many thanks to Milka who is very talented in making garden decorations and taking the time to make a personalised wooden sign for Kebun Malay-Kadazan Girls. Milka is a gardener who is very good with saw and made many pretty home-made wooden signs for her own garden. She also did pretty trellises all by herself. Me? I have to bat my eyelashes at Mr. Fisherman so he make me a trellis which does not even look as nice as Milka's.
The only pretty thing in sight in this front yard patch is Milka wooden sign. At the moment every plant is growing so slowly in this patch. So many self-sowed in this patch ~calendula, curly parsley and volunteer potatoes too! Other plants that were transplanted here were cauliflowers, chervil, rainbow chard, florence fennel and giant purple mustard. Those plants look very close to each other which some will be pull up to make way for other main plant growth. I will leave it like that now, as I found that aphids and the white cabbage butterfly does not like to make a stop on the cauliflowers which is good sign for us. Less plant to look after.
I am trying to mix growing flower and vegetable together harmoniously in this patch (hoping). I was happy with the result on the kitchen garden last year growing flower and vegetables together. So we are experimenting on this patch this year. That geranium has been growing there for a long time before we moved here. No matter how hard we pruned the geranium, it always grow back nicely. One year old hollyhock and canterbury bells plants that have not given us any bloom at all. I have threaten them. If they don't bloom this coming spring, they have to leave. Other flower plants are still very young growing in this patch~ iris, ranunculas and pansy.
Do you mix flower and vegetable together in the same patch?

18 comments:

cikmanggis said...

cantiknya papan tanda tu..sungguh kratif sekali pembuatnya...

Cm pernah campur macam macam tanaman dikebun mini Cm ni terutama bunga ..seperti melur dan ros dipetak sayur sayuran tetapi bunga ros cepat mati.bunga melur pula sangat kuat daya tahannya.Walaupun terbiar tanpa disiram ianya hidup subur.

One said...

Milka is definitely very good at woodwork. One look and I knew she is behind this. It is nice to see her do what she is good at. I kind of imagine her in a half wooden, half glass shop, full of wood art.

Btw, yes, I always mix my plants. I like the rojak style.

Patricia said...

What a lovely gift!

Charmcitybalconygarden said...

That is SOOOO cute!

p3chandan said...

Beautiful gift from a gifted and creative Milka! My veggie patch is separated from my flowering plants, veggies at the side and backyard, flowers right in front.

cathy@home said...

I have herbs and flowers together and marigolds in my vegatable patch. I love the sign that your friend made a very present.

Mark Willis said...

Milka's sign is just right for you! I have recently read her blogpost about making things like this as a business venture.
The idea of mixing veg and flowers together is well-established, as the "potager". One of the prime exponents of this concept is Joy Larkcom? have you read any of her books? I have several of them, and they are really useful and nicely-illustrated.

Sunray Gardens said...

That is too cute. What a nice gift to get from a talented friend.
Cher Sunray Gardens

Sue Garrett said...

I have mixed flowers and vegetables on the plot but really now I am more likely to mix flowers and fruit bushes.

rainfield61 said...

What a beautiful woodwork.

Kelli said...

The sign is great, very nice, very creative, very friendly!

Jody said...

We love garden art. Bel has made a couple things with stained glass, but we're still experimenting. Very pretty!

JGH said...

What a cool sign!!

I think it's funny that you threaten your plants into blooming! Let me know if it works, ok?

This year I'm using mostly Marigolds around the vegetables. I've also used Nasturtium in the past.

africanaussie said...

Your sign looks great in the garden. As you know I am growing cosmos and I would really reccomend it it - it is a real magnet for butterflies and bees. In our area I think things are growing slower than normal because it is a bit colder than our "normal" winters. could it be the same for you?

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Africanaussie~ Summer, fall and winter has been colder than normal for us too here. I have to find some cosmos seeds.

miruku said...

Thanks for the compliments Diana! I hope the colours don't fade that early putting it outdoor, haha.. *malunya*
So far i only mix vege with Marigold. I'm just too afraid some flowers are poisonous and can not be mixed together with the vege..

Sue Catmint said...

threats do sometimes work with plants - it is a method I have often had to resort to. (lol)

Wendy said...

Wow - that's so adorable!!!