Seedy Sunday

We planned to be in Melbourne this week and this day is supposed to be Rayyan's complete corrective cardiac surgery that we have been waiting for a long long long time. However, the day before Rayyan's pre-check up before we fly off to Melbourne, on Thursday morning Rayyan fell down from the bed and fractured his collar bone. I did not realised he fractured his collar bone as this was not his first time fall down from bed. But he seems in pain the whole morning and I had to rush to a meeting with my supervisor after he settled down to have his morning nap after breakfast. My husband brought him to the hospital after he finished work and Rayyan had his X-rayed confirming that he had a minor fracture in his collar bone. So Rayyan had to wear a sling now for about 2 weeks. Of course, the next day for his cardiac appointment the nurse and doctors were stunned to see someone had a fractured collar bone when he is set to be operated. After discussion with the surgoen in Melbourne, the surgery will be postponed for about a month until Rayyan collar bone is properly healed. We are having a difficult time to make sure Rayyan not hurting himself, with a sling in one hand, he still attempt to climb the sofas and bed. Although he is already 17months old now, he is just learning how to walk a few steps and he weights 8 kilogram. It amaze us to see Rayyan with a sling and out of breath (due to his condition), he is still determine or stubborn to walk  a few paces carefully. I honestly don't know how I survived last week.

So, I thought I could not participate Seedy Sunday at Glandore Communtiy Garden which is organised by Seed-Savers Group Adelaide where you bring your excess seeds,seedlings or cuttings and share with other seed-savers because we were supposed to be in Melbourne.  But due to our bad luck, we managed to join in this group of wonderful people. I always wanted to join in but I am actually a very shy person. I needed something to boost up my spirit after a very busy and eventful week. I would like to thank Andrea and other people inviting me to this Seedy Sunday and made me feel so welcome.

I made a seed inventory and my seed wish list last month, from this 'Seedy Sunday" most of my wish is fullfilled and I am so happy! So many seeds and bulb will be my first attempt at growing them, I hope in my hands they will grow well. I never dreamed that I can have a go at growing potato onions and elephant garlic this year.Any idea how to plant potato onions? My mother was so happy to meet someone that is very generous to share some blue iris (Japanese~ayame) rhizomes. She planted it almost immediately after we reached home.

I have always wanted to try dragon carrots and looks like this autumn we will be growing them. Hopefully in early spring, we have colourful carrot harvest as we plan to grow other afghan carrot variety as well.

I was planning to buy some parsnip seeds but there were parsnip seeds on Seedy Sunday! My umbellifers seed wish list has all been ticked off~ fennel, chervil and parsnip. We also got some parsley and dill seeds.

This are silverbeet seeds look similarly like lettuce. I really have to plan my cold-season planting very well as there are many new seeds I am trying this time which I have never even eaten these western vegetables before like silverbeet, red chard and rainbow chard. There are also other new brassicas seeds that will be introduced in our garden mizuna, purple sprouting broccoli and giant purple mustard that comes from Seedy Sunday.  I learn a lot from this Seedy Sunday about seeds and meeting people dedicated with collecting seeds is very inspiring and motivated me more to collect my own seed as well.

Lemon Basil

‘I pray your Highness mark this curious herb: Touch it but lightly, stroke it softly, Sir, And it gives forth an odour sweet and rare; But crush it harshly and you’ll make a scent Most disagreeable.’ 19th Century American humorist and folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland.

If ever there were a herb for a globalised world, it is basil. For there is, firstly for Europeans, the ‘sweet’ basil, Ocimum basilicum alluded to above by Leland. But then there are at least-the very least-five others used by the Thais, Indians, Sri Lankans, Vietnamese and Indonesians. Without enumerating the botanical names of each there are also basils described as liquorice, cinnamon, clove, champor, lettuce leaf and lemon (Citation~ The roots of Civilisation;Plants that changed the world by John Newton). Lemon Basil is the main basil variety that are growing in our patch this summer. I always like lemony flavour or fragrance.

Lemon Basil seedlings.

Lemon Basil seedlings ready to be transplanted. Someone else like lemon basil as well and had a bit of a snack.

I was thinking of planting lemon basils with tomatoes but they germinate later than tomatoes as they need much warmer weather to germinate. So I decided to observe whether lemon basil and brinjal will be good buddies or not this warm season. At this stage, it is too early to conclude whether they get along or not.

Lemon Basil Flowers.

Where are the seeds?

We aim to collect some lemon basil seeds this year.

We like to put lemon basil leaves in instant noodle soup or fish soup.Instant noodle? Trying to make it more nutritious when you know that instant noodles are junk food and giving it a more lemony flavour when the soup is tasteless.. How do you like to use lemon basil?

PROJECT: Save the Bees

Holly the author of Tasty Travels…food talks, I listen blog is hosting a Project: Save the Bees on Sunday, February 6th. This is a very interesting project that I would like to participate and encourage friends to join in too.

To participate in PROJECT: Save the bees, this is what you’ll have to commit to:

1) Purchase a seed packet of bee friendly flowers & figure out how many people you'd like to share with.
2) Announce the project on your blog/website & offer seeds to others on Sunday, Feb 6th
3) Link back to Holly post (to be posted Sunday, February 6th)
4) Mail your seeds to your people
5) Update your original post with a list of places you mailed your seeds to

This time I am offering our bee friendly flower home-saved seeds to 3 people which resides in Australia only. You can leave a comment that you would like to receive this seeds and I will pick 3 blogs randomly if more than 3 people are interested.

This is our top 5 bee friendly flower in our garden last year:

Poppy

Bees really like this flower. Always buzzing around this flower especially in the morning and here a link where I capture the bees playing around new bloom of poppies to show how much bees like this flower. This is the only seeds that I am offering which is not home-saved seeds. I regret so much not collecting poppy seeds last year.

Calendula (Sunshine)

Calendula always brighten up our garden patch in winter. Since it is always blooming through spring as well, the early hungry awaken bees can sip the calendula nectar when other spring flowers is not blooming yet.

Lakspur

Blooms longer and grow majestically tall.
Evening Sun Sunflower

After all the spring season flower ends, evening sun sunflower provide many blooms for the hardworking bees to gather nectars.
Nasturtium

Not only a gardener best friend in the garden but bees as well.
What is your favourite bee friendly flower in your garden?
For more flowers on Saturday visit Simply-Life Photographs.
For Flora and cottage ideas visit Tracie at Fishtail cottage.

Forgotten Onions

We grow some store-bought onions which sprouted some shoots end of winter last year. Not me, but Ilhan and Mik who planted those onions and I am only playing a role as the harvester this time. The onion grow without any TLC and were neglected most of the time at the other side of our backyard fence. The weather had been extremely hot last week and I have not been at the other side of the fence for 2 weeks. The weather was a bit cool in the afternoon and I decided to venture at the other side of the fence. Opps, most of them had been completely dried and wilted.

I had harvested some a few weeks ago. However, today I harvested all of them.

Some of the onions don't need curing, the only one which has green colour leaves on it were left curing under the shed.

The only onion left growing in the garden is the Australian Brown onion which we grow from seeds. My mother has been helping me harvested the ones which have leaves that had completely turn brownish (dried) from the polystyrene containers. As I was busy being a research student, the onions has been in the bottom list of priority things to do in the garden.

Ilhan with his single layer onion that he planted mimmicking his favourite monster book 'Gruffulo". We had some onions which only have one leaves on it. For an onion, the number of leaves will determine the number of layer inside the onion.

 I had fun growing allium last winter. I don't have to worry about pest and watering for them. They are a very independent bunch. It will be fun to try growing early variety onion in autumn to get the supply going as I don't know how long this new harvest will last us. I hope this year, I can get some supply for shallots to grow in our garden.

Single female

I don't know why but this summer, many of our female cucurbits are very shy maiden. The male and female timing bloom does not synchronous with each other. When the male bloom, not a single female bloom to pollinate. The female are so late bloomer this summer, they bloom when the males have tired waiting. The pollinator (mainly me) will be sighing a lot waiting for the moment when both male and female are blooming.Button squash produce many females but I had to harvest when they are small in size sometimes because I knew they were not pollinated. 

I was so excited when my first angled luffa female flower bloom. But no male flower blooming in sights.As I thought, no angled luffa heading to our kitchen.

 The zucchinies too play with my feelings like button squash. Sometimes the cucumbers and melons also having a difficult time too synchronous. But they still managed to see each other sometime.

The bees at the moment has abandoned me due to extreme weather. So I am left alone to be matchmaker to the male and female flower of cucurbits.