Garden Journal June 2019 @simplymike @gogreenbuddy initiative

Last month, I have posted an updated on what's going on in our yard. I have been meaning to post again and I think it's about time.

First of all, check out @simplymike's #gardenjournal2019 and @gogreenbuddy's give away.

Last month, we planted Baguio beans or green beans and what we call sinay. Sinay is like mung beans but more elongated and it can be brown or green in color.

This is how the bean plot looked like.

Check out my previous blog for more.

When we planted these, I thought it would have been too early. During the first quarter of the year, we had a dry spell. We get our water through the water district and sometimes water supply comes short. During the first few weeks after planting the seeds, I watered them every day. Once they started growing, I water them only when the ground is dry. Thankfully, these plots are under the shade of cassava plants and avocado trees so they are not directly hit by the sun. About two to three weeks later, the rain arrived and I thought it will not let up. I was worried the ground would be flooded and the garden will be washed away. Thankfully, the rain seemed to know how much these plants needed water and when is enough. The beans are now ready for harvest and there are beans in abundance!

The last time I checked, it was not this thick. I was surprised how everything is suddenly competing with each other. The beans have climbed up the cassava plants. I have to hunt where to pick the beans.

Unfortunately, there are some plants that were washed away. Still, I am grateful for what we have now.

In one plot, I thought what mom planted were all beans. So in the other plot, it is a mixture of beans and corn. There are some cassava and gabi or taro in there as well. At the end of that plot are yakuns or ground apple.

What I was looking forward to most are the Baguio beans. This is an easy plant to take care of. Plant the seeds and constantly water them and watch magic happens. We have never had problems with pests every time we planted these.

Give it a couple more months and the corns will be ready to harvest.

We dug up some cassava and cooked and ate them already. We have not checked the yacuns yet but I am sure there are already crops to dig.

We are supposed to enjoying some left over fruits of our fruit-bearing trees. Unfortunately, because we didn't have a great months, there were no fruits to harvest. The jack fruits will not grow big. The pomelos did not bear fruits either even the avocados and mangoes.

Under these trees are taros and we have all year supply of them. We cook them in coconut milk or just saute it and add lots of ginger.

There is a papaya that grew and we just let it. Our place is rocky and this papaya grew in between two huge rocks. I am amazed that it is still alive until today. It just shows that nature will make its way.

We had a Littuko (a variety of Rattan) that grew in our front yard before. It survived for a few years even bearing fruits but suddenly died. This one was planted in our backyard and I hope it will have better luck.

We replanted rosemary and some of them died but most survived.

Along those who perished are the strawberries. Not one pot was spared. Only the chili was left in this box where it used to be a boxful of strawberries.

We also have basil (which I just learned that it was also called tulsi) and also pumpkin that are growing.

We also have a pit where we dump biodegradable. Some of the cuttings from vegetables, peel, etc we put them here. Some we cut them in small pieces to use as fertilizers but most of the time they end up here in this pit.

In our front yard, there are a lot of flowering plants and other ornamental plants. Aside from those, we have parda or hyacinth bean that is still surviving.

For tea, we have Lantana (kantutay or bangbangsit) or bush-tea-bush or pignut according to Google. Beside that is Dangla or Lagundi or chaste tree. We recently planted a dandelion in an old drum. These are some of our choices when we want to drink tea. They have medicinal values especially for cough and colds. We just boil them and add honey if you prefer. I just like my tea as is without sweetener.

Only a few of our ornamental plants have flowers now.

Here is an extra photo of a fungus on a pomelo tree.

And another extra - Maxi the dog who likes eating lemon grass.