17 Oct 2023: Edible Garden Update

    This is how one of my 1st batch of Bayam (Green) plant looks like now. It seems to be dying. This plant is likely at the last leg of its journey, getting ready for me to collect its seeds. I read that still need to let it dry of after 2/3 mature. The other one is still looks fine. The 2nd batch of Bayam(Green) are not growing that well but still surviving. Will monitor it and get ready for seeds collection and see if the seeds can germinate next time. If the 2nd batch don't grow well, will pull them out and restart this pot again from scratch.  

    The black spots are supposed to be the seeds. Hopefully they are pollinated and able to germinate when I sow them. First time collecting seeds.

    These are the 3 pots of 2nd batch of Bayam(Green). The 10 and 8 seedlings pot both have suffered casualties, meaning some bayam plants died of for no reason. Mainly becomes soft and felled. Only the 5 seedlings pot has no casualties. It seems like even though Bayam can grow crowded, it does affect their growth. I suspect the soil is not enough, especially for the 10 seedlings pot. The 10 seedlings pot now only have 7 seedlings, with 1 not growing Bayam plant. The 8 seedlings lost 2 Bayam plants. 

    It seems like for this size pots, at most put 6 Bayam seedlings is the best. I also need to rotate the pots weekly to allow those seedlings behind to come to the front to get more sunlight.  

    I also planted some potatoes that I got from food rescue but only 1 seems to be growing well. The rest are either not growing or died. Maybe the soil still have salt that caused the potato plants to die. 

7 Sep 2023: Edible Garden Update

    The 1st batch Bayam (Green) plants are still healthy and I have harvested earlier so now look like this. All shanghai green died. Maybe need to try out again to regrow from scrapes again. It seems not so easy to regrow from scrapes. 

    The 2nd batch Bayam(Green) are growing well and most gotten bigger, except a few living but not growing bigger. Even the hanging pot one has grown bigger and almost ready to be harvested. However, I found that one pretty big Bayam plant (Left most small long pot) has withered. Not able to find out what is the cause. 

    Have a mushroom bloom at my big red compost bin. Had mushroom bloom previously in my smaller compost bin and after mixing and adding new veg scrapes, the mushroom not growing now. 

These potatoes are from vegge food rescue and I intend to let them sprout and grow those healthier ones.

    This is the pot I intend for the potatoes to grow in. The soil used to compost food scrapes and dried before adding into this pot. See when the potatoes sprouts well and then transplant them over. 

Found Coco Peat During Spring Cleaning Outside My Corridor Wooden Shelf

 

Source: exportersindia.com

    I was surprised that I found coco peat, both in peat and still unsoaked form but in pieces. These were given to me by a community garden volunteer, Uncle Liang. I was actually looking for cheap coco peat at Shopee and Lazada so I don't need to buy any for a while. I have intention to use coco peat as a top soil for the potting soil, especially the upcoming potato pots and spinach pots. 

27 Aug 2023: Edible Garden Update

    The biggest 2 Bayam plants looks like it is ready for harvest. This is after I have harvested last few days ago. I also planted 5 shanghai green bottom scrapes and it seems to be growing well, except 1 at the left corner. Hopefully can grow big enough for me to eat again. 

    The 2nd batch of Bayam plants seems to be growing well but it seems that it can allow 6 seedlings (max) for small long pots as the ones at the corner does not grow big at all. However, these Bayam plants are big enough for harvest so I would likely be eating them soon. Even the seedling in the hanging pot has grown bigger these few days. Must be growing deeper roots to withstand the wind and rain. 

    Both my compost bins got too wet and have been adding shredded egg tray into them to keep them drier. I also saw maggots on the big red compost bin as it seems the bin got too hot and humid for the small maggots. Likely from the fruit flies. Likely I have been able to find paper egg trays so I do not have any shortage issue for the paper egg trays. 

    I have managed to get some potatoes from Food Rescue@Frontier CC and since most of them sprouted, I have been trying to prepare pots to plant a few of them. The rest will be chopped up and added to compost. I have prepared a styrofoam box with two holes at the bottom for this purpose. Now preparing the compost soil or reused soil for it. I would also likely use a big potting pot as previously I added too much salt. Hopefully the plants added can absorb the salt and allow other plants to grow in the soil again. 

Growing Potatoes

 

    This YouTube video show that it is possible to grow potatoes using cardboard box and plastic bag as well. I have some intention to grow potatoes as I have managed to food rescue potatoes. Since it is possible to grow in plastic bag, I don't mind trying it out. 

    Would be using the methods used in this YouTube video to prepare the potatoes before planting or potting into seedlings. Just make sure the shoots not be white as it will be weak when grown. 

    I would likely use this guide to plant my potatoes. Looks good from planting to harvesting. 

Soluble Calcium Fertilizer In The Making

    I  have decided to make soluble calcium fertilizer using egg shells and eco-enzyme to see if it works. The normal ingredient is vinegar. I did this to test out whether it works and it seems to be working, 

    I have mixed 2 tablespoon of egg shell powder and 20 tablespoon of eco-enzyme. The egg shell powder is still being dissolve so I will have to wait for about 2 weeks to see if all egg shell powder is dissolved. 

Pot Rack From Discarded Dish Drying Rack

    This is my new pot rack to provide me more space for growing my edibles.

    It is actually a discarded stainless steel dish drying rack that I found. As I was planning to purchase a pot rack, I suddenly came out with the idea of using it as a pot rack. I managed to secure it using cable tie and will likely be reenforcing it with nylon strings, especially at the top of the two rack stands, to prevent coming off and falling onto my Bayam(Chinese Spinach) growing below.