Hello Hive Gardeners!
We have experienced heavy rain the last two days. My plants and I are grateful for that but the wet weather brought with it a hangover of sweltering humid heat.
The word hangover came up because the mothers in our village went out for the first time after 7 years. A ladies' night out away from the roles and responsibilities we have taken on. I am guilty of instigating this as I threw the idea of going out up in the air one evening. An idea they embraced excitedly. So the next morning, all the women in our village got up with disheveled hair and smiled at each other gleefully over the fences while watering our plants.
I was woken up from the memory of pushing the tables away in a quiet tapas bar that we transformed into a dancing hub by succeeding painful fire ant bites. The fire ants have created a massive nest within the rocky structure of the raised bed.
I had no idea they built an empire that explained the bites before. I tried putting coffee grounds to drive them away but it didn't work. Neither did sprinkles of turmeric powder. My last option was to pour boiling water. They were not there the next day.
Building the Bamboo Trellis
As an ideas person who isn't dextrous handling tools (even knives), I sought help from our village handyman, Raymond to offer a side gig after his working hours.
There was a thick 36 feet / 11-meter long bamboo trunk that fell from the typhoon which a friend was happy to give away. We re-used it for the trellis. Raymond cut them into strips with his bolo according to the desired height and with a tie-wire was able to create a mesh. It wasn't the way I envisioned it but this would do.
The string beans had difficulty latching onto the bamboo posts so even though I'm not very handy, I added some abaca strings for the string beans to climb on. I intend to add more abaca strings laterally to the trellis to fill in the wide gaps.
The string beans started climbing and Mme. S gave me some alugbati seedlings, also climbers that are now thriving. I used rice hulls mixed with compost for mulching. I transferred the sweet basil cuttings from the yogurt pots when they started growing roots.
Re-directed squash to grow outside of the raised bed. The chayotes didn't make it which was replaced with celery. I thinned the siling espada or long chillies and transferred them. Ginger started sprouting but I still need to thin out local bell peppers. Eggplants are also starting to grow.
(On the Right) Transferred the lillies from the pot directly on the ground so I could re-use the pot for the elephant ears.
(Left Image) Here's another re-directed squash from the longer raised bed that is now growing on my neighbor's yard. Oops! I don't think she'd mind because that area filled with banana trees had been neglected for a year now. I will share the bounty with her when the squash starts producing.
Speaking of sharing, I gave away some of the thinned out seedlings of string beans, coriander, basil cuttings, mint cuttings and chili peppers with neighbors and my daughter's teacher.
I also gave away some herbs to the chef and staff of our village restaurant. The edible plant home garden inspired the restaurant to grow herbs and vegetables in their patio dining plantboxes to be used for the dishes aside from ornamentals.
During a recent trip to the city, I purchased a pot of rosemary. It is quite challenging to grow this in the Philippines. I used to have one in our previous house happily thriving in a large pot at our front porch. It unfortunately deteriorated when it accidentally got wet. It struggles under the Philippine sun so it needs to be shaded with well-drained soil.
I found this vinca growing randomly under the flowering tree ignored and undernourished. I repotted it where it can get some sun and better soil. I took this photo when it was just transferred. It grew more leaves since and the color changed into a healthier-looking shade of green. Let's see how it goes.
These are the coriander seedlings that grew from the toilet roll seed pots.
I'm experimenting on Fermented Fruit Juice (FFJ) made of bananas, cucumbers, apple with brown sugar (I don't know where to buy molasses in Moalboal, any idea where?).
According to this video, it's supposed to be stored in a dry, dark and cold place. The only place like that at home is the toilet so I kept it there. Then one day, it loudly popped like a small explosion which was followed by my husband's scream, "Are you making a bomb in there?"
Haha, I hope it works. I'll use it next week so fingers crossed.
Quick note: The video link is in Tagalog with no English Subtitles.
An Aphid Infested Tree Got Saved
When we moved in, there was a beautiful flowering tree that was infested with aphids. We cut some of the branches that was blocking the pathway to the outdoor laundry but the ravaging continued.
I had the instinctive urge to save it but I didn't know-how. It seemed mother nature had the same thought in mind and she used the typhoon to blow the aphids away. The healthy branches remained after the storm but hairy caterpillars landed on the branches that also ate the other plants beneath it.
With a picker, I grabbed the hairy caterpillars and released them away from the village, and experimented with a turmeric spray for the leaves and branches that had a fungal infection. I started using the spray once weekly and the plants looked healthy since.
This is my favorite concoction that restored the leaves of my calamansi plants and the others from the typhoon.
To reward the self after a long week and to combat the humid heat (and the hangover), I'm jumping in the village pool. My apologies for not being able to do a garden selfie. This is my entry for the month of March's #GardenJournalChallenge.
I'm tagging @youngyang and @imblessed44 to share their gardens after their upcoming introductions to Hive.
Till the next garden update, happy gardening and thank you for reading.
In case you're interested to read about the previous Hive Garden Journals, here are the links:
Hive Garden Journal #2: Sowing Seeds & How to Make Tissue Paper Roll Seed Starter Pots
For my second garden journal in the Hive Garden Community, I'd be sharing with you the status of the stone and concrete plant boxes, recent additions to the garden, sowing seeds in various containers, and making use of tissue paper rolls in gardening.
Hive Garden Journal #1: A Garden Tour and Building Plant Boxes
We moved to a small rental home inside a resort in Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines back in 2021 as part of a minimalism exercise when we downsized and moved from a two-story seaside rental home several blocks away to a two-bedroom 70 square meter bungalow. The first entry features a garden tour and construction of stone and concrete planters and a gravel patch at the front yard.
Cover image edited with Canva
"I am an old soul who simply loves coffee, who finds joy and beauty in both tangible and the unseen."
Curiosity and imagination lead to unexpected experiences. Interested in Nature, Places, Roads Less Traveled, Minimalism, Authentic Living, Anything French, and International Cuisine. Feel free to follow her, re-blog, and upvote if you enjoy her content.