I got some flowers to bloom

I planted some flowers a few weeks ago and I really didn't think I'd get them to flower. But here they go flowering and look beautiful. Yey I have achieved something new this year. Look at my beauties: nasturtium and African marigolds. Both should get bigger but cuz they're in pots they're smaller.

The rain and how to grow mint

The rain today was amazing and the plants loved it. I was afraid that the structure for my vertical plants would blow over but it didn't Alhamdellah. The veggie bed that I made last is doing extremely well and it seems after the rain it's even better just like all the other plants. After doing a bit of online reading about rain water and plants I can conclude that rain water is good for the plants for 2 reason. It's soft water, meaning it has less chemicals than tap water, and it's slightly acidic which is good for most plants, especially for us here cuz I read that soil in UAE is on the alkaline side. So rain is welcome for more than just extra water it brings with it.
Now to the mint. A couple of days ago I was cooking and since I had a lot of mint in one bunch I decided to try and root it. All my previous attempts at growing mint from seeds failed. I haven't given up on this idea yet but I decided to give rooting from cutting a go. It'd be so much cheaper than buying starts from the nursery cuz even organic bunch costs around 5 dhs or less in Union Coop or 1 dhs for normal one, compared to 3-7 dhs for starts from nursery, plus the hassle of just driving to buy one. Anyway there's 2 ways to start mint from cuttings in water or in pots. I am rooting mine in water now and the roots have appeared on day 2 which is super fast.  I'll wait for the roots to get to about 1 cm and hopefully plant it in pots (to contain it cuz mint is known to be invasive). Oh and I once read that mint deters ants which would be cool cuz they invade my house on a regular basis.

Quick Guide:
1) Choose preferably fresh thicker stems or around 10 cm
2) Remove lower leaves to prevent rotting
3) Pinch the top of the stem to encourage branching
4) Put in a jar of water in indirect sunlight
5) Plant out when roots reach around 1-1.5 cm
6) Water well and wait for it to grow

Garden Surprises

So after I wrote the earlier blog post I went back to the garden to do some tending. As I was staking the cucumbers I stumbled upon something. I was very surprised as there wasn't any sign of it being there a mere few days ago. This is melon cucumber. It grew and in a container too. I tried them last year but didn't get any fruiting.
As I was cutting the dead leaves of courgettes my girls started screaming in excitement. When I heard them shout "ladybug" I honestly thought they misunderstood a few things. But to my surprise it was indeed a ladybug, pardon me "ladybugs" as we spotted at least 4 of them. It was exciting since my kids didn't see them here before.

When you stay away from your garden in a weekend lots of things happen in there. As I was near the cucumbers that are in the ground I noticed these deformed cucumbers. Which brings me to conclusion that I was failing in cucumbers because something must have been wrong with that seed pack or it was grown in the wrong time. I got the same results last year, but the cucumber I harvested today from the container grown plant was perfectly fine which was grown from a different pack and I replanted them a few times. Now I have to figure which was the cause: the seed pack or the planting time.

I also wanted to show you before that you don't really need to thin some veggies. Take a look at the radishes I grew. It came from a seedtape sold at tchibo. I didn't bother thinning them, just pick them as I need to and they're happy.

I may have mentioned that I'm growing rapini. I've been waiting for the blooms for a long time (well maybe not so long) and was anxious cuz I read that you need to harvest them the day they appear cuz if the flowers open up then you're too late. As I was beginning to think that it's all in vain and they won't set bloom that I spotted a tiny bloom. Of course I harvested it. There's another tinier one that I hope to harvest tomorrow. Now I don't know what to do with all the leaves. Gotta find out if they're worth cooking.

I am also including some other pics like marmande ttomatoes, beets, lettuce, kai lan,  today's harvest, how the garden looks like and white radish that is flowering already. Going to let it flower to attract pollinators.

Garden today

This year is a little hotter than usual. No rain so far (the rain a couple of months ago is not considered, it was a one time thing). Inshallah we get some rain and the weather get a little cooler cuz right now I can see some plants are a bit struggling, and January is suppose to be coldest month of the year. This time last year I would be freezing at night sometimes using 2 blankets and would grab the blanket if I'd sit outside in the evening. Anyways this is not stopping my garden from thriving Alhamdellah. Below you will find the garden beds I created this year, I mentioned before that I added 2 bed 4x13, and added a 3rd one later which is doing extremely well even though it's only sand and manure. You will see a first cucumber(container grown though, the ones in the ground are still stalled) this year, and actually my first properly formed cucumber in my entire 3 years of gardening. Update on my butternut squash which is huge by now. I have finally bought and started installing the netting for vertical garden. My container garden is finally showing good progress. Tomatoes are loaded and cucumbers have started growing. Peppers are not so great and herbs are almost nil (I mean the container ones). I don't have the time to take pics of everything growing but I will try to as I go. And I apologize for the disorganized post bit I really am tight on time, school is tomorrow got lots of things to do.

First tomato of the season and today's harvest

I have been waiting for this a few weeks now. Fresh home grown tomatoes, yumm. If you have ever tried home grown tomatoes you'd never want to buy the supermarket ones again. The taste is out of this world.  You can eat them as fruits, there just so delicious. I had a late  start this year (I mentioned in in my previous posts) that's why tomatoes are late. Well I got a bunch of toms that have already formed, waiting for them to ripen.
I also harvested today a good sized harvest of chard, rocket, curly cicory, lettuce - Regina dei Ghiacci, and different varieties of courgettes. I've used the tomato with curly cicory, lettuce and rocket for a little salad seasoned with olive oil and sea salt.
Chard has been incredible. I only have one square foot of it planted, half of which is taken over by butternut pumpkin and bottleneck gourd, but it's giving me enough for a weekly side dish, and looks like I could be getting more of it soon.
Rocket has been great as well, we've been harvesting a little but almost daily.
Courgettes are doing well giving a little meal weekly, hopefully the more the plants mature the more I'll harvest.

So here's the pics.