Vegetables and Herbs

Pakuchi (Cilantro, Coriander)

Dill and Parsley

Rosemary

Nira (Garlic Chives)

Micro Tomato

Mint

Myoga

Lemon Grass

Mint

Spring Onion

Yellow Potato

Guava (Strawberry)

Strawberry Guava are starting to bud and flower. I trimmed the bushes last year and they seem even more productive. 

Passion Fruit (Yellow)

These are yellow hybrid Passion fruit. They generally blossom later than the purple verity. Buds started to appear in early March.

Flowers started to blossom in early April.

I had five yellow hybrid Passion Fruit vines on this trellis, but last year's typhoon killed four of them. The one that survived is doing well and is actually covering the entire trellis. Perhaps one is enough. Many of my purple Passion fruit vines also got damaged or died during the typhoon, but some are starting to grow back; however, I do not expect any fruit from them this year, 

Mango Tree (Kitsu)

My Mango tree started to produce flower buds in late January. 

By early March the tree was in full bloom. At this stage I begin to spray the flowers with honey water to attract pollinators. 

Once I start to see small fruit appear, I cover the tree. The flowers should be pollinated by now and the tree needs to be protected from the elements, as well as pests.

I did not trim the tree last year, so it got quite tall. The green house I built last year got destroyed in a typhoon because I built it out of plastic poles. This year I used aluminum poles and greenhouse grade plastic. It is a little more than three meters tall. 

The tree has tons of fruit, but I will only keep one or two fruit per branch. I will select the healthiest looking fruit once they get a little larger. 

I have an infestation of caterpillars, but nothing I cannot fix quickly. 

Once I select the fruit I will keep, I will remove all the other fruit and tie the branch to the frame of the greenhouse, so the branch does not move much. Kitsu Mango get very large and take a long time to mature, so there is a lot of time for something to go wrong. They mature in late August to mid-September. 

Here is a candidate. I will remove the three little fruit to the left and clean off the branch. The branch holding the fruit is nice and red, which means it is healthy. There is one more fruit at the top of the branch. It does not look like it will make it, but I'll keep an eye on it. I'm okay with two fruit per branch. 

Avocado Tree

My Avocado tree is quite large (5 meters) and really got beat up by last years typhoon, so I trimmed it down quite a bit; however, it bounced back and is actually flowering this year. This tree is roughly seven years old and flowering for the first time. I am not sure if it will produce Avocado, but I sprayed the flowers with honey water and look forward to seeing if it actually produces fruit. 

Tomato (Cherry and Mirco)

Tomato season again with tons of fruit popping up everywhere. I have a few large plants downstairs that I suspect are from bird droppings. 

I use a plastic bag with holes cut in it to cover Tomatoes; otherwise, the birds will eat them all.

These plants grow on their own from Tomatoes that dropped previously, but this harvest they are quite large. I do not think you can tell from this picture, but these cherry Tomatoes are large. 

These are Micro Tomatoes. I have some downstairs and some upstairs just for safety. I want to try and keep them going all year around. 

Shikuwasa Tree

The Shikuwasa tree in the back of the house is getting quite large, and it still thrives even after getting attacked by bark Beetles.  

I tried my best to fight them, but I know there is still some larva in the ground, because I can occasionally see saw dust. However, the tree survives and flowered like crazy. 

The tree is about three meters tall. I guess there were hundreds, if not thousands, of flowers. It smelled so good. 

There were so many bees and other types of pollinators visiting the tree constantly. I know the flowers would get pollinated.

I'm starting to see small fruit appear. I am curious how many will mature. Shikuwasa is an extremely fragrant fruit used in cooking, as garnishes and for juice. My favorite is Shikuwasa juice, but it takes a lot of fruit since the fruit is small and only the size of a cumquat, strawberry guava or large grape.   

Earth Worm

I was cleaning up my garden and yanked up this earth worm. It is huge, which leads me to believe my soil is pretty good.

Mikan Orange

My Mikan Orange tree is flowering again. There is only a few flowers, but that is fine as long as the oranges a sweet. 

 

Guava (Red)

 

Guavas are finally starting to grow.

Unfortunately, the bats found my tree and damaged a lot of the fruit. 

I wrapped each individual fruit, but the bats just tore through the paper bags; therefore, I hung up motion detecting lights to try and distract them. 

Recently, the Guava started to ripen and I'm getting some nice fruit. I do not know if the lights are the reason the bats are gone, or if they found a different tree. 

I lost a lot of fruit due to the bats, but the tree is constantly flowering so still expect hundreds of fruit this season.

Papaya

I cut the top of one of my Papaya trees off, because it got too tall to reach the fruit. 

There were more Papaya up there than I realized. We gave most away.

Pakuchi (Cilantro, Coriander)

 

Though I live in a subtropical region with pretty nice weather year around, there are a few plants that will not grow until they are ready. One of them is Pakuchi (Cilantro, Coriander). I planted seeds all over in February and January and just a few sprouted in March. I keep these downstairs on my balcony. They do not get direct sunlight and are soft and I can use they as a fresh herb. I have more upstairs where they get constant direct sunlight. They are huge, but tough. I use these in cooked dishes.