Celery

The Celery I planted about six weeks ago is doing fine. I need to clean up the container a bit to make it more presentable, so hope it looks better in my next post.

Green Lettuce

 

This planter contains Green Lettuce. I try to pick it regularly so the leaves don’t get too large. The leaves are tender and sweet while young. The plant will grow new leaves so you can just continue to pick as needed for months. 

This is another Lettuce plant I let bolt so I can collect the seeds. 

Plastic Bottles

I have problems growing some plants for a number of reasons, but primarily heavy rain or out of season. To compensate I cover them with a plastic bottle with the bottom cut out. This creates a little protective greenhouse. The seedlings above are Cilantro (Pakuchi). I have tons of seed and kept planting them. They would sprout, but every time there was a heavy rain they would die. The rain drops just destroyed them. Now that I've covered them they are growing just fine. Covering the seeds once planted is another way to grow plants that are out of season. I want to grow Cilantro year round and will try this technique for a year. Stay tuned!

It's hard to see what is inside this bottle, but it is lettuce. As with the Cilantro, they are delicate and need some protection when they first sprout.

The larger bottle contains a tomato plant sucker. I pinched it off another plant and stuck it in the soil nearly two months ago. It did not die, but it was not growing. I covered it about two weeks ago and it suddenly started to grow quickly, plus it looks super healthy. Giving your seedlings a strong head start should result in a productive plant.

Biwa (Loquat)

The Biwa fruit is really starting to grow now. Biwa are Orange, so I suspect they will start to loose the brown outer shell, but this is the first year I've gotten fruit so much to learn. 

Guava (White and Red)

This white Guava tree only had one fruit, so I expected it to be huge.

Once the fruit started to turn light green, I wrapped it to protect it from birds and other pests.

The fruit dropped two days ago. As I suspected, it was huge. The average red Guava is between 70-150 grams. Even a 200-250 gram Guava is considered large, so this is massive.

Well, I ate this Guava yesterday (12/19) and as I suspected it was super sweet and creamy. The taste of this type of Guava is much different to the standard red Guava. I wish everyone could experience the flavor and texture of this type of Guava.

The red Guava tree is full of fruit. It is starting to get cool, so these fruit will take a while to grow. I will start to wrap the fruit soon to protect them from birds and other pests. 

Japanese Sweet Potato (Purple and White Satsumaimo)

I harvested white and purple Satsumaimo last week and got two pretty good yields. 

Tomato Plants

I planted this Tomato seedling in the Peanut container on 16 November and it is doing well. It is a beefsteak Tomato plant. A Peanut plant can be seen towards the bottom. I suspect they will do well together, but this is the first time I have tried it so will have to wait and see. 

Celery

I planted these Celery seedlings on 16 November. They are alive, but not growing much. I'll start making more regular updates to track their progress. 

Passion Fruit

One of my purple Passion Fruit vines have a few buds. 

I was able to pollinate a few flowers, but found more that I missed. I'm sad.

Dracaena

I thinned out my Dracaena garden. Many of these plants are in pots so I can move them around, as well as add and remove them. 

Before

After

Peach Tree

My Peach tree has a few fruit, but it still blossoming.

 

Biwa (Loquat)

This Biwa tree flowered about a month ago and it seems like some fruit are starting to develop. 

This is the first year I got Biwa blossoms, so not sure what the fruit looks like when it grows; however, some of the buds are starting to get larger, so I believe these will develop into fruit. 

Spearmint (Herbs)

Spearmint plants are super healthy and growing well. I absolutely love mint tea and use tons as a garnish, so I grow a lot.

These mint plants are starting to produce runners. Unfortunately, there is no where to go so I will have to pull them back and place them back in the planter. 

 

Dragon Fruit

 

These were the last four Dragon Fruit of the season. I got fruit three times this year. On average these fruit are small, but just as tasty. I gave two to my neighbor, ate one and froze the other for smoothies. 

Bitter Melon (Goya, Nigauri)

As I mention often I no longer plant Goya seeds, but rather they grow on their own. In the past few months Abashi Goya plants have been growing, but by the time I go to pick them they turn yellow and explode. This particular vine is the Mikaji Goya verity. I find more success with this particular verity.

Hibiscus

This Hibiscus bush is doing well and full of flowers. Hibiscus flowers only last a day, so quite surprised to see all the flowers everyday. 

Peach Tree

This Peach tree is blossoming again. I have not had great success with this tree due to all the rain in my region. So, I plan to keep it under the second floor balcony to prevent it from getting too much rain and see if that makes a difference. Stay tuned.

Biwa (Loquat) Tree

Recently I found flower buds on my Biwa (Loquat) tree. I planted these seeds in the summer of 2020, so surprised to see them flowering. I planted another sapling in the back of the house and it is huge, but no buds. I'm surprised to see this tree fruiting so soon.

If you like apricots, plums or peaches, you will enjoy loquats. They taste like a plum, apricot and cherry with a floral aroma.

Mint (Spearmint)

I cut this Spearmint back to about 3 in (8 cm) 2-3 months ago and transplanted some of the cuttings. I now have three new containers of Spearmint, but this plant grew back quickly and now larger than the transplanted cuttings. I need to trim it back again, but this time I will use all the cuttings to make tea. I do not need any more Spearmint plants :) 

Mint (Lemon Balm)

This Lemon Balm mint is doing so well and getting large. I need to take some clippings and start some new plants. 

Orchid Flower

This Orchid has been sitting in the corner just getting prettier and prettier. 

 

I bought this Moringa tree sapling 6-8 weeks ago. It is extremely hardy and can endure heavy rain or dry periods. It is already starting to grow new shoots. I bought this tree for the leaves which have so many medicinal benefits. 

Moringa is considered a super food and contains many essential vitamins and minerals the human body requires, not to mention it is low in fats and contains no harmful cholesterol.

• vitamin A

• vitamin B1 (thiamine)

• B2 (riboflavin)

• B3 (niacin), B-6

• folate and ascorbic acid (vitamin C)

• calcium

• potassium

• iron

• magnesium

• phosphorus

• zinc

The leaves can be dried and turned into a power that resembles Green tea and is used around the world for many purposes, such has:

• Protecting and nourishing skin and hair

• Treating edema

• Protecting the liver

• Preventing and treating cancer

•  Treating stomach complaints

•  Fighting against bacterial diseases

•  Making bones healthier

• Treating mood disorders

•  Protecting the cardiovascular system

•  Helping wounds to heal

•  Treating diabetes

•  Treating asthma

•  Protecting against kidney disorders

•  Reducing high blood pressure

•  Improving eye health

•  Treating anemia and sickle cell disease

Banana Tree

These Bananas are developing well. but slowly. I cut the flower bell off early since this tree was so small and close to the ground, so I will not get as many Bananas as normal; however, it looks like there it probably 70-80 on the stock. There are two pups behind this tree that are growing well, so should get more Bananas next year. 

Dragon Fruit

When I left for vacation two weeks ago there were two green Dragon Fruit on the plant. They were due to ripen just before my return, but I was hoping they would last and the bats would not eat them. Well, they made it with a little damage, and they were delicious. 

They were quite large too. I only had a few on the plant, so the plant could put a lot of energy into them.

Just before I left I pollinated seven flowers and three made it. The fruit is already developed and should be ready to pick in about two weeks. Remember, it takes Dragon Fruit 30 days to mature from the day it is pollinated with a 3-5 day variance. This is the third time this season they produced fruit. As mentioned before, Dragon Fruit blossom for a five month period each year. In my region that is typically between May and September, but this year it was June to October. 

Guava (White)

This Guava (white) tree has one fruit. The tree is putting all it's energy into this one fruit, so I suspect it will be extremely large and sweet. I can't wait to try it.

 

Guava (Red)

When I went on vacation two weeks ago this Guava tree was in full bloom and I thought upon my return I would have tons of fruit on the tree, but they are not growing as fast as I anticipated. I suspect the Papaya tree that grow beside this Guava tree is shading it out. I think I need to cut down the Papaya tree....again. 

 

Guava (Red)

I picked the last Guava about a week ago and the tree is full of buds again, plus there are a few small fruit on the tree. This is a super productive tree. 

It blossoms twice a year, but each blossoming season is long and extends into the next season, so it has fruit more than six months out of the year, if not more. 

There are actually a few new fruit on the tree that will be ready to pick in about 10 days.