Dragon Fruit

As I mentioned in a previous post, Dragon Fruit produce five months a year. In my region, from May to September. I just picked the last fruit about 10 days ago and the plant is now starting to flower again. 

Clove Basil (Herb)

I got a few Clove Basil seeds from a local garden months ago and threw them in this planter. They final started to grow and the roots are going into the ground already. I need to think what to do with it, since it is a perennial and can grow 3 meters (10 feet) tall. Clove Basil smells like Cloves with a hint of thyme and cinnamon. It's tiny white flowers are bitter, but the leaves are sweet. I just like rubbing the leaves and smelling my hands, like Rosemary.   

Butterfly Pea

This Butterfly Pea plant has taken over my Persimmon (Kaki) tree. It has produced seed pods, so I will be able to grow new plants. I need to do something with this plant at some point, but for the time being I'm using the flowers to make tea, purple ice cubes and sometimes purple gel for desserts. 

Shiso (Beefsteak Plant)

I have two Shiso plants. One is not doing as well as this plant, so I recently added some nutrient pellets, fertilizer and fresh soil. Both are starting to do better. Shiso is a perennial and can last for years, so important to feed them on occasion. I will keep them in containers and on the patio. The last time I grew them I had them in a container, but their roots went into the ground and they got massive. I want to try and control their size. 

Apple Mango Tree

 

This Apple Mango tree I started from seed is doing well. I wish I had a place to plant it. Need to think about that, since it is time to transplant it.

Lemon Balm Mint (Herb)

I bought some Lemon Balm Mint from a supermarket and planted them a few months ago. They are doing fine. This Mint has a very strong Lemon aroma and great for tea. 

Guava (Red and Strawberry)

Guava season is nearly over. my tree has a few new flower buds, but do not think it will produce many new fruit. 

Soybean (Edamame)

These Soybean (Edamame) are almost ready to harvest. The plants are super healthy and the bean pods are really filling out. I actually bought three seedlings from a nursery a few months ago, but Caterpillars destroyed them; fortunately, the plants had a few beans on them, so I let them dry and planted them. These plants are the results.     

Tomato

I'm noticing many Tomato sprouts lately. These are just a few containers I've found Tomatoes. They are self seeded, so not sure what type of Tomato they are. Also, there is one Green Pepper plant (bottom right). 

When I find sprouts, I am cutting all but one plant to allow it to survive.

When I find sprouts I will separate the containers. Tomato plants can get fungus in the hot and humid region I live and it spreads quickly, so keeping them separate helps. Also, it is important to feed them well while they are young. I add some fertilizer, mineral pellets and EM solution.

Cilantro (Pakuchi)

I'm always trying to grow Cilantro (Pakuchi) since we love it, but like I mentioned in the String Bean post they had their own growing season. I planted many seeds, but only one seedling sprouted. 

 

String Beans

I grow String Beans year around. The plant grows well and is even flowering, but no beans. As with many plants, even though they may grow they may not produce.  

 

Spearmint (Herb)

I had a Spearmint plant on my second floor balcony that I forgot about. I thought it was going to die when I found it, but noticed the stems were still flexible, so I transplanted into a container I had a Mikan tree graft and it went crazy. 

I trimmed the Mint many times to make tea, but it is just getting too long, so I took some cuttings and transplanted them into this container. I took pretty thick stems and planted them directly in the soil and watered them well. Two weeks later they are growing well. There is also a Strawberry plant in this container. Don't know how that got there, but those runners often find a way. 

Dragon Fruit

I picked the last of the Dragon Fruit and gave most to my friends. Dragon Fruit have a five month growing season from May to September, but I do not see any new buds. Perhaps now that I've picked these it might start to blossom again. Stay tuned!

Dragon Fruit

All the Dragon Fruit are ready to pick. There are five fruit on this side of the plant and two on the other side.

Guava (Red and Strawberry)

It is peak Guava season and I go out in the mornings to find fruit all over the ground. Of course, I've wrapped them, so they are not damaged.

I'm finding the average Guava is between 150 and 200 grams, which are pretty decent sized. I'm also getting tons of Strawberry Guava. They ripen quickly and I'm trying to eat them, but there are just so many.

I made jam using Strawberry Guava. I did not use pectin, so it is like a thick syrup; however, it tastes great and perfect for yogurt.

Peanuts

My Peanut plants grew well, but recently started to die back so I decided to harvest them. 

Wow! I only got a handful of Peanuts :)

Guava (Red and Strawberry)

Some of the red Guava fruit I wrapped the other day are starting to drop and in pretty good condition.

Average Guava are between 50~200 grams, which makes these a little larger than average.

I have Strawberry Guava bushes around my property and get a handful everyday.

Guava

I finally got around to wrapping more of the fruit, but still have more to wrap.

Japanese Sweet Potato (Purple Satsumaimo)

I planted these Satsumaimo slips on 6 October of last year, which makes them about nine months old.

Someone on my blog asked if 6 inches was deep enough to grow sweet potatoes and I said yes, but the more soil you have the better the container can retain moister and the tubers will not crack. Also, a deeper container will allow the tubers to grow larger, but this container has about 8 inches of soil and my tubers were fine, but had some cracks. 

The first thing I do is remove the vines and set them aside to make new slips for planting.

Clean container ready to flip.

Press down the soil and pick out the tubers. When complete, place the soil back in the container and mix in some fertilizer and mineral pellets.

Using the vines set aside earlier, make some slips and plant them as deep as possible. Water well for the first 10 days. You will see many of the leaves dry up, but that is fine. As long as the slips survive they will grow new roots, leaves and produce tubers.

I always weight my bounty. I got 3kg (6.6 lbs) of tubers, which is a pretty decent amount for a small container.

Lastly, I place the tubers outside in a cool dry spot to cure for 10-14 days. These are the Japanese sweet potatoes that turn yellow when cooked and are usually super sweet. I can't wait to try them.

(08/20) Seven days later the slips are growing well. They just need a lot of watering the first 10-14 days to take root. I have some blank spots where the slip did not make it, so will fill them in later.

Acerola Cherry (Barbados Cherry)

The Acerola Cherries I had sitting on my window seal ripened nicely, so I made some more jam.

I started with 857 grams (30 ounces) of cherries. After removing the seeds, I got 606 grams (21 ounces) of pulp. I added 2 teaspoons of pectic, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 270 grams (9.5 ounces) of white cane sugar.

I boiled the mix down until I got a consistency I desired and got six 128 grams (4 ounce) jars of jam.

Lizard Buddy

One of my Lizard buddies was helping with the Guava yesterday. 

 

Passion Fruit (Last One)

Last Passion Fruit of the Season.

Guava

I have not had the chance to wrap all the fruit and the birds know :) 

Salvageable!

 

Guava (Red and Strawberry)

I have some pretty nice red Guava. I am not wrapping fruit that are still small and green, but will wrap fruit that is maturing, like the ones I show hear. After this picture I wrapped these two fruit.

Every morning I will retrieve fruit that has fallen and check fruit still on the tree that I think is ready. Fruit that ready will fall off in your hand when lightly tugged.

These fruit are average size and beautiful inside.

I get a handful of Strawberry Guava everyday.

Strawberry Guava are bite size and delicious. I simply wash them and eat them fresh.