Blooms & Growths

It is very satisfying to see the little plants germinate, grow and flower. Here are some of the beautiful blooms I got thus far.

The first one is the bitter gourd bud and blossom. However, sadly, today one of the bloom dropped off. I hope some of them will survive to give me some bitter gourd as I do love the taste of bitter gourd.
Bitter Gourd Flower Bud
Bitter Gourd Flower Bloom
In addition to the bitter gourd flower, I saw that my butterfly pea is blooming pretty well. The flower is commonly used as dye in food. It gives a beautiful blue to tang yuan (rice balls).
Butterfly Pea Bloom

Blue Tang Yuan
Impatiens balsamina or rose balsam is said to be used as dye for finger nail colouring. There are a wide variety of colours for this species, including purple, white, yellow, red.
Rose Balsam Flower
Other than the above blooms, I've also have a few plants growing very healthily. I am very glad to see my peppermint growing so healthily. I am waiting to see if it will flower too.
Peppermint
This parsley came from the bunch of parsley I bought from the market. It grows quite well and sprouts of younger parsley are coming out from time to time.
Parsley

More Plants Again!

A few days into budding, the flowers of my choy sum is fully bloomed. Amazingly, it does have a very sweet fragrance.
Choy Sum Flower
Impatiens balsamina, common name rose balsam or garden balsam, is a very beautiful plant with very showy flowers. It is also known as Touch Me Not, as the matured seed pods will explode when touched, spreading the seeds. This cultivar has a very nice blend of colours.
Touch Me Not
Since I can't eat this potato anymore after it germinated in my kitchen, I decided to plant it so that I can get some potato leaves to fight the invading ants. It seems to be growing quite well. Who knows if one day, war erupts and I have my own supply of food during emergency. :P
Potato
This is no lemon tree but it is lemon grass. Lemongrass is a very popular herb used in cooking in south east Asia. It took me quite some time to learn how to grow one. Hopefully this one will grow up and mature healthily.
Lemongrass
Having a neighbour who gardens as well, I get to snap his plants too. This is the flowers of star fruit.
Star Fruit Flower
Roses have a subtle but sweet fragrance that can make one feels very much in love.
Rose Shoot
Rose Shoot with Flower Bud
Rose Shoot with Flower Bud - Focused

Baby Plants for Sales

My little garden is yielding more plants than I needed. So, here are some of them for sales.

Peppermint is easy to plant and they are quite hard to kill. The fragrance of peppermint is refreshing and it is good as carminative and expectorant.

Peppermint
Mandarin can grow into quite a tree. The fruit is tasty to eat and the leaves are fragrant if crushed. The scent is relaxing and can ease sleep.

Mandarin
Basil is often used in Italian cuisine. Some of the southeast and east countries like Thailand use basil too, in their cooking as well. Basil leaves are fragrant and it is good for the mind, clearing headache and allowing for clear thoughts.

Baby Basil
It is quite a hardy plant, so with little care, it can grow quite beautifully.

Basil
Drop me a message if you are in Klang Valley and would like to buy one of these plants.

More Plants

Today, I bought a small pot of Rosemary for a friend because she wished to start planting some cute herbs around her office. Lucky for me, she allowed me to take two cuttings out of the main plant. Hopefully these cuttings will survive and grow.
Rosemary
On the other hand, my choy sum's flowers are beginning to bloom. I'm keeping this one to see if I can get any seed out of it.
Choy Sum
Finally, a surprise for me today when I discovered that my sweet potato plant growing out with a sweet potato. I wonder if I should harvest the whole pot or just try to take the sweet potato.
Sweet Potato

Home Made Rose Toner

Having been troubled by acne throughout my teenage years, a simple and effective solution was much wanted. After some searching, I found this cheap yet effective solution - home made rose toner.

To make this simple rose toner, all you need are a small container, filtered/distilled water and some dried/fresh roses. The ratio of rose to water is quite dependent on how strong you like it to be. Around 3-5 flowers to 50ml would be quite a good ratio. To cut on cost, you can even plant your own roses. I have my own rose plants, so I can dry my own roses and prepare them for making my own toner. If you don't have a rose plant, you can get those dried rose buds or petals from herb shops. Commercial fresh rose flowers are not recommended because they are laden with pesticides, which aren't the least bit good for your face.
Dried Rose
First step is to measure your water using the container. Fill the container to the brim with water. Then pour the water into a pot and bring to boil. When the water is boiling, put your roses into the water and boil for another 30 seconds. Then remove the pot from heat and allow it to cool, covered (you won't want the sweet fragrance of the rose to escape). Once cooled, pour into your container and you have your very own rose toner!
Rose Toner
Store the toner in the fridge and it can last 1 week. If you wish to extend the shelf life of the toner, you can consider adding a few drops of essential oil (recommended 2-4 drops per 50ml of toner) after the toner is cooled. If you add essential oil, make sure you shake well after adding the essential oil and also every time before you use.

Essential oils that you can consider adding are tea tree, lemongrass, niaouli, lavender, palma rosa, ylang ylang, pine, petitgrain, rosemary, frankincense, carrot seed and eucalyptus. These oils are generally considered antiseptic, good for acne, scar healing or regeneration of skin cells.

In addition to that, peppermint and spearmint can give your face the cooling effect of menthol. They are also antiseptic. However, only a small amount should be used as these 2 oils may be sensitising.

Rose oil can be added into the toner for even more pleasing fragrance but rose essential oil is very costly. And I won't use cheap fragrance oil for they may have no therapeutic effect and may cause more health complications if applied onto skin.

Although essential oils are fun and effective to use, there are situations where they may be contra indicated, such as pregnancy, epileptic and so on. There may also be risk of allergic reaction or sensitivity. It is important to find out more from a qualified aromatherapy practitioner before you use any of these oils.

With essential oils, the shelf life of the toner in the fridge can go up to 1 month. Oh, have I mentioned that by keeping the toner in the fridge, the cool temperature of the toner can give you extra toning effect? So, this is a fun, natural, green yet cheap way to make your own toner.

I've been using this toner and am very pleased with the result it delivers. I hope you all will find pleasure in this simple remedy too.

Assorted Plants

Having found pleasure in gardening, I've planted an assortment of plants. Here are some of the pictures of them.

Peppermint is among the easiest to plant. All you need to do is to buy a bundle of them from the market. Strip all the leaves to cook or brew tea. Finally, simply plant the stems on the soil and water twice daily. I got myself a few potful of peppermint through this method. I am also using this method to keep my peppermint supply constant.
Peppermint
I got myself a bunch of choy sum through the seeds I bought from a local store. It was a lot easier than I thought. Simply sprinkle them and water daily. And now, they are almost ready for harvest. Hopefully, some of the flowers will turn into seeds for me to keep the cycle going.
Choy Sum with budding flower
Chilli was quite easy to plant as well. All you need is to get some fresh chilli from the market and extract the seeds. Sprinkle them on the soil and water daily. This particular tree was with me for a few months already. It may still take some time to flower and fruit.
Chilli Plant
These bitter gourd vines were a surprise to me. The first batch didn't germinate and went spoil. I threw in the second batch deep into the soil with other organic material as compost, then added soil and planted some choy sum on the top. They just took me by surprise when they germinated. I shall be adding some structures for them to climb on soon.
Bitter Gourd
When your sweet potatoes started growing vines, you can simply cut out the small portion of the sweet potato with the vines and plant them. You still get to eat the rest of it! They grow quite easily, however, you need to have a bit of land area for them as they seem to take quite a lot of nutrients from the soil. The land area is also for the sweet potatoes to grow. However, this batch, I am planting only for the vines, so I planted them in a pot. I am considering propagating some of them onto the ground for more growth.
Sweet Potato Vine
Sweet Potato Vine
Planting can be fun and rewarding. I have more plants coming up soon in the future and also some tips on how to take care of them.

Rose Blooms

These are my latest rose blooms.
Red Rose Bloom
Pink Rose Bloom
I don't know if I have a green thumb or what, my roses seem to love to give me beautiful and fragrant blooms. They make my days happier. :D

Bitter Gourd Sauce & Soup

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), also known as bitter melon, is a very special fruit. As the name suggest, it is bitter and the taste is quite unique. The taste may not be palatable to the populations in the west but has found favour among a lot in the east. It is said that the ripe fruit is more bitter, so it would be wiser to pick a hard, green fruit. Besides that, soaking the cut pieces in salt water will wash off some of the bitterness.

This fruit is said to possess a few medicinal properties. Given it's bitter taste, it is known as a cooling fruit, suitable to reduce heat and other hot conditions. In addition to that, bitters are generally known to be good digestive aids. So, bitter gourd is also believed to be a good digestive stimulant for sluggish digestion or bowel movement. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), bitter gourd was used in the treatment of diabetes. Given all these benefits, it should be noted that bitter gourd is considered contraindicated for pregnant women as it may have emmenagogue effect.

Now that we have a general idea of the fruit, let us go into the recipe of making bitter gourd sauce & soup.

Items to prepare:

• Bitter gourd, sliced or diced, amount depending on how bitter you like it
• Chicken meat, sliced or diced as preferred
• Cooking oil
• Salt
• White Pepper
• Soya sauce
• Water

Steps for bitter gourd sauce:

1. Marinate the chicken meat in a bit of salt, white pepper, oil and soya sauce for 10 to 30 minutes.
2. Heat the sauce pan/pot/wok and pour in some oil.
3. Put in the chicken meat and bitter gourd at the same time.
4. Stir around for a minute then add some water to cover the meat and gourd.
5. Close the lid and let it cook.
6. When meat is cooked, test the taste and add salt or soya sauce if desired.
7. Ready to serve once the desired taste is achieved.

Steps for bitter gourd soup:

1. Marinate the chicken meat in a bit of salt, white pepper, oil and soya sauce for 10 to 30 minutes.
2. Boil a pot of water.
3. Put in the bitter gourd.
4. Close lid and let it cook for a few minutes first, as bitter gourd needs a longer time to cook.
5. Put in meat and close lid again.
6. When meat is cooked, test the taste and add salt or soya sauce if desired.
7. Ready to serve once the desired taste is achieved.

Personally, I love to the sauce better as the oil will draw out a stronger aroma and taste. To serve it, I will pour it onto a bowl of noodle or rice vermicelli. It can also be served with rice. I would rate this recipe 9 out of 10 as it is easy to prepare, aromatic, tasty and healthy.