Marigold Flower Pot

A pot of newly planted Marigold seedling. $3 from Woolworth.

Winter strawberries

The 2 small strawberries pot I bought from the local supermarket in September 2014 grew so well and so wild I have turned 2 pots into 5 pots now. It's winter in Canberra at the moment, they are still doing well in full sun position. I am expecting a good harvest this coming summer.

How to grow spring onions and get quick success

I feel the easiest to get a pot of spring onions going fast is to plant the roots from a bunch of supermarket's spring onions. I tried growing from seeds before, it just took too long.

This time round I cut off the root parts from supermarket's spring onions bunch, washed them and buried them in a round pot. Make sure to the root part is pointing downwards. With sufficient watering and full sun position, I am able to see good results in 3 weeks.

Brown aphids on spring onions

Spring onions do not normally attract aphids. Its natural odour rebels insects. Strangely this type of aphids does not fear the odour. The pot was disgustingly covered with the little buggers. I had no choice but resorted to using insects spray on my organic spring onions pot.

Summer 2015 Chilli Crop - Minimum watering survival

This blog has been left unattended for a long time. I am catching up, uploading some old photos. I went away for holidays in January 2015, leaving the chilli pots unwatered for 2 weeks. Surprisingly when I returned home they were still alive and fruiting well. Chilli really doesn't need a lot of water.

Aphids and Spider

Spotted a spider crawling about in my balcony garden. I think it's hungry for some aphids snack.

2015 January Chilli Crop

Balcony View Summer 2015

Bad infestation of Aphids on young Chilli leaves

Progress of the strawberry pot 2 weeks after planting into the pot.

Self Watering Pot Makes A Big Difference

Round pot is the normal pot.
Rectangular pot is the self watering pot. The self watering pot is producing way more spring onions and they are taller and thicker than those in the round pot.

First attempt at growing strawberries

How to care your Chilli in winter.

Don't neglect your plant just because it is in the middle of winter.
Trim it back, keep the soil well fertilised and put the pot in a good sunny spot and there will be good results.

I have seen an abundance of flowers in the chilli pot this winter.
I won't see any fruits until spring arrives in September. Judging by the amount of flowers I have seeing now, a good harvest is expected throughout spring and summer.

Canning Chilli

The process of canning my harvested chilli is easy.
Required materials and ingredients include:

1 x glass jar
Several gloves of garlic
1 x large of chilli
Half cup of vinegar

Pour garlic, chilli, vinegar in a blender and blend them into liquid.
Pour contents into a glass jar and store it in the fridge.

I normally use the chilli paste for cooking.

How to avoid mushroom attack

Wet weather is causing mushrooms growing wildly in my garden pots.
Remove mushrooms from your pots and stop watering immediately, let the soil lose some moisture over a few days.

I did just that and I don't see mushrooms growing in my pots anymore.

Chilli after trim

Spring onion

New shoots have been sighted after a brutal trim last week.

How to harvest chilli.

Sunny weather has returned after weeks of rain. This brings me to harvest time.

Start harvesting the chilli once they have turned red. Wear a glove to protect your hand. The oil from the chilli fruit could sting.

Balcony view after plant trimming

Before trim

After trim

Birds ate my chilli!