Over-all Update 20170831

strenuous gardening two days ago wore me out. sleep has been scarce or of such poor quality that i wasn't able post yesterday. here's the status of recent projects:

here's the talinum and ixora with the twig mulch i'm so pleased with. they are among my other hugel pot transplants.

on a whim, i started tomato seedlings a few weeks ago:

these are ordinary tomatoes and i just saved the seeds while i was making some chutney last august 15. i sowed them indoors and i didn't think they'd germinate so fast. they were really leggy when i checked on them so i potted two of three trays immediately.

i skipped potting most of this third tray where i lazily scattered some seeds that had gotten moldy. i may pot them if some of these are still alive.

 here they are potted and set on old aluminum trays i save exactly for this purpose. i could now leave them in full sun and not worry about forgetting to water them for as long as i refill the trays with water every three days.

and here they are six days later (20170826):

pardon how i didn't remove the glass table top.

AND TODAY...

 

the rainy weather we've had since friday is maybe encouraging some mossy growth but i'll deal with that soon enough. many of these need moving from 6-8oz cups to larger tumblers.

  

a few more i potted last aug 22 

 

and transplanted here are what i'm hoping to be regular spearmint that just sprang in my other pots. there's also basil given to me by my friend Ronnie. started it from seed sometime in july, it's progressing slowly but at least it didn't die like the cuttings i took from his plot last aug 4.

Ronnie also gave me some basil and chocolate mint seeds that i've yet to sow - maybe tonight or tomorrow. i have several other trays and pots i started along with the tomatoes - avocado, squash and soursop, still no luck - i'm guessing the seeds were either old or from young fruits. i'm repurposing those trays to start the basil and mint.

ok, here goes my first blog entry for my second 2017 garden. still have to get a hang of this

an old Ixora (aka West Indian Jasmine or Santan in filipino) of mine was invaded by this unknown plant that usually sprung up here and there in the garden.

  i posted an inquiry in a few g+ communities, got a few +1s and shortly got a reply. turns out it's known as Malay Ginseng.

  

here's another view.

i searched for malay ginseng and learned is is the Talinum Plant.

having read how cool this plant is, i decided i should separate them.

to be inspired, i cued the Rites of Strings in Montreaux concert. this was a favorite back in mid 90s when i had it on cassette tape. all that tasteful shredding by three maestro fire-breathers can energize any corpse back to life and i was all fired up.

 

i first prepared two hugel pots by filling the lower 20 percent with pieces old branches. then a thin layer of soil.

 i carefully unearthed and separated both the ixora and the talinum 

(as i was told, the talinum had a bulbous root).

then i proceeded to replant them in their individual hugel pots.

 

and voila, here they are - all they need now is some watering and mulching. i pruned nearly forty percent off the talinum so it could 'acclimate' faster in it's new home.

i ran out of my twig mulch so i cut up some. by the time i was done, i was too tired to snap a final photo. it was going to be dark soon and there's a good chance it would rain so i had to tidy up and get my stuff inside quickly.

i'll also prune the ixora and snap a final photo tomorrow morning.