My first experience with cherry tomato

I like to read Liberty London Girl blog for its recipes. Some of her recipes are using cherry tomato and it looks delish. But in Indonesia cherry tomato is more expensive than local bigger tomato, and also less popular. So its also a bit difficult to find. Only available in big supermarket. One of a supermarket in my area, Indramayu, sometimes sell this tomato but usually not in a good quality. So now i try to grow it myself.

I just sowed four seeds of cherry tomato and it all geminated well. I gave one of the plant away to a friend and i planted the other three. One of them is wilted and died when i left them for four days to visit my family in Yogyakarta. Another plant looked unhealthy that i had to cut the upper stem and pruned many of its leaves. And now it still alive and already shows some new buds. The last plant looked healthier than the other and now already shows some flower buds.

Cherry tomato 50 days old, living good together with four small pakchoy.

Our first cherry tomato flower buds.

I hope i am lucky with this tomato plant so that i could make some delicious meals with them inside. Do you have some tips to share about growing cherry tomato in container?

Pakchoy and radishes in containers

As a new gardener with limited area and bad soil quality, i then only grow veggies that i like to eat and is a bit difficult to find in the local market, mostly in containers. Pakchoy and radish are include in my option because i like them and i can only find a good quality of pakchoy and radish in supermarket which is a little bit far from my home and expensive. I sowed pakchoy and radish around 1.5 months ago. And here is the progress of the plants:

Pakchoy  23 days old.

Pakchoy 49 days old.

Another pakchoy 34 days old.

Although the pakchoy are not ready to harvest yet, still 2-4 weeks to go, i already cut some of the leaves and even uproot one pakchoy to add it in my noodle :)

And here are our white long radishes. I only sowed 5 seeds and all is germinate well. But then don't know why one radish is died. Radish and pakchoy is quite easy to germinate and looks like they are doing well in our containers. Praised be to God!

White long radish, 23 days old.

White long radish 49 days old. They already start to form tuber in their root. I also cut some of their old leaves so that they are focusing on tuber forming.

We also tried to grow red round radish. I never taste or even see this kind of radish here in Indonesia. It's still uncommon here. So when i found this seed is sold online in small packages then i don't have to double think to grow it right away. In the beginning i sowed 3 seeds but only one germinates. Then i sowed another 11 seeds but only 3 of them germinate. I don't know whats happen with the other seeds. Maybe because of bad seed quality or ants eat them or maybe just no reason, simply God's will. Anyway, i am still thankful they grow some.

Red round radish 32 days old.

Do you grow vegetables in containers? Or are you very lucky to have a wider garden with good soil quality?

About gardening

My father in Yogyakarta has a farmland and he also likes to grow fruits and vegetables in our home garden. He even has fish ponds. He really loves spending his day outside the house, whether at the farmland, fish pond or garden,  especially now when he already retired from his job. Although he grows a lot of fruits: banana, rambutan, guava, mango, passion fruit, snake fruit, durian, melinjo, cassava, sweet potato, jack fruit, etc.. and vegetables: rice, long green bean, chili, peanut, corn, tomato, caisim, etc.. i never really connected to the garden. I like to harvest the fruits and vegetables. That's all. But now after i experienced gardening myself, i know why my father really enjoy his time outdoor in the garden.

My father and my daughter, Lin, fishing at one of my father's fish pond.

Gardening can ease our mind. And we will always excited to see the growth of the plants. It's almost unbelievable that the plants we sowed is now growing and almost ready to harvest, and some are already blossom and soon will turn to tomatoes or sweet peppers. And by grow our own food we can be sure that no chemical is used, either pesticides or chemical fertilizer. One of my inspiration to start gardening is this. I bought the seed online. If you are in Indonesia area you can buy it here. It's good for beginner and if you grow the vegs for your own comsumption because they sell it in small packages. And it's very cheap, a thousand rupiahs/pack.

I started gardening around 2 months ago. So actually i am not really harvest my vegetables yet. They are still growing and i hope i will harvest some pakchoy and white long radishes in the upcoming 2-4 weeks. I plant my vegs mostly in containers because the soil here in Indramayu contains a lot of clay. So i bought good soil, manure, compost and rice husk in local nursery store. Here are some of my homegrowing vegetables which is taken a few weeks back:

Pakchoy 23 days old.

 White long radishes 23 days old.

Sweet pepper 23 days old.

Cherry tomato 23 days old.

Celery 1.5 months old.

I sowed a lot of celery seeds but thats's all i get. Well at least i get some...
So are you a long time-experinced gardener, or are you a new beginner just like me?

Our 'queen of the night' flower is bloomed!

I bought this 'queen of the night' flower in local nursery store around 3 or 4 months ago. I really never expect that it will bloom this fast, for this kind of flower blooms very rarely and it only blooms at night. The flower wilts before dawn. That's why you have to excuse me for the quality of the pics - it's taken at night with my handphone camera.

Queen of the night flower is also known as Dutchmen's pipe (Epiphyllum Oxypetalum). It's a species of cactus. In Indonesia we call it Wijaya kusuma. This flower become a symbol of a city in Central Java, Cilacap, where my husband originally came from.

Queen of the night in hanging basket.

Seven queen of the night flowers bloom.

Do you have this flower in your house? Or have you ever seen a queen of the night blooms?

New interest and my life in Indramayu

Indramayu is a small tiny city in West Java, Indonesia. Here you will not find a big mall - if the present of mall becomes a parameter of how big or small city is.. :) I have to go to the next bigger city , Cirebon, around 1.5 hours drive by car if i want to have 'a little bit life' :). Indramayu is even considered as one of a poor regency in West Java (rank number 3 in WJ). I've been staying here for more or less 2 years, since my husband works here as a lecturer in local polythecnic. I am originally from Yogyakarta. It's one of a big city in Indonesia. So my life really has turned 180 deg since i moved here. In Yogyakarta you can find a lot of crowd everywhere. Also a lot of tourist destinations. It's really a nice city. The people are friendly. But in Indramayu it is more of farmland than city crowd or housing, and zero tourist destinations except a few beaches which need a lot of makeover. 

Indramayu is popular for its mango fruits and chips. Trully the best mango fruit that i've ever tasted is produced here. The most popular and the most tasty mango is called gedong gincu. Oh i am gonna post the picture of gedong gincu mango as soon as mango season coming. And chips! Any kind of chips: prawn chips, garlic chips, potato chips, fish chips, fish skin chips, even jengkol chips. You name it. Jengkol is a tree with edible nuts. Its famous for the flavour and smell. A tasty nut with unpleasant smell. I don't like to eat it cuz it's smell bad. My brothers family in Yogyakarta are always very happy if i brought them that very lot kind of chips and terasi. Terasi is a fish and prawn paste. You can use it for seasoning or add it in your sambal (chili sauce).

We rent a small house just 10 mins from hub's office. My first daughter Lin is a good accompany for my everyday life as a fulltime mother and wife. I love to cook and gardening. And now blogging will be my new hobby. Wish to meet new friends as well as old friends. So are you live in or around Indramayu? Or have you ever visited Indramayu?