THE APPRENTICE GARDENER

My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Dale

my Mickey Mouse plant after Gener

no wonder they are called Mickey Mouse, but some of the traders called them money tree, because it is said that they bring luck!  I think i'm gonna buy me some lotto tickets :D

even my miniature rose enjoyed Gener


Medinilla with Coleus


Happy Mandevilla


I've lost the label of this plant, and since I have habanero, jalapeno, siling panigang, sweet cayenne pepper, cherry pepper, and labuyo... i have no idea what kind of pepper this is (hhmmm..cherry pepper is out of the picture, and it kinda looks like labuyo)


after a year of buying this plant, finally...flower buds from my Tecoma Stans


Whoa! flower bud from my Gardenia

whew! While some of my plants enjoyed Gener, it seemed like the caterpillars had a feast with my variegated calamansi


some of the seedlings that survived Gener


seedlings repotted (zinnia, dahlia, and carnation)

I just can't help it, I really must start with my gardening!  The best way to start....a temporary pocket garden


Here's where i'm planning to place my pocket garden


after some clearing and digging....


since we don't have a tamper, I just asked my son to jump on this site


after a couple of minutes...


hmmm, I think I need some sand...look at those pile of sand. (from across the street)..it's as if they are saying..I'm free, come and get me :D


sshhh, we just took 2 sacks of sand


with sand..my pocket garden looks a lot cleaner


wait! I need to elevate my pots, and a better way to do it is to use some colored pebbles..or golden gravel, but I really don't have a budget for that.....(sigh)


whew, tired already? we need some gravel 


See!  Those G1 gravel (from across the street) would do for now



It's now after 5PM....no workers, no roving guards :D, we just need two socks of G1 gravel


It's getting dark, time to take a rest

Nothing is permanent in my pocket garden...if by chance we'll have a budget. 
I might change those G1 gravel with bermuda grass, or some colored pebbles, but for now....I'll enjoy my Pocket Garden!

















DISH GARDEN (budget friendly)

Finally!  We got to move-in to our humble abode (dream house), but I just can't start with my gardening yet, but since i'm sooo excited, I decided to start with dish gardening.


shallow pot (PHP 25.00)


assorted plants (now this is important, you should choose plants that require the same type of care)
(PHP 8.00 each)


white pebbles (PHP 25.00), miniature clay pot (PHP 10.00 each), and moss  (not only attractive, but also helps to retain moisture, PHP10.00)


soil, gravel (I don't know if this is the right gravel for this project, the point is, this gravel is jsut sitting accross from our street, and that makes them free) 


charcoal (I think this is optional, i've read somewhere that the use of charcoal for dish gardening is to absorb the odor of the water, but some experts say that charcoal works only for a couple of months)




Put about an inch of gravel (for drainage)


Charcoal should be placed after the gravel, but I've decided not to use the charcoal, so my next step is to put some potting soil


You may want to play around on how your dish garden will look like.


Last stage, after setting the plants (you may want to spread their roots to make them sit lower than how they came potted), put the moss, pebbles, and try to arrange your clay pots.  Ohh, I almost forgot, you should firm the soil around the plants, before placing your moss and ornaments...


This project should be sitting on top of our center table, but since we don't have one (yet)..this is the next best spot, on top of our kitchen counter.

That's about it!  But I still need to keep an eye with this, I need to observe whether my dish garden would thrive and grow healthy right on this spot.









After reading BlackDove's blog about his DIY trellis, I got really inspired and decided to make one for my cherry tomato, that badly needs a trellis.

My cherry tomato without a trellis 

Materials that I used
plastic pot, bamboo, pvc pipe, steel wire (I don't know what gauge, but I used a thicker one), Epoxy adhesive, wire cutter, hack saw, enamel paint, paint brush

1.  Using your hacksaw, cut at least 5-6 inches of the pvc pipe (4 pieces).  Sorry, but i'm not that good in using the hacksaw, which resulted to this uneven cut, but this will do.



2.  Using a wire cutter, cut 4 inches of steel wire (8 pieces), this is to properly secure your leg holder.


    
3.  Apply a generous amount of epoxy adhesive.


4.  Attach the leg holder to the plastic pot,  I used the steel wires to properly secure the leg holders.

 5.  Do step 4 to all the corners of the plastic pot, and insert all the trellis legs into the leg holders.

6.  Apply some paint to the bamboo trellis, cut a desired length of steel wire to join all the four trellis legs


My first produce, cherry tomato!

About me!

A loving wife to my best friend Noel, a cool mom, a sister, a young gran, a friend, a novice blogger, who wants to document my quest in gardening... an aspiring gardener, who is willing to learn from the more experienced gardeners.. and hoping to meet new friends along the way...

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