3rd November 2010
Gardening creates a sort of addiction to it. Apart from decorative plants and flowers, my wife and I has developed an interest in growing fruits and vegetables. Some tease us saying that there's no need for us to go down that road since we can easily get our supply from the wholesale market right next door.
However, we see this as a way to be close to nature itself, and it's a way to teach our children not to depend too much on the buying power of money when there's another way available as an alternative.
From our recent trip to Brisbane, I came across a nursery which sells saplings. We decided to buy two small pots of strawberries and brought it back to Brunei. We have had three ripe ones so far, and they taste good.
Gardening creates a sort of addiction to it. Apart from decorative plants and flowers, my wife and I has developed an interest in growing fruits and vegetables. Some tease us saying that there's no need for us to go down that road since we can easily get our supply from the wholesale market right next door.
However, we see this as a way to be close to nature itself, and it's a way to teach our children not to depend too much on the buying power of money when there's another way available as an alternative.
From our recent trip to Brisbane, I came across a nursery which sells saplings. We decided to buy two small pots of strawberries and brought it back to Brunei. We have had three ripe ones so far, and they taste good.
We have also planted chilli, tomatoes, papaya, soursop, kalamansi (limau kasturi) and a few others. The tomatoes are grown from seeds and it doesn't take a long time to grow. Yesterday, we noticed two small tomatoes has popped up and hopefully there will be lots more.
We are also lucky that our maid is interested in gardening as well. In her spare time, she will look after the plants and recently she has planted rows of tomatoes, papaya and chilli.
To ensure that our plants are healthy and free from pests, I spray pesticides once in a while. It proves to be a good work out for me too since the tank is really heavy!
Soon, we will start planting some other types of vegetables. My wife and I have collected seeds from Australia as well as Brunei (imported from Malaysia) and on our list are cucumber, zuchhini, salad, bittergourd, lady fingers (okra), choy sim as well as herbs such as basil, parsley and mint.
Let's hope for more success! Hehehe...