Apr 2020 Farmer Dairy

Wife brought some Wind Mill from China Town to deter the Birds which had been causing damage to the plants. I had also added an additional rack over the Large Tray for protection netting few days ago. Hanging shiny ornaments or wind chime will also do the trick but we do not want to cause any noise or light reflection disturbance to our neighbors.

The sunlight had start to shift toward the left after Spring Equinox on 21st Mar, it is at perfect alignment to the east and west on Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox which occurs every year on 21st of Mar and 21st Sep. It will keep shifting towards the left until 21st Jun on Summer Solstice at an angle of 23.5 Degree and towards the right until 21st Dec on Winter Solstice at the same angle.

This natural phenomenon are due to the tilt angle of the planet Earth which allow four seasons to occur above the tropic region. The Tropical of Cancer and Capricorn are also mark at 23.5 Degree above and below the Equator for the same reason.   

2nd Apr 2020 Adding Wind Mill to deter the Birds

Sunlight shifting toward the left after Spring Equinox

The Air Plant Flower Bloom, this is the second time it bloom. The first time is just one flower on another plant facing the side but this time it is the front plant with three flowers. Not sure if this is a good sign at bad time like this as the Government had announce yesterday about the new control measure for the prevention of virus spread.

The Choy Sum seem to grow very well at the Long Pot which was meant for Carrot initially, it grow much faster than expect and also surpass the one growing on Large Tray. Maybe it is because the Carrot did not sprout and the nutrient in the soil remain to boost the grow, think we will be able to harvest it in a week or so.  

5th Apr 2020 Air Plant Flower Bloom

5th Apr 2020 Choy Sum Grow Well 

The Watermelon and Okra didn't survive, I think it is because my wife had been too protective of the sprout and keep it too long in the nursery. Those that we plant directly into the pot are stronger, so I had to take a lot of effort to convince my wife not to be too protective of the sprout.

The Lime also doesn't sprout as expected, so we get some Kaffir Lime seed and regrow with same pot. The Watermelon is also regrow in same pot with the sweeter version from the seed brought from supermarket. The Okra pot will be use for another attempt on the Carrot.

We decided to add Passion Fruit, Bitter Gourd and Cactus to the Mini Farm, the Cactus initially is suppose to use for Deterring the Birds but the Wind Mill seem to work well so far even without using the Protecting Net for the Vegetables.

The remaining 5 pot of Capsicum doesn't survive in the end, the pot are use for the Choy Sum instead as my wife feel the Large Tray is a bit cramp. Peanut seem to suffer with new soil, 2 out of the 5 plant are dying. The transfer might had cause some damage to the root, so it is not advisable to transfer plant too often.

10th Apr 2020 Addition of Passion Fruit, Bitter Gourd, Kaffir Lime, Watermelon and Cactus.

10th Apr 2020 Replace Capsicum with Choy Sum

Wife decided to try Bean Sprout after seeing a lot of people post about their result on Facebook, it is not much challenge as I expect it to be able to Harvest in just 4 days. Jalapeno and Strawberry Sprout doesn't survive well, additional seeds are planted. The Strawberry seeds are now from the package we brought from supermarket, we hope it will survive better this time.

 11th Apr 2020 Bean Sprout

After about 4 days the Bean Sprout are ready for Harvest, at the same time the New Watermelon had also start to Sprout after 5 days. Seem like almost all the seed we get from the actual fruit doesn't really survive well, now we start to worry for the Cherry Tomato, Passion Fruit and Kaffir Lime.

14th Apr 2020 Bean Sprout ready for Harvest

14th Apr 2020 New Watermelon had Sprout

The Cactus had start to Sprout after 7 days, at the same time we also notice that the Cucumber, Cucamelon, French Bean, Cherry Tomato, Eggplant had start to die. I had to replant the seeds and hope for the best, Cucamelon is the one I worry most as I had no more seed after this if it fail again.

My wife think I had over fertilize it, but I think it is because of the hot weather. The Pearl Tomato seem to had more Flower Bloom after I give more fertilizer, if my wife is right the Pearl Tomato should have also been affected.

The Capsicum seem the same after fertilizing it, but the Mulberry and Peanut seem to show sign of dying. The Choy Sum which had been transfer to the previous Capsicum pot also doesn't look good, the Choy Sum in the Long pot are ready for Harvest anytime soon.

15th Apr 2020 Cactus had Sprout

15th Apr 2020 Cactus had Sprout

The Passion Fruit had start to Sprout after 12 days, it is longer than expected. Not sure what my wife did to the plant, the Capsicum and Mulberry Leaf start to wither. I had suspected that she never water enough but she say she just fertilize it with some rice water.

I had to check all the pot for moist soil and true enough almost all the pot did not have much water and soil is pretty dry up. It can't be notice on the surface as my wife usually spray some water on the surface, it took me about 5 to 6 bottle of water before I can see water slipping out from the bottom of the pot to the tray.

19th Apr 2020 Passion Fruit Sprout after 12 days

19th Apr 2020 Capsicum had start to Ripe

As one of the Capsicum and both the Mulberry had shown sign of dying, I decided to redo the soil for it. We added Lecca, Mini Lecca and Perlite to ensure the water retention and air circulation. The root seem ok as we had expected some rotting or damage before we decided to redo the soil.

At the same time we also decided to redo the soil for the pots which we use for Capsicum last time. The Choy Sum doesn't seem to grow well in the pots as the nutrient might had been fully absorded by the Capsicum previously. 

Got some left over soil after the mixing of Lecca, Mini Lecca and Perlite, we decided to use it to top up the soil for the Sweet Potato and Choy Sum Long Pot. The Large Tray will also have to top up with more soil later after the Choy Sum had been harvest.

It had been a month and the Earthworm had grow big, they use to take two month to improve the soil but now they only need one month. So it is about time we help them move their house again.

They are suppose to do the work of loosening the soil, but my wife treat them like baby and want me to break up the soil into fine powder. I ask her, if I am doing the work for them then what are they going to do? Every day just eat and sleep?

End up I still had to do all the hard work and even had to stiffen the powdered soil with a strainer to ensure it is fine enough. My wife then add water and stir it into a cray like paste before she transfer the precious Earthworm into their new habitat.

Kaffir Lime had start to Sprout after 15 days, it was a very long wait and we almost lose hope about it. New Batch of Cherry Tomato and Cucamelon had also start to Sprout after 7 days, they took almost twice the time this time and I hope it will be stronger as I planted the seed directly into the soil without nurturing the sprout.

22nd Apr 2020 Kaffir Lime had Sprout after 15 days

22nd Apr 2020 New Cherry Tomato had Sprout after 7 days

22nd Apr 2020 New Cucamelon had Sprout after 7 days

New Eggplant had Sprout after 10 days, hopefully it will be stronger as it is planted directly into soil. Have tested the PH Value of the soil, the soil for Strawberry and Peanut seem to be more Acidic than the rest. I suspect the new soil I brought is acidic but after testing it found to be normal.

Even the fertilizer appear to be normal after testing, so I just use Vinegar to lower the PH Value for other soil. Basically the Fruits or Vegetables which are sour in nature require the soil to b more acidic. Vinegar also help to kill the pest inside the soil.

26th Apr 2020 New Eggplant had Sprout after 10 days

 Another Type of Mushroom grow in Peanut Long Pot, the Peanut never survive after the soil change. Sixth Aunt say Mushroom grow indicate good soil as it is a sign of nutrient breaking down cycle. The fertilizer which is in progress now should be very good for the plant in the future.

28th Apr 2020 Another Type of Mushroom grow in Peanut Long Pot

29th Apr 2020 Mushroom grow bigger

Mar 2020 Farmer Dairy

Realized that there are not enough sunlight at the corridor, decided to shift the Bamboo Rack to the lift side. The morning sunlight will shine from the east directly on the Bamboo Rack, as the Passion Fruit had been temporary remove from the project due to unable to find good seed the support rack is reconfigure for Cherry Tomato and Cucumber.

2nd Mar 2020 Change of Location and Configuration

Sunlight in the Morning

Onion had finally sprout after 11 day, it is one day late from the expected 10 days limit which I found out from the internet. Sixth Aunt had suggest to cut one third of the top and bottom for better grow, but my wife had already cut the four side and would not bear to disturb it further after it had sprout.

5th Mar 2020 Onion Sprout after 11 days

As my Wife is crazy about planting Zucchini and we had brought some Vegetables Seeds from Green Leif, I decided to get Large Tray and Soil from Green Spade. The Hanging Rack lack support and I had to modify it with Angle Bar, the soil from Green Spade is much better than the soil we get from Horti at the supermarket as it had Mini Lecca inside in additional to the Coco Fibre.

I also order Alfalfa Seed from Everything Green as my wife want to try some other Micro Green other than Wheat Grass. The Alfalfa Sprout in just one day and grow much faster than Wheat Grass. As my Wife had overestimate the amount of seed for the small tray, we decided to shift it to the big tray to ensure there is enough space for it to grow.

6th Mar 2020 Large Tray Setup

7th Mar 2020 Tray for Alfalfa

7th Mar 2020 Alfalfa had Sprout after 1 day

Capsicum Flower start to bloom after 64 days, it had grow much faster than the Pearl Tomato which is beyond our expectation. Pearl Tomato had more sprout at the beginning but only one plant actually survive, the Capsicum had less sprout but about eight plants survive with three growing well than the remaining five.

Rocket and Choy Sum start to sprout after 2 days, my Wife wanted to let it sprout more for another 2 more days before she transfer it to the Large Tray. She had again overestimate the amount of it for our consumption, it had occupied the Large Tray for the Zucchini and Carrot. The Zucchini had to be postpone to later date and the Carrot had been consider a failure after 21 days without sprout.

Vegetable
Sprout 5-7 Days Harvest 30-80 Days
Partial Sun Dry Soil 6.0-7.5 PH

8th Mar 2020 Capsicum Flower Bloom after 64 days

8th Mar 2020 Rocket and Choi Sum Sprout after 2 days

10th Mar 2020 Transfer of Vegetables to Large Tray

Alfalfa had been growing fast, my Wife had start eating it after 4 days as tidbit and we ate it with Sixth Aunt after it had fully grown on the 6th days. It had grow faster than expected and we could only finish half and kept the remaining in the fridge for future consumption. We ate it with Passion Fruit and some Passion Fruit had been kept for using the seed for future planting.

Sixth Aunt recently had start growing Pea Sprout and we give her a Tray and some Alfalfa Seed with PH Meter as an appreciation of all her help in our little farm. She also brought some of her Pea Sprout for us to try, she also brought some Chive Seed, Okra Seed for us to plant in the future if we ever find more space for the mini farm.

10th Mar 2020 Alfalfa grow well

I had order Cucamelon and Jalapeno Seed from The Wrigley Farm, we also plant the Cucumber and French Bean Seed which we had brought from Green Leif after confirming that the Cucumber Seed we get from the Cucumber we brought from the supermarket doesn't seem to sprout after 10 days limit.

Cucamelon and French Bean start to sprout after 4 days, Cucumber start to sprout after 5 days. Sweet Potato had been growing very well in the Long Pot, there are two plant which grow tall enough for cutting off the top part to become two smaller plant. But after asking if any of the relative are interested we decided to keep it as it is since nobody actually want.

Bean
Sprout 7-10 Days Harvest 45-90 Days
Partial Sun Dry Soil 5.5-7.0 PH
5-10-10 NPK

14th Mar 2020 Cucamelon Sprout after 4 days

14th Mar 2020 French Bean Sprout after 4 days

15th Mar 2020 Cucumber Sprout after 5 days

17th Mar 2020 Sweet Potato grow well

Jalapeno sprout a bit later after 8 days, and Eggplant also sprout after 10 days. What came as a surprise is that the Strawberry finally start to sprout after 22 days, it was a day late from the limit like the Onion. We are looking forward to it as we almost give up hope and plan to buy the seed from the supermarket in case the seed we got from the fruit is not successful.

Eggplant
Sprout 7-14 Days Harvest 60-90 Days
Full Sun Moist Soil 5.0-7.0 PH
10-10-10 NPK

18th Mar Jalapeno Sprout after 8 days

20th Mar 2020 Strawberry Sprout after 22 days

20th Mar 2020 Eggplant Spout after 10 days

Did some modification of the Support Rack to prepare for Passion Fruit, Watermelon and Kiwano. Still unable to find Kiwano in Singapore yet, might had to wait until July for the season. Also did some modification of the Support for the Cucumber, Cucamelon, French Bean and Cherry Tomato. It is able to provide more support and had a better look after the new modification.

The Capsicum had start to bear Fruit after 81 days, is it faster than what we expected as the packaging indicate about 98 days. The Pearl Tomato is behind schedule as it had not bloom flower or bear fruit until now, the packaging indicate harvest in about 63 to 77 days. The Cherry Tomato doesn't seem to grow well, out of the three pots only one pot manage to survive until now.

Wife finally decided to grind all the egg shell, banana peel, orange peel, coffee ground and tea leaf into powder after drying it in the sun for almost a month. It is mix with soil and let it compost for about three month to become fertilizer. The coffee ground is producing a lot of heat and it will burn the root of the plant if use directly without composting.

Wife also decide to change the soil for the Peanut as it had become dry and hard after two months. The old soil from the Peanut will be use for Vermicompost for the Earthworm, the soil in the Earthworm container now had already become well fertilize with their waste after about two months. The amount of soil collected from the Peanut Long Pot will be enough for about five to six change which will be over a period of about a year. 

Wife wanted to plant Lime, she also wanted to increase the French Bean and Eggplant by trying to sprout some more seeds. We decided to start planting Okra, Passion Fruit and Watermelon, I brought the Pearl Tomato, Strawberry and Bitter Gourd Seed for backup in case the existing plant fail and also for future planning.

22nd Mar 2020 New Configuration of Support Rack

 

22nd Mar 2020 New Configuration of Support Rack

 24th Mar 2020 Capsicum had bear Fruit

Manage to find 4 wooden plank in the store room, since there are some angle bar left I might as well setup another additional rack. It can be use to put more pot, store gardening stuff or even use as a bench.

26th Mar 2020 Final Expansion

My wife is trying to create Compost Fertilizer by burying fruit scrap in soil, I suggest she add some Yeast to cultivate some Bacteria to speed up the progress. We never expect Mushroom to grow from the soil, we might have discover a new way to grow Mushroom. We are not sure if these Mushrooms are edible, so we just wait for it to grow further before we decide what to do with it. 

The mushroom grow fast, the night before it just sprout it had already bloom the next day morning. The Watermelon and Okra had also Sprout after 4 days, as I did not did any research on the grow period I think it is still consider fast at that rate. The only  thing left is to wait for the Lime to Sprout, hopefully we will be able to see that before the end of the month.

28th Mar 2020 Never Expect Mushroom to grow

29th Mar 2020 Mushroom Bloom the next day morning

29th Mar 2020 Watermelon Sprout after 4 days

29th Mar 2020 Okra Sprout after 4 days

Pearl Tomato Flower start to bloom at the last day of the month, it is like it know that I am going to feature it in my blog and it doesn't want to wait for another month. It took 88 days for the flower to bloom, really way behind the schedule that we had expected. We are not sure when will the Fruit start to bear but we are really looking forward to it.

Capsicum Fruit had also grow bigger, there is some darker colour patch seen on part of it. We are not sure if it is a sign of maturity or a sign of damage, we just had to wait and see how it develop and grow further. Mushroom doesn't survive long, it usually sprout in the night and bloom in the morning and then dried up and die the next day evening.

This had taught us about how life is short and how we should treasure it while we still can. The whole farming journey had taught us a lot of things, patient to wait for the plant to grow and develop, willing to forego of the weaker plant so that the stronger one can grow better. 

There are many more lessons to be learn in this journey and we are looking forward to it with a positive mind. There will always be surprises and disappointment every day as we proceed but we should not let it hold us back and give up on life so easily.

31st Mar 2020 Pearl Tomato Flower Bloom after 88 days

31st Mar 2020 Capsicum Fruit Grow

Feb 2020 Farmer Dairy

Sixth Aunt told us to transfer the Peanut to Long Pot after 13 days, she told us the plant need a lot of sunshine to grow. The flower will wither and drop into the soil to become the fruit. The first Mulberry Fruit had been eaten by my mom and two new fruit start to grow after 13 days. It took another 22 days for the Mulberry Fruit to ripe, we find it a bit sour on taste. The leave of the Mulberry Plant also make healthy tea, it is a very worthwhile plant to grow as it require less effort and provide good health benefit.

6th Feb 2020 Peanut transfer to Long Pot

6th Feb 2020 Mulberry Fruit

My wife told me that Sixth Aunt had given us two more long pot, some soil and fertilizer and even Earthworm for Vermicompost. I had to order two Hanging Rack for the two new Long Pot, at the same time I also order some Support Rack for future planning of vine type plant like Passion Fruit and Bean and also PH Meter for checking the soil.

As the Corona Virus start to spread, the Singapore Government declare Dorscon Orange on 7th Feb 2020. Panic buying of food and provision at the supermarket since the announcement went public, I think it is a good time to start our mini farm expansion to ensure we are self sufficient for our food supply focusing on the vegetables and fruits. Cousin Ronnie also started his small scale vegetables farm after he saw my expansion project.

We decided to try planting new crop from the seed we remove from the fruit and vegetable we brought from the supermarket. So far only Cherry Tomato seem successful with sprout after 5 days of planting. Still observing the Strawberry, Cucumber, Potato, Ginger, Garlic, Onion, we also get Carrot Seed from supermarket and Aloe Vera and Pandan from Key Smith Uncle. 

Strawberry
Sprout 10-21 Days Harvest 140-200 Days
Partial Sun Moist Soil 5.0-7.0 PH

Cucumber
Sprout 5-10 Days Harvest 35-70 Days
Partial Sun Wet Soil 5.5-8.0 PH
2-3-6 NPK

Potato
Sprout 14-28 Days Harvest 45-100 Days
Partial Sun Moist Soil 4.5-6.5 PH
6-24-24 NPK

Ginger
Harvest 120-300 Days
Partial Sun Moist Soil 6.5 PH

Garlic
Harvest 90-240 Days
Partial Sun Dry Soil 5.5-7.0 PH

Onion
Sprout 5-10 Days Harvest 80-150 Days
Partial Sun Dry Soil 6.0-7.0 PH
16-6-4 NPK

Carrot
Sprout 10-21 Days Harvest 56-100 Days
Partial Sun Dry Soil 5.5-8.0 PH
0-10-10 NPK

25th Feb 2020 Expansion with Hanging Rack and Hanging Support

28th Feb 2020 New Tomato had Sprout after 5 days

 28th Feb 2020 Mulberry had Ripe after 22 days

 

Sixth Aunt provide training on Fertilizer

 

 

Details of the Training Course

Jan 2020 Farmer Diary

Sheng Siong Supermarket had opened on 1st Jan 2020 after Giant Supermarket had close for a month last year in Dec 2019. We use to plant Cherry Tomato long time back when they are selling seed at the Shop N Save Supermarket, but the plant never survive the storm after bearing fruit three months later. So now we decided to start with Pearl Tomato and Capsicum again since the Supermarket had start selling seed once more.

Cherry Tomato
Sprout 5-21 Days Harvest 55-100 Days
Partial Sun Wet Soil 5.5-7.5 PH

Chilli Pepper
Sprout 12-21 Days Harvest 60-120 Days
Full Sun Wet Soil 5.5-7.0 PH
5-10-10 NPK

My Wife wanted to try Wheat Grass too as she heard it is very easy to grow and had good nutritious value, so we brought the seed, soil and pot to start our little farm. We never expect the farm to turn into so big from the start, my Sixth Aunt try to encourage us by giving us a lot of stuffs which help to expansion it into a large scale agriculture project.

We put the whole packet of Tomato and Capsicum seed into the pot with soil directly, but for the Wheat Grass my Wife wanted to let it sprout by using the proper procedure. The Wheat Grass sprout just after one night of soaking in water but my wife decide to let it sprout more for another night before she transfer into pot.

5th Jan 2020 Wheat Grass had Sprout after 2 days

Tomato sprout earlier than expected in just 3 days, the packaging instruction indicate a period of about 14 to 21 days. The Capsicum sprout much later after 8 days, but it is still much early than the expected 14 to 21 days period which they indicate on the packaging. Wheat Grass grow well in just 8 days, much faster than the 10 days which the packaging indicated.

The Wheat Grass were much less than expected, so it is not enough for juice which we had planned before. So I order 1 Kg of Wheat Grass Seed from Everything Green for the second planting, the delivery was faster than expected and we were able to sprout it in just one night by directly planting it into the pot of soil.

6th Jan 2020 Tomato had Sprout after 3 days

11th Jan 2020 Capsicum had Sprout after 8 days

11th Jan 2020 Wheat Grass is much less than expected

12th Jan 2020 New Wheat Grass had Sprout in just 1 day

1 Kg of Wheat Grass Seed purchased from Everything Green

Sixth Aunt had given us a small pot of Peppermint, she told us it is very easy to grow by removing the bottom leaf on the stem and buried it in soil for it to sprout new plant. She also give us Peanut,  Mulberry, Sweet Potato and Hyacinths with Long Pot and Hanging Rack, I also order a Bamboo Rack from Qoo10 for the bigger pot and future expansion.

Peanut
Harvest 110-120 Days
Full Sun Moist Soil 5.0-6.0 PH

Sweet Potato
Sprout 21 Days Harvest 90-130 Days
Full Sun Wet Soil 6.0-7.0 PH
5-10-10 NPK

23rd Jan 2020 Peppermint from Sixth Aunt

23rd Jan 2020 Peanut and Mulberry from Sixth Aunt

23rd Jan 2020 Sweet Potato from Sixth Aunt on New Rack

 23rd Jan 2020 New Wheat Grass grow well after 14 days

 

 

 29th Jan 2020 Hyacinths Full Bloom after 6 days