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PERILLA or SHISO FROM SEEDS

STICKY CINNAMON BUNS

CHICKEN PIES With FRESH THYME

Sugar Loaf Chicory

Moist Carrot Cake

Grow Black Goji berries 黑枸杞 from seeds or cutting in Singapore

TIBETAN BLACK GOJIBERRIES

    Heirloom seeds from Tibet were procured for this journal. We wanted to be certain these plants started from the uncultivated wild variety as possible for our study. As the plants grew, I found them to be entirely unsuitable for apartments’ corridor gardens or anywhere on commonly shared grounds because of these thorns on […]

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Grow tea tree plants or Melaleuca Alternifolia from seeds in Singapore

GROW TEA TREE FROM SEEDS

      This is the tea tree plant whose leaves yield essential oil and not tea plants. There were not many pictures on how these plants grew from young and we wanted to track its journey from seeds to hopefully, maturity, and be able to extract our own tea tree oil. Oil extracted from […]

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Grow schwarzbeeren blackberries from seeds in Singapore

BLAUBERREN BLACK BERRIES

    Blauberren or Schwarzbeeren literally means “blackberries” in English but they are also known by other names. Edible Black Nightshade (English) Schwarzer Nachtschatten (German) Morelle noire (French) Hierba mora (Spanish) Paslen Cernyj (Russia) Scientific name – solanum Nigrum L   They are not the same species as Garden Huckleberry, Wonderberry, or Sunberry although the […]

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Grow Ground Cherry from seeds in Singapore

GROUND CHERRIES

    Ground Cherries are not cherries 🙂   These belong to the nightshade family, similar to capsicums and tomatoes. They are also known as husk tomatoes or sweet tomatillos. Another common name that is confusing, is “Cape Gooseberries” (Physalis Peruviana), which really is a type of ground cherry that shared the “gooseberry” name and […]

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Grow Pineapple Crush Strawberries from seeds in Singapore

PINEAPPLE CARAMEL STRAWBERRIES

    The taste consensus is in. This variety is sweet and when very ripe, the taste profile is caramel + pineapple flavored strawberries. However similar to other white strawberry varieties, it is also slower to grow and very challenging in our environment. We grew in both Kratky (non circulating hydroponic) and soil to compare […]

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Grow Alpine Mignonette Strawberries from seeds in Singapore

TROPICAL STRAWBERRIES

  It had been 4 years since we grew and documented journals on growing strawberries from seeds in Singapore. With the compilation of data and observations from our plants, we began to test what we hypothesized about strawberries in the tropical zone since 2016 and these were some of our findings. The parameter for our […]

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Grow cold seasoned salads from seeds in Singapore

OYSTER LEAF

    We are grateful for moments of heightened curiosity when excitement and intrigue sparkle and we were drawn into the chase to look for answers. These recent years had been one roller coaster after another, finding answers to growing challenging (cold seasoned) edible plants in our tropical climate. After strawberries  (still an ongoing search […]

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Home Aquaponics

Ethan Phang’s Sleek Aquaponics

    The idea is simple. Reared some marine life, be it fishes or shrimps, then channel the aquarium water to feed vegetables. It’s a self-sustaining system that auto-irrigates your edibles while you are on holiday! Sound great, right? But this post took me the longest time to write, even though I told Ethan Phang […]

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Grow Heirloom Pineapple Strawberries from seeds

Pineapple Strawberry

    UPDATE 2018 – Successfully grown in non-circulating hydroponics (KRATKY) and began 3rd generation seedlings trials. This variety was acclimatized to SG natural environment by 2017.     The parent plants of this variety began their journey on January 16 2016 in soil. This is Alpine heirloom Pineapple strawberries, a low growing variety with […]

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Grow Lavenders from seeds in containers

For Lavender Fans

      UPDATE 2019 – GROW LAVENDERS IN LIQUID  WORKSHOP AVAILABLE!      Our Unique curriculum includes how to acclimatize lavenders for our climate! These plants are able to renew growth from dry wooden barks on their own.     Hardy acclimated lavenders are easier to maintain in our climate. This is how the […]

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Grow Rosemary from cutting or seeds in Singapore

ROSEMARY – GROW THEM WELL

  Rosemary plants are one of the easiest herbs to grow once we understood what they need. As a novice gardener in 2015, I could not say the same as I was a serial killer of rosemary plants bought from nurseries, even though I followed their instructions of care faithfully. I did not understand then […]

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Grow wolfberries, Goji berries from seeds or cutting in Singapore

Wolfberries / Goji Berries/ KAU KEE Plant

Updated 2018 June 30 –  We completed the full cycle journal on Kau Kee cutting to fruits and other observations. These plants continue to surprise while gifting us knowledge and food. As fresh berries were not available in our markets, we grew to share them with our family and neighbors. Last but not least, we can grow […]

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Grow White Wild Alpine from seeds in Singapore

White Strawberries

    In 2017, we began a new exploration of white wild Alpine strawberries varieties in KRATKY (passive hydroponic) method. These varieties are not common commercially and too fragile to ship, thus we had to grow them from seeds. We were keen to grow them out of curiosity because their taste profiles were described as intensely […]

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Best ways to grow strawberries from seeds

Strawberries’ Overview – From Seeds to Fruits :)

  In March 2015, my 11-year-old daughter’s birthday wish was to harvest strawberries in our apartment. 🙂 It would not be a hard wish to grant if we were living in a temperate climate region, but we are living in Singapore, a tropical country. Right from the start, we were met with disbelief and skepticism […]

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Grow huckleberries from seeds in Singapore

HYDRO HUCKLEBERRIES

      This plant deserved its own journal instead of writing it under our 2019 post, which was not successful in liquid-based. We sowed the seeds on April 26, 2020, at 2.31 pm. When it germinated on the 28th, we thought it was a blueberry because this errant seed has gotten into our blueberry […]

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How to grow eucalyptus tree from seeds in Singapore

EUCALYPTUS FROM SEEDS

    We germinated eucalyptus seeds using our balancing act from the strawberries seeds  experience. The first batch of seeds was sowed on February 19, 2020, at 2.35 pm and they looked like these –     The success rate was not great, about 1%. A tiny sign of seed life showed on the 22nd, […]

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How to grow CHRYSANTHEMUM GREENS, TANG OH 茼蒿 or 春菊 from seeds in Singapore

CHRYSANTHEMUM GREENS (TANG OH 茼蒿, 春菊 )

    A must-have vegetable for any Chinese steamboat gathering of sorts and it’s known by different names in many kitchens. The West labeled it as an edible chrysanthemum, Choy Suey greens, or a crown daisy. In Japan, it is called Kikuna or shungiku (春菊) and the Koreans called this “sukgat”. In appearance, the Japanese […]

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Grow Bloody Dock Sorrel from seeds in Singapore

DOCK BLOODY SORREL

    What we love about this perennial herb is that the tart lemon tasting leaves retain this unique flavor even when the heat is applied and of course, its pretty colors. The name probably comes from these bloody veined appearance on the leaves. Dock Bloody Sorrel originated in the Mediterranean region and are used […]

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Grow basil varieties from seeds in Singapore

BASIL FROM SEEDS

    There is an astonishing array of basil that can easily be grown from seeds (or cutting if available) for our culinary exploration. Some examples are –   Sweet Italian Basil, also known as GENOVESE basil Lemon Basil (excellent in cold teas or chilled beverages on a hot day) Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil (anti – […]

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Grow Toscana Strawberries from seeds in Singapore

TOSCANA F1 STRAWBERRIES

    This was our first hybrid strawberry variety from seeds and the following summarized what we read about them. The growing notes were sourced online and soil-based as hydroponic data was not available.   Hybrid, F1, Fragaria x Ananassa Restrained Runners Thicker leaves than heirloom varieties Same level of difficulties as white strawberry varieties […]

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Grow Chichiquelite huckleberries from seeds in Singapore

HUCKLEBERRIES FROM SEEDS

    From the beginning of our gardening adventures, we love the idea of foraging for homegrown berries in our gardens. Since growing strawberries in 2015, we had explored other types of berries plants, from mainly seeds and also from cutting. In 2016, we grew wolfberries, and this year (2019) began journeys into berries “bush” […]

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Grow Baron Solemarcher Strawberries from seeds in Singapore

WHITE SOLEMACHER STRAWBERRIES

    If only one word is allowed to describe this plant’s characteristic, it would be “pale”. Everything from leaves to stems is a lighter shade compared to the red Alpine strawberries varieties.     It is known by other names, such as “Pineapple” Baron or ” Fraises des Bois” and highly sought by chefs […]

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Grow oranges from seeds in containers

ORANGE FROM SEEDS

    Our orange’s journal began unexpectedly on January 31 2019 when this sprouted seed was found in our fruit. We will observe how it grows from this point more for curiosity’s sake than expecting any fruits. Moreover, it is unlikely our bedroom is able to support an orange tree.     Its growth was […]

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Grow Yellow Wonder Strawberries from seeds in Singapore

YELLOW WONDER STRAWBERRIES

    Yellow Wonder Alpine strawberry is not difficult to start from seeds. It is recommended for beginner (strawberry) gardeners looking for more uncommon variety to try. These seeds were easy to germinate. In fact, it took less than 4 days when we sowed them on December 26, 2018. Please follow this post on how […]

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Grow New Zealand Spinach from seeds in Singapore

NEW ZEALAND SPINACH or TETRAGONIA

    In appearance, and texture, these young seedlings are similar to ice plants, and they both taste slightly salty. This vegetable is also known by other names such as New Zealand Spinach, Cook’s Cabbage, Sea Spinach, Botany Bay Spinach, or Warrigal greens. In spite of its numerous common names, this plant is not spinach. […]

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Kratky method from seeds

WHITE SOUL STRAWBERRIES

    Our first exploration of white strawberries was  WHITE SOUL on August 23 2015 in soil. In 2017, we learned how to grow in a liquid base, and began new exploration using KRATKY hydroponics method. This post is a rewrite of the journal from 2015 to compare notes between soil-based and KRATKY, non circulating hydroponic. […]

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Grow Perilla or Shiso from seeds in containers
Category:

PERILLA or SHISO FROM SEEDS

      Not all shiso tastes the same. In our kitchen, we find there are culinary differences between the Japanese and Korean Shiso and thus we used them differently. In the former (Japanese,青しそ, ao-jiso ), the leaves are thinner and the taste is suitable even for young children’s salads. Eaten raw, the minty flavor […]

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Grow Sage from cutting in Singapore

GROW SAGE FROM CUTTING

    Growing Sage from cutting is easier than germinating the seeds.   Steps to propagating sage from cutting   Cut the stem’s end at 45 degree Remove bottom-most leaves as this part will be in the water Need only 2 or 3 leaves at the top Use net-cup to support roots tip in water […]

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Home Made Cinnamon Sticky Buns
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STICKY CINNAMON BUNS

    The recipe was from CHEF ANNA Olsen’s “OH YUM” YouTube Channel, posted below. Nothing is changed from her recipe except the sequence of ingredients added in bread dough preparation. An all-time favorite at home with Summer and her cousins, as well as adults (although we really shouldn’t indulge! ).   We are re-writing […]

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Cold Seasoned salads from seeds

SWISS CHARDS

    Swiss Chards are cold seasoned biennial ( 2 years to complete life cycle) vegetables and come in beautiful vibrant colors, livening up any salads. We don’t see them on our supermarkets’ shelves and thus decided to grow from seeds. As they belonged to the beets family, their seeds are similar-looking as well.   […]

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Grow Italian Flat Leaf or curly Parsley from seeds in containers

WESTERN PARSLEY

    Lest we get confused with Chinese Parsley, which tastes like celery,  these so-called “Western” Parsley are Curly leaf (English) and Italian Flat Leaf Parsley. As this herb is a biennial, meaning it will bolt (flower) in the second year and then died, we much preferred growing them from seeds than buying from the […]

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Category:

Sugar Loaf Chicory

My friends who knew me well probably guessed its the name, “Sugar Loaf” that attracted me to try these seeds! Little did I know that this vegetable is fame for their slightly bitter undertone. These vegetables are used commonly in the Italian or Spanish kitchens in soups, grilled or cooked with cheeses, garlic, lemon or […]

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Golden Purslane Plant care

Powerhouse Golden Purslane

    Although Purslane is considered a weed in many countries, it nonetheless packed a powerhouse of nutrients for salads lovers. The health benefits include high omega 3 fatty acids (helps lower cholesterol), natural antioxidants,  Vitamin A, B, C, iron, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. Native to Asia, purslane is now enjoyed widely for its nutrition and […]

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Grow potatoes in containers

POTATOES IN CONTAINERS

    My daughter, Summer, loves potatoes in any form, whether grilled, roast with our fresh herbs, mashed for pot pies, or steamed. So I decided to try planting our own in the outdoor apartment’s gardens.     We choose small to med sized potatoes rather than large Russet potatoes for our first trial. The […]

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Carrot Cake from Juice Pulp
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Moist Carrot Cake

Original Recipe from Richard Goh (October 2010). For 9 inch square tin, paper lined. Preheat oven at 180C Part 1 – WET Ingredients In big mixing bowl, beat well – 175 ml                   Sunflower or Veg Oil 175g                      […]

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