Phaedra's Garden 2022

[Phaedra]

It rained all day, so I stayed half a day in the kitchen, cooking and reading books about the forest garden.

Pineapple and Roselle Pastry

It's the best partner for green tea and oolong tea.

Sweet & Sour Pork - the homemade spicy ketchup is the soul~
I am addicted to homemade ketchup now.

 

[Phaedra]

Raining all-day

I noticed that several of my indoor plants could be re-formed based on what I learned from making Bonsai.
I am pleased by the result.

Not that different from pruning a normal tree - removing weak, dead, and crossing twigs for better light and air penetration

Re-shaped with alu-wires - they can be removed after a couple of months.

Like a new plant!

 

[baymule]

That’s so attractive! You are doing great.

 

[Phaedra]

Well, when it rains all day, I spend more time in the kitchen.
As usual, DH's lunch box tomorro—

I also made a lot of dumplings - most are frozen as "homemade fast food" in the future, and the rest are fried for dinner. The filling includes pork, cabbage, and carrot.

I always use Wonton skins to make our dumplings, whether boiling or frying; therefore, they are larger than those machine-made ones.

Both compartments in our greenhouse are now messy. DH is assembling my new woodchipper in the bigger one (we used to have dinner when it was not yet so cold), so all retreated citrus plants stay in the smaller one, where I used to do my propagation or sowing. I also ordered a stainless steel shelf to install on the wall to replace the fragile plywood one - more need to be done outside the greenhouse.

I missed the good (and dry) weather, but more rainy days are waiting, sigh.

Hopefully, I will get some motivation to clean up the greenhouse tomorrow.

 

[Phaedra]

Yup, I did clean up the greenhouse, placed the citrus plants in the bigger compartment, and pricked a tray of purple Pak Choy seedlings.

It's still delightful to observe the last batch of cuttings. I have faith that some of them will survive well.

Home-saved field beans, the germination rate is pretty nice.

It's also time to hunt for volunteer plants, like chamomiles. I expect to get more later this week when the weather is better.

The solar LED can still offer 1-2 hours of light, up to the weather during the day.

Today, I explored the galaxy of chocolate.
Achievement No.1: Matcha chocolate, adzuki bean, and 88% dark chocolate

The mold is impressive and very easy to demold.

Achievement No.2: blueberry chocolate, Blackberry jam, and 70% black chocolate

So satisfied!

 

[baymule]

Your chocolates are so cute! I bet they are a taste treat.

 

[Phaedra]

Keep upgrading the working area in the greenhouse - I changed the wall shelf today. Both the shelf and the table are originally used in the professional kitchen.

Stainless steel is easy to clean - I am happy to have both ready this year.

The lettuces are growing nicely outdoors.

 

[Dahlia]

It rained all day, so I stayed half a day in the kitchen, cooking and reading books about the forest garden.

Pineapple and Roselle Pastry
View attachment 53520
It's the best partner for green tea and oolong tea.
View attachment 53521

Sweet & Sour Pork - the homemade spicy ketchup is the soul~
I am addicted to homemade ketchup now.
View attachment 53522
View attachment 53523

It rained all day, so I stayed half a day in the kitchen, cooking and reading books about the forest garden.

Pineapple and Roselle Pastry
View attachment 53520
It's the best partner for green tea and oolong tea.
View attachment 53521

Sweet & Sour Pork - the homemade spicy ketchup is the soul~
I am addicted to homemade ketchup now.
View attachment 53522
View attachment 53523

It rained all day, so I stayed half a day in the kitchen, cooking and reading books about the forest garden.

Pineapple and Roselle Pastry
View attachment 53520
It's the best partner for green tea and oolong tea.
View attachment 53521

Sweet & Sour Pork - the homemade spicy ketchup is the soul~
I am addicted to homemade ketchup now.
View attachment 53522
View attachment 53523

I love homemade ketchup too! It's so different from store bought. I make my own ketchup sometimes and I make homemade mayo all of the time. I also make all of my own salad dressings.

 

[Phaedra]

All the plants in the hoop tunnel were removed last week. Now, it will be the temporary shelter of potted plants. For example, I will prune and send all MUMs and many young plants I propagated this year inside it next week.

Besides, I also moved the quail house into it today. So they have one more layer of protection from wind, snow, and frost.

However, we will also change their roof to transparent materials; the current one blocks too much natural light.

 

[Phaedra]

This winter seems quite fierce, at least in recent days. The frost this morning stayed until about 3 pm, and that's pretty harmful to most of the young plants.

I removed those propagated plants also in the hoop funnel. Now, they have walls and roofs. It should be much better than staying outside.

Cold frame under cold frame

Building this hoop tunnel is one of the best DIY practices in 2022. Now, seven quails and a lot of potted plants will stay inside until next May.

I plan to upgrade, improve, and make this small area a permanent paradise for quails next year. We are going to build similar tunnels for hens soon, too.

The birds started eating the energy block I prepared for them.