Our Edible Backyard Garden Gives Back Fruits For Our Labor

Our backyard edible garden is at its best this time of the year. Though the weather is humid, our plants love the summer sun, sunshine is vital for optimum growth.   Their flowers don't fall and they continue to grow into fruits.  

Come, follow me, I'll give you a walk-through. 

Look at our herbs. 

Mint

I'm presently propagating mint because my customers are requesting for it, besides, my older daughter wants it as well.  When you see roots in two weeks, that's the time to plant them in soil.  

Tarragon.  It is easy to propagate from cuttings that could be  planted immediately in soil.

Rosemary smells so good!   I love to sprinkle the leaves on bread before toasting.  The entire kitchen will smell so good. 

My oregano patch.  I stick oregano tops almost anywhere in the garden where there is space.  It thrives with or without sunshine. 

These are oregano planted in plastic containers ready for sale. 

This basil patch is in the front lawn where it can get plenty of sunshine.   Jim grew this from seeds.  

These basil pots are ready for sale too.  

That's it on herbs!

Now let me show you Jim's fruit-bearing veggies. 

The okra patch. 

Look at this single okra plant with multiple fruits. 

Here's another. 

Eggplant with fruits growing.  Can you count five fruits here?

Bitter gourd (ampalaya) . This is beginning to cover our entire back wall.

See those fruits hanging by our aircon? 

Two more fruits by the horse frame. 

Cherry tomatoes!

A close up of one cherry tomato plant. Never tires giving us fruits.  Notice that a branch is flowering again. 

Now let me show you Jim's kangkong patch.

These are Chinese kangkong, notice that they don't craw unlike the native ones.  Their leaves are also thinner. These are ready to be harvested. 

Jim integrated tomatoes with the kangkong. Notice that the bamboo trellis is ready when the tomatoes grow taller. 

Pandan, just like oregano are also all over our garden. 

These pandan in small pots also sell.   

Let's go to my citrus collection. 

Two pots of lemon. I almost gave up the one on the left but Jim gave it life again. Now it has three fruits and several flowers. 

Among the kalamansi this has the most fruits now.  

I've been harvesting from these two, haven't bought kalamansi fruits in a month, they are giving me enough. 

We placed these in the front lawn for the meantime. Two of them now have tiny fruits while the third has fruits soon to be harvested. 

Look at the citronella, I was not sure they will thrive in the shade but look how robust they are now.  Jim put out his magic green thumb again 

They are thriving sans sunshine, this one in the corner is even hidden by the okra patch. 

Thats all folks!

The harvest from this garden isn't much but we're happy that it certainly brings the freshest, purely organic veggies one can get.

This garden is our serene oasis, we enjoy breakfast and afternoon snacks here while we appreciate the surroundings.  It brings us so much joy too.  

I hope I inspired you to start planting as well, that is if you arent doing it yet.  If not, I hope I entertained you and made you smile. 

Optimism Is A Stepping Stone To Success

We didn't know that the real challenge is yet to come, well, not until a giant supermarket opened a "junior" store in the village, just about a block from our store.  

How do we compete with a known superstore that gets big volume discounts and display allowances from the suppliers?  That is a feat that Jim and I have to overcome in the coming months if we want our store to stay afloat.

It's a daunting feeling to look forward to an uncertain future.   This store is not just a place of business to us, it is also a place to go to for a change of scene, a diversion from daily challenges; a source of "coffee money".  But more than that, didn't I tell you that selling is my passion?   It brings me joy to do something that I love aside from gardening.  

Sometime 20 years ago, we almost sold the business to a Japanese guy and his Filipino wife.   I say almost, because we already accepted the payment in hard cash but to our surprise, the couple came back for their money after three days.  The guy felt it beyond his dignity to sell local flip flops, brooms and other daily Filipino household necessities that is in demand. 

But they got a bigger surprise when we gave back the same money they paid us, untouched in their original bundles tied with the same rubber bands. 

"It's the same money, our money", said the Japanese guy when we handed him the money.  I guess he expected us to have spent a part of it or at least deposited it in the bank. 

And so, the business went on.... .....

Two years ago we almost gave it up again, in fact we got several inquiries from prospective buyers.  We even went through a thorough inventory of all items to quantify our merchandise in case a sale will push through. 

That time coincided with our move to this new home.  We thought then that leaving the village where the store is situated may prove complicated logistics-wise.  But then again, circumstances didn't allow the sale to happen. 

Recently, the store has been doing fairly well, and I couldn't help but work harder to improve the service.  In fact, this encouraged me to start making an Operations Handbook for the store while I can;  for our children in case anyone among them would like to take over when we are not able to do it anymore.   

Then our lead man got into trouble with a delivery guy and they ended up in the Barangay hall.  That worried his parents who asked him to cool off in the province along with his brother and his live-in partner who are also part of our staff.  

Minus three from our staff means we can't  operate without us in the store all day.  Add the fact that  our head cashier is already set for a two-week vacation leaving only the other cashier who didn't want to be left alone.   What to do ?  We can't afford to close shop, we will lose customers.   

Ahh,  "when it rains, it pours".  

But Jim and I don't give up easily, this is one of the times that we really put our heads together.   Immediately, we found two people to help run the store with us.  That's the advantage of a retail business over a service-oriented one where the staff need a certain expertise, like a trained beautician is needed in a beauty parlor;  likewise a dress shop needs a seamstress.  Since I'm a hands-on manager, we can run the store without a hitch except it required us to stay at the store for longer hours.  

The challenge is becoming more intense with barely a skeleton staff and the dwindling foot traffic at the store, but we continue running the business.   We are just feeling the impact this week when sales went down.

But then I'm partly hopeful because I know that Jim always thrive on challenges, when things are down he makes them work to his advantage; a challenge can be a stepping stone to success.  An impending failure can turn to success with a positive attitude if we focus closely on our goal; this time optimism is crucial.  I assure you, this won't go without a fight, besides I know that we are in this together, a united effort divides the problem. 

In spite my optimistic mindset, I don't know how to feel about this yet.   It looks like I'm in a holding pattern circling in the clouds above twin airports of resignation or relief, not really knowing which is going to clear me to land.  I guess it would be like this until circumstances will give it a shape again. 

In retrospect, I still believe that this business is meant for us, otherwise, we could have sold it years ago.  Still, anything can happen but I don't stress myself too much anymore, I am resigned and open to new developments.  As I often say: 

"God's plan is bigger than my dreams". 

PICKLES AND MORE

When we pursue our passion with a vengeance,  it may seem to others that we are over-doing it and the usual comment is : " hey, you're angry".   

Well, I'm making pickled veggies again but I'm not angry.   I'm just feeling passionate on pickling at the moment because I found a way to eat my veggies without the hassle of preparing them for every meal.  

Today I just made a variety of pickled veggies to choose from whenever and whichever I'm in the mood for.  They go well with anything, pork, chicken, beef or fish; it works as an appetizer too and eating them fills me up easily so I eat less of the main course which has definitely more calories. 

Today, I pickled the following veggies

Bitter gourd, cucumber, turnips, small shallots, and daikon radish.  

Jim helped me peel them.  He cut off the shallot leaves and peeled the bulbs to be pickled. 

I sliced bitter gourd diagonally after I removed the seeds and scraped off the white portion with a spoon, that part is so bitter.  

I put salt to the sliced bitter gourd and daikon radish and let them sweat out the tangy juice, then I squeezed further.  I then rinsed and squeezed three more times to remove the salty taste. 

I chose the Japanese cucumbers to be pickled because they normally have less seeds.  However I found that some parts still have significantly big seeds.

Notice that I started to take off the part with big seeds.

When all the veggies were sliced, 

I sterilized the mason jars and put the veggies in. 

The usually mixture of two cups each of vinegar and water, 3/4 cup white sugar and 1/2 tsp salt is brought to a boil and poured over each jar.  As soon as they cool down, I covered the jars tightly. 

My final products.  

I still have kangkong and carrots left over from yesterday.  I just added the excess turnips in the carrot jar. 

THE HOMING SEASON

You maybe wondering what this blog is all about, am I into birds now?  No, no, in fact I already have a title in mind for this topic but Jim reminded me of the homing doves, and I totally agree with him on the analogy, hence the title. 

Did you know that the homing pigeon has the remarkable ability to find its way home repeatedly over extremely hugh and disorienting distances?  Yes, competitive pigeon racing has recorded distances as far as 1,800 km or 1,100 miles.  

Well, I could say the same to humans, especially Filipinos who live abroad.  No matter how far and wide they found jobs, they always manage to come home occasionally.    They are tagged as the "Balikbayans". " Balik", meaning go back and "bayan" is country. 

Every year in late November to mid-February Filipinos living abroad, be it in the United States, Europe, the Middle East or just in the neighboring Asian countries come home for family or class reunions or simply for vacation.  They are the so-called balikbayans. 

They choose these period because of the cold weather and escape the freezing winter where they presently live.  Majority that come home regularly are retired citizens because they have the time and the money for travel and leisure.  Younger ones come home occasionally but not as often while others have to wait for many years due to residency concerns in their country of work. 

Balikbayans are seen in beach resorts in the countryside where they enjoy the sun and commune with nature.  They frequent the malls and love filipino delicacies; they bring their families to lunch or dinner and meet up with friends in restaurants around town where their friends back home have raved about as something to see.  Oftentimes, they squeeze in a weekend Asian trip along with their families. The younger ones are more inclined to go to the beaches in Boracay and Palawan; the most talked about beach resorts that made it to the top five best in the world.    

This season, we had our share of balikbayan visitors; relatives from abroad,

my sister and brother-in-law from Florida, 

Jim's brother,  his wife and daughter from Vancouver 

Jim's former colleague and BFF with his wife from San Francisco, 

my college Besties and their spouses from California and Las Vegas.   

Of course, my son and younger daughter and their families flew in for Christmas but I would not count them as guests. 

If I were to count friends who came home from all over the world for our high school grand reunion in my hometown this year, I'd say that there are a lot of them.   Many of them expressed to see me personally but due to heavy traffic navigating around the metro, and too many commitments during the holidays to meet up with friends and relatives, it was not at all possible. 

It's the middle of February but the weather is even getting better, if I may say so since I love the cold, but not the freezing cold.  For the balikbayans still in town I'm sure that they are also enjoying the weather especially in Baguio and Tagaytay. 

PICKLES

Today, I decided to make pickles.  I got inspired after I had lunch with my college Besties at Bulgogi Brothers BBQ Restaurant last Sunday.  We all fell in love with their side dish of pickled kangkong (water spinach) that we kept asking for more.  

Maybe I am getting fascinated with kangkong lately that I often use it for sour broth and just the other day, I stir-fried kangkong with tofu in oyster sauce. 

Today I made kangkong pickles. Along with daikon radish and carrots.  I thought I had singkamas in my crisper that I could combine with the carrots, unfortunately I've used it for spring rolls earlier, so I'll do that next time. 

kangkong in bunches, carrot and radish

I sliced the carrots in long julienne and the radish into thin slices.  I cut the kangkong stalks, leaving the small leaves at the tips and saved the lower stalks as well. I can use the big leaves later with tofu and oyster sauce just like I did two days ago, please see picture of the dish below:

I put salt in the radish until it sweat to remove some of the tangy juice then washed three times to remove the salty taste. 

I washed the kangkong stalks and poured over the boiled pickle mixture.  Two cups each of vinegar, water and sugar with 1 teaspoon salt mixture was boiled and poured over the veggies already in Mason jars. 

I waited for the jars to cool down before I tightly covered them. 

There were a lot of kangkong so I put the remainder in a bigger mason jar. 

 

They will last two weeks in the refrigerator unless we consume them before then.  They will go well with fried fish, chicken or pork but tomorrow, I will prepare Korean BBQ to go with these pickles. 

The Challenge I Face This New Year

It's February once again, a month has passed and my resolution has just taken off.  I'm focusing on health as always, well, at least ever since I started to feel old enough and realized that truly no one is invincible.  I'm telling myself that I have to be conscious and disciplined more than ever in my diet and exercise. 

When the year is ending and a new year is closely in our midst, many of us take a breather from the holiday hassles and find time to reflect on making better the coming year.  

While we give thanks for the blessings of the year that was, we always look forward to a better year ahead.  Most of us like to do more and be more than what we presently are.  We want to improve ourselves, our career, our home and everything in our lives; new hope, higher ambitions, better dreams, renewed enthusiasm and greater aspirations. 

But what and how?

I don't need to ponder much on the "what" for I could always work  to improve my living environment, inside and outside our home.  

In this age of minimalism, the advocates will tell us to free more of our time so we can live a more rewarding life.  Declutter, keep only things that would bring us joy like Marie Kondo says; be organized, not only in our homes but at work and limit time for social media and other commitments so we can focus on more important things.

However, at 71, my real priority is being healthy so I could be mobile and physically independent for life. 

In late December, I felt a familiar muscle pain on my right knee, the same one I experienced in March.  I couldn't walk straight again, I had to limped since my right foot is painful and weak to carry my weight.  My chiropractor earlier then cleared me of any dislocation or fracture but advised me to apply cold compress to heal anything swollen if any; and along with several foot massage sessions, it went away.  

As I recalled the circumstances in March that brought me to this predicament today,  I surmised that I've let up on exercise again, since mid-November and through December when I prepared and entertained my holiday visitors.  Moreover, I indulged not only on holiday food but on rich and calorie-laden meals from then on. 

Once my visitors arrived, I ditched my usual breakfast of oatmeal and green tea cream frap.  Instead, I ate along with them Filipino breakfasts of tapa, tocino, longanisa, (Filipino processed beef and pork) with omelettes and garlic fried rice and indulged in sinful desserts.  I also ate white rice instead of the usual regular brown or red.  We also ate out a lot, at the same time  friends and family brought desserts that I couldn't resist.

January and July are the months I usually do my medical tests.  Since I'm experiencing this pain again, I wanted a prognosis straight away so I thought better to undergo my complete blood test immediately and consult my doctor on the results. 

Sigh... true to my suspicion, my results were high on those my doctor warned me about.   What can I say, it's my own doing, I can't blame anyone.  I guess I never really learned but it's not too late, right?  I'm hopeful that I'll be more disciplined this time around.  

As usual, my two girls are concerned and encouraging but not saying, "I told you so".   The younger one sent me a link from The Minimalist; Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus titled: 

"Your own advise is the hardest pill to swallow"; 

here's a part that got me bullseye.

"Sometimes all we have to do is look in the mirror and ask ourselves for advice.  Who knows you better than you?   Nobody is more aware of your situation, nobody is more aware with every scenario and potential outcome." 

And it's true, it further says that most often, it's easier to listen to others for advise but then it doesn't mean that it's the best option for us.  Besides, it is us who will live with our own decisions. 

What about you, what challenges have you put upon yourselves this new year?  

'Tis The Season For Family Bonding

Christmas is being merry with family and friends;  eating, drinking, laughing and loving each other. 

" 'Tis the season to be jolly,  falalalalala-lalalala! ".

Our family bonding started early this season when Jim's brother, his wife and daughter from Vancouver visited in late November.  His name is JOY and his wife, BESS, they were the first to bring the "Bess Joy" this holiday season. 

 

Right after they left, I was suddenly called to Singapore to help my grandson adjust to his new nanny.  I've looked forward to seeing him this Christmas, little did I know that I'll get a bonus bonding with him for a week. 

I've been preparing for these family Christmas visits for quite sometime now because for once in the last decade, all our children will be here on this, the holiest and most celebrated season of the year.  

Jim said that we should put more emphasis on quality time bonding with them, but as a Mom and the host with Jim, I can't help but anticipate everything that will make being together more joyful and memorable. 

This is just the second Christmas in this "new" home that's why I want to make sure everyone will be comfortable.   There's so much to think about that it's easy to forget things like coffee or tea. Just being together with family on Christmas is already great, but food will put everyone in the best of moods, food that excite and delight and that could only be found at home, and not anywhere else is what I think I'll prepare. 

Feeding family who are used to and are often tired of hotel and airplane food is quite a challenging feat if we want  them to feel special.  That's true of my son and daughter-in-law who travel on business frequently and who can only visit with our 2 1/2-year-old grandson at most twice a year, one of which is Christmas. 

Likewise with my younger daughter and son-in-law who are equally busy with work and can't be bothered cooking regularly that they often eat out or take out food.  They too are missing local home-cooked meals and I'd like to prepare their favorites. 

This Christmas is doubly special and exciting because my sister and brother-in-law are in town as well, they haven't been home for Christmas since they migrated to the US in the early 80's.  I know that there are food that they too have been missing for quite sometime and Its a good thing that they tell me what they like. 

Knowing their preferences, I have to put my spin on local home-cooked meals; however for Noche Buena, I have to incorporate traditional holiday food to make the menu more festive. 

We are not used to an over-flowing Christmas table and worry about left-overs afterwards.  So I plan to make enough for everyone and make sure to prepare traditional dishes so that each family member will feel that they are worth coming home to. 

Meanwhile, I just completed putting together our gifts. Now I look forward to our tradition of exchange gifts, not really because of the gifts but for the surprise, the laughter and the joking as we open them.  The fun of taking pictures will round up the celebration. 

The menu for the next four days is final but flexible. Now, I say that I'm ready and excitedly looking forward to our family get-together, not only on Christmas Eve but throughout the Christmas holidays. 

I'm sure that you too, my friends are just as excited anticipating this happy occasion.  From our home to your home,  I'm extending sincere wishes of love, peace and joy to you all.    Merry Christmas!