My Vegetables Garden

Gardening is one of my hobby and it takes a lot of patience and tendering. I have to learn alot of tips from some of gardening book or search it from the internet about how to grow or take care some of the flowers or vegetables etc. When I first did my gardening a year ago, I thought doing gardening was very easy here but it is not. The weather here in Houston, Texas is not the same as in my home country (Sarawak - Malaysia). You have to know when is best time to plant and which plants / vegetables can be grown here.

Whether you are new to gardening or a seasoned gardening pro, it is better to read some "Garden Guides" from the books or from the website. Just google whatever you want to know, you can find some very useful information and tips. By reading or getting information, it will certainly provide us a lot of help that we must know about gardening i.e. on plants, pests, gardening tips; techniques, nurseries; landscaping, and much more. I have problem with pest such as the vine borer in my garden especially the zucchinis and squashs. I still have to deal with it. It can be very frustrated seeing the plants dies eaten up by them. Other bugs may be I can deal with that.

I have a small vegetable garden at the backyard and flower beds on the front yard. I grow a few of each kind at my garden i.e. Zucchini, Tomatoes, Eggplants, corn, sweet banana peppers and some other vegetables. Here are some of the vegetables that I grow.

Some corn with some of "Sarawak Native Mustard" (ensabi).

Some zucchini and tomatoes plant.

Looks so fertile. Mixed soil with miracle gro.

My zucchinis all flowering, start to bear fruit.

Zucchini start to bear fruit. But I have problem with it here, the birds like to eat it.

An unusual squash. May be twin. :)

I took the picture the next day, I took the previous one. I don't think it will survive.

Sarawak Native Mustard Vegetables

You might be wondering what is Sarawak Native Mustard Vegetables???? In Sarawak the Iban people called it Ensabi, the Kenyah called it Ambek. It's a type of mustard which is slightly smaller than the normal mustard plant and a bit bitter when you cooked it. Nevertheless, the natives i.e. Iban, bidayuh, kayan, kenyah, kelabit people like it very much. It's easily grown anywhere in the world, as long as you have hot and wet climate like in my home country, Sarawak, East Malaysia. In Sarawak it's commercially marketed by the native people of Sarawak at the market (tamu). I like to eat it very much. When I worked in Kuala Lumpur, I used to bring some back with me whenever I went back to Miri (my hometown). I would buy like 2 to 3 packets to bring to KL. Now that I am in Houston, TX, USA. I asked my sister to me some of the seeds which I I grow it in my garden at the backyard during this summer. It does grow very well during the summer time. Below are the picture of it.

These are the mustard seeds which I got after it grew old.

These seeds are kept and can be used to grow some more in future.

This is how it looks like. These are the first one I grew.





A closer look at it.


These are the second one I grew.


Don't they look nice and green?


I scattered the unevenly that's why it looks so crowded when they grow bigger.

Ready to be picked.


After it being picked and washed. It is ready to cook.. (yummy)...


Cooking Time. I stir fry it with some onions and chicken cubes.

Cooked and ready to eat with rice of course. Yummy.

Recipe for this simple dish but delicious.

1 cup of chicken meat (cut into 2" size).

2 handful of mustard leaves.

1/4 cup of slice onions

pinch of salt and black pepper

2 tablespoon of oil

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce (optional)

1. Heat up the oil in the skillet and add the onions. Stir fry till it's soft and then add the chicken cubes about 5 minutes.

2. Add some salt to your taste and some black pepper. Lastly add the mustard leaves.. and cook for 3-4 minutes till soft.

If you want to add red pepper chillies with it, that's depends on your taste. Happy viewing.

Growing Tomatoes

I live in Houston, Texas USA. I started my small garden in the backyard. I planted some tomatoes, zucchini, chives, eggplant, basil, sweet banana pepper and corn. etc. I read alot about gardening on the book called "Gardening in Texas" and it helps me alot to know the do's and don'ts. Everyday, I have to take care of it (i.e. weeding, watering and also putting some miracle gro and insecticides on it when it's needed). I took pictures of my garden from time to time to see it's progress. So it became my hobby already when I don't have much to do in the house, I will be spending my time in the garden. Below are some pictures of my tomatoes and its fruits.

The tomatoes and chives started to grow well.

The tomatoes started bearing fruits. These are amelia tomatoes

Tomatoes started to ripe.

The first fruit of my tomatoes started to ripe.

I really admire these tomatoes. As they look so big.

My favourite tomatoes. Now it's riped and ready to be picked.

Below are some pictures of my son picking the tomatoes. He really love doing that, so I let him do it.

John is picking tomatoes and eggplant.


John is cutting the tomatoes off from the branch. Don't you think he is cute?

He is proudly showing his basket full of tomatoes. although it was very hot in the afternoon.

He is so happy and still smiling.... eventhough it's hot.

At last, These are all we've got!!! Tomatoes and eggplants. (first fruits)

I will show you more pictures of the other plants which I grow in my garden in the next blogs. Happy viewing. :)