| Date |
Notes |
10 April 2000
 |
The temperature is still below zero at night, chilly and windy during the day. But then a week of brilliant sunshine prompted me to sow the snowpea and spinach seeds in the pots. I have to build frost protection for them using plastic covers and bottles. Tomatoes and bell peppers are grown inside the sunny window, they will die if left outside. |
| 1 May 2000 |
Leaving for USA for a week. The snow peas already sprouted out of the ground. There is still frost at night, and the day is still cool. So I decided to cover all of them with plastic bottles. My tulips have shown their flower buds. |
| 10 May 2000 |
The weather was betraying me. The whole week that I was gone, there was no frost and the days were warm and sunny. My tulips were decaying. My pea plants look like they were trapped in hot showers. I throw all the bottles away. To do list: buy some marigolds as companion plants. They are popular here to attract beneficial insects such as bees, ladybirds, and butterflies. |
15 May 2000
 |
Bought a grape plant for Ca$6.50 with a 2 year guarantee. Name: Niagara, variety: white. I can see two buds sprouted from the old main trunk. Know nothing about grape planting, just an impulse to buy. Had to resist looking at some lovely plants because not enough money. The cashier asked, want to buy the fertilizer for transpanting? No, thanks. I don't transplant it. At home, don't know where to put it on my balcony. We don't get much sunshine here. Hmm... maybe this is a mistake. |
20 May 2000
 |
Curious about Niagara grape. After doing some readings from library and on the internet, found out Niagara is also a table grape but can be used to make juice and wine. But it also stated that only a one year will yield fruit. An old trunk with flakings barks will not anymore(that's exactly what my grape plant looks like now except for the two buds). No wonder it was so cheap!! So now do I have to wait until next year to see the fruit? |
| 1 June 2000 |
Some more readings, the quality of grape fruit next year depends on its nodes exposure to sunlight this year. Oh my... it's June already, but it feels just like spring. The sky is dark, it's been raining and windy for several days, and we still have to wear jacket outside. My poor grape plant .... I hope you will survive and be fruitful. |
| 10 June 2000. |
The first real summer day. The snowpeas that I planted 1 1/2 months ago started to flower. They are beautiful bright purple red flowers. This is my main project for this year gardening. In 1998, I succesfully experienced with tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers. All I planted from seeds. In 1999, my balcony has a fruitfull cherry tomatoes, but a sad bluberry and strawberry plants. |
15 June 2000.
 |
The grape plant already has two 'things' to anchor itself to a supporting trellis. The main trunk has 6 leaves so far, can't wait to see what's next. The flowering snowpeas are amazing. The beautiful bright red flowers change color to pale blue on the second day. The next day, the flowers drop and reveal their baby peas. Now the first peas are already 5 days old and about 2 inches long. I have to sacrify one plant to my 3 year old son, who couldn't resist to pick the cute peas. |
20 June 2000.
 |
Bad news ... the new bigger container that I bought for my grape plant does not have good drainage. I had wondered why the tree looked so terrible and all of the companion plants in the same container eventually died. Then yesterday I found several white worms (not those good earth worms) in the soil. When I tipped the container, some disgusting smelly water came out of it. Today I bought a fresh bag of potting mix and replace everything, making sure the container now has good drainage. I even steriled the stones that were placed at the bottom of the container. I hope my grape plant will be happy and reward me with abundance of its delicious fruits next year. I had collected my first snow peas harvest. The taste ... emm crunchy and sweet. The ones from the grocery stores could never compete with the fresh taste from my own garden. |
| 5 July 2000. |
Worse news ... my grape plant is dead. It had grown well and okay after I replaced the soil in the container. Then I had gone to the States for several days to participate in a summer training camp. My neighbor looked after my tiny garden, but ... maybe the plants missed me so much, and the grape plant suffered the most. My snowpeas had actually stopped flowering about 7-10 days after their first flowers. They produced about 5-7 peas per plant before sealing off their main vines. But I had cut off the main vines several days ago, and now I can see many side shoots with new bunches of flowers appearing. |
15 July 2000.
 |
I had cut off the main trunk of that grape plant but I could see some tiny roots were still alive. So I had planted back the plant and pray for the best. Nothing changed so far, it still look dead. The side shoots of the pea plants are producing peas now, but they are smaller than the ones from the main vines. Tomatoes seem to be very sensitive of the locations and quality of soil they are planted in. One plant has already several fruits, another is beginning to flower, the others vary from trying to catch up with the winners or fighting for their survivals. |
| 1 August 2000. |
Now the hard work of planting and transplanting is over, it is time to sit back and enjoy the view. No, not the harvest yet. Dahlia seems to be the toughest flower so far, it blooms beautifully and brighten my dark and cool balcony. According to a veteran farmer here, this year's weather is the worse in 15 years. Lots of rain and not much sun. Not like in Malaysia, raining here means disastrous temperature drop! For a country with almost 6 months winter, it really depends on its short and hot summer season for a good harvest. |
| 20 August 2000. |
Just got back from another summer camp in Indiana, USA. Coming home from a warmer climate, it almost shocked us to feel the cool weather in August. Cherry tomatoes are ok, they are still bearing fruits even when the days become cooler and shorter. Beef tomatoes on the hand, had stopped producing fruit almost a month ago. So I decided to wrap two bunches of flowers with plastics, to trap heat and moisture. The snowpeas that I planted about a week ago are sprouting ... I read they perform better in cool weather. |
| 31 August 2000. |
Malaysia's Independent day...Merdeka! My theory is right. The tomato buds were in dormant state last time because of the cold weather. Last week, after being trapped in the plastic bags, the long awaited fruits finally came out. Then I decided to wrap the rest of the flower bunches. It has been very humid and hot for the last 2 days so I had to unwrap the bags. For the first time, a honey bee came to visit my flower. Fortunately, the flower it was attracted to can be seen clearly from the inside of our sliding door. My children watched the bee in amazement. |
5 Sept 2000.
 | After several days of glorious sunshines and heat, it's time to be wrapped in plastic bags again. My poor tomatoes! I planted several tulip bulbs in the prettiest vase. If they survive, they will bloom in May next year. |
| 20 Oct 2000. |
I have not been updating this jornal for a long time.... the weather is getting colder, and the only plants still alive in the balcony are one of my strongest tomato, and one potato that I planted in the middle of summer. Even that strongest tomato is becoming weaker and browner everyday, only its first bunch of fruits have fully ripen. I gave those to my neighbour who had dutifully watered my plants while I was away. The other fruits stay small and green as ever. |
| 1 Jan 2001. |
The balcony is cold and covered with snow....it will be just like that until Spring comes in May! I'm not sure I will have those beautiful tulip blooms anymore, the children shoved and plunged their shovel toys into the vase while having fun with the snow. |
| 15 May 2001. |
My prediction comes true. We just came home from Holland, Michigan. The tulips there were so lovely. Now compared it with the tulips in my 'garden'. Uncomparable ... because there's none to compare. The bulbs must have suffered so much not even a decent leaf is willing to appear!!! Fortunately I had already planted some tomato, carrot, and pea seeds back in the cold month of April. Rayyan also has planted radish seeds and one (out of six) is thriving well. Now there're seedlings everywhere (except in that prettiest but empty tulip vase). |
5 July 2001.
 |
My youngest daughter, Sarah is 19 days old. I'm so busy with the newborn I haven't had time to take care of my gaeden anymore. I can't even remember when was the last time I gave them plant food. The peas look so undernourished (yellow leaves, very thin trunks), the tomato leaves all seem wrinkled and small. The sad thing is they all have started to flower or showing fruit buds ... and here i am neglecting them like a bad parent. |
| 1 August 2001. |
Canada has record breaking hot and humid conditions for a couple of weeks now. It was so hot all of my tomatoes lost their youngest leaves. They just burnt out and died. Added to this extreme condition, I didn't do anything to save them. Don't now what happened to my love of gardening. Is it because of the baby? |
| 1 Sept 2001. |
Okay now what did I expect from a neglected garden? I visited my plants everyday, it is just my spirits and physical are not there anymore. The most I did was to water them, which wasn't enough 'cause the soil has been teribbly drained out of its goodness after 3 years of gardening the same plants. I didn't give them food, which explains why my tomatoes clonk out and my peas just happy to zzzzz.... The only survivors were my carrots, they seem content with whatever scarce minerals left in there. |
| 20 Jan 2002. |
After so much abuse and neglect, even my carrots end their lives in sadness. I'd just forgotten all about them. I am due to go back to Malaysia on the 24th, and my husband was clearing out our balcony. Not that he could find anything. Whatever left there had all covered with snow. But suddenly he asked, what the heck in these vases? OMG my poor carrots!!! Too late, none was survived. I pulled out one, and a blacken piece of shrunken (supposedly) carrot staring at me accusingly.... |
| 24 Jan 2002. |
Bye bye my garden! Bye bye my balcony! We had nice time together while it last. So long.... |
