Monday, September 27, 2010

Garden Herbs ( Part 1)

Herbs......plants that  give flavor, scent, medicinal value  or other qualities other than food value to food or drinks. We use herbs in cooking, for medicine and even for spiritual purposes. Well, talking about Herbs can be rather involved and complicated.  Animals seems to know by instinct what plants they should eat when they are sick. I have seen our family dogs and cats do that often enough.  They normally sniffed around, chew on the selected plants....whenever they don't feel well.   We, humans on the other hand have lived on commercialized grown vegetables and synthesized medication that we have  lost touch with what nature can offer.  Perhaps it is time we go back to basics - using plants to promote better health.  Oh dear, I am going off track, ..... lets return to some herbs in my garden.   

What shall I start off with? I guess the pandan or screw pine should be listed first. Pandan provides the green colour to food as well as a nice scent  to food and drinks.  On a hot day, one would welcome very much  a glass of barley boiled with a blade or two of  pandan leaves.  Pandan  is widely used in cake baking, biscuits, pastry,  desserts,  local kueh  (nyonya  kueh, malay cakes, etc ) .  Meat such as chicken wrapped in pandan leaves can be deep fried or baked .  Rice steamed with pandan and coconut milk gives off the nicest aroma possible. Pandan is so versatile when used in culinary dishes.

The pandan grows easily.  The lush green leaves can be rather ornamental looking if grown in a pot.  The pandan is propagated from the young babies that sprouted around the mother plant.  Since the plant grows easily, they need to be trimmed regularly.  Some pandan plants are more aromatic than others,. I did not realize this until I did some comparison.  Someone told  me that cockroaches dislike the pandan scent.  So what I do nowadays  is to cut the overgrown  leaves and stuff them under the car mat or  in the car boot and the kitchen cupboards/oven.  Whenever the  doors are opened,  one can  catch the whiff of pandan aroma .  The bad side of it,  the car and cupboards have these dried leaves that can be unsightly, nevertheless  still better than having to artificial scents!
The Thai Basil is not so often used in malaysian cooking, but popular in  vietnamese or thai cooking. However, I do so love the smell of these basil leaves.  These leaves can be eaten raw and often added to salad to give a nice appetising smell. However some people might find it too strong for their liking.  The Thai Basil is propagated with seeds. Where are the seeds?  The flowers are purplish and grows at the tips of the plant.  When the flowers dry up, the seeds can be found hidden away amongst the dried petals.  

For curry lovers, the curry leaf plant (  Murraya koenigii) is a must in the garden. These plants can be planted in pots as well. I think if the plant is well taken care off,  kept free from insects attack,  it  makes a nice ornamental plant as well. Just look at how lovely the leave formation is, and the lush green color.  The aromatic scent it gives off when touch is just heavenly, well at least to me it is. The curry leaf plant actually flowers even though the  small white flowers are nothing to shout about, but they as highly fragrant. as the leaves The small black shiny berries are edible, but their seeds are said to be poisonous.   Aside from cooking curry, the curry leaves has other culinary uses as well.  I like to use the curry leaf in cooking seafood dishes such as  prawns, shellfish, crabs etc.

The curry leaf apparently are said to be anti-diabetic antioxidant antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anti-hypercholesterolemic etc.  (The reader can read more on this by referring to sources quoted in the Wikipedia).
Recognize this herb? Yes, it is the mint leaves, used in the assam laksa.  The fragrant scent is very distinct and one never fail to recognize this plant.  This herb propagates easily.  I bought a bunch of these mint leaves from the wet market. After picking away the leaves to be used for cooking, I just stick the stalks in some fresh soil. Very soon the stalks would have taken root and leaves appearing. Like most herbal plants, this one need needs moisture and well drained soil. Add a little general fertilizer or even fish water, and the leaves will be big and nice......yummy! 

More on next blog.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Umbrella Pennywort

This plant is unique looking with its circular leaves., not unlike  little umbrellas.   This plant is a runner......yes, a true runner that runs in any direction it is able to....(lol).  I like this plant a lot actually as I think it is really cute looking. My mistake was to introduce it to the ground......before I know  it I have to keep pulling them up, somehow they keep appearing out of nowhere.  ( I am still doing it) Luckily the roots come up easily.

 This plant likes lots of moisture, and it is easy to care for. Just feed plenty of water.  I like to grow it in a round shallow pot since the roots do not go deep. However, once the pot is over populated, I need to replant them. They grow fast.

Thunderstorm......

Gosh, time just speed by....it is almost 3 weeks since I last blogged. I had been busy entertaining visitors from abroad and taking a holiday myself , visiting places, window shopping, etc.  the last two weeks. So my poor garden and plants had been neglected.  Well this morning was a beautiful morning, cool-lish since it had been raining again last night.  The weeds had been having a party the last three weeks as well....they are sprouting everywhere...., plenty of rainfall ! So anywhere I just squat down to pull a weed or two, I ended up with a pile of them! Anyway it is time to get back to tending my mini garden. 

Two days ago there were strong winds and heavy thunderstorms. The wind was so strong,  (like a small scale typhoon) it blew three of my potted water jasmine (wrightia religiosa) off the fence pillars where I placed them. Perhaps it was time to re -pot these plants,  anyway they went crashing down like bowling pins ....the pots were broken to pieces but the jasmine plants were luckily not  too damaged.  Two of them dropped into the drain, while one crashed to the walkway.  So yesterday morning, I went hunting for new pots to house them. Trimming off the leaves, shaping the plant a bit and cutting off the excess  roots  to re-pot them was rather tedious and not an enjoyable task.  The plants are  now  miserable looking,  not lush and green with flowers as before. Hopefully they will soon grow as lovely as ever in no time at all .  I decided I might as well work on the other jasmine plants as well since they are looking a bit over grown in their pots as well....

Aside from re-potting, I had to worked on those plants that the  strong wind seemed  to partially uproot as well. Some of these plants include the graptophyllum, pomegranate, roselle, mirabilis, chilli,,  durante blue,  etc..  they were  all  leaning heavily to one side, bowled over by the strong winds ! Perhaps  these plants have rather shallow roots,  or perhaps the rain water was too much as well........Well what I had to do was trimmed off excess vegetation and  to hammer back the supports I provided for some of these plants so that they are standing upright again. Some of the plants which are too weak, I uproot totally. Most of their leaves and stems are broken beyond repair. I never realized how much havoc strong winds can caused. I guess I have to be more careful about the potted plants  I placed on the pillar fence from now on!  

Below are three  of the water jasmine (sui mei) plants with their new sexy 'leaf- cuts',  one  is  practically bald (botak).....argh hummm ......



So meantime, excuse me if I 'apply' for more leave to tidy up my garden., trim my plants , etc...  I actually wanted to write on the herbs I have in my garden, but (sigh) have a little more patience with me..........