Learning from mistake

These several days I've been preoccupied with the attempts to save the lives of my tomato seedlings! Since my last blogging I noticed that some of the cotyledon of my nearly-4-week tomato seedlings were turning yellowish. I was frantic but at the same time feeling perplexed. What had I done that was wrong? 

After some assessment I was convinced that it's overwatering. I was inexperienced and had no idea of how much water is enough for my seedlings, so all I tried to do was keeping the vermiculite moist but I might have watered it too often that one time I noticed that the water in the container was brimming over since my container doesn't have holes at the bottom, so I had to pour the water excess out.

At the beginning, it was only started with one or two leaves turning yellow but then I noticed that more leaves were affected. The first thought that crossed my mind was they were going to die! And honestly that made me grief! My love has grown for them and that thinking had really made my heart sunk. 

The other possible factor was because they grew too close to each other. I was a novice gardener, so I impulsively emptied the whole packet of seeds into one container! I had no idea that all of the seeds had decided to germinate altogether! So, crowding they were in that little container. 

I'd been impatient to move them into bigger or perhaps individual containers but the instruction said I have to wait until at least they had reached 10 cm tall, but upon encountering this I had decided it was my only way and chance to give them an emergency CPR! So I rushed and mixed the soil with some compost and replanted them. I had also decided to place them out in the open space of my rooftop against the wall facing the west, and above it there's a small-rectangular iron-sheeting shade, so they won't be directly under the scorching tropical sun at noon. Well, honestly I wasn't thinking of how direct exposure to sunlight might affect them or whether it would stress the plants out. I simply hoped that with the new soil, access to sunlight and wise watering they would have a second chance to live. 

I waited restlessly, and observed if they managed to survive. And though the yellowish cotyledon stayed the same, I began to see new life thriving! I started to see that new shoots were coming and branching out! Hallelujah!! 

It's been four or five days, and they are growing healthier now, though size-wise I think they're pretty small or growing slowly, but I am very happy with their condition now. It's as if that they have managed to pass their critical moment and I am wishing that they will continue growing into big and healthy tomato plants that will bear multiple fruit in the near future! Amen to that! Ha...

Meanwhile, my Basil seedlings continues growing healthily.

Vegetable Cream Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tbs butter

1 Tbs wheat flour (if you like thick soup, you may add another 1Tbs of flour)

3 cups of milk 

1 cup of mixed frozen/fresh veggies (carrot, corn, green bean, broccoli) 

1/3 cup of canned mushroom, sliced

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

a pinch of salt

a pinch of black pepper

How to:

1. Melt the butter in the pan, stir in the wheat flour. 

2. Pour in milk. Stir until you get the consistency you want. You may add more milk.

3. Stir in mixed veggies and mushroom. If you're using fresh veggies make sure to boil them until tender.

4. Add shredded cheese, stir until it blends with the soup 

5. Add salt and black pepper.

6. Serve with plain or garlic butter french bread.

DIY Multi-purpose Cleaner

On last October 15th, I harvested a pint of DIY citrus multi-purpose cleaner. And I have tried it for mopping the floor. I mixed the citrus vinegar with water with 50:50 proportion. And for a small bucket of water I add about 5-6 caps of the cleaner (the cap is the size of a mineral water's lid). I could still smell the vinegar's tangy stench but with fresh orange scent overtone. The floor is very clean and smell good, comercial cleaner is absolutely beaten but I got one lesson: Make sure to clean/wash the mopper after mopping! Getting ready to harvest another pint and produce more!

Basil & Lemon

Yesterday, I noticed some Basil seedlings sprouting out and within hours they grew bigger! 

And also the lemon seedling...

However, I haven't seen any sign of germination from the orange bell pepper and lime... 

Oh well, I'll wait a little longer...

Btw, it's over 3 weeks now and the tomatoes seedlings are growing taller and those new shoots are getting bigger and cuter too. I can hardly wait to move them into bigger pots as it is getting crowded in the germination pot. 

Cumin Fried Spaghetti

I am a fan of cumin and love to experiment with it in my cooking. I was first fallen with cumin when my best friend's helper cooked "Gulai Aceh" (a special fish curry from Aceh); I experimented with my own recipes ever since. So, one day I made this cumin spaghetti and my family loved it, it has become one of my signature dish so far! 

Ingredients :
1 medium ripe tomato, diced
1 orange/red/green bell pepper (or combination of three for more color, I happened to have the orange color one only in my fridge), diced
1 packet (500 gr) of spaghetti
300 gr chicken breast, minced (I like to use shrimp too but you can of course subsitute it with ground beef)
salt

Condiment, finely ground using blender or stone mortar and pestle:
2 cloves of garlic
3 cloves of onion
5-7 red pepper
1 cm of fresh tumeric
1 Tbs of ground cumin
3-4 Tbs of olive oil

How to:
1. Boil the spaghetti until al dente.

2. Sauté the condiment with olive oil til fragrant, add  bell pepper and tomato, and stir in minced chicken breast until well cooked. You may add more oil if it's getting dried up (adjust it to your preference, especially if you like more olive oil with your spaghetti).

3. Finally, add boiled spaghetti and stir well and add salt (adjust it to your taste). Serve.