The Tender Gardener

City

Off to the Markets!

Today I tried my hand at tending a market stall at Watten Estate, for an annual event targetting residents. I participated in a market almost a decade ago on a grass patch where *SCAPE is right now, selling something completely unrelated to gardening — handmade cards! But really, this is a first proper attempt at managing a stall, I put in a fair bit of effort to dress up my shop front, can you tell?

I thought this would be a fun experience, and also a way of promoting upcoming workshops and to meet other keen gardeners. In addition, I have some seed stock that I wanted to move. My seed box is getting quite full, and I felt it was a good idea to declutter a bit, instead of being a seed hoarder.

May 24, 2015 by Olivia

Uncategorized

Upcycling Dead Vines into a Natural Tray

Lots of people love the Blue Pea flower and grow the plant on their corridors, in community gardens and home gardens. Once the plant dies, its vines are off to the compost heap or trash bin, which is such a waste. It can be turned into a tray, basket, screening, and a barrier for the garden. Grape vines, grasses, fruit tree stems, and banana leaves can also be used.

My Blue Pea plant was lush and grew against my (hideous) chain-linked fence for some months, I was quite sad when it died but I also knew that I could give it a second life as a tray for garden harvests. I was inspired by this video on Gardening Australia. Subsequently, I had a look on YouTube for other basket weaving ideas.

May 6, 2015 by Olivia

City

Spring Garden Update in Singapore

I’ve been doing a lot of gardening of late, trying to improve the look and feel of the garden… I feel that it is lacking in the design department and also not as productive as I would like it to be. In recent months, we have at least doubled the number of plants in the space, and I have been looking online for garden inspiration. Still quite far off from how I’d like it to look, but we’ll get there.

Birds have been eating my seedlings and even chomping on aloe vera leaves, so I purchased a heavy duty net during one of my trips to Australia to keep them out. I left one side semi open, as you will see from the pictures below. It allows for better air flow, as it can get pretty hot in there. Occasionally, I find a spotted neck dove in there pulling out seedlings. When there’s a will, there’s a way.

I decided to grow extra plants with the intention of selling them at Gardener’s Day Out, but it looks like I won’t be able to make it to the next two sessions because I am planning to travel during that period of time. At some point, I might have a plant sale at my place.

May 5, 2015 by Olivia

City

Feature in Female magazine

Ok I don’t really garden in that outfit 🙂

I’ve been featured in Female magazine’s May issue, alongside two ladies who enjoy growing their own edibles. My garden looks quite barren compared to theirs, admittedly I had little vegetables growing at the time, many were still seedlings and I had been focusing more on flowers. Another reminder to avoid periods of bountiful or barren, and instead plan my garden better so that it’s always a highly productive garden.

Pick up a copy to look at the other gardens featured in the story, they look pretty marvellous!

April 24, 2015 by Olivia

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