TADPOLES IN THE POND

Yeap, tadpoles, countless of them... in the pond...

And it had to be our neighbor to discover that for us...heeeh...

The creatures are still very minute... visible only with concentration in the rather light-chocolate colored pond...

Had been wondering why the croaking suddenly stopped some nights ago...

Nature apparently had it planned all along...

Like the nasturtiums wilting away once they flowered and seeded, the frogs stopped their love-croaking once they goaled-in with each other...

They is no further need to waste energy crooning in the dark...

Smart, eh...

By the way, to keep the nasturtiums flowering, we pick the flowers for our salads...

They look marvelous sitting on the greens and they taste pretty good too, I must say...

FROGS IN THE POND

Wheeeee... finally got the pond dug up...

But, should I or should I not line the pond...

That is the question...

Bought a water lily plant...

Looks perfect on the pond, I must say...

Plan to germinate some lotus seeds, too...

The rains keep on falling these days...

Like the green frogs who found paradise in the pond

I love the rain...

Why not... being a farmer's son myself...

Meanwhile...

The frogs croak on nightly... as I snore away...

CROP ROTATION

Spent a few blissful days tending the garden...

My 'suweeto-haato' is into roses and herbs... fragrances and colors...

Yours truly is more of a 'cookie monster', delving into 'chewables' like vegetables and fruits...

Just added two mulberry trees to my fruit tree collection...

The mulberries are sweet and sourish... goes very well with my daily breakfast yoghurt...

But still, my gardening failures overwhelm my successes...

Least of all excuses are the 'spoilers' such as slugs, caterpillars, aphids, and cutworms that completely 'cut' off the seedling trunks...

Grrrrr....

Whenever I got hold of any cutworm, I feed them to the ants and watch them wriggle in agony as the ants take them on... * evil, evil Lrong... heh heh heh *

Shall try to up my success rate this season... so, I am experimenting with crop rotation hoping to reduce the likelihood of diseases...

First, 'sliced' up my mini vegetable plot into six segments, labeled CCPPST...

Now, how to remember this strange label...

Anyway... they represent 'families' of Carrots, Cabbage, Peas, Perennials, Squash, and Tomatoes...

Each season, the Carrots, Cabbage, Peas, Squash, and Tomatoes rotate around the plot segments...

Carrots click well with 'companions' such as onions, chives, leeks, etc, which help to ward off carrot pests...

The cabbage clan includes stuff like turnips, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and they nurture well with dill, fennel, etc...

Peas such as snow peas or soybeans may be planted with potatoes or sweet potatoes... peas and beans are soil-builders or 'enrichers' as opposed to tomatoes and peppers, which are more like nutrient 'guzzlers'...

The Squash family consists of folks like zucchinis, melons, and cucumbers... they are to be planted with corn, which allows long beans to cling on to their trunks... together, the squash, corn, and beans form the 'three sisters'...

Tomatoes tango well with cousins like eggplants, peppers, and chilies as they are prone to the same diseases... their best 'companion-friend' is the basil, which helps to repel unwanted pests...

For my Perennials... strawberries, asparagus, borage, thyme, etc...

Uncovered soil invites weeds... so I may sow seeds of marigold, zinnias, and calendulas to accompany the edibles... or, perhaps even some leafy vegetable seeds to fill up the open spaces...

This mixing of vegetables, herbs, and flowers technique is called companion planting, which ostensibly confuses pests, thus further suppressing damage to the plants...

Now, after a few moons, let's see how (un)successful the vegetable plot is...

WILD SAKURAS

The hay fever season is not over for me as yet...

For the past few days, my nose was (and still is) blocked up much like the traffic jams during the golden week holidays...

Poooh... kurushii... (torturous)

This picture of the wild, hill sakuras was taken in mid April...

I continually thank my lucky stars that these scenes can be enjoyed from my 'strategically located' garden...