Leela's Garden & Kitchen

propagating jasmine and Persian shield plants fall clematis sweet basil ready to be separated persimmons

sweet basil bell pepper We  are going to make pizza tomorrow using the garden vegetables.  We will use tomato, basil, bell peppers from the garden.

Squirrel trying to eat bird seeds creeping jenny under the persimmon tree Today is a hot day and I stayed inside.  I am trying to propagate Jasmine plant and Persian shield plants. My daughter made fig tart and pear tart which are delicious. I still get some figs and a lot of pears from the garden. I planted only three okra plants and I get only one or two okras.  I get a lot of tomatoes,some bell peppers  and some Chinese beans which are very long.  I am already busy cooking with garden vegetables.  I do not like to use any chemical sprays for the bugs and so far the plants look healthy.  My mom is visiting me and she is in the backyard and she got bitten by a lot of mosquitoes.  My daughter got a mosquito repellent with Eucalyptus oil but we forgot to spray it on her. When I went to India in June 2007, I got sick with Dengue fever and recovered from that fever.  This year I went to India, I went during March when they have less mosq...

Chinese lantern plant bellpepper angel trumpet or Datura  I am excited because Figs are ready to pick them.  I have been picking them.  The birds are eating them but we have enough to enjoy.  My husband thinks that I should let the birds eat them.  By the time I pick them in the morning, some are already eaten by birds. I know a lot of people who like figs and I love to share them. One day, I was pulling some weeds and I got scared by a frog.  First, I thought it was a snake but this frog was cute and stayed there until I got a picture.  The ground is wet and it is so easy to pull the weeds and transfer the plants.

Sunflower that bloomed from last year's seed Some type of Hibiscus which is perennial  cosmos  Flowers from the garden Sunflower still looks pretty! Today, I picked some tomatoes, beans, figs and sorrel leaves. I added some more stakes and rope for the vines to grow.  I always find something to do in the garden. It's raining so much that the grass needs to be cut almost every week.  Rains here in Alabama are like thunderstorms so you don't know when they will come.  Sometimes it rains heavily but the ground does not get soft and it is still hard to dig. The Cosmos flowers are blooming and new plants are coming in the ground everywhere.  I love to share the extra plants.  Some plants are easy to grow and some like Sedum and purple heart plant needs only a branch to get rooted.

chameli flower that I got from my mom which smells so good saucer magnolia plant that  I bought and planted The tomato plants are growing wild and need more support Indian beans started blooming Jasmine plant  that I got from California  started blooming  Sunflowers that are highlight of my garden After a lot of rain for a last few days, today it is hot and sunny.  In my garden, the sunflowers look best.  This morning, my daughter told me that she has good memories with sunflowers.  In one of the picture that I took a long time ago, my older one is holding my younger one and the younger one is trying to reach the sunflower. Another year, I planted some sunflowers, one plant reached so high, my children had to climb the ladder to touch the sunflower. I got some ripe tomatoes and  beans and some sorrel leaves to cook. I got roots from the stems of  the gardenia,chameli and jasmine.

Thai basil I planted some Thai basil seeds from last year and the seedlings are coming.  I cannot wait to use the leaves in my cooking.