Blogging about me and my anthropological research into the Malaysian blogosphere.
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We occasionally get visits from civet cats, (the local variety is the Asian Palm Civet, aka Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). Normally it comes by itself and eats some of the stuff we have in the bowl where we leave material for the compost bin, but one morning there were three little ones (kittens?) in a corner...
(Source: PHD Comics by jorge cham) Thanks for dropping by :) I am now in the process of writing up my PhD, and will only be able to do very intermittent updates of this blog. Please explore the archives (below right) for our experiences in organic tropical gardening and, if you like, visit my other blog...
In the previous post I identified the Papaya mealy bug - Paracoccus Marginatus on our papaya.So - I checked out what are the possible organic responses and found some good resources:PAN Germany: Describes the uses of chiliGolden Harvest Organics: A list of insects and pests, and appropriate organic...
A while ago, WW noticed some white stuff on our papayas, and eventually I got round to looking closerclusters of foam, it seemed like to me, and I wasn't sure if it was a real problem or not... but it spreadand it was clearly affecting the growth...a closer look revealed what looked like eggsbut I still...
Apart from the Ptychosperma macarthurii (Macarthur palms), we have a couple of palms that are apparently somewhat uncommon, and I'm trying to identify them. They've grown to about 6-8 metres, and are in a clump like the Macarthur palm, though they don't bend outwards in the same way.The closest I can find...
Our lawn leaves much to be desired - initially it was laid down with 'Pearl grass', which was a bad idea; it did not survive well in the sun, and grew too slowly to recover from any setbacks. Eventually, the whole lawn became a vast sea of weeds.So, we've laid down patches of Philippine lawn grass - it...
Here are some photos that I've been meaning to use for a long time. WW was trimming the bamboo when she came across thisthe twigs growing out of the interstice obviously make good support for a nest, and being inside the clump of bamboo is surely also good protection for the bird and her chicks (who were no...
WW planted some yard-long beans, or Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis, and they have started to flower and fruit.But there is also someone else interested in the flowers and beans...I'm not sure what the identification of the ant is. I suspect it's a fire ant (Solenopsis), because if one of them bites...
We have a pink frangipani, aka Plumeria rubra, growing on the patio. There was some hesitation in getting it initially, as the frangipani is associated with cemeteries here in Malaysia; but WW decided that a pink one would be OK, as it's the white ones that are in the cemeteries. It has grown well and...
One of the challenges of an organic garden is getting enough nutrients into the soil, given that you can't use chemical fertilisers. A great way to address this problem, and reduce your waste that will otherwise go to clog up a landfill somewhere, is to compost your kitchen waste.It's very easy: the basic...
One of the problems with organic gardening is that you can't just give a blast of insecticide or herbicide from time to time to reduce pests. So far, we haven't had any major problem, so touch wood that continues.Often in the morning I cut some organic mint to make some lovely tea - mint tea is very nice...
Around the front of our organic garden, we have a raised bed (that used to be a long fish pond I think), which has some Calathea lutea planted, and some Heliconia. I'm not sure exactly how to identify them, but I'm pretty sure they are Heliconia psittacorum (usually called 'birds of paradise' here in...
When I was a kid, my brother told me that dragonflies would eat their own tails if they could - I found this really gross and since then have been somewhat repulsed by dragonflies.Anyway. I should be happier to see them, as apparently they eat mosquitoes - which is good! They are of the Odonata order, and...
Previously (Palm tree flowers with bees), I was wondering what type of palm we had and was unsure whether it was a Ptychosperma macarthurii - it looks like one, but I had never seen the red fruits on it.Well, now I'm sure that it must be one - see the red fruits!
The other day, while harvesting some of our chillies, WW spotted thisIt seems like some member of the Mantidae family went into the wrong neighbourhood...Normally I welcome spiders gobbling up insects, but maybe in this case it's less good, as apparently Mantises can be good for organic farming because...
This is a photo of a spider with its web spun on the bamboo in the garden. I don't know how to identify spiders, but I think it is a 'true spider' Araneomorphae (check that link for many photos and subdivisions of Araneae).Doesn't look like much right? A lump of dirt or something… but when you see the...
Well - harvesting may be slightly overstating it, when I only got one fruit :) But it's the first one we got off these trees (a previous fruit was taken by someone). The trees are growing well, although the recent dry weather has not helped particularly, and you can see many fruits in the earlier stages,...
Papaya, or Carica papaya, is a tree that grows very easily. The first ones we had started more or less by accident, with some seeds thrown on the ground. We replanted those on the grass verge outside our house, but the first batch were either knocked over or pulled up by a stupid contractor, respectively.So...
Sorry to anyone out there for not posting for ages, I will try to do better from now on. Brief but regular :)Cili padi (bird's eye chili) are a favourite of most Malaysians, but not that easy to grow I find. They need a well drained soil and tend to do better in pots. Most of our previous attempts failed...
We have two palms at the back of the garden.I'm not sure what type they are, but it is similar to the MacArthur palm (Ptychosperma macarthurii) - the similarties are that it grows in clusters, and has a similar seed thing, but I never remember seeing red seeds on it. I'd say it's definitely some kind of...