14 A Horrifying Find On My Curly-Leaf Parsley

I've had this beautiful curly-leaf parsley plant for two years now. It was grown from seed. I'm always beaming with pride whenever I think of it. It has been used mostly as food garnishing and baked in cookies.

Imagine my sadness at seeing it slowly die, stem by stem, starting two weeks ago. There was nothing I'd done differently. Living in a high-rise, the only garden friends I've seen are earthworms and little snails. Grasshoppers make a rare appearance. I was flabbergasted.

" Why now ? Was it our change of weather ? Hah, perhaps it's just old age."  I left it at that.

Curly-Leaf Parsley

The reason was discovered purely by accident! I tended to my parsley plant as usual although it was by then, a pitiful sight. Faith kept me going ; a little fertiliser, loosening the soil. As I watered the plant, I noticed a lot a bugs fleeing out in the open! They look like sowbugs.

Sowbug?

Oh gosh, I wondered if they'd gotten to the roots of my parsley plant since I'd never seen them before. After a night of contemplating what to do next, realisation sank in that it was probably best that I start over.  I took the container of soil and solemnly bid farewell to my parsley as I binned it - soil and plant all in.

Bugs On My Curly-Leaf Parsley

Adios, buddy. You will be missed. I speak only of my curly-leaf parsley. :(

18 Growing Edibles, Gardening Jargon

The first seed of parsley, cili padi (bird's eye chili) and coriander was tenderly stuck into soil months ago. I blogged about it here.

Coriander never saw the light of day.... I'm just being funny, but I am devastated that nothing came out of those seeds because it happens to be my favourite herb. I use bunches of it!

I decided I could wait no longer and planted vegetables over the same patch. It's not that I've given up hope. I am a great believer of miracles, having watch a ton of Disney cartoons. I have faith that one day in between green foliage of pak choy, a coriander sprout will burst out of the ground and thrive like the rainforest of Borneo. And I will have a field day slashing generous bunches of fresh coriander for that pot of green curry.

In the meantime, spring onions have become my next best friend because it's the easiest to grow. I also added several other edibles to my little garden, like ginger and the white stemmed pak choy.

Here's a little peek on how some of my plants are doing.

The cili padi tree stands seven inches tall. Will I be seeing chilies soon? I'm quite sure I will!

Cili Padi

This parsley is two-and-a-half inches tall. Two other sprouts are coming along really slowly. Parsley, to me, would be a tortoise if it were an animal.

Parsley

Pak choy sprouting quickly! I still don't see any coriander. Do you?

White-stemmed Pak Choy

As I delved deeper into gardening, I learned some new words and names along the way.

Mealybug - A really tiny insect that resembles white cotton candy. I brought it home via an infected Portulaca. It first attacked my Mona Lavender. Then, it went for my ten-year-old cactus. That miffed me. I had to trim my plants bald and say goodbye to my cactus. The nerve of some insects...hmmph!

Germinate - Really, this is a happy word. It means that the seeds are developing into shoots. Woots!

Compost - Decomposing organic matter used as soil fertiliser. Ugh! 

Perennial - An everlasting plant. That would be my cactus, I believe...if not for mealybugs!

Bolt - When a leafy vegetable (mostly) prematurely flowers to produce seeds before you can harvest the crop. It hasn't happened to me ...yet. I can't decide whether to look forward to this or not - it would be exciting to harvest your own seeds, right?

Growing Edibles - Growing food plants.

Right, that's all about my gardening. Now, to share about a great green initiative I discovered while surfing the net. Are you someone who's concerned about the environment and want to help? Then, the Free Tree Society Kuala Lumpur is a great place to start! Check their Facebook page and website for details.

They give out little plants on environmental days. If your home is bare of any, this really is the best thing you can do for Mother Earth. Get some and green up!

A green thumb spirit is all you need to get that garden growing!