Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Refreshing Drink : Watermelon Virgin Mojito

I have been trying some refreshing drinks lately and I've tried to make a Virgin Mojito, for recipe click here, and I just added watermelon on the recipe and it was another sure hit for my family!



Here is the recipe for this refreshing drink!


Watermelon Virgin Mojito
Serves : 2 thirsty people in need of a cool respite
Difficulty : Easy Peasy
Preparation Time : 5 minutes.
Cook Time : Nothing
Ingredients
  • 30 fresh mint leaves
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 200 ml of Sprite/Soda (If using Soda, double the amount of sugar)
  • 10 ice cubed Mint
  • 2 cups of sliced and removed seeds 
Instructions
  1. Chop up the fresh mint leaves.
  2. Slice the lemons down into thin wedges, removing all the seeds.
  3. Drop the mint leaves and wedges into your jar/glass.
  4. Add in the sugar.
  5. Using a spoon/muddler, mash up everything. Ensure if everything is combined.
  6. Pour in the Sprite/Soda.
  7. Put all ice cubed mint.
  8. Put sliced watermelon
  9. Pour yourself a glass and Enjoy!




Enjoy this refreshing drink with your family and let me know how it did~

Thanks for reading!

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Refreshing Drink : Using Mint in Our Virgin Mojito!

Last night I have tried to make Virgin Mojito for my family.
As we are living in a tropical country, this kind of refreshment drink is very much appreciated by my husband and my kids.


Virgin Mojito
Serves : 2 thirsty people in need of a cool respite
Difficulty : Easy Peasy
Preparation Time : 5 minutes.
Cook Time : Nothing
Ingredients
  • 30 fresh mint leaves
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 200 ml of Sprite/Soda (If using Soda, double the amount of sugar)
  • 10 ice cubed Mint
Instructions
  1. Chop up the fresh mint leaves.
  2. Slice the lemons down into thin wedges, removing all the seeds.
  3. Drop the mint leaves and wedges into your jar/glass.
  4. Add in the sugar.
  5. Using a spoon/muddler, mash up everything. Ensure if everything is combined.
  6. Pour in the Sprite/Soda.
  7. Put all ice cubed mint.
  8. Pour yourself a glass and Enjoy!
My family enjoyed it as much as I did preparing it!
Feel free to try this recipe out and let me know what you thin :)

Thanks for reading and happy drinking!

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Regrowing Herbs FAILED : Tarragon and Rosemary

I was trying to regrow the herbs I got last December and I have some herbs that I really have a hard time regrowing.

Two of which is my Tarragon and Rosemary.
I cut 2 new stems from my 1 year old Tarragon mother plant, and tried to grow roots from them, and put them in a cup of water.
Sadly, 1 wilted. I am not sure what I did wrong on it, but in the same cup 1 stem is still surviving, no roots though.



I have also cut some Rosemary and put in a cup of water, but this time I have no luck at all.
I think I have cut 9 stems all in all but I have tried several things like planting them directly to soil, putting them in a partial shade area of our house, put them in a window sill, almost all possible way except putting root hormone, but no luck. :(


Sad but true, not all I propagate is a success, but there is always room for improvement and I will keep on trying. :)

Let me know how you propagate your Rosemary or any other herbs, it may help me grow mine.

Thanks for reading and happy gardening!

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Regrowing Herbs : Updated! Onion Leeks!

Last January 11, 2016 (2 days ago), I started to regrow Onion Leeks which I bought from Supermarket as usual.

I cut the bottom part , about 3 to 4 inches from roots.
The leaves I used in the dish I made that dinner, and the roots I started to put in a cup of water. I tied them all together, 7 stalks (if that is what it's called, kindly correct me if I'm wrong :D ) and hoped for the best.


From the Supermarket, I just cut the bottom with roots! :)


I put it in a cup of water after that and waited for the best.

The next morning, I checked it and I was amazed on the growth of the leeks.
It grew about 1cm overnight and it surprised me a lot.

And then checked it today and I just can't contain the happiness as a gardener how well my Onion leeks responded as I am trying to regrow them!
It is now about 2cm longer and has new top shoots to grow! :)
I couldn't be any happier with this plants!

In about 5 to 6 days, depending on the progress of the plants, I will transplant them in a pot so they will be more stable in soil.
Let's hope for the best and  will keep you posted ;)

***UPDATE***
Just checked my leeks last night!
Viola!



Amazing isn't it??? I am impressed!!! :)


Let me know if you have regrown onion leeks and how it went, I would love to hear from you!

Happy gardening!

Monday, January 11, 2016

Regrowing Herbs by Cuttings : Basil, Mint, Dill, Tarragon and Rosemary





Since I have bought my herbs from Baguio, I have been trying to regrow some cutting from them.I have tried propagating Mint, Basil, Dill, Rosemary and Thyme by cuttings, and there are some ups and downs to rooting and letting them grow.


 I have tried to cut some Basil, Rosemary, Mint, Dill and Tarragon, and put them on a glass with tap water.





In about 6th to 7th day, the roots of Basil and Dill have sprouted! Yey!

I was a bit impatient in waiting, and not all the cutting of Basil, Mint and Rosemary made to to day 7. But my hopes didn't fade as I saw the leaves were very healthy and alive. But some of them wilted and others rotten from water, I am not sure if I have drowned it but other cuttings were surviving and rooted. But the optimistic me continued to monitor and observe and give a couple of more days to see if they will grow root.

In about 10 to 11 days, the roots were longer, some of the ones that didn't rooted now had their roots starting to grow.







I am still waiting for the Rosemary to grow roots, unfortunately since day 1 I have not regrown any Rosemary nor Thyme. :(  But, I am still hopeful and will continue to propagate from cuttings.

I will keep you posted on how will this cuttings grow more roots.
As of today, I have more that I propagate from cuttings of Mint and Basil from Supermarket, yes, the usual herbs you buy to add in your recipe. ;)




I will have an updated post on this on how I get the cutting and regrow :)
How about you? Have you tried any propagation from cuttings? Let me know which method works best for you!

Hope you have enjoyed reading!
Happy gardening!

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Welcome to my BlogSite!

Welcome to my Blog Site where I will be posting random stuff to share. 

Photos below are from our Baguio travel last Dec.2015
We visited couple of places there and I just want to share what we've seen! :)


My two kids Welcome's you to my blog site!

Mines View Park

I love herbs and I have been "trying" to grow them since 2010 and I had very few luck of propagating and planting as many as I want. Why? Cause I live in a tropical country and a region that is mostly hot and humid, the climate does not go well with growing herbs. ( But that was what I thought.)

As years of experience in planting herbs goes by, I have learned that I can grow herbs in the area where I live, that it just needs a lot of research and patience to grow them.

So from last 2014, two of my friends (Jhem and Michelle) gave me herbs which I was able to grow up until to date. Chives and Tarragon. They were very hearty. Continuous rain or very hot weather didn't kill them, and this what motivates me to plant again, but wiser this time.

Tarragon since 2014

Chives (Garlic) since 2014

I am very lucky to still have this plants, and now I am still growing them and trying to propagate by transplant and cuttings. I will have separate blog post on how I propagate Tarragon from cuttings as soon as I have more success to it.

And when we went to Baguio, I saw beautiful plants and herbs in Mines View Park and bought some to take home and start with growing more herbs in my mini-garden. :)







Some of the plants they sell there. Prices differ from which kind of plants you want to buy and how small or big they are. They also have some plants for table displays, and other succulent plants that are also great to grow.
You can even ask to bargain 3 plants for 100php ;) just be nice to the vendor and you will surely get it.


I bought Basil, Mint, Parsley, Lemon Pine, Thyme and Rosemary! Basic kitchen herbs for starter :)

Hope you enjoyed reading and I will share more next time!
Let me know what you think and I would love to here from your experience of growing herbs as well!

Happy gardening!