Friday, September 11, 2009

Newcomers to my balcony

I went by Bah Soon Pah Road again recently.

This time, I didn't go to World Farm, but to this place called Oh Chin Huat Hydroponic Farms.

I'm not into hydroponics. Not yet, anyway.

No, I went there because I've heard from Sky that they have a good collection of herbs.

And OH YES they did. They did they did they did.

Whoever who still have doubts that it is not that possible to grow herbs in Singapore should really pop by for a visit.

There were pots of rosemarys that are better described as large bushes. And all the various basils were really well endowed - they had really HUGE leaves. (Why are my basils so pathetically skinny and less endowed in comparison?) And an oregano plant I saw looked like a weed because it was almost like exploding out of the pot. Really.

Anyway, I stood there and gaped at the herb collection for a while. Then I found my tongue and started asking the nice lady there lots of questions - what is this and what is that and oh how do you grow this, what conditions does that require.

After satisfying my curiosities, I decided to bring home 3 plants. I would have brought home a whole lot more if not for the fact that I feel it would be a pity to kill too many plants unnecessarily.

In the end, I brought home...

1. The Lemon Balm - A friend was asking about a type of mint that is hairy. I think she is referring to these. They look somewhat like mint, belonged to the same family anyway and oh yes, they are hairy. I really like the lemony smell they have too. They smell clean!

A bushy Lemon Balm
Looks mint-like enough and is hairy.
(Evan, were you referring to these?)

2. Sage - I always wanted to grow this. In fact, I always wanted purple sage too. But somehow each time I go by a particular nursery, they'd run out of the purple sage. But these will be good enough for me, for now.

Sage with greyish-green leaves

3. Italian Parsley - I bought these against my better judgement. I know they will be difficult to grow and I might have to say goodbye to them far too soon. But I couldn't resist. It would be so nice to grow these for my pasta dishes, instead of buying them from the supermarket!

Italian parsley, or flat-leaf parsley

Hopefully, they will like my balcony and will do well here.

If they do, I'd go get more herbs next time..

5 comments:

Rummi, the gardener. said...

'a type of mint that is hairy'

hmm, Indian Borage ;)

Anonymous said...

That's a pretty good haul! =D

I tried growing the garden sage but I think my area isn't good for them. Lol. I just bought white sage seeds though, so I hope these grow. :P

KT said...

I had an Italian parsley that was really easy and not at all fussy. Repotted from a potted herb I bought at Cold Storage. Surprisingly pretty with the branches and leaves forming a round globe.

Open Kitchen Concept said...

Oh... KT, what kind of conditions do you give the plant? I was afraid that my balcony is too hot for it, actually..

KT said...

It was hung in the air on a west-facing high balcony with late afternoon sun (3-4 pm onwards) in extremely well draining soil, watered twice a day. Yup, it drank like a fish. Drooped sadly and sulked when it ran out of water. More sun was a problem because it took away water but otherwise the leaves didn't get fried or sun burnt. If it had a bigger pot or soil that held more water, I could have given it more sun and it would have grown even better, I think. Fed it with coffee and bean water.