Thursday, March 16, 2017

What's goin on in the garden......

remember the plant that I was having a hard time identifying? Found out it was Topee Tambo.
I harvested them last month.


I have re planted the rhizomes, and some have already sprouted.

The arrow-roots are growing nicely too.

Planted quite a few yams recently and one has sprouted.

There is an elephant foot yam coming up in my main raised bed.

Some Chinese potatoes I have planted are sprouting too.


Tune in for more updates!

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

A big ass yam..........

I planted some greater yams, Dioscorea alata last  April.  They are usually planted in April and are harvested from December- January. Harvested one last Sunday, it turned out to be 5.7 kilos. 

I normally dig out a hole of roughly one cubic foot and fill it with grass clippings, coconut husk fiber, leaves and kitchen waste mixed with the dug out soil. Then I plant a decent piece of  dormant yam in it. The foliage grows as a wine, and I usually plant the yam near a tree so that the wine can crawl up the tree. When the leaves start dying off in the winter it is ready for harvest.   



Sunday, January 1, 2017

Arrowroot/ Maranta arundinacea/හුලංකීරිය

I have not tasted an arrowroot in years. I have been asking everybody to find me some to plant in my garden, but it was only last week a girl working in the hospital brought me a few small plants a root. I have planted them all, and keep you posted of their progress.


Sunday, December 25, 2016

What's the plant? ආටිචෝක් අල ?

This is a plant that grows spontaneously in the lowland wet zone of Sri Lanka, and could have been an introduced species. My guess is that it belongs ginger family, the foliage looks similar to Turmeric. Folks here call it Artichoke, but I know a for fact that Artichoke is totally a different plant.



















The plant has a rhizome that grows and sends up shoots.The roots sprouting from the rhizome bear potato like tubers that are delicious when boiled. If any body could help me identify this  plant, I will be grateful.


                 Gardening The Environmentally Friendly Way