Discovering Arni: Garden

5- Minute Low-Waste Lifestyle Adjustment

9:26 AM

Nobody's perfect. We do not live a zero-waste lifestyle yet. It takes time and a conscious effort to adjust. The most important thing to ask is why we want to do it.

Why do I want to reduce waste at home?

Since having moved to the countryside, we started improving ways our family manages household waste because our garbage truck passes only once a week, so we had to find ways to avoid a pile up of smelly garbage.

Bitter Melons

8:50 PM

"When you have lots of bitter melons, make pinakbet out of them. "

I really mean that, literally and metaphorically. Ampalaya as we call it, is also known as bitter gourd, bitter melon or bitter squash. It is a major star in a popular Filipino dish called Pinakbet, a mixed vegetable stew.

Vegetable Basket of Cebu

12:42 PM

We drove towards the hills from Dalaguete to visit Mantalongon, the vegetable basket of Cebu. The stunning Osmena Peak Trail start off point is along the same road.

We turned off the air-conditioning and rolled down our windows as we drove along the winding roads lined with unusual fauna. The breeze started becoming cooler as we ascended. It reminded me of Benguet and jaw dropping cliffs of Kalinga. Some call it the summer capital of Cebu. I begged to stop from time to time to take it all in. It is serenely captivating.

A Visit to a Vegetable Farm on Bantayan Island

4:35 PM

One perfect bed weather morning, our family took the scooter around the island of Bantayan to keep our toddler from feeling bored. The light drizzle did not deter us. Fully equipped with packable raincoats in our small backpack, we drove along the main highway of Santa Fe. Just before the Bantayan Town Welcome Arch, we turned left towards a damp dirt road that leads to Marikaban.

HortiKultura 2016 and Tropical Heat Resistant Strawberries

9:46 AM

Do you love herbs, gardening and nature?

While running errands processing documents in government agencies around Quezon City, we decided to pop by the Flower and Tropical Garden. There's an ongoing event called HortiKultura Extravaganza 2016, a horticulture show from 4th of February to 16th of February 2016 in Quezon Memorial Circle along Elliptical Road in Quezon City, Philippines.

It is organized by Philippine Horticultural Society, Inc. in partnership with the Quezon City Government, different garden clubs, Department of Tourism, Department of Agriculture, Villar Foundation, Del Monte Philippines, and AANI Group.

A Very Green Start of the Year

11:31 PM

Summer Citrus Salad from The Urban Farm

Pantone may have announced Serenity and Rose Quartz as Color of the Year 2016, but mine started out with a lot of green. Green for hope and vitality. Green for organic culinary exploits. Green for attempts in Urban Gardening.

An Extraordinary Garden

5:17 AM

What makes a garden extraordinary? If you happen to pass by the region of La Vendee, France off to the west coast, particularly headed towards Les Sables d'Olonne, you can stop by Le Potager Extraordinaire on the way. It can be translated as " The Extraordinary Vegetable Garden." It is located in Les Mares, La Mothe-Achard.

This was where I chose to celebrate the afternoon of my birthday. At first glance, we all wondered what makes it extraordinary. It's about 4-hectares in size with more than 1500 plant varieties. We spent the first 20 minutes browsing around on our own. We looked at each other with big question marks on our faces, "Now what?"

The Rose Garden

5:12 AM

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Beauty who asked her father for a rose. Or was it Belle? This story ran through my mind while we walked 5 kilometers to get to this garden. My husband wanted to show me a "Roseraie" that he chanced upon on his way to order pizza a few days ago. I still remember the way my jaw dropped at first thinking he suddenly turned religious and wanted to pray the rosary. He then explained to me in slow and clear french that he wants to take me to a rose garden. So the scent of roses greets us on a warm grey afternoon...

Planting Tomatoes

6:24 AM

Before we begin, this post chronicles my days spent at my father-in-laws' garden in France as I learn first-hand from an expert like he is, tips and techniques how he does it. Guess what? He planted this tomato babies in less than 15 minutes. Ok, I'm definitely not a green thumb! I was that type of gal who wouldn't plunge her little fingers in dirt for fear that an affectionate slug will wrap itself around her finger. Yet, when I started pulling out grass to help maintain another garden (my sister-in-law's), the obsessive maniac in me couldn't stop and fearlessly dug my hands in to pull out weeds. Since then, I help out maintaining the garden. Though we grew tomatoes year after year in our own small backyard garden in Dubai, I still wanted to learn, so that I can take this knowledge and experience with me when we move to the Philippines.

Create Your Own Green Roof Garden

12:39 AM

I visited my brother-in-law recently and he showed us his own green roof which he installed on top of the concrete slab roof of his storage room. I had to climb the ladder to get a closer look. I wondered for a moment if it had those automatic sprinklers, but guess what, it doesn't. It does however has water at one corner from a condensation pipe from his air conditioning. Apparently, this water along with occasional rain is enough to sustain this small garden. Hence, this is a low maintenance green roof and we excitedly discussed how he constructed this. I couldn't wait to share it here on the blog.

Fresh from the Garden

8:14 PM

Lettuce and raddish from the garden. Tomatoes are coming soon.

Like most summers in France, our daily vegetables and fruits come from the garden. The family used to have a bigger orchard. When they moved to Les Sables d'Olonne, the space left for gardening is a tiny fraction of what they used to have. Thanks to a neighbor who lent his land for my father-in-law to freely use for his gardening, they're growing well and we'll have enough to last the whole summer. During the previous years, they even had a chicken coop where we got lots of eggs from. Sadly, they had to let this go when they moved to the new city.

Le Potager

7:19 PM

One of the most fascinating part of the french lifestyle is le jardin potager, the vegetable garden where they plant everything essential in the kitchen to prepare the palate stimulating meals.

Gardening Project

5:07 PM

It's such a sight to see in the morning! With a coffee mug, in hand, I will tiptoe towards the patio for a peek of the flowers growing in the pot. They are the same specie as the flowers growing on the above right. We planted them as well last year and now have started spreading and blooming.