Friday 29 November 2019

The Garden - A conducive environment for students



What does it take to create a simple garden? 
Whether it's big, small or tiny, You have to start with small practical ideas and grow from there. 
It takes time and patience, as modification and changes take place all the time. A lot of effort and hard work too but once it's done, it's rewarding and amazing, remembering that at all times, this kind of work never stops. A beautiful garden can bring great joy and give peace of mind๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜.

A friend sent me via watsapp about the 4 hormones to be happy.
 How we need these 4 hormones to stay happy- Endorphins, Dopamine, Serotinin, and Oxytocin.
It was shared by Edward Ng of Glowbest: Chemical aspects to happiness: I applied these thoughts to my gardening hobby, and it make sense๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚.

When I do gardening, which is also a form of excercise, my body releases Endorphins. 
This hormone helps the body to cope with the pain of exercising. 
So we enjoy gardening because these hormone makes us happy.

The second hormone Dopamine is when we accomplish small or big tasks, it releases various levels of Dopamine. A good example is my passion fruit, which I planted about a year ago. When the plant became prolific, giving shades to my back yard, beautiful flowers giving out a nice smell,  abundant fruits dangling on the trellis making the garden look pretty. I feel proud and happy, especially when accomplishments were acknowledged and appreciated by my family and friends or even strangers.

The third hormone Serotonin is released when we act in a way that benefits others, such as going an extra mile to give something to others or to nature or society. This is where I shared my successful passion fruit plant to the world by writing a short story about it in my blog at no cost.

The last happy hormone is the Oxytocin, this is getting close to friends and family.
 Even hugging your family dog, cat, children and chicken๐Ÿ˜œ (i did have a few ๐Ÿ˜‚ and it was fun having them around) playing in the garden releases Oxytocin.

So this is one of the ways how to be happy๐Ÿ˜‚.

I, once visited a friend, Puan Sharifah who was the director of a college. 
There was a beautiful garden in the middle of this place. I was told the swing, the tables, chairs, benches, and some of the stuff on the fish pond were recycled stuff.
The created garden was the result of team work by the staff and students of the college such as the drivers, clerks, attendants, students, lecturers and herself. 
What a beautiful big garden it turned out to be. The garden also has a 'gazebo"! 
A 'gazebo' is a small building usually in the garden with a roof and open sides where most of the garden can be seen and enjoyed. The word 'Gazebo' to some, said in the 18th century as a joke word combining "gaze" with the Latin suffix "Ebo" meaning "I shall", therefore ending the meaning as " I shall see". 
The created garden has been a conducive learning environment for nursing and allied health students.
Gazebo in the middle of the garden

 A fish pond ๐Ÿ˜


 Look at those fishes swimming gracefully๐Ÿ’—

Awwww.... And these  little ducklings.๐Ÿคฃ 
They are soooooo cute.๐Ÿ’“๐Ÿ’“ This cute video was contributed by Sharifah๐ŸŒน


Students relaxing in front of the big fish pond. 
Breathing fresh air is much healthier in the garden.

The pond was also created by her colleagues and students, using many ideas to make the filters from recycled bottles. It is a great place to sit around, watching the fish swimming freely, and feeling the cool breeze blowing against your face. Amazing!๐Ÿ‘


A short video for the fish pond๐Ÿ˜

Filtering system for the fish pond, intelligently created by staff and students 


This lovely Mural painting is the original sketch of Puan Sharifah, and her students painted it for her as appreciation for teaching and guidance to become future nurses๐Ÿ‘. The creative arrangement of rocks and plants to look like a 3D pond was also her idea. "Wow, these works are of excellent quality. So authentic!" The painting showed a deer on a hillslope, a tortoise on the big rock splashed by cool running river and an owl sitting on the branch of a tree in the forest. What did the painter have in mind when she drew this picture , I wonder?
When my husband saw this photo, he asked if the artist to kindly donate one to our home and he would be very happy to see this painting, hanging on our home walls.๐Ÿ˜‚

Student Nurses' Corner

Medical Assistant's Corner. 
Behind the tutors and students, 
I noticed an "ambulance ". ๐Ÿค” 

At a closer look, it's an artwork of an "ambulance", made from scaffolding and recycled metal scrap. ๐Ÿ˜

 Internet access and electrical outlet at the Gazebo for students. 


Handmade benches at the 'gazebo ' for those who want to rest or relax with full view of the garden.

Creative art work for benches and chair from unwanted tree trunks.
 
Sitting area under the shades of trees in front of the fish pond. 

There was also a quiet corner called "The Dusun Hut" for those seeking solitude, to reflect and meditate๐Ÿ˜
This cute little hut, reminds me of the Red Indian hut/tent in America/ Canada ๐Ÿคฃ

This is everyone's favorite corner. It has a beautiful swing! It's lovely to watch students and staff enjoying this swing. The swing was also created by the director of this college, Puan Sharifah who is the brainchild of this garden project. 
Thank you, Sharifah๐ŸŒนfor contributing this lovely video clip. With the slow motion and right music in it, it's lovely to watch repetitively. wow!๐Ÿ˜‚ I can imagine if a bride is on it, she will look very beautiful and special! ๐Ÿ˜

Can anyone tell me who this beautiful elegant lady is? ๐Ÿ˜Š 

Bridging the gap rustically; peaceful oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life, a perfect example of many hands working in symphony.๐Ÿ’“
 
This little bridge was completed before Nurses Day๐Ÿ˜Š

Apart from the "gazebo", fish pond, a bridge and the swing, I was also amazed by the beautiful plants in the garden. Let's see if you can recognise any of them? 

Lipstick Palm is one of the most colourful and exotic palm tree's in the world!

Araucaria pine - a very popular ornamental tree in the garden

Ape plant sometimes called the "Elephant ears" are often used as landscaping plants, to give out a tropical appearance and ability to provide a shade in a garden.

Chinese windmill palm is one of the hardiest palms which has been cultivated in China and Japan for thousands of years
I am not sure of this one, is it Lily?
Broad leaf Palm Lily (Cordyline rubra) is an evergreen Australian plant found in warm rainforest. The broad, glossy, dark pinkish leaves glows like luminated plants making the garden looks magical, just like the movie called "Avatar"๐Ÿ˜‚.
Costus Spiralis produce beautiful flowers when blooming season starts.
Lucky plant- Chinese believe to plant right in front of your house to bring in Luck! But don't look for me if you don't strike your lottery.๐Ÿ˜œ
Bird nest fern is non poisonous. 
Fern has been shown to filter formaldehyde, Xylene and toluene.
Dracaena Fragran is also known as "happy plant" or "Corn plant", a popular ornamental  indoor and outdoor houseplant which produce fragrant flowers.

ZZ plant remove toxic air such as Toluene and Xylene from indoor air.

Chinese Evergreen helps to improve air quality by filtering the polluted air and toxin. 
This plant produces oxygen which assists in productivity and enriching health and well being, both in living and working spaces.  

Before I end this topic, I would like to thank my friend, Puan Sharifah for this pleasant visit as I got the opportunity to see such beautiful amazing garden in the college. ☺️

Monday 25 November 2019

How I grow my Passion Fruit.


There are so many varieties of Passion fruit. 
The picture above is of the Passiflora edulis variety. 
It's a vine plant native to Southern Brazil through Paraguay and Northern Argentina.
The most popular are the yellow and red/purple ones.
The yellow variety has more vigorous vine and the fruits are larger than the red/purple ones.
 The pulps of yellow variety are more acidic and tangy, while the red/purple ones taste sweeter and richer in flavour and aroma. 

Pulps from ripen fruits are best in making drinks, dessert or salad๐Ÿ˜‹

On the 9th January 2019, a friend gave me a plant of passion fruit. It was about 3 feet tall and ready to climb. I have never seen a passion fruit nor tasted it before. As I never refuse a good offer from this particular friend, for she never plants any rubbish or useless plants. What i mean is what ever she has planted, they are all useful and fruitful.

9.1.19 - launched passion fruit plant -a gift from a friend

20.2.2019 A month later , plants growing more leaves and start to spread its vines to left and right

 
28.7.19 -About 6 months after planting the vines became prolific

15.8.2019 - Flower buds started to appear
Passion fruit buds transforming into beautiful fragrant flowers 

16.8.2019
The leaves and vines spread profusely from  only 1 plant, making ideal little shades in the garden
More trellis was added to let the vines spread further. The shade used to be the tiny chicken coop before. I removed the roof and platform allowing the vines and leaves to give shade like a roof on the  chicken coop.
On 19.10.2019  about 10 months  after the plant was transplanted to the ground, the flowers bloom like crazy and fruiting was prolific. About 3-8 flowers a day. 
It's lovely to see the shiny green fruits dangling on the trellis like ornaments.๐Ÿ˜‚ 
After reading from some blogs and watching U tube showing how fruits develop better by hand pollinating than those being pollinated by the bees butterflies or ants etc, I began to practice this method.


Short video of how I hand pollinate with a paint brush by collecting the pollen from one of the 5 Anthers (pollen pads) and brush lightly against all 3 stigma (female organ of the plant).
hand pollinate using paint brush : The flowers has 5 Anthers (pollen pads) as shown in the picture which has pollens on each pads. The 3 stigmas can be seen clearly on this pictures

Then brush slightly against the 3 stigmas where the pollen will stick to it and had the flowers fertilised to form fruits. The flowers will normally stay open in the early evening for 12 hours before they closes again with or without fertilisation.


This photo shows after fertilisation process.
 The flowers will close and the little bud inside each flower turned to a fruit.

25.11.2019 - Successful fertilisation lead to more than 120 fruits from my 1st plant.


12.12.2019 - there were more than a 100 fruits at this time, dangling on the trellis from one parent plant๐Ÿ˜

18th December 2019- The 1st fruit had ripen and dropped to the ground๐Ÿ˜‚.  When these happens, it's  time to harvest them๐Ÿ˜‚. The slightly wrinkled fruits are best to taste at this time, rather than the smooth shiny ones because they are absolutely ripe ones, juicy and sweeter. But I couldn't wait and curious to see what's inside the fruit as this is the first time I had my own passion fruit. So I cut it and the picture below is the result.

 
It was very fragrant and juicy and has a very delicious sweet tangy taste. I love it๐Ÿ˜‹๐Ÿ˜

 I made juice with it, by adding a teaspoonful of honey, a slice of lemon and water. That's all!


There were also a lot of flowers that didn't make it. 
Probably due to unfertilised flowers caused by heavy rainfall (Heavy rain can wash away pollens from the Anthers) or not enough pollinators around to pollinate them.  Some did develop to fruits, but half way through they just shriveled and dropped off, before maturing. For that, I don't know why.
1 bud of passion fruit flower

The flower sitting in a glass of hot water
Passion fruit flower Tea 
I added 1/4 Teaspoon of brown sugar, some preferred to go without. 
It seemed to help in relaxing and aid mild insomnia. I drank this in the evening. I am not sure if it helps to sleep better but it definitely relaxes me☺
29.10.2019 - My 2nd Passion fruit plant๐Ÿ˜

Anyway, I am grateful and happy enough to see most of my passion fruits growing well at my back yard. So I decided to plant another at the front. This time, I bought the plant from the market for a price of Rm20๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜…

Refreshing Passion Fruit Cocktail Drink
Ingredients:
pulp and juice from half of the passion fruit.
Blue water made from 6 blue pea flowers in a cup of hot boiling water & set aside to cool.
1 slice of lemon.
1 teaspoon honey
few ice cubes
Scoop the pulp and juices from the passion fruit into a glass.. Add a slice of lemon.

Add 1 teaspoon of honey (according to your sweetness)

Pour in blue pea flower water.
Give a good stir to mix well with the honey
Add ice cubes
Healthy Fresh passion fruit drink and it's free because the fruits came from my garden! 

I had this exotic tropical fruit drink at Kenny Rogers Roasters. It's called Triple Passion, an amazing trio of Guava, Passion fruit and Mango at Rm 10.50 per glass!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, if you can get any passion fruits, try and make these. They are really yummy yam yam! If you did, do post me your comments. ok?๐Ÿ˜„
Look at my grand nieces, enjoyed plucking and picking up ripen passion fruits ๐Ÿ˜‚

This enjoyable outdoor activities will be remembered by them forever ☺