Miniature Garden - 17 July 2012

Making terrarium can be easy, quick and does not have to be expensive.  

This was our first attempt to make a terrarium last year. We used our glass aquarium, or otherwise, any glass containers or jars would be fine. The most tricky part was choosing the small plants that were compatible and could survive indoor with indirect sunlight.


Decorating the terrarium was the most fun part for the boys. Decorative things could be pretty rocks, marbles, figurines, driftwood or anything.


But it was a challenge to ensure the plants could grow with the right amount of water and sunlight. Even though we did our research and followed all the steps diligently, the plants still did not survive long. Perhaps it's more difficult to keep the plants indoor, or it could be the overwatering problem. We're still learning....


We went to FLORIA (Flower & Garden Festival) in Putrajaya recently. The above was the award-winning terrarium. Maybe we can try one with cactus the next round. However, we noticed that the plants in most terrariums there were not very healthy either. Indeed very tricky..


Our family got together and did this terrarium, with ideas from our visits to FLORIA. The boys have so much fun and were proud of their work. This will last a while because it did not have any living plants.

Fun with decoration!! The boys made their own hut with roof, owls, stone well, windmill, eggs, bird's nest, grass (from coloured rice), stone pathway, etc.


These were some of the plants in recycled bottles, an idea we got from a recent visit to Taman Warisan Pertanian. Indeed a very practical use of recycled bottles and also make wonderful gifts. They need very little care - much easier than terrarium. The boys were learning about plants and gardening the whole month, and we've even started a rock garden - still at a very preliminary stage.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Al-Attas Garden in Janda Baik - 4 August 2012

Image
Besides being a well-known contentious writer, little do we know that Syed Hussein Alattas is also a self-taught gardener and an architect. He had built Taman Hana in Janda Baik from scratch and named after his wife.  Taman Hana sits on a 8-acre plot of land in the quiet village of Janda Baik. It boasts a collection of 1,000 species of plants including fruit trees, more than 700 big flower pots and five buildings that include the home of the Alattas family.  The good news is that it is open to visitors every day.  As we made our way past the entrance, this place appeared unkempt. It was well beyond its heyday (in 2008) but still showing off its faded beauty. Some parts were badly neglected, which was so unfortunate, because it originally was to be a quiet kampung retreat. A mix of traditional Malay, Peranakan, Indonesian and colonial British architecture and a Minangkabau styled roof. Syed Hussein had actually started building the structures in 1982 and he spent a lot of time
Read more

Spilling the Beans in Ipoh - 6 Apr 2012

Image
Ipoh's familiar specialty - Nga Choy Kai or the Taugeh (Bean Sprouts) Chicken. What else to accompany the poached chicken than the fresh, fat and crunchy Ipoh famous bean sprouts!! The bean sprouts are served blanched, with a dash of sesame oil, white pepper and soy sauce. Ipoh is a well-known food haven in Malaysia, and most will agree that Ipoh's bean sprout is the best in Malaysia. The premium-grade bean sprouts come from the Buntong New Village, which is also my husband's hometown. Growing bean sprout requires only water and more importantly, watering techniques. Madam Toon told us that there were at least 8 operators in Buntong. They were all family-owned businesses, and the three Toon brothers have been growing bean sprouts for more than 70 years.  Bean sprouts are grown from black mung beans imported from Myanmar. The beans need to be watered every 4 hours throughout the day for 5 days, no shortcut, otherwise they will be not be fat and juicy. At
Read more

A Potter Village in Sayong - 30 May 2013

Image
Pit Stop at the Perak royal town, Kuala Kangsar. The 1st rubber tree in Malaysia was planted in this town. That's about all I knew about this place. Labu Sayong or water pitcher from Sayong village, known for its health value to help migraine, lower blood pressure etc due to the special properties inherent in the local clay. Before this, we didn't know much of labu sayong.  We didn't go to the village or plan this visit. Out of curiousity, we bumped into this unassuming workshop at No. 3, Kg Setia, Enggor, run by Mohd bin Harun.  Pakcik was very open and gave us a tour of his workshop and how he makes labu sayong. His warm, friendly welcoming people made a lasting impression on all of us - a trait that we've lost in the big cities. The traditional way of making labu sayong uses hands to mould the clay into the shape of a 'labu' (gourd-like vase) but this is too slow. Now, the clay mixture is poured into standard mould blocks. It's
Read more