Lantana - Masochistic beautiful "weed"

Mr Bear was like, "what? You killed another lantana again?"

"Yes, I don't get it. I water it and fertilize it regularly. In fact, this time the lantana died after I fertilized it."

"Lantana is like a weed. You're not supposed to water or fertilize it that often."

"Oh." Makes sense now why the neglected lantana in the HortPark grew into such a huge bush by the open drain.

Note to self : Water extremely rarely for lantana. Should resort to God's juice as much as possible, and never fertilize. I note that when I bought a grow bag of it, the mix given by World Farm was well-draining soil with sand mixed in.

Stem cuttings seem to work. Should cut at least 5 cm of green growth.

Journey into Rural Singapore - Looking for acclimatized rose

Looks idyllic, isn't it? If you ignore the cranes behind me, moving the loads of fertilizer. Bobo and I were at a "ulu" nursery looking for an acclimatized rose (waste of time, owner wasn't around and I bought it at World Farm in the end).  Still, rural Kranji/Lim Chu Kang (depending on which way you drive in) farm area is a place you must check out, it is the last bit of peace in hectic Singapore.

Slaughtered veggies drowned in salt solution

During our wasted trip, we popped by Bollywood veggies. The food isn't great, pretty salty (which is pretty horrifying when I read the sign that said reduced salt in dishes), but there aren't many choices where we were. Still I appreciated the idea of a quiet, functioning farm that has restaurant facilities, especially since a farm is what I would like to have when I retire (the irony that I deliberately bought a flat in a very noisy but accessible area is not lost on me). 

I ran my fingers through the Southenwood (some say dill) until Bobo pointed out the bug in it...

As I was telling the Misses Bears, one of whom wanted to have a orchard in Australia, I wished that one day I could retire and operate a farm in Germany, preferably Schwangau. But the likelihood is almost zilch, I think I would like to operate a farm in Taiwan. At the very least maybe Singapore...

I would have a farmhouse where people could stay and decorate it like Amazing Spaces. Then have farm tours and a cafe on-site so that visitors can pop by and appreciate nature. Sigh...

Neglected toilet turned into a holiday home