May 2026 Garden Journal

The weather is very sunny. But really hot. The rain has completely subsided. I'm getting ready for the dry season.

Actually, I'm quite dizzy thinking about the changing weather, which I haven't fully mastered. I mean, it's really hard to figure out which plants are suitable for the weather here. I've only been renting this house for a year. And utilizing the land productively is difficult.

For the past three months, it's been raining every day and the plants haven't grown at all, and that's preventing the plants in my garden from achieving their full potential. Especially those that require a three-month harvest period. Meanwhile, plants with a short harvest period can be managed.

But overall, I'm grateful for the learning opportunity. Isn't it true that nothing is wasted when we start something? So let me take you to see my plants growing and surviving the extreme heat of nearly 38 degrees Celsius every day.

The cabbage plants are almost four months old. They're ready to harvest. They're so beautiful.

They can withstand the heat and rain. However, their crop size is smaller because my garden isn't in the highlands.

My cabbage plants aren't eaten by insects because I planted basil plants around them. This is very effective in attracting insects, especially grasshoppers.

I also planted roses in my garden. Small pests like to eat rose hips, so it's a good way to distract them from the vegetable plants.

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I have a large supply of chilies for daily cooking, both green and red.

I'm very grateful that when chili prices are high, I don't need to buy them anymore.

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The shallot plants are one month old. They've started to form bulbs. The lower stems are already showing reddish-purple.

They've been growing well without rain. So the dry season is a good time to plant as many shallots as possible.

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In front of my room, there's a small plot of land. There's still some sunlight shining on it. So I planted bitter melon and green beans in the same area. I also planted tomatoes.

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Green beans and bitter melon work well as companion plants. They look healthy and pest-free.

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The bitter melons look big after a few days of manual pollination.

Meanwhile, the female bitter melon flowers, which I didn't manually pollinate, don't appear to have developed at all.

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There are many green beans hiding among the dense green bean and bitter melon plants. Adorable. ❤️

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Hibiscus, a newcomer to my garden. Still in bud. Waiting for a beautiful blooming tomorrow 🌸

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Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari

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