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Suria Helang Lui

Year: 2018

Suria Helang LuiArticles2018
27 Dec 2018
0 Comments By admin Articles, Healthy Options, SHL Products

Making the goodness of Mangosteen available year round

Malaysians are all familiar with the King of fruits but did you know that Mangosteen is the Queen of fruits? It deserves this title. This is one of our fruits that has very good nutrients along with having many health benefits. The drawback is that it is seasonal hence it is only available during its season which is normally between late June to early August.
Mangosteeen is known for it antioxidant properties as well as the Xanthines enzyme which comes mainly from the outer skin know as the pericarp. This is the part that we normally throw away when we eat the flesh of the mangosteen as it is not palatable. In order to harness all its goodness, we have created our Mangosteen Probiotic Enzyme. It is made from pesticide-free fruits grown at the farm and from our selected fruit growers. In order to have a quality product, we carefully select the fruits that we will use. Each individual fruit is washed thoroughly with our naturally-sourced water without any chemicals.
Our probiotic enzyme is produced using a permaculture fermentation process which takes at least 4 months before we strain and bottle the liquid. Once bottled, it can be stored, unopened for at least 1 year in a cool, dry place. Once opened, it can be stored in a cool, dry place or refrigerated. Hence, it is then consumable for throughout year. Personally, I have my supply for the year until the next season, when I can produce a new batch which means it will be next December before I will have a new batch of Mangosteen enzyme.
I consume it as part of my health maintenance and prevention regime and in order to make it easy for me to consume it, this enzyme has several ways of consuming so I can incorporate it into my normal daily diet. It can be consumed by:
1. consuming 1-2 tablespoons
2. adding 1-2 tablespoon to drinks such as juices and teas
3. making a salad dressing by adding 1-2 tablespoons
4. making ice-cubes which can be added to other drinks when making cold drinks
In our packaging, we bottle it in glass bottles of 250ml each. At the moment, it is not made available in stores and can only be purchased directly from us and not by mail order. Price per bottle is RM 40.
For enquiries, you can e-mail us at enquiries@suriahelanglui or through whatsApp at 017-2821219. For ordering, you can order emails us at order@suriahelanglui or through whatsApp at 017-2821219.

20 Nov 2018
0 Comments By admin Events

Upcoming event: Kg Warisan Bazaar Dec. 9, 2018

We will be having our stall at the Kg. Warisan Bazaar at Kampung Warisan Condominiums, Jalan Jelatek, K.L. on Dec. 9 from 9am – 12 noon. We will have a selection of fresh, organically grown fruits and vegetables as well as our product range. Looking for a special Christmas gift, come and see our products for a selection of alternative gifts from our Enzymes and Vinegar product range. If you would like to come, please whatsApp to 0172821219.

17 Oct 2018
11 Comments By admin Articles

The Soursop Fruit Cycle

One of the popular fruits nowadays is the soursop.  This fruit became popular when its therapeutic benefits were discovered and discussed everywhere and even more when it was purported to be anti-cancer.  The Malay name is Durian Belanda and from at the young stage when the fruit is formed, it does resemble a durian.

The beginning: the flower bud
As the flower forms, it is heart-shaped and green in color.
As it develops, the outer petals open, revealing and inner layer.
When the inner layer opens, it indicates that it is ready to be pollinated. Some have said that pollination occurs at night, so night pollinating insects are important.
Once it has been pollinated, it forms into a brown fruit bud. Some have mistakenly think that this means that the flower has dried up and not fruit has formed thus they remove it.
More “spikes” begin to form towards the stem of the fruit. The color is still brown.
You will get this brown spikes ball.
It begins to increase in size and you can see the inner green skin.
At this stage, to me, it does look like a small durian. The spikes have spaced out and you can see that it is turning green.
As it further grows, the spikes get filled-up and shorter and the fruit morphs into this green fruit with shorter spikes. The whole time from the flower bud to this stage has taken approximately 2.5 months.

I look forward to being able to harvest this fruit and will update the net stage – the stage when all the spikes have disappeared.

15 Oct 2018
0 Comments By admin Events

Local Salad From Your Garden

A talk on local plants you can grow in your home and gardens to create a salad with lots of nutrition.
Date: Oct. 27 (Saturday)
Time: 11.15 am
Where: The School@Jaya One, Petaling Jaya
In conjunction with the Go-Go Green Event at The School@Jaya One

https://www.facebook.com/events/286242118652690/?ti=icl

08 Oct 2018
0 Comments By admin Past Events

Open Farm Day Nov. 18, 2018

Location: Suria Helang Lui Farm

Address: 11799 Kg. Paya Lebar, Sg. Lui, Hulu Langat, Selamgor

Open to All Ages.

Open to all visitors interested in gardening, organic farming, nature visit and purchasing organic fresh produce and products. There is no charge to visit the farm. Casual wear with appropriate footwear. Although the map says it is in Negeri Sembilan, it is actually in Ulu Langat, Selangor. Problem with FB map :). You can use Googlemap and locate Helang Lui Farm.
No direct public transportation.

The plants available for purchase will also be announced at a later date. Do visit our website Shop page at suriahelanglui.com for product and plant availability.
Schedule:
We will have a guided tour of the farm at 10:30 am.
Lunch Menu talk at 11.30am.
Lunch food sales at 12 noon.
We are planning to have limited food menu for sale on that day starting from 12 noon until stock finish. In our effort to reduce inorganic waste, the food will be served in our re-usable plasticware or paper with banana leaf so please do not throw the used plasticware and place them in the containers provided. Our proposed menu is based on what we have at the farm and different from your normally found dishes. The items will be:
1. Farm chicken soup RM 8
This is soup made from our farm-grown chickens using herbs and seasoning from our farm such as basil, lengkuas kecil, bentong ginger, turmeric, lemongrass.
2. Asian salad with a twist RM 5
The salad will be made from farm grown elements such as ulam raja, sireh cina, wild purslane, baby spinach, and other items available with a salad dressing of roselle vinaigrette or calamansi vinaigrette. The salad dressing will be made based on our farm produced enzyme vinegars.
3. Moringa omelette RM 3
Fresh chicken eggs cooked omelette style with moringa leaves mixed in.
4. Rice with ginger, turmeric and EVCO RM 3
Basmati rice cooked with ginger, turmeric and EVCO as a seasoning and lightly salted.
5. Misai kucing tea RM 1 per cup
6. Calamansi drink sweetened with natural cane sugar RM 1 per cup.
7. Roselle Juice sweetened with natural cane sugar RM 2 per cup.
We will open for pre-order/booking in on 12th. November, 2018. More information will be available then as well as any changes to our proposed menu.
For navigation, please use the following link which will take you right to our front gate >> https://www.google.com/maps/place/Helang+Lui+Farm/@3.1461115,101.9141381,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x31cc2e4b98bc134d:0xb13b1605acb131d6!8m2!3d3.1461115!4d101.9163268?hl=en-US

04 Oct 2018
0 Comments By admin Articles

A must-have plant in your homes: Indian Borage

In these last few days, I have had the opportunity to use the leaves of the Indian Borage (scientific name: Plectranthus amboinicus)  in a few ways making me think that everyone should have this plant in their home.  This is a hardy plant that is easy to grow and care for.  It does require sunlight hence it will not do well in a shaded area.  It can grow in partial shade but does well in full sun.  However, you can plant it indoors and take it our every few days to allow it to sunbathe.    It can be propagated from stem cuttings and rooted either in water or in soil.  The stem and leaves have a high water content making it easy to extract a juice out of it.  By this same token, I suggest if you plant it and want to consume it, do plant it organically.

I had cut my finger with a parang one morning at the farm and I quickly chewed some of the leaves creating a paste-like texture which I applied to my finger.  I was bleeding quite profusely as it was quite deep so I didn’t take the tie to pound it with a mortar and pestle.  I left it on my finger for 5 minutes.  The instant I applied the paste, I felt a slight sting for a couple seconds.  When I removed the paste, the bleeding had stopped and the wound was clean.  The leaves have an antiseptic and antibacterial properties and this contributed to the recovery.  Although the wound had not totally healed but it no longer hurt

We live in a country where mosquitoes are common so one can get bitten easily.    When I get bitten, I will crush a leaf and apply it to the bitten area.  With its antiseptic properties, it provides relief.  It also has pest repellent properties so I will crush the leaves and apply the ensuing juice should I go to an area where I anticipate a lot of mosquitoes.  Planting it around your house can also help repel mosquitoes.

I caught a cold and cough and drinking a drink made of the leaves, calamansi and honey has also helped to ease the symptoms and reduce coughing.  Using just-boiled water, I will steep the chopped fresh leaves and when the temperature of the water is warm, I add the calamansi juice and honey.  I drink it a couple of times a day.

The leaves and stem can also be used in cooking as it has an oregano-like flavour albeit, stronger so use less than what you would normally use with oregano.  It can be used in seasoning sauces, meats and in pasta dishes.

For non-edible purposes, it also makes a good disinfecting cleaner for floors and counter-tops as well as a pest repellant for your plants.  I also like to place it in the bathroom and just rub my fingers against the leaf after I wash my hands, effectively disinfecting my hands as well as caring for the skin on my hands.

There are so many uses of this plant and I rate it high on my must-have household plant,  As it can be grown in containers and doesn’t require much room, it is hard to find a reason not to plant one.

01 Oct 2018
0 Comments By admin Events

Go Go Green at The School@Jaya One

We will be participating in the Go-Go Green event at The School@Jaya One, Petaling Jaya. We will have all our available products as well as available fresh produce and plants for sale at this event.  For any enquiries or bookings, please whatsApp to 017-2821219.  Thank you.

17 Sep 2018
1 Comments By admin Articles, Eating Well, Healthy Options

Oh dear, I am so “gassy”

I always like to understand the cause and effect of food as this helps me design my daily diet based on whole foods.  When we eat, along with our food we also take in gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide along with whatever other gases within “reach”.  When our body digests our food, among the by-products are gases.  Tiny amounts of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane combine with hydrogen sulphide and ammonia in the large intestine to give gas its smell resulting in flatulence or commonly know as fart.  Certain foods like beans and cabbages releases more gas when it is digested.  If you have a lot of gas after eating dairy products such as ice cream, yogurt and milk, it is an indication that the body has trouble digesting lactose or more commonly known as lactose-intolerant.  For some, it also causes diarrhoea as well as stomach cramps.  

Certain foods worsens flatulence:

  1. vegetables such as artichokes, broccoli, leeks, cauliflower, cabbage, garlic, onions, beans, Brussels sprouts, and turnips.
  2. cereals, such as wheat or oats.
  3. pulses, including beans and lentils.
  4. dairy produce.
  5. yeast in baked products, such as bread.
  6. cashews.

In Malaysia, sometimes these types of food are deemed as “sejuk” or cold – not because of the temperature but because it causes gas.  Within our local diets, the some of the widely consumed vegetables are long beans, cabbage, bean sprouts (tauge) and onions.


We “pass wind” many times a day and most of the time, we don’t even notice it as it also doesn’t have any smell an indication healthy digestion gas.  When within the digestion process it produces gases that contain sulphur and ammonia, this is where it starts to smell.  If food is not properly digested, it starts decomposing releasing sulphur hence the smelly flatulence.  If you have excessive flatulence, it is also an indication of abnormal digestion.  If the gas is not released through the mouth like burping or through “farting”, it can build-up in the body causing heartburn, body aches and pains, headaches etc. depending on the individual.


Understanding the behind-the-scenes, I realise that enzymes play an important role in digestion.  Lack of certain enzymes, that are normally produced by our body, can result in the inability of our body to digest certain foods we consume resulting in conditions like lactose-intolerance, gluten-intolerance and others.  As we age, certain organs in our body that produce these enzymes may not be functioning optimally either due to health condition or deterioration.  Improper digestion can cause decomposition of food producing an unhealthy environment in our digestive system that promotes pathogens and supports cancer cells.  It can also create build-up of acids causing our stomach lining to get inflamed and promoting ulcers as well as weakening it causing toxins to permeate through it into our blood system.  To me, maintaining a healthy digestive system as well as promotion good digestion helps prevent many other illnesses.

Hence I began a journey of discovery of enzymes from whole foods – naturally and not chemically processed as the idea was to provide the ability to consume it as normal food and allowing our bodies to function normally.  Almost all the enzymes I am studying and researching are plant-based versus animal-based, something that I find very interesting.  
Our local fruits that are rich in enzymes that assist the digestion process include papaya (betik), pineapple (nenas), calamansi (limau kasturi), lime (limau nipis) and Roselle (asam belanda) although technically it is known as calyx and not fruit.  All these are planted at the farm – following totally organic practices – and something that I incorporate into my normal diet.  These plants are what I hope others will plant in their homes, if not all, some, as they are local hence well-suited to our weather and relatively easy to grow.
I further challenged myself to experiment different ways of consuming it as well as combinations to further make it easier to consume as natural food.  The outcome: the dehydrated form, the fermented enzyme form and the vinegar form resulting in many ways of including it into my normal daily diet preventing boredom.  

Note:   This is more as information and not to be taken as medical advise.  For medical advise, please consult your doctor or health practitioner.
11 Sep 2018
5 Comments By admin Articles, Eating Well, Healthy Options, SHL Products

Pure Durian Nuggets: To sell or not to sell

During these last durian season, I bought extra durians as I wanted to make durian suggest.  I haddone this before and I loved it.  So this season, I bought durians that were not exposed to herbicides and chemical fertilisers of the original variety – non-GMO and also without hormones application.  The price ranged from rm 8-10 per kg at the orchard and each fruit was more than one kg.

The nuggets are made from pure fruit with no additives or preservatives.  I do not use fruits that are no longer nice to consume fresh but select the best ones.  The seeds are removed and only the flesh is used.
No flour of any type or other fillers were added.  No sugar was added and since it is already naturally sweet, the dehydration process will concentrate the sugars.  Adding sugar would not only make it extremely sweet but also detract from the health quality.

As a general rule, upon dehydration, each fruit will produce about 6-8 durian nuggets.  Basically, if you eat 8 nuggets, you have eaten a whole fruit.  Since it is really good and being a durian lover, I can easily eat them in one sitting – something which can be more challenging if I was eating the fresh fruit.  What I find interesting is the dehydration process breaks down the fibrous strand resulting in a smooth non-chewy cake-like texture.  You can either consume the nuggets on its own or use it to create or flavour other dishes like sweet coconut gravy that you use as a dip such as with bread, sweet desserts such as pancakes and puddings, and to make ice cream.

Some have asked if I am selling them.  Therein lies the dilemma.  The cost of producing  the 8 nuggets is around rm 12 – including the fruit cost (average price rm 9), people cost, dehydration cost and simple packaging. That doesn’t include selling costs. So in total to have a few cents of profit, the selling price is RM 15.  The question is: are people willing to buy it for RM 15.  If I wanted to use fancy packaging, it will be at least rm 18.

I began a comparison of high-end snacks without additive, fillers and preservatives.  It was hard to find any for comparison.  To compare to other durian products, there was no pure durian products was not possible as I couldn’t find any.  There were durian candies which were loaded with other ingredients, durian dodol which had more flour and sugar and other ingredients than durian, durian ice cream where durian was used as a flavouring and tempoyak which used durian that was no longer good to consume fresh.

Conclusion: the durian nuggets will be sold in packs of 9 nuggets at a price of rm 15.  If you are interested to purchase, you can whatsApp me at 0172821219.  Up to 9 packs per order can be sent via poslaju for additional rm 7.50 postage cost.  It will also be made available at the various events we do while stocks last.

08 Sep 2018
1 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Articles, Herbal Therapy, Well-being Landscape

In the Greenhouse: Part 1

I love my whole farm but the one place that I spend a lot of time at is in my greenhouse.  My

greenhouse is designed to serve as my seeding area, fertiliser production mix area, my lab to test out elements in growing plants such as water, pest control and fertilisers, an area to plant the plants that require substantial TLC, a place to propagate plants as well as acclimatisation of plants before being planted outdoors or indoors.

The roof is almost totally plastic roofing sheets (similar to the zinc roofing sheets) to allow sunlight in  but keep the rain out hence it is where I can work rain or shine.  The walls are half brick and specially-crafted lattice wood with netting to reduce the amount of pests that can enter the greenhouse.  It is impossible to keep everything out as some are so tiny – almost like a speck of dirt size such as the whiteflies.  It is half bricks because on some area along the sides, I have built a cement rack that serves as seed germination and seedling area as well as newly propagated plants area.  Over the years, it has evolved from the simple design of 30 feet by 20 feet size to 60 feet by 20 feet and current setup.  By starting from a simple design, it allowed me time to test and figure out how I wanted my greenhouse to be to suit with the activities as well as my style of working.  It is a personal design space that I also enjoy relaxing in and getting oxygen therapy.
  As all the plants at the farm either are edible or therapeutic or both, the same types are planted in the greenhouse.  Working with my hands sometimes causes me to get cuts and nicks so I have my first aid plants in the greenhouse too.  The Indian Borage, Variegated Borage and Aloe Vera are my basics.  The borage with its antiseptic properties are great for cuts.  I just wash the affected area and mash the leaves and apply to the cut.  In a few minutes, it is taken care of and I can resume what I was doing.  If I get an inflammation on my skin, I just get the above vera leaf and get the gel and apply.  I also use the borage leaves to create an instant pest repellant by crushing the leaves in water and using the resulting liquid to spray on the plants.  It also has anti-viral and anti-fungus properties to care for the health of my plants.  Being non-toxic, I don’t have to worry about using protective gear.  As I am creating the liquid, at the same time, I am also cleansing my hands from unwanted bacteria.  
Both plants are easy to propagate.  For the borage, I propagate from stem cuttings.  The aloe vera produces its own platelets which I will transplant to a separate container.  As I use them regularly, I propagate them often.
One of my favourite vegetable fruit is tomatoes.  They require a lot of care both from a pest control, fertilisation and water when grown organically and free from hormones as well.  It requires routine pest control activity as many pest love it like the whiteflies, aphids, black mold and ants to name a few.  The pests encourage each other.  With whiteflies, comes the aphids.  Then come the black mold and the ants.  Hence, it is imperative to control it from the beginning of the whiteflies.  I mix my own fertiliser from base ingredients like chicken manure, goat manure, compost, eco enzyme (a.k.a. garbage enzyme) and EM-1.  I tend to mix them depending on the growth and condition of the plant as having the fertiliser production mix are in the greenhouse, it makes it easier for me to get it done.  
Currently I have 3 varieties in various stages growing: Hybrid tomatoes, Cherry tomatoes and Heirloom tomatoes.  Although I have grown the hybrid and cherry tomatoes side by side, I planted the heirloom tomatoes separately in their own bed, separated by another planting bed as well as walkway.  I intend to save the seeds from the heirloom tomatoes in my seed bank.  These plants need to have their soil topped-up to cover their roots every so often so having my planting soil mixture area in the greenhouse also makes it convenient.  I will not plant them outside as then they will be exposed to many more pests including birds and my free-range chickens.  I have tried planting them outdoors but have always lost to the birds, chickens and other pests.
I also do companion planting in the greenhouse hence I also have various types of chilli plants in the greenhouse.  Although I do not eat much chillies, there are many around me who do.  I have a few varieties planted including habaneros, thai chilli and cili api.  I have the habaneros in a row but have the others planted in polybags in different sections of the greenhouse.  These plants also are a favourite of the whiteflies so whenever I do my pest control spray, I spray them at the same time too.  They also need to be fertilised rather frequently – once a week – so having them in the greenhouse also reduces time for fertilisation as I also custom fertilise them depending on the stage and any problems that I see with them.
I tend to spend hours at a time in the greenhouse so I also plant some ulam for me to munch on as

snacks.  One of my favourite plants – not only for taste but also because I think it is beautiful – is the Sambung Nyawa Batik.  I plant them in containers in a few locations.  Whenever I feel like munching on something, I just get a few leaves, rinse them and munch.  They are easy to propagate and with proper care, are vigorous growers.

The story of the plants in the greenhouse continues in Part 2.