Armchair journal – Page 4 – Suria Helang Lui

17 Jan 2013

0 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Eating Well, Healthy Options, Vegetables

Long green beans

Like many vegetables, the long green beans ( Malay name: kacang panjang, Botanical name: Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis ) can be eaten raw and are deliciously crisp when fresh. Personally, I like them when they are a darker shade of green with slight visibility of the pods for eating them raw. They are a good source of protein, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, phosphorus, and potassium, and a very good source for vitamin C, folate, magnesium, and manganeseAs the fruit matures, it turns to a yellowish green to yellow to brown.

I seed them in small polybags (about 10cm diameter) using store-bought seeds. It takes approximately 3 days for the seeds to sprout and once it has sprouted, with the right soil mixture, it grows rather rapidly. As with most of my vegetables, the soil mixture contains organic matter as well as some sand within the mixture to allow for good drainage as well as moisture control. After about 7-10 ten days, they are ready to be transplanted.

At the farm, it is transplanted in polybags before placing them along a trellis to allow better utilization of area, effective fertilization, protection from the farm animals and ease of relocating as well as weeding.
The long beans is a climber and is easily trained. If you plan to plant it at your house, you can plant it along the fence or by an arbor. It takes approximately 30 days before beginning to flower which then transforms into the long beans. During this period, the water content in the soil is very important – do not let it dry out as I find that this will reduce the quality and quantity of the beans produced thereafter. Conversely, do not let it be in a soggy, wet soil as this will encourage rot which can kill the plant. I let some of the beans to mature to create a new batch of planting seeds. I fertilize them fortnightly with organic fertilizer. The mature leaves are also removed periodically to encourage new growth and flowering as well to prevent leaves from rotting on the vine which can encourage fungus which in turn will affect the plant.

The beans are susceptible to black “aphids”, which will eat the beans and my best friend in this is the kerangga, the natural predator to these pests resulting in me not having to worry about getting rid of these pest.

The young leaf shoots can also be eaten like many other leafy vegetables – cooking it within a stir-fry dish.As with many vegetables, they are so many ways to prepare it and for me, it is a must in pecal and lontong. Sometime, I chopped it up along with other ulam and mix it with rice for my version of nasi kerabu. So, have fun experimenting.

17 Jan 2013

0 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Edible Landscape, Healthy Options, Vegetables

Growing Cabbage

I love cabbage – raw or cooked. I find that this vegetable is very versatile. Cabbages are rich in vitamin A and C. and Calcium. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Potassium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate and Manganese
Thus I began to experiment planting it from store-bought seeds. I sowed the seeds into 6″ polybags in a rich, organic soil mixture. It took about 3 days for it to begin to sprout. According to the seed package label, it should be transplanted in 3 weeks. I did transplant into bigger polybags in about 3 weeks but it was based on the growth of the seedlings – I transplanted them when the width of the plant was the same as the diameter of the polybag.A moist soil is important for its growth with a regular watering, never letting the soil dry out. I fertilized it every 10 days with organic fertilizer to ensure continuous supply of nutrients. To keep pests away, I use organic pest deterrents such as serai wangi mix and I check the leaves often to remove any “creepy crawlies”. I find the cabbage plant to be beautiful, like a big, green flower.

For people with limited space, you can plant them in big planters where it can serve a dual purpose – providing a lovely plant to grace your landscape and at the same time, producing a vegetable for your consumption. Normally, cabbages are planted in rows of soil beds but at the farm, I plant it in polybags to enable me to better care for them and also to prevent the farm animals from damaging them. It is imperative to ensure that it receives sufficient water so I water it twice a day once it has been transplanted.

To enable a relatively constant supply of this vegetable, I have sown seeds about 1 month apart so I have plants at various stages. After transplanting, it takes almost 3 months before they are ready for harvest. Once the head begins to form, I stop fertilizing and just ensure that the plant receives sufficient supply of water. I place the plants in my greenhouse to help reduce pests attacks. The plants does well with lots of sunshine so if you are planting it on a balcony, be sure to allow it to receive around 6 hours of sunlight so a east facing balcony is best – allowing maximum sunglight with less heat.
From my experience, it takes almost 4 months for the cabbage to be ready for harvest so I have to exercise patience but I feel that it is well worth the effort. Being pesticide-free, I enjoy eating the cabbage raw – as an ulam or salad. You can also make coleslaw, stir-fry it as a vegetable dish, cooked as with spices and/or chili, pickle it, use it as a wrap for baked dishes, an item in sayur lontong – the options are endless. So try growing it in a pot and enjoy the fruits of your labor :).
Notes – Lessons learnt:

Soil mixture should be “light” and contain high organic content to ensure a moist growing medium and ease for root growth.
Pest repellent are essential to produce beautiful cabbages.
Fertilization during growth stage before formation of the cabbage head is important to ensure a good size cabbage.
Lots of sunshine.
Never let the soil to dry out – water is critical to good growth. Insufficient water will result in smaller size cabbage heads.

04 Dec 2012

0 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Eating Well, Healthy Options, Vegetables

Being A Small Farmer Part 5 – Growing Vegetables

In line with having an integrated farm, one of the key items is vegetables. I selected the vegetables based on what I like. Inherently, if you select what you like, then you would tend to pay more attention and I do believe this is true. I have taken the route of planting most of my vegetables in polybags for two main reasons: (1) ease of weeds control and (2) to ensure that the vegetables get the fertilizer and not washed away or consumed by weeds. The starting place is my greenhouse, where all the seeds get sown which is then transplanted and placed either within the greenhouse or outside. What did I select?

To start with, I selected long green beans. This is a versatile vegetable – you can eat it raw or cooked. So naturally, going natural removes the worry of those pesky chemicals. I started with sowing the seeds, in the greenhouse, which sprouted in about 3 days. After allowing it to grow to about 10cm, I transplanted them into a polybag and placed them outside under its trellis. The lesson I learnt from the first time that I planted this was that the chickens love to scratch around the plant, often uprooting it hence I didn’t get much yield from it. This time around, there are in polybags with the “tube” fence to prevent them from getting to the plant on sitting on it. This plant is a climber so having a trellis structure is key to its growth. The soil mixture that I use has a high organic content to it. I sprinkle organic fertilizer fortnightly in circle with a radius of about 6cm from the base of the plant. I am fortunate that the farm is located in an area where there is good rainfall and since it was placed outside, I haven’t had to water it, leaving the rain to provide the water.

It took about 40 days before it started to flower. The flower and shoots are susceptible to a pesky black insect similar to aphids which will cause it to be destroyed. My ally in this is the kerengga, those biting red insects. Normally, I would try to get rid of them as they tend to bite you but in this instance, I allow them to roam freely thereby keeping the pests at bay. The only problem is they like to make their “houses” with the larger leaves and to discourage them, I remove the leaves that they use to make their houses. This serves a dual purpose – it enables me to control the population of the kerengga as well as well as encouraging new shoots. I often snack on the green beans as I am doing maintenance the plants – picking them and munching on it without worrying about washing it. The yield this time is also much better than my first attempt and we did manage to have some for sale at the Sunday morning market and it was gone very fast.

Another favorite vegetable of mine is the cabbage and it too can be eaten raw or cooked. With the cabbage, one must be patient as it does take a lot longer compared to other vegetables before harvest. However, I think it is well worth the wait. It took about 5 days before it started to sprout and took about 3 weeks to grow to about 6 cm. At this size, with at least four leaves, I transplanted them into polybags. As with all my vegetables, the soil mixture has a high organic content to it.

I monitor the soil moisture and water it once or twice a day depending on the weather with pure uncontaminated river water. I am still waiting for my cabbage to mature and be ready for harvest. According to the seed label, it takes 75-80 days from transplanting, which means it will take about 96 – 101 days before harvest. As the plant grows wide, It seems to be growing well and it is now about 40 days from transplant. I do enjoy looking at the plant as it looks like a beatuiful big green flower. This vegetable will remain in the greenhouse until it is ready to enable me to manage its pest control. Those insects and caterpillars love munching on them and I find that with weekly serai wangi and water mixture spray, it keeps those pests away. I am looking forward to eating it and I am not sure if any will make it to the Sunday morning market. I guess I will have to plant lots more :).

14 Nov 2012

0 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Development, SHL Journal

Being a small farmer Part 4 – Selecting the inhabitants

The basic principle that I follow for “inhabitants” of the farm is that if they serve as food or therapy, then I will select it for introduction or retention at the farm. The second principle is: I plant or grow only what I like :). The third is the preservation of our natural heritage. In selecting the plants, I have chosen to have plants that I consider to be short term revenue producers like the vegetables, mid term revenue produces such as fruits and long term such as surian. However both the long term and mid term can generate revenue in the interim. Annuals and perennials as well as evergreen are also taken into consideration as this will affect the maintenance work that needs to be done. The plants and trees that we have at the farm include:

Fruits: Bananas, Rambutan, Soursop (Durian Belanda), Durian, Jackfruit (Nangka), Cempedak, Mangosteens, Jambu Madu, Longan (Mata Kucing), Mango, Calamansi (Limau Kasturi).
Herbs and therapeutic plants/trees: Cat’s whiskers (Misai Lucing), Ruku, Selasih, Lemon Basil (Kemangi), Cosmos Caudatus (Ulam Raja), Tumeric, Lemongrass, Senduduk Hutan, Cilantro, Lengkuas, Ginger, Ginger torch (Bunga Kantan), Jeruju, Bebuas, Surian, Kaffir Lime (Limau Perut).
Roots and Tubers: Tapioca, Sweet potatoes, Yam (Keladi)
Vegetables etc.: Kailan, Sawi (Choy Sum), Cabbage, Tomatoes, Kangkong, Spinach, Bird Chillies (Cili Padi), Long Beans, Aubergine (Terong) and Turkey Berry (Terong pipit).

As there are various soil types at the farm, careful consideration is taken when selecting the location where it is planted to promote healthy plants and trees. Thought is also put into how the plants can co-exist so as to promote benefits for both such as a tree providing a semi-shady area for plants that prefer semi-shade. I have found that many plants or trees serve multiple purposes – some as food and at the same time can be used for therapeutic purposes or even as a bio-cleansing agent or pesticide. I continuously seek to increase my knowledge on each plant or tree at the farm and I am continuously surprised at what I find. Nature is definitely bountiful.

In line with making it an integrated farm, I have elected to rear chickens and fish. Chickens of course provide not only meat but also healthy eggs. They also function as my insect-control mechanism feeding on the ants and various other bugs and grass.

The fish that I have selected as the primary fishes to rear are tilapia, catfish (keli) and lampam. I find that these fishes are really versatile as they can be eaten fresh, dried and salted either with or without herbs, and smoked.
I have also found that both tilapia and catfish can be filleted to produce beautiful fillets that can then be prepared in various other ways for consumption other than the normal Malay or Chinese style of preparation. I am considering having some local goats – not so much for consumption – but more for its “weed-eating” capability as well as an additional source for fertilizers. However, more research needs to be done so that I can provide the optimum living conditions for the goats as well achieving a balance with the other inhabitants.

I am pretty much done with selecting inhabitants though I am always on the lookout for interesting plants and trees. Now we have basically moved away from the development phase and on to the “growing” phase to increase production quantity and quality. The journey continues……

08 Nov 2012

0 Comments By admin Armchair journal

Being a small farmer Part 3 – Finding balance

Having an integrated farm is a challenge of balancing the natures of the various elements. Since the goal is to go as natural as possible, we raise free-range kampung chicken so this means that they are free to wander all over the farm. By nature they will scratch the ground looking for insects and worms to feed on as well as pecking at the young shoots. Being what they are, they are also capable of flying quite a distance – I have watched them fly as high as 2m across the fish ponds which is about 10m wide. So fencing off areas is not really feasible. While they serve a function as pest control mechanism, they also become the pest.
At the same time, there are all those insects and worms that just love to munch their way on the leaves and for some reason, they tend to leave the weeds alone! The rule is no chemical pesticides because not only do I not want to introduce them into the vegetable, albeit may be traces of it, I also do not want it to leach into the ground and making its way into the pond or the water system. At the same time, not all insects and worms are bad – some insects are natural predators to the insects that are pests. I also want to have earthworms and they are the natural soil aerator as well as natural mechanism for improving the soil.
I also have 10 cats and I need to protect my vegetables from them too. In spite of having a large area for them to do their “business”, they like to dig around the “softer” soil of the plant beds. On top of that, when they decide to play catch, it wreaks havoc on the plants. These cats serve a purpose of keeping what I consider pests to a minimum – I haven’t seen a rat or mouse since I started having them on the farm and the smaller snakes have also seen to disappear – some were caught by them and maybe the others decided to find better living conditions.
I am constantly working on ways to better improve the balance so that I can produce the best. Every day is a learning experience and nothing beats going through it and my mind is constantly challenged to try and figure out the solutions to issues.

I now plant all my leafy vegetables in polybags and there are placed in the greenhouse so that they are protected from the chickens and to a certain degree, the insects. This also helps to ease controlling the weeds. For climbers like long beans, they are also planted in polybags but each polybag is surrounded by “tube” fence that keeps the chickens and goose from getting to them whilst at the same time providing a support structure for them to climb.

My tomatoes are also planted in polybags and when they are big enough, will be surrounded by the fence-tube to provide the support structure they need. The tomato plants are also placed in the greenhouse.
We try to compost as much as possible, returning back to the earth what is good, in the effort of continuing to balance our environment. In this manner, all the weeds have a function – they become fertilizers later.
Finding balance is important after all, every living thing has a right for the best and we all co-exist.

10 Oct 2012

0 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Farm Information, SHL Journal

Being a small farmer Part 2 – Setting the basics

I am often asked to explain what type of a farm I have and I find it difficult to define it within the more prevalent terms so I created my own term: a natural integrated farm. At the heart of it, we strive to make the most use out of nature within the farm operations

To start with, 2 separate polypipes are used to transport water from two separate sources, clean and natural water sources. One polypipe provides for the water for household and agriculture use and the other pipe is strictly for the fish ponds for aquaculture use. This ensures that water flows through the ponds 24 hours a day enabling the constant removal of any aquaculture waste and providing for good oxygenation of the pond, critical elements in rearing fish. From an aesthetic value, the pond does not produce noxious odors and the sound of the water creates a calming environment.

The land clearing was done manually and selective bull-dozing, taking care to preserve as much of the top soil as possible.

Being situated in a water catchment area where there is plenty of rainfall, it was important to have facilities to provide for water run-off and a flood prevention mechanism, hence the ponds also serve this purpose. The pond is built on the dried stream bed hence its shape is similar to a stream with the outflow going into Sg. Lui. This is where I will start our aquaculture project of rearing fresh water fish. With this in mind, it was imperative that no chemical herbicides or pesticides is used at the farm to prevent this being introduced into the ponds and ultimately into the fish, With the great water quality, it would be almost criminal to contaminate the pond and the fish. Whilst people who consume the fish may not be aware of any minute amounts of chemical toxins, I would know and this would go against my principle: I only sell produce that I would eat.

The selection of what was to be planted at the farm was also important in order to provide a balanced environment. The first plants planted was banana plants. This plant consumes a lot of water so it helps to absorb the water from the rains. At the farm, only natural banana plants are planted which means that we do not plant any genetically-modified (GM) plants or plants from culture tissues. In Malaysia, we have an abundance of variety of banana plants and I am on a quest to have all the varieties of bananas available at the farm. This is my personal conservation effort to preserve our heritage. It would be a shame to lose it and for us to become a GM culture and not be aware of the richness of varieties available. Apart from being harvested for the bananas, the inflorescence is also harvested prior to the bananas and this is a great ulam or “vegetable” which has many health benefits based on our traditional medicine practitioners. The inner portion of the pseudostem is used as a supplementary food for the fish as well as serving as a pond water natural cleansing agent. Sometimes, we consume the inner portion of the stem as one of the ingredients in a curry. The remaining portions of the plant after harvesting the fruit is turned into a compost providing for a natural fertilizer. Hence from this one type of plant, it serves multiple purposes and provides a multitude of benefits naturally.

Since I foresee that there will be times when I will be too tired to drive home, I decided that I needed to have a house built but one with is functional to farm operations, easy to keep clean, comfortable and with lots of natural light. I do not foresee working the farm alone so I designed the house to accomodate my workers too. I use a lot of tiles all over the place – all the floors, the kitchen counters, most of the walls and to allow for privacy yet allowing for natural light, most walls have glass tile cubes. Skylights are also strategically for more natural lighting. All around the house, just below the roof, a 2 ft. lattice “wall” allows for fresh air to constantly circulate into the house. The detail work on the house is still being done as the primary focus is the farm but I hope it will be completed before end of this year – my birthday present to myself.

Of course no farm is complete without some animals – other than the fish. I started my initial stock of kampung chicken which I obtained from Kedah and later added more from my neighbour. These are free-range chicken so they wonder all around the farm, eating their fill. Another reason why no chemical pesticides or herbicides are used. From my initial stock of 4 chickens, we currently have a total of about 60 chickens which I hope to further increase in the coming months. They also serve to keep the insects at bay as well as helping with controlling the weeds and grass.

With all the different practices utilizing nature, this gave birth to our tag line: Maximizing Nature’s Bounty. More tales to follow so watch out for the next segment.

10 Oct 2012

0 Comments By admin Armchair journal, SHL Journal

Being a small farmer – going the uncharted route Part 1

I changed direction in my life, leaving the corporate world and entering the agricultural world. Before making this decision, I considered many things. I realize that I no longer wanted to be involved in board room shenanigans and wanted to remain true to my principles. I also wanted to be able to spend more time other than in meetings till late at night and to have my weekends back. I also didn’t see myself going at that pace for long nor do I see a long-term future. Let’s face reality, as we age, we come to a point that we have to “retire” and for the younger ones to move up. So, what will I do then. I cannot imaging myself facing the walls or watching tv day in and day out and not having much mental and physical activity. To me, that is a sure way to get sick fast! I began work on a life plan – considering what I love to do and to turn it into my “golden age” plan.
I have always loved plants and animals and being outside. Added to that, I also love being active and not sitting in one place. I also enjoy doing things that are a challenge. Taking all those things into consideration, I decided to go into agriculture – not run of the mill type, but something new. Hence the birth of the concept of natural integrated farm, a farm whereby emphasis is placed on maximizing nature to provide food without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. I tend to shy away from the term organic farming as I find that this term has been over-commercialized.

The first item was to select the right piece of property which has good, natural water supply, easy vehicle access, available utilities infrastructure, freehold land grant, within my budget and not far from Kuala Lumpur. It took me about 10 years to find a piece of land that met my requirements. To many, at first glance, the land represented a lot of work since it resembled a jungle – there was even vines that you can swing from tree to tree like Tarzan. Taking a walk within the land then was a challenge and you need to have a parang handy to make your way through and good hiking boots as the land contour was not clearly visible and also as protection against leeches and who knows what else. I fell in love with it at first sight – I saw possibilities in the different vegetation there as well as presence of dried stream beds. My mind began to fill with all kinds of ideas and the vision of what this land can be developed into.
First things first, acquisition of the property. I was fortunate that the land grant is in good order but with the twist that the property had 2 owner names on it as a portion of the total property as described in the land grant had been sold off at one time but the grant was not converted into 2 separate land grants. I refuse to just add my name to the grant so one of my terms of the sale was that the grant be divided accordingly before the sale can be concluded. I wanted a proper land grant that fully described what I will own with my name on it to avoid any property disputes in the future.

During the period whilst I waited for the land grant to be processed, I visited the property many times, studying its contour and vegetation as well as checking out the water availability. That area has poor Syabas water supply so I had to find alternative sources. In the worst case scenario, I would have to use the Sg. Lui water where it crossed the land, splitting the land into 2 portions. The river wasn’t indicated in the land grant and apparently the land grant has not been updated since the 70’s when a major flood caused the Sg. Lui to re-route itself. However, in getting to know the people in the area, I found that water can be piped down from a clean water source up in the hills.

The land was filled with all kinds of plants, shrubs and trees and I began my study of what they were and how they can be useful to me. It was during this period that I found that there are many plants that can be of medicinal and also nutrition value. Thus began my adventure in the study of the properties and use of plants as well as herbs. What to some people may be just a mess that using a backhoe can clean it all up, I found it to be a treasure trove.

I have always loved being close to water and with Sg. Lui running through the property was great, an added bonus was to find that there appeared to be stream beds running through the property and during heavy rains, the water would run through it. This gave birth to the idea of being able to raise fish.
As the land had been left untended for many decades, I found that through the natural process, there was good quality top soil from the natural decomposition of plants and trees. My decision to not use a backhoe to raze the land was a good one as I then can keep the top soil ensuring good fertile soil presence for my plants and trees. This meant that land clearing would be done in a manual manner with judicious selection of what plants and trees should remain and what is cleared. My favorite tools are parang, weed cutter and cangkul. Through the initial land clearing, I was able to see the contour properly and to set a first-level design plan for the land.

With an understanding of the elements of the property that I wanted to retain, I started selective land clearing and construction of the fish pond. After the intial land clearing, the first structure that was built was a storeroom cum bathroom. I needed a place to store tools and equipment as well as the need for privacy for….you all get my meaning. I had a well dug in this room so that there was a water supply for washing and cleaning as well as a refreshing “bath” after the workout. Now I was ready for the serious development………

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