Maximizing Nature's Bounty
+60172821219
enquiries@suriahelanglui.com
facebook
Suria Helang Lui

Category: Articles

Suria Helang LuiArticlesArticles
16 Oct 2016
0 Comments By admin Articles, Banana, Eating Well

Pisang Embun Wangi a.k.a. Bunga – fragrant delight

One of my favourite bananas to eat raw – either on its own, in a banana split or in my greek yoghurt

with honey – all natural, no hormones or chemical pesticide or fertiliser, non-GMO with a fragrant honey sweet taste beats the GMO, often with chemical inducements commercial Cavendish hands down.  In size and shape they are similar to Cavendish.  In the age where we have a choice, I choose Pisang Embun Wangi over the Cavendish any day.  The Kedahans also call it Pisang Bunga.  In Indonesia, it is called Pisang Ambon.

The plant itself grows quite tall, about 5m so it does need a bit of room to grow in a home garden.  However, if you love fresh bananas, this tree might be your choice.  The inflorescence (jantung pisang) is bitter so it is not eaten.

The taste is similar to Pisang Emas and Lemak Manis although the texture is softer but not mushy.  This banana ripens with a light yellowish-green  or pale yellow skin so if you are waiting for it to turn fully bright yellow, you would probably end up with an over-ripe, mushy brown/black skin banana.  As with most local bananas, it is best stored in a basket or fruit bowl, not on a cool surface like ceramic tiles.  When stored in the fridge, the skin will turn brown-black even though it may still be good to eat.  It is funny how many are still tuned in that for a banana to be ripe, it must be yellow.  There are many varieties of banana which ripen with a green skin so it is best not to “judge the book by its cover”.  The flesh is also a cream color with a pale yellow tinge in the centre.

This banana is best consumed raw and is not suitable for turning into banana fritters because it tends to “soak” in the oil.  However, it is also good when roasted with the skin still on or turned into smoked bananas (pisang salai).  Another option is to use it to make cakes and pancakes especially when it is overripe as it tends to be mushy to mashing them up would be easy.

From a nutrition standpoint, as with other bananas, it is high in fiber and also contains vitamin A, C and calcium.  In traditional medicine, this fruit is eaten when you have a fever and the pseudo stem is heated and used to treat sore muscles.

21 Sep 2016
0 Comments By admin Articles, Farm Information, SHL Journal

Suria Helang Lui: 7 years later Part 1.

Time has definitely flown by since I have started to focus on the piece of land that I bought in 2007, whilst I was still working on the corporate world.  At that time it was a jungle – you can play Tarzan and swing from tree to tree from the long vines that hung off the trees.  The first 3 years I spent the time developing the land with minimal soil disturbance, widened and deepened a dried-out stream to make my fish pond, studied what vegetation was there that I wanted to keep and what I wanted to remove and to figure out what I wanted to do.  Although many thought that I was doing things the hard way since I didn’t just bulldoze the land, I feel that it is the right decision since we retained the topsoil that had taken decades to form.  This provided a good base for the soil condition for planting.

After 1 year of studying the contour of the land, I had a fish pond created that flowed from one side of the land out to Sg. Lui, which allowed for me to have an inflow and an outflow as well as a flood control measure.  We “pulled” our own polypipe (2 sets) : 1 for farm use and 1 for the fish pond.  This allowed for us to have a constant flow of water coming in one end of the pond thus making it more like a river than a fish pond.  The end result is our fish pond has constant fresh water incoming, no aeration needed for the fish and no smell as well as river fish and shellfish coming in which provided food for our fish.  We maximised what nature has and try to minimize impact to the river system.  The water fountain we have requires no pumps or mechanised units but just the application of physics.  All this enabled us in rearing fresh water fish that didn’t have a “muddy” smell with a natural sweetness.  Subhanallah.  I tried rearing various species over the years but in the last year, we have narrowed it down to 3 species: Catfish (keli), Tilapia and Lampam.  We do have other species in there such as Kelah Daun, Seluang, Tilan and various other types of river fish that are the norm in the rivers in this area.  Over the years, we have made some modifications and adjustment, to suit with the water flow, fish production operations as well as to ensure we have sufficient protection, in shaa Allah,  from sudden rise in the river water levels.

My father used to say that my farm was like a village as I had all sorts of plants and trees.  I didn’t focus on one or two types of plants like most commercial farms,  Being in the heart of the local fruit area – durian, mangosteen, cempedak, jackfruit and duku langsat – many thought I should focus on one or two of these fruits.  My concept is different: ultimately I wanted the farm to be able to provide for a complete food diet – fresh fruits, vegetables, proteins and carbohydrates hence the idea of a self-sufficient integrated farm.  It is definitely a different concept because I envisioned that some day, we would be able to do end-to-end and by choice, be independent of suppliers and to be able to produce not only raw goods but processed products – all done free from toxic chemicals and as naturally as possible.

I spent the first 3 years experimenting why grows best, how to grow it better, how to care for the land and how to strike  environmental balance.  Today, I have lost count of how many types of plants and trees we have although I do try from time to time to catalog what I have but I have to admit, it is not high on my to-do list.

Apart from the fish pond, we have a greenhouse.  Many have asked me: “Do we really need to have a greenhouse and why?”.  I built the greenhouse for a few reasons:

  1. To grow vegetables that require more care
  2. To have an area for me to propagate plants especially in creating new seedlings
  3. To have an area that I can still have an activity on those rainy days
  4. To be able to experiment in a more controlled setting

Part of the joy of farming is to be able to experiment and find ways of doing things that are more attuned to nature and minimising damage to the environment.  I also call this my oxygenation room as when I work in the greenhouse during the day, the plants in there are actively producing oxygen as a by-product from photosynthesis (remember the biology class).

From a fruit production perspective, I try to make it so that we are able to have fruits year-round hence we have seasonal fruits like mangosteen, jack fruit, cempedak, jam madu as well as non-seasonal fruits like papayas and bananas.  At the farm, at last count we have over 25 varieties of bananas – all non-GMO, hormone-free and local.  Hence week-to-week, the banana variety produced from the the farm varies.  I view our collection of banana plants as part of the preservation of our heritage.  Each variety has its unique qualities from the inflorescence, pseudo stem, leaves and fruit.

From the experiments and taste, we have narrowed our papayas to three varieties: the “orange” flesh exotica, red exotica and red “sekaki”.  I chose these because they are the tastiest and sweetest for me and it seems that our customers enjoy them too.
In the beginning, we only had a few plants and weekly have a few fruits.  We also had to work on scheduling planting so that we will have fruits weekly as there comes a time when the papaya tree is no longer viable and will need to be replaced.  Hence, we now produce seedlings twice a year from our own seed collection.

This farm is chemical pesticide and fertiliser-free.  In the beginning, I depended fully on commercial organic pest control and fertiliser.  Over the years, I conducted my own farm-based research and experiments and now we are 70-30 on our own fertilisers to dependence on commercial products for our needs.  We now produce our own liquid concentrate for fertiliser as well as pest control and compost soil.  The ingredients used are farm-produced with the exception of raw sugar, molasses and sea salt.  Recently, we introduced them as our ORGME line of products.  These are the same fertilisers that we use at the farm in conjunction with 2 other types of commercial organic fertilisers.  The target is in the future, we can produce all our own fertilisers and making the farm in control of our fertilisers and independence from manufacturers.

In Part 2, we will relate our vegetables and herbals – the underlying produce of the farm – without compromising on our values and principles 🙂

12 Sep 2016
0 Comments By admin Articles, Edible Landscape, Healthy Options, Herbal Therapy, Well-being Landscape

More than just a flower, Roselle

Living in Malaysia, it is easy to grow Roselle (scientific name: Hibiscus sabdariffa L., Malay name: Asam Belanda)  plants which are from the Hibiscus family.  Given the right care, it produces flowers lavishly.  The beautiful flowers have delicate petals of light pink incisor with a dark red centre.  As part of your flowering edible landscape, it is a great choice.  It can grow tall, reaching over 2m in height.  The growth can be controlled by regular pruning which not only shapes the plant but at the same time encourage new growth which leads to more flowers.

Roselle is interesting in that it is what I call a flower fruit or the correct term is calyx (plural form: calyces).  It is unique in shape and texture with a dark red color which turns almost black-red when dry.  However, when you turn it into a juice, it become a blood red color.  As part of a daily diet designed to promote good health, the juice is rich in vitamin C and other nutrients including anti-oxidants.  For me, it is the drink of choice as opposed to processed fruit juices that contains all kinds of additives and artificial colouring.

Based on a study by Purdue University, it is high in calcium, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin C and iron.  It is also caffeine-free hence it can be made as an after-dinner tea for those who cannot consume caffeine after late afternoon or they have a hard time sleeping.

It is easy to make the drink.  Just peel-off the petals from the seed pod, chop it into small pieces, place it in a claypot and bring it to boil.  A dark red liquid can be produced.  The resulting liquid is very sour.  Do not discard the chopped petals as it can be consumed either by adding it to the drink or turned into a jam.  When it is drank warm, it is often referred to as Roselle tea but when it is drank cold, it is referred to as Roselle juice.  The drink can be sweetened with honey, raw sugar or brown sugar.  I do not recommend white sugar as it adds unhealthy benefits to the drink.

You can also use it in your cooking to add the sour flavour as well as red color to your dish.

I am not a proponent of artificially and chemically produced supplements or supplements that undergo chemical process and later have all kinds of additives and preservatives hence the drink is one of my choice of drinks for vitamin C.

It also has anti-hypertensive properties and studies have been done and found that it produces a positive effect in lowering blood pressure – another plus for me as being from a family of history of high blood pressure, I see this drink as a preventive as well as a curative measure.  With our hot climate, it is a cooling drink to help quench thirst.

I am recovering from a cold so this is my daily drink now with its high natural ascorbic acid content (vitamin C) as well as the anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties to aid in natural healing.

The Roselle can also be made into a probiotic drink by undergoing a fermentation process.  The benefit of doing this is apart from the probiotics, you can store the fermented concentrate for a long period without the need for refrigeration.

All in all, why I love it as a daily drink or regular drink : I get my vitamins and minerals which help me boost my immune system, reduces hypertension (my blood pressure will rise after a hot day working outdoors), quench my thirst, increase my metabolism and reduce the hydrolysation of starch to sugar), cancer prevention, decreases bronchoconstriction so I can breathe better and helps keep my bones and teeth healthy.  What more can I ask from a drink?  All these goodness also makes it the juice I choose for my 3 year-old – to me it is much better than a lot of the processed fruit juices out there – and he loves it.

As with many natural ways, it takes regular consumption to get the best benefits – it is not a miracle cure nor does it give immediate effects like pharmaceutical drugs.  However, it is a way of enjoying healthy food for long term benefits without the many negative side effects. So, let us maximise one of nature’s bounty.

21 Aug 2016
0 Comments By admin Articles, Eating Well, ORGME, SHL Products

ORGME: Mangosteen, the booster range

Mangosteen is one of our great local fruits, also known as the Queen of Fruits.  Its scientific name is Garcinia mangostanaWith the exception of the stem and seed, the whole fruit provides us with many wondrous health benefits naturally.  Personally, it is a fruit that tops my list.  Unfortunately, it is seasonal.  So when it is the season, I tend to stock up on the fruit and process it so I can have a longer supply.  Living in the land where this fruit can be grown naturally and organically, it is an opportunity that I like to maximise.

It is important to select good quality fruits that is at its prime when all the beneficial nutrients are at the maximum.  Mangosteen is low in calories and is a good source of vitamin C  and dietary fiber as well as providing a good amount of Vitamin B and minerals such as Calcium, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorous and Zinc.  It also contains Carotene-a, Carotene-ß and Cryptoxanthin-ß (Source: USDA National Nutrient Database).

It also contains Xanthone, a class of naturally occurring polyphenol compound.  The fruit contains two types of zanthones – alpha mangosteen and gamma mangosteen – which have been shown to have several benefits including anti-inflammatory.  These antioxidants have healing properties which heals cells damaged by free radicals, slow down raging and prevent degenerative diseases and physical and mental deterioration – what we Malays say as “awet muda”.  The xanthones also helps to burn fat to prevent weight gain.

The high content in Vitamin C makes it a good natural source of this vitamin which provides for improved immune system and defence against free radicals.  An important nutrient in cell development is Folate, which is found in mangosteen.

Amongst the properties of the fruit are:

  1. anti-inflammatory
  2. anti-fungal
  3. antioxidants
  4. antibacterial

Mangosteen are being used in various cancer studies with the key element of Xanthones (source: National Centre of Biotechnological Information- NCBI).  Among the studies being conducted is the use of mangosteen as a “chemopreventive” in the treatment of cancer, arresting tumor growth as well as a preventive and curative treatment for cancer.

In summary, the mangosteen provides healthy benefits:

  1. Strengthens the immune system
  2. Fights free radicals
  3. Good for the brain helping to fight against mental deterioration and degenerative diseases
  4. Helps to fight against cancer
  5. Helps the fight against cardio-vascular diseases
  6. Reduces cholesterol
  7. Helps in weight control

With all these benefits, that is why I have chosen it to be one of range of our healthy but delicious drinks, without preservative, additives or colouring, with the following selection:

  1. Mangosteen Tea (unsweetened)
  2. Mangosteen Tea (sweetened with pure cane sugar)
  3. Mangosteen Nectar (which has a higher dietary fiber content with the inclusion of the fruit flesh)
  4. Mangosteen Concentrate which can be diluted to make other drinks either hot or cold.

These drinks are designed for normal consumption, as part of the daily food intake, an alternative to the normal drinks like juices and carbonated drinks.  Personally, I drink it almost everyday and make it a part of my normal diet.  Like anybody else, I will be more inclined to drink it if it tastes good so taste is also an important criteria.  No-one wants to feel like they are drinking medicine or else it will not be easy to incorporate into our daily beverage intake.  For my son, I like to add 1 teaspoon of the concentrate in his drinks to make it “drinkable” for him.

For more information, you can whatsApp or message to 0172821219.

EAT TO LOVE LIFE
16 Aug 2016
0 Comments By admin Articles, Edible Landscape, SHL Products, Well-being Landscape

ORGME: SHL Enzyme Fertilisers with Pest Control

Having an organic farm, it is important for me that the fertilisers and pest control I use are organic and free from toxic chemicals.    Moreover, I have a 3-year old who loves to help out especially when it comes to spraying.  So over the years, I have been experimenting and came up with two liquid fertilisers that is non-toxic but yet fertilises the plants whilst controlling pests.  All the ingredients used to create the concentrates are organic and natural based, available at the farm.  This helps me ensure that no toxic chemicals are introduced.  There is no need to use gloves and masks when handling the solution.

The Enzyme Fertiliser with Pest Control Concentrate is formulated for flowering and fruiting plants.  It contains the various minerals like magnesium, calcium as well as the other essential nutrients for encouraging flowering and fruiting.  It also helps to control pests like leaf miners and white flies.  It is easily applied by diluting 1-2 capfuls with 1 liter of water, preferably unchlorinated water.  Just spray it over the plant including the undersides of the leaves to fertilise whilst controlling pest.  It can also be watered over the plant.

If a plant is infested, spray daily for about 3 days and thereafter, it can be applied 1-2 times a week.  At the farm, I use it on all my fruiting plants including tomatoes, chillies and soursop.

This concentrate can also be used for cleaning such as counter tops, tiles and ceramic floors.  It leaves a pleasant citrus with herbal aroma on the areas cleaned.  To use, just dilute 1-2 capfuls in 1 later of water and use it to spray to counter tops or place in a pail to use for mopping the floor.  No need to rinse with water and is non-toxic.  It is sold in 500ml bottles and priced at RM 10.

The Green Enzyme Fertiliser with Pest Control Concentrate is formulated to encourage and care for foliage.  It contains various nutrients to encourage foliage growth.  It also helps control pests including leaf miners.  It is easily applied by diluting 1-2 capfuls with 1 liter of water, preferably unchlorinated water.  Just spray it over the plant to fertilise whilst controlling pest.  It can also be watered over the plant.

If a plant is infested, spray daily for about 3 days and thereafter, it can be applied 1-2 times a week.  At the farm, I use it on all vegetables and herbs such as pak choy, kailan, kale, spinach and various basil plant.  It is sold in 500ml bottles and priced at RM 10.

Currently, these products are available directly from us.

04 Aug 2016
0 Comments By admin Articles, Eating Well, Healthy Options, SHL Products

SHL: Tasty healthy drinks

I prefer to have drinks that provide me health benefits but it must taste good and not make me feel that I am drinking medicine.  It needs to be enjoyable and I like to have a selection of hot or cold drinks, all as natural as possible.  I prefer to avoid refined or white sugar.

After working on my recipes and combinations, I have now come up with the SHL line of drinks and concentrates, with some being served hot, some cold and some either way.  Some of the drinks and concentrates can be combined to produce a different drink.  All the drinks and concentrate contains no preservatives, colouring, artificial flavouring, food additives or stabilisers hence it needs to be stored refrigerated and the recommended shelf-life of 3 months.

The purpose of this article is to share briefly the information on the drinks.

The Bentong Ginger and Turmeric Range
The Bentong Ginger and Turmeric Concentrate (RM 20.00) is made from organically grown Bentong ginger and turmeric to produce a concentrate that can be diluted with water or added to other beverages and served either hot or cold.  A serving size is around 40-50ml a day although some have consumed larger servings.  It depends on
the person.  In some people, when they consume higher servings, they find that they get a stomachache or diarrhoea so it is best to start slow and observe how you body reacts to it.   It makes a drink that is rich with antiseptic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.  It can also be used to flavour dishes such as soups, as a marinate for chicken, beef or seafood and for flavouring when cooking rice.

The Bentong Ginger and Turmeric Drink (RM 3.00) produced by SHL is sweetened with either pure cane sugar or pure palm sugar.  It too can be consumed either hot or cold.

Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, some of my customers take it for their joint pains as well as for gout.  This is my go-to drink when I have had a workout or lots of physical activity.  It also has the properties for helping in digestion and bloating.  Often, the fastest effect is to “pass gas” as well as better bowel movement.

The Soursop Leaves Range

The source leaves are organically grown and processed to produce a tea concentrate.  The Soursop Leaves Concentrate (RM 20.00) can be diluted with water or added as a flavouring to other drinks like tea or fruit juices.   It is best to avoid white sugar and when sweetened, it is often done with honey or pure cane sugar or organic sugars.   Based on various research, no known adverse reactions have been found.

The SHL Soursop Tea drink (RM 3.00) is sweetened with pure cane sugar.
Soursop leave tea is often used as a complementary or alternative therapy for cancer.  The soursop leave is rich in iron, calcium, potassium and vitamins A, B and C.  Thus it has been taken for overall health, improving skin conditions, anaemia amongst others.

The leaves also contain nutrients that help to strengthen the immune system hence the tea is often drank as a preventive measure.  With its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, it can be used for skin treatments as well as for cough and colds.

In some traditional therapies, it is used to treat diseases related to the gall bladder and liver.

The Cat’s Whiskers (Misai Kuching) Range
The Misai Kuching Concentrate (RM 18.00) is made from organically grown leaves and flowers.  No woody parts of the plant are used.  The concentrate is diluted with water and generally drank unsweetened, similar to Chinese tea and with floral undertones.  It can be consumed hot or cold.

This tea is often taken as an alternative treatment or complementary therapy for diabetes and high blood pressure.  In traditional Chinese Medicine, it is used to cleanse the kidney and the gall bladder as well as treating kidney stones.  It has antibacterial , antioxidant as well as anti0fungal properties.  In traditional medicine and alternative therapies, it is used to flush out metabolic wastes as well as a diuretic flush in helping cleanse the urinary tract and kidneys.  Amongst its other uses in traditional or alternative therapy is for reducing high blood pressure, for reducing cholesterol, improving blood circulation and cleansing of toxins from the body.

This is my favourite drink when I eat durians or rich, sweet desserts.  It helps to re-balance my blood sugars and seem to reduce the “heaty-ness” or the durians.

The Mangosteen Range
This Mangosteen Tea Concentrate (RM 20.00) is made from the various part of the fruit, excluding the seeds.  It can be diluted with water or added to other drinks like tea and fruit juices.  It is best to avoid white sugar and when sweetened, it is often done with honey or pure cane sugar or organic sugars.   It can be served hot or cold.

The SHL Mangosteen Tea (RM 3.00) drink is lightly sweetened with pure cane sugar.  It is also available unsweetened.

It is rich in vitamin C as well as has a good amount of vitamin B-complex along with various other minerals.   It is also rich with Xanthines, which has antioxidant properties which heals damage by free radicals, slow down raging and ward off degenerative diseases and physical and mental deterioration.

Apart from being an antioxidant, it also has anti-inflammatory properties and in alternative therapies is used to treat people with sciatic pain.

The Mangosteen Nectar  (RM 5.00) is a seasonally produced drink that comprises of the fruit without the seeds.  It is lightly sweetened with pure cane sugar and contains fruit pulp.  It is most often consumed cold.
The mangosteen nectar has similar benefits to the mangosteen tea with the added benefits of fiber from the fruit pulp thus making it a delicious fiber source that will help in the digestive process and bowel movements.

I like to enjoy it as a breakfast drink, providing me with vitamins and minerals as well as fiber.

10 Jul 2016
0 Comments By admin Articles, Edible Landscape, Herbal Therapy, Well-being Landscape

The beauty of temulawak

 I got so many queries on this plant after I posted the picture of its beautiful flower so I hope this short article may help answer most of the questions.

The temulawak (curcuma zanthorrhiza) or known as Javanese ginger is a “cousin” of the turmeric (curcuma long) hence the similar shaped flowers.  Whilst the turmeric flower is of the same shape and is light green in color with yellow inner “buds”, the temulawak has a striking purple/pink flower with yellow inner buds.   The flower is long lasting, from the initial flower to final bloom taking lasting over 1 month.  The initial flower is pink with purple tips which turns into a lighter pink as it progresses through the blooming stage.

Being similar to turmeric, it has rhizomes from which it can be propagated.  Although it is in the ginger family, the rhizomes are closer in appearance to the turmeric than ginger.

As with many rhizome-based plants, soil drainage is important to prevent the rhizomes from rotting due to water-logged soil.  The soil composition should contain some sand as well as lots of organic matter.  It doesn’t do well in heavy clay soil.

To differentiate the rhizomes from others of the same family, the inner rhizome is off-white in color and has a texture similar to the ginger but less fibrous.  IT has a brown rim around the edges.  The rhizomes form a similar cluster to the turmeric rhizomes.

The rhizomes is used mainly in traditional therapy for treatment of certain illness as well as in skin care.  It can also be used as a spice.  It has a smell that is like a cross between ginger and turmeric.  In traditional therapy, it has been used for overcoming kidney diseases, heartburn, lowering cholesterol and other types of illness.  Being of the curcuma family, it has the similar benefits as turmeric.

This plant is easy to care for and can be grown either in a polybag or container, or in the ground.  If it is grown in a polybag, water when the soil has dried.  It doesn’t need much fertiliser but a soil with phosphorous and calcium will encourage it to flower.  It grows in full sun or semi-shade.

The leaves are more similar to turmeric with a single leave per stalk from the main “stem” with the difference being a reddish-brown strip in the middle.  It can grown to about 1m tall.  As the plant grows, the rhizomes will multiply creating a cluster.  The rhizome can be harvested when needed without affecting the overall health of the plant.  You do not need to pull out the whole plant for harvesting.

This plant makes a lovely addition to your home garden providing beauty and benefits.  Since it is easy to grow and maintain, you might want to consider planting this even if you are a beginner gardener.  Happy planting.