Farm Information – Suria Helang Lui

18 Feb 2025

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Our popular product: Dehydrated Torch Ginger Flower (Bunga Kantan)

It’s been over 5 years since we started producing dehydrated torch ginger flowers (Bunga Kantan). It is the most popular item produced by our farm. We have customers from many countries and though we rarely ship it out of Malaysia due to the high cost in shipping, our dehydrated Bunga Kantan has been brought to many countries: USA, England, Germany, UAE, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Qatar and Taiwan. It has been interesting to see how Malaysian’s love for laksa and asam pedas has made our product into their kitchens overseas. I have also had the pleasure of being contacted by visitors to Malaysia who have previously live in Malaysia to purchase them to bring home to their home country. I will try to accommodate them if they are in the KL area to ensure that delivery can be made on time before they leave for their home country.

What is unique about our product is that the flowers are all grown at our farm in Hulu Langat without exposure to chemical herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers. It is dehydrated in less than 24 hours after harvest which enables it to retain its color and as much flavor as possible – something that is achieved through using a dehydrator. If you sun-dry it, it will lose most of its color, if not all, and turn brown.

Once dehydrated, we pack it in lightweight, resealable pouches which makes it easy to transport. Once opened, you can reseal the pouches and store it in a cool. dry place or if you like, in your refrigerator. It wi. ll last for many months.

We have been asked by a few companies to be their source provider for dehydrated bunga kantan. This is something that we are not equipped to do simply because we do not produce in large quantities. For example, to produce 1 kg of dehydrated bunga kantan, it takes about 400 flowers. We can only produce about 100 flower every 2 weeks.

We are in the midst of increasing the number of torch ginger plants we have but it will take a while and will be limited to space availability. Our farm is a multiculture farm which means we have different types of plants and trees planted at the farm including rambutan, soursop, dukong, pulasan, cempedak madu, various varieties of bananas and hers to name a few. There are over 100 varieties of plants and trees at the farm and this contributes to creating a healthy farm environment as each plant or tree contributes to the overall environment of the farm in a positive way. The good amount of rainfall and lots of sunshine makes our farm location be a great place to plant.

While bunga kantan is most often used in cooking laksa and asam pedas, there are other ways to consume it. You can rehydrate it with very hot water and ass it to salads or chop it up and top it over hot rice. The aroma and flavor adds a nice touch to plain rice. You can also add it to salads. I also like to add it to seafood soups – it adds a nice touch to it. Just let your creativity fo and take your taste buds on a journey.

31 Oct 2022

0 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Farm Information

Sg. Lui: Penyelenggaraan yang mengundang bencana

Satu isu yang sering dibincangkan oleh penduduk di Sg. Lui, Hulu Langat ialah penyelenggaraan Sg. Lui yang kurang memuaskan. Di musim peralihan angin monsun tahun ini di antara bulan Oktober hingga Disember, dengan hujan lebat dan ribut petir diramalkan dari November 1 hingg November 23 hampir tiap-tiap hari, kami sedang bersiap-sedia untuk bencana banjir sekali lagi. Sg. Lui merupakan satu sungai yang menerima aliran air dari 5 anak sungai yang bermula di kawasan bukit berdekatan. Apabila hujan turun tidak berhenti selama beberapa jam di kawasan bukit ini, paras air di Sg. Lui boleh naik dengan mendadak sehingg melebihi 1 meter.

Pemandangan dari jambatan ke Kg. Orang Asli Paya Lebar

Saya memantau dari kawasan Kampun Paya Lebar, Hulu Langat kerana sg. Lui membahagikan tanah saya. Dari banjir bulan Disember 2021, lebih sungai di tanah saya telah dihakis lebih dari 3 meter lebar yang secara tidak langsung melebarkan sungai ini. Dari tanah saya hingga ke Batu 20, Kampung Sg. Lui, sungai ini mengecil. Paras tebing juga menurun sepanjang aliran Sg. Lui.

Di tebing sungai di sini, jelas hanya sebelah tebing sahaja yang dikukuhkan dengan guni pasir. Di sebelah kana, jelas akibat paras air yang naik baru-baru ini yang meninggalkan tanah, pasir dan batu selepas paras air surut. Paras air yang naik dan surut sering berlaku kebelakangan ini menyebabkan dasar sungai naik. Ini akan menyebabkan perbezaan paras dasar meningkat di antara hulu dan hilir dan jurang paras air dengan paras tebing mengurang. Apabila hujan turun dengan berterusan di kawasan bukit di hulu, paras air akan meningkat dengan mendadak sehingga lebih dari 1 m.

Dari permulaan tahun 2022, terdapat kerja-kerja membersih dan menyelenggara tebing Sg. Lui tetapi kerja-kerja ini tidak dilaksanakan dengan rapi menyebabkan kerja-kerja membaiki tebing dan mendalamkan sungai dijalankan berulang-kali. Kawasan ini merupakan kawasan punca air dan “tadahan hujan”. Apabila kerja-kerja dilaksanakan seperti “tikus gerit”, ia tidak akan membawa apa-apa faedah dan merupakan pembaziran wang rakyat. Jika banjir di kawasan saya, bermakna akan berlaku banjir yang agak teruk hingga ke kawasan Sg. Serai, Batu 10, Hulu Langat. Jika paras air meningkat hingga sekaki di paras bawah jambatan, ini bermakna kawasan di sepanjang Batu 23 hingga Batu 20 akan mengalami banjir kerana paras di kawasan ini adalah lebih rendah dari di sini.

Akibat banjir 2021, tebin runtuh dan paras sungai naik hasil dari mendapan pasir dan tanah.

Sungai Lui di dalam sepuluh tahun ini sudah berubah aliran. Hasil dari banjir 2021, sungai ini sudah semakin lurus. Aliran dahulu yang berliku sudah jadi kurang berliku. Tebing sungai juga terhakis dan paras air sungai meningkat hasil dari mendapan pasir dan tanah. Sudah berkali-kali JPS menghantar kontraktor untuk mendalamkan sungai dan mendamparkan pasir dan tanah yang dikorek ke tebing.

Malangnya, tiada guni pasir atau jaringan batu diletakkan di tebing sungai. Akibatnya, dua-tiga bulan kemudian, akan muncul kontraktor untuk mengorek tanah dan pasir dari sungai dan mendamparkannya ke tebing sekali lagi. Gambar ini memaparkan bagaiman sungai ini diluruskan sebab selekoh sebelum banjir 2021 sudah tiada dan sungai semakin lebar hasil dari hakisan. Jelas juga sungai ini semakin cetek akibat dari mendapan tanah dan pasir hasil dari hakisan tanah di hulu.

Saya tertanya juga, tiadakah pakar yang di JPS atau pegawai yang memantau keadaan Sg. Lui. Tidakkah mereka sedar bahawa jika bencana banjir melanda di kawasan ini, impaknya lebih teruk sepanjang aliran Sg. Lui sehingga Batu 9 Cheras?

Tebing yang tiada perlindungan yand mengalami hakisan berterusan.

Kekuatan arus air dari banjir 2021 juga menyebabkan tebing yang tinggi dihakis dan tanah runtuh sehingga satu rumah yang terdapat ditebing ini telah jatuh hancur dan beberapa rumah mengalami kerosakan besar.

Jika arus air Sg. Lui seperti banjir 2021 berulang di bulan November ini, kemungkinan besar selekoh ini akan diluruskan lagi kerana tebing sungai ini tiada perlindungan dari hakisan. Pokok-pokok akan tumbang dan dihanyutkan yang akan meninggikan lagi tahap kerosakan di sepanjang aliran sungai ini. Di bahagian ini, paras tanah sungai sudah turun lebih kuran 1 m dari paras di jambatan ke Kampung Orang Asli Paya Lebar.

Apa yang menyedihkan ialah terdapat rumah-rumah baru yang dibina oleh rakyat yang berangan untuk hidup di kawasan kampung di usia emas. Wang simpanan mereka yang digunakan untuk pembinaan rugi begitu saja dan kini berhadapan dengan masalah membai-pulih rumah atau membinanya baru.

Hal ini telah diutarakan kepada pihak-pihak yang berkuasa tetapi 10 bulan selepas kejadian, masih tiada tindakan. Hakisan ini berterusan sebab kawasan ini sering dilanda hujan lebat terutama sejak pertengahan bulan Oktober 2022.

Sungai Lui bercantum dengan Sungai Langat di Batu 18, Hulu Langat. Terdapat beberapa sungai lagi yang mengalir ke dalam Sungai Langat. Melihat keadaan semasa dan ramalan cuaca di bulan November ini, saya menulis artikel ini bagi mengutarakan masalah di Sg. Lui dan betapa pentingnya pihak berkuasa perlu melaksanakan kerja-kerja yang perlu secepat mungkin bagi mengelakkan bencana banjir seperti di bulan Disember 2021. Di waktu yang sama, saya harap penduduk di kawasan Batu 23 Sg. Lui hingga Batu 9 Cheras bersiap-sedia dan peka dengan keadaan semasa di hulu sungai yang akan membawa impak terhadap mereka.

20 Apr 2018

8 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Articles, Farm Information, SHL Journal

Seeds oh Seeds. Which one shall I choose?

Recently I received quite a few question about seeds so I am sharing what I know in the hopes that it will be useful to people interested in it. The selection of seeds for planting is very important. Selecting the wrong seeds can lead you to disappointment, especially after you put in so much effort. So let’s start with the kinds of seeds. There are basically 3 types of seeds.
F1 Hybrid Seeds
These are the most often type of seeds you find in the market. It is essentially produced by selective cross pollinating 2 parent plants to produce the “first children” so to speak. Quality F1 seeds can produce quality plants as the dominant qualities from each parent is present in the F1 seeds. Through this selective cross-pollination or hybridisation, the resulting seeds can be engineered to have specific qualities such as in the taste and size. However, if you obtain seeds from F1 plants, you may find that when you sow the seeds. they do not germinate. You may have followed advise from your friends to germinate them and still find that it didn’t germinate. You did nothing wrong as most seeds that result from F1 plants through genetic engineering are sterile or do not produce plants true to their parents. So, even if you manage to germinate some, you will find the results may not be satisfying. This is how the seed companies stay in business.
Heirloom seeds
Unlike F1 seeds that are produces through selective cross-pollination, heirloom seeds are generated from plants from open pollination and possess most of the characteristics of their parent plant. Subsequent plants from these heirloom seeds will continue to have most of the characteristics of their parent plant. If you planted using heirloom seeds, then you can select the best seeds to future planting. Obtaining heirloom seeds is getting to be more difficult and harder to come by. Why? The seed companies can lose business hence why nowadays you find F1 seeds but rarely heirloom seeds. For seed banks, it is best to use heirloom seeds. At the farm, when I have heirloom plants, these are the seeds that I will retain.
GMO Seeds
These seeds are different from the above two types of seeds and are done in laboratories using gene splicing technology. At this stage certain elements can be added into the genes, modifying it genetically from its original stage. Certain chemicals to make the seeds resistant to pests and other types of chemicals used in herbicides and pesticides can also be added. Inherently GMO seeds contains pesticides that does not wash away or disappear magically so eating produce from GMO seed plants means you are consuming pesticides intentionally. So, even if you use GMO seeds and follow organic planting practices, your produce cannot be considered organic.
My Conclusion
Where possible, go for heirloom seeds. When not possible, you will just have to continue purchasing F1 seeds and keep the seed companies like Cargill and the like in business. At all cost, if you are for your health, say no to GMO and keep pesticide out of your daily food intake.

09 Nov 2017

0 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Articles, Farm Information

Only constant is change: 2018

Our tilapia growing with natural food

As we head to the end of the year, I am finalising my plans. Over the last 10 years, every step that I took has been leading me to this direction. I experimented, researched, tested and studied what was a new field to me. My inherent belief that we an improve our health through our normal daily diet led to the development of the farm and the ensuing produce and products developed. I cannot change what happened to me from a health standpoint previously, but I can improve it for my future with the aim of leading a quality, fruitful life filled with joy.
When I first started the farm, the concept has always been to maximise on nature’s bounty to provide good food for the family. The application of it was to have a farm free from chemical pesticides, herbicide, hormones and to have a symbiotic relationship with nature. In our fresh produce production, we use natural, organic fertilisers and methods for pest control. It included in the water that was used hence the implementation of our own water pipeline from a natural source. Our fish lives of the living water with its natural minerals and small fresh water shrimps and fish that flows in. We complement their food with greens and naturally-produced larvae. Our chickens feed on the insect sand also on the organic waste such as used grated coconuts, and extra fruits and tubers. Our organic wastes are converted into fertilisers and pest control and even into cleaning liquids. The aim is to limit introduction of toxins into our environment and surrounding areas – doing our part in conserving the environment.

Our liquid concentrates

EVCO and lemongrass range

As years passed, we started doing a market stall in Sg. Penchala to sell the excess food produced. I began to produce products from our produce such as liquid drink concentrates and dried herbals which we added to our list of offerings. So our weekly items included the fresh fruits, vegetables and our products. Sometimes I would bring plants and fertilisers, either on order or just-because.

The ginger and turmeric range

When I first started the farm, I started my collection of herbals, mainly because I was told of the benefits and I felt I may need them in the future. Further study on the benefits and therapeutical values of what we grew led to the development of our line of SHL Naturals in early 2017. As we progressed in 2017, I had a lot more requests for customised herbal mixtures ranging from colds and flu, cholesterol control, high blood pressure, gout, diabetes to cancer. The basis is alway from what we produce at the farm as I can then be assured of the c”clean” source and quality. I knew where the source materials were coming from, how it is grown and processed.

Our first community bazaar

I also organised a Community Bazaar where I live and held our first one on November 5th. It was a success so we will continue with it with the frequency changing to fortnightly in 2018. We have also began to offer our dried herbal products at The Jasmin Foundation, a homeopathy clinic in Setiawangsa. We began to do deliveries for orders subject to minimum spend. Our customers can order our dried products which we send through poslaju. With these activities in mind, we will cease to do our Sunday morning market in Sg. Penchala in December. For the month of December, we will focus on planting, maintenance, producing our products as well as doing some planning and marketing.
We are a lean operation team and it is not just about adding people to the team but adding the right people. As we grow, I may need to add more people to the team but it will be something to deal with in the future. I look forward to the future with the many possibilities of discovery and opportunities to help people, a life filled with activity driven by passion.

26 Apr 2017

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SHL Development: Planning for 2018 and the future

After almost 8 years of developing the farm, both from the physical development to the product development, and after numerous experiments and tests from produce and products to marketing them, 2018 will bring some major changes to how we do things. It is the fine-tuning of what we have been doing and also changes to how I want to spend my time. One of the aspects that I love of what I do now is being able to produce nutrients-rich products. The idea of enjoying tasty drinks that delivers nutrients that my body needs so that it becomes a natural part of my life is something that I want to promote to everyone. Consuming natural food as opposed to processed and chemical enhanced food is something that I advocate. Consuming natural food also doesn’t mean that you need a lot of time to prepare for the food nor does it mean expensive – often people forget to add the cost of medical services, supplements to their diet, etc.

In streamlining our end-products from the farm would be, we will have basically four types:

SHL natural drink concentrates and teas
Fruits and selected vegetables
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (EVCO)
Fish

SHL Natural drink concentrates and teas
Over the last two years, we have market tested several varieties of drinks and teas based on what we grow at the farm. Based on our finding as well as on what I love due to its taste and benefits, the selection was made. The underlying principle is that it has to be organically-grown and provides nutrients and therapeutic benefits. All our concentrate drinks are unsweetened and the choice to sweeten or not is left to the consumer. The concentrates that we will produce are:

Bentong Ginger and Turmeric
Roselle concentrate
Roselle probiotics concentrate
Cold-pressed calamansi juice
Cold-pressed calamansi juice with lemongrass
Cold-pressed calamansi juice with blue sweet pea flower extract

The dried teas that we will produce are:

Misai Kuching Tea
Soursop Leaves Tea
Roselle Leaves Tea

We will also produce other products in this category based on special bulk request.

Fruits and selected vegetables
Over the years, we have planted many types – over 40 types – and I have learnt a lot from it. We will streamline this down to the following:

Cabbage
Kailan
Choy sum (sawi)
Spinach
Long green beans
French beans
Tomatoes
Pumpkin
Mini cucumbers
Corn

This will provide for a selection from leafy, to crunchy to fleshy and my favourites. The area that we will use for planting them will also be streamlined. We will also plant other vegetables but this will be in smaller quantity and mainly additional types of vegetables for my family.

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
For me, this is oil of choice from its numerous benefits to it creamy, nutty taste. The coconut trees that we have planted years ago started to fruit last year and as it matures will provide us with the base ingredients although it will not be like the large, plantations. We plan to start adding coconut trees, selecting the variety so that we can have good harvests of coconut in the years ahead. We use permaculture cold-pressed method which is time-consuming but produces the purest form of the coconut oil. The production of EVCO has some down-time so it works well in scheduling our task and activities.

For 2018, we are targeting producing 50 bottles a month. By commercial standards, this is not much but we aim at ensuring quality production and become the regular supplier to our existing customers and gain new customers due to the quality and taste of our EVCO. On the personal side, this is something that I can see myself doing as I age as it doesn’t involve much physical activity but more on patience and attention to detail.

Fish
This year, our fish pond is undergoing a major renovation, to allow us to better manage our fish operations as well as providing for better environment for our fish. We are building walls all along the pond which is shaped like a flowing river as well as sectioning it. Experts has indicated that we can have at least 500,000 fishes at any one time but I highly doubt that is what we will do in 2018. However, it does leave us with substantial growth capacity. What is important for me is that we produce quality, “sweet” tasting fish without the nasty door often associated with fresh water fish. Over the years we have experimented with different feed, water conditions, pond maintenance and fish rearing practice and we have learnt a lot. To date, we have received no complaints on our fish and many are surprised at the taste. We do not introduce any waste products such as carcasses and chicken innards as feed to the fish and we will continue this policy. I eat my fish and I certainly do not like muddy-taste, smelly fish. I also like to choose the method of cooking from steaming to frying to roasting so the taste of fish is important.
By middle of this year, we will re-start our fish operations which means the earliest harvest will be in 2018. The farm dogs play a role in our fish operations as they catch the monitor lizard (biawak) and the river otters (mermerang) which can cause substantial loss of the fish population. The investment put in to build a wall around the property has also helped to reduce the invasion of the river otters. We are working on minimising external dependence on feed. Keeping the water flow optimum is important as with the in-flow of water, comes natural food in the form of small river fish and shrimps, which would provide the proteins. At the same time, we feed them “greens”. Our choice of feed and constant water flow has definitely made an impact on the quality and taste of the fishes.

MyOrganic Certification
We are currently undergoing certification and hope to have the certification by 2018. This will definitely be an achievement for us as well as a validation of our practice.

Fertilisers and Pest Control
We will continue to produce our fertilisers and pest control products which we use at the farm. It will be made available for sale on request. For me, it is important that I continue to have truly organic fertilisers that have not had the source materials be contaminated by chemical pesticides or herbicides. It also serves as a way for me to recycle my organic wastes and I look forward to the addition of goat manure as an ingredient in my fertilisers.

Sales and marketing
I have always believed in selling directly to my customers but the toll of doing market every Sunday whilst still producing is getting harder. As such, we will probably cease to do Sunday morning market in 2018 but focus more on “order selling”. I know it will probably be tough in the beginning as I build a customer list but the plan is to provide delivery to the customer door-step and delivery charges will be subject to minimum order and area of delivery. We will set-up 2 days where we will do the delivery

Events
I love hosting events and having people visit the farm so this is one area that we will still continue to do. In shaa Allah, we will have an Open Farm Day focussing on selected plants and products in support of having your own garden as well as our fresh farm produce, and also Durian Fest where you can come and buy “original” durians and eat at the farm or bring it home and whatever other fruits and vegetables we have available for sale at that time. A new event that I am thinking of doing a “Restaurant Pop-Up Day” to coincide with our fish harvest featuring our fish and vegetables and fruits, and drinks from the farm with a limited number of seats. I love challenges and I think this “Restaurant Pop-Up” event will be one.

So, all in all, although 2018 is many months away, I am sure that time will seem to fly by. However, having devised a plan and direction, it will help in us working our way through the rest of 2017. Being agriculture-based, things need time to grow and produce many things need to be planned months or even years ahead 🙂

17 Apr 2017

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

Open Farm Day 14 Apr 2017 – Post Mortem

At the end of every event we have, I will always hold a team meeting where we discuss the feedback from visitors and how the event went. There were a few differences that we had this year compared with last year’s event, most of it due to feedback from our visitors last year. I find getting feedback is very important and our team meetings are useful to help us in improving.

Our first visitors for the day, also a regular customer at
our Sunday morning market stall

Our visitors visiting the farm. At one of the sections.

Our food sales area.

Feedback 1 2016: Too bad you didn’t have any food for sale
This year, we had a small menu consisting of chicken or fish with rice and a kerabu, durian ice cream, roselle and jambu madu ice cream, a section of drinks all based on our produce from our farm – soursop leaf tea, roselle juice drink, lemongrass and calamansi drink, roselle tea, calamansi and blue pea flower drink, and our only unsweetened drink – missy kucing tea. We do not use white sugar in our drinks. We also had 2 types of jellies: roselle jelly and jambu madu and blue pea flower jelly.

Our produce and products sales area

Feedback 2 2016: Difficult to see plants for sale and need to be labelled with variety and price clearly.
This year, we placed the plants for sale on racks and floor in one section, all clearly labelled with plant name and price. Although we still had a couple of people wanting to take plants from my greenhouse especially the plants that I was doing my research on :).

Feedback 3 2016: Difficult to find the place as there wasn’t any signages
We placed a sign indicating the farm name at the junction on the main road as well as at the farm gate. I had also updated the “Pictorial Guide to Suria Helang Lui Farm” with the latest photos and posted on the event page which many found useful this year.

Feedback 1 2017: “How come the chicken wasn’t soft?”.
We had one person that complained “How come the chicken wasn’t soft?”. As we had indicated prior to the event, the chicken was from our farm, organically reared “kampung” chicken which meant that it was organically reared, free from GMO feed, hormones and antibiotics, and free range. These chickens are not like your hormone-chicken which are reared to be soft and fluffy. The meat will be firm. Judging by how the rest of the visitors that had it ate, it was not an issue that we will worry about.

One of the groups that I took around the
farm for a tour. Really enjoyed the discussion

Feedback 2 2017: This farm is small. How come you invite so many people?”
This to me is an interesting feedback from one person. I have always indicated that I have a small farm of 2.5acres or slightly more than 1 hectare. This is an event when I open to public for those interested in seeing what we do. At any one point in time, there was around 50 people at the farm, which is not that many. Visitors came and went throughout the whole morning and early afternoon.

Feedback 3 2017: The drink is sour, I don’t like it. I want a different one.
The same person who complained about the chicken complained about the soursop tea. Maybe she didn’t realise but soursop has a slightly sour taste – just the name should give an indication. She just returned the half-consumed drink and took another one without paying for the second. That’s ok, we know we will encounter should people. Maybe she thought that she was coming to farm that she can treat us farmers with this arrogant attitude which she wouldn’t at an eatery in KL.

Feedback 4 2017: How come you don’t have proper sitting areas for people to eat?

Enjoyed seeing this family enjoy the day out at the farm
with their children, They found a spot they liked.

Again, this is a complaint from the same person. We had indicated that what we prepared was packed lunch and people can choose to picnic anywhere on the farm. We had a few tables situated in different areas where people can sit as well chair for people to sit. She and her group finally sat in one area near the barbecue pit and pond to eat. Our other visitors had no problem and found places to enjoy their meal.

Feedback 5 2017: Why is your food ready so late?
I got this feedback at 9.45am. We were preparing packed lunch so I wasn’t expected a visitor to be irritated that it wasn’t ready this early. We had the food out at 10.15am so I guess we could call this a brunch. Next time we have it, I will have to decide whether we will do brunch or lunch and repeat the announcement of the food a few times.

Feedback 6 2017: “I come so far, so you must get me what I want”
Not sure how we have to respond to this. I had announced what we have for sale and available.

All in all, I consider the event went well as we had many positive responses from our visitors and they enjoyed the morning out at the farm, discussing issues they had with their gardens, seeing the animals and enjoying the food and drinks as well as the opportunity to buy farm-fresh organically grown fruits and vegetables as well as organic products. Many also liked that they were able to see for themselves where the produce and products came from.

To the many that asked what is the next event? The next one, inshaaAllah, will be the Durian Fest which will be organised around July 2017, in a different way from previous years based from the feedback and lessons we learnt from the previous years.

17 Oct 2016

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Now I almost know what I have : Plants et al

Over the years I have bought, been gifted and propagated many types of plants and trees. I finally have decided that I need to know what I actually have at the farm and to plan for their care and maintenance as well as continuity. When trying to catalog them, at times I have difficulty in trying to classify them so I put them in the category of how it is used most often. I broke them up into 5 categories:

Herbs
Fruits
Bananas
Vegetables and
Others.

Basically the Others category is what I couldn’t fit into the remaining categories. For a plant that fruits but is mainly used as a herb, then I categorise them as Herbs. Many can argue over the classification but the categorisation is from my viewpoint :). I may have missed some but after compiling this list, now I know why I never seem to have enough time…… 34 herbs, 24 fruits, 21 Banana varieties, 35 Vegetables and 10 Others – each type has multiple plants for a total of 124 types. Amazing what you can fit on a planting space of less than 2.5 acres. Still more work ahead in documenting them – and there is always something new to add 🙂

HERBS
All these are currently at the farm.

	Bahasa Malaysia	English	Scientific Name
1	Bangun-bangun	Indian Borage, Mexican Mint	Plectranthus amboinicus
2	Bebuas	Premna foetida Reinw	Premna foetida Reinw
3	Belalai Gajah	Snakegrass	Clinacanthus nutans
4	Bunga Tasbih	Canna Lily	Canna
5	Cekur	Aromatic Ginger	Kaempferia galanga
6	Halia Bentong	Ginger – Bentong	Zingiber officinale c.v. Bentong
7	Kadok	Piper sarmentosum (Wild betel)	Piper sarmentosum
8	Kantan	Ginger Torch	Etlingera elatior
9	Kari	Curry	Murraya koenigii
10	Kemangi	Basil, Lemon	Ocimum citridourum
11	Ketumpang Air	Peperomia pellucida	Peperomia pellucida
12	Kunyit	Turmeric	Curcuma longa
13	Kunyit Hitam	Black Turmeric	Curcuma caesia
14	Lengkuas Kecil	Small Galangal	Alpinia galanga
15	Limau Perut	Kafir Lime	Citrus hystrix
16	Mahkota Dewa	God’s Crown	Phaleria macrocarpa
17	Misai Kucing	Cat’s Whiskers	Orthosiphon stamineus
18	Oregano Cuba	Cuban Oregano	Mentha x. villosa
19	Pandan	Pandan	Pandanus amaryllifolius
20	Pegaga	Asiatic Pennywort	Centella Asiatica
21	Pudina	Mint	Mentha spicata L.
22	Rerama	Christia vespertilionis	Christia vespertilionis
23	Selasih Hitam	Basil, Holy	Ocimum tenuiflorum
24	Selasih Putih	Basil, White	Ocimum citriodorum
25	Selasih Thai	Basil, Thai	Ocimum basilicum var thyrsiflora
26	Serai	Lemongrass	Cymbopogon
27	Serai Wangi	Citronella	Cymbopogon nardus
28	Sireh	Betel	Piper betle
29	Temulawak	Javanese turmeric	Curcuma zanthorriza
30	Tenggek Burong	Eudia lunu-ankenda	Eudia lunu-ankenda
31	Tujuh bilah	Pereskia Sacarosa	Pereskia sacarosa
32	Ulam Raja	Cosmos Caudatus	Cosmos Caudatus
33	Spearmint	Spearmint	Mentha spicata
34	Hemilang (rumput beremi)	Wild Purslane	Portulaca oleracea

FRUITS

	Bahasa Malaysia	English	Scientific Name
1	Abiu	Abiu	Pouteria caimito
2	Alpokat	Avocado	Persea americana
3	Belimbing Buloh	Bilimbi	Averrhoa bilimbi
4	Betik Eksotika	Papaya, Exotica	Carica papaya v. Exotica
5	Cempedak	Cempedak	Artocarpus Integer
6	Cermai	Malay gooseberry	Phyllanthus acidus
7	Delima	Pomegranate	Punica granatum
8	Duku	Duku	Lansium domesticum
9	Durian Belanda	Soursop	Annona muricata
10	Gajus	Cashew	Anacardium occidentale
11	Jambu Bol	Malay apple	Syzygium malaccense
12	Jambu Madu	Java apple	Syzygium samarangense
13	Kelapa Pandan	Coconut, Pandan	Cocos nucifera
14	Kelapa Pandan Gading	Coconut, Yellow Pandan	Cocus nucifera
15	Limau Bali	Pomelo	Citrus maxima
16	Limau Kasturi	Calamansi	Citrofortunella microcarpa
17	Limau Nipis	Lime	Citrus aurantiifolia
18	Manggis	Mangosteen	Garcinia mangostana
19	Mata Kucing	Longan	Dimocarpus longan
20	Nangka	Jackfruit	Artocarpus heterophyllus
21	Pulasan	Pulasan	Nephelium mutabile Blume
22	Rambutan	Rambutan	Nephelium lappaceum
23	Roselle	Roselle	Hibiscus sabdariffa
24	Sukun	Breadfruit	Artocarpus altilis

BANANAS
I know I have missed some so I will just have to add as I remember 🙂

	Bahasa Malaysia
1	Abu Batu (Nipah)
1	Abu Bunga
2	Awak
3	Berangan
4	Emas
5	Embun Rendah
6	Embun Dingin
7	Embun Wangi (Bunga)
8	Jari Buaya
9	Kapas
10	Lemak Manis
11	Lidi (Rotan)
12	Nangka
13	Raja
14	Rastali
15	Susu
16	Tanduk
17	Udang
18	Ruai
19	Raja Udang
20	Berangan Kampung
21	Telor

VEGETABLES
These vegetables are in various stages – some seedling, some growing, some producing 🙂

	Bahasa Malaysia	English
1	Asparagus	Asparagus
2	Bayam hijau	Green Spinach
3	Bayam merah	Red spinach
4	Bendi	Okra
5	Brokoli	Broccoli
6	Cili Akar	Hot Chilli
7	Cili Api	Bird’s Eye Chilli
8	Cili Benggala Merah	Red Bell Pepper
9	Cili Kuning	Hungarian Yellow Wax Pepper
10	Cili Putih	WHITE CHILLI
11	Jagung	Corn
12	Kacang buncis	French beans
13	Kacang Panjang	Long green beans
14	Kailan	KAILAN
15	Kale locinato	Kale Locinato
16	Kale, kerinting	Curly Kale
17	Kangkong	Water spinach
18	Keladi Hitam	Yam
19	Keladi Kemumu	Yam
20	Kelo	Moringa
21	Kobis	Cabbage
22	Labu	Pumpkin
23	Labu	White scallop squash
24	Labu Dingin	Winter melon
25	Peria	Bitter gourd
26	Peria katak	Bitter gourd
27	Pucuk Manis	Star gooseberry
28	Pucuk Paku	Vegetable fern
29	Sawi	Chinese Mustard Greens
30	Terung pipit	Turkey berry
31	Terung bulat hijau	Round green eggplant
32	Terung Telunjuk	Green finger eggplant
33	Terung unggu bulat	Round purple eggplant
34	Tomato	Tomato
35	Ubi kayu halus	Tapioca

OTHERS
All these are currently planted.

	Bahasa Malaysia	English
1	Bunga Telang	Blue pea
2	Jering	Jering
3	Pagoda	Pagoda
4	Pinang	Areca catechu
5	Surian	Suren
6	Tebu Hitam	Black Sugar Cane
7	Ubi Kayu Merah	Tapioca
8	Ubi Kayu Pulut	Tapioca
9	Ubi Keledek	Sweet potato
10	Vanila	Vanilla

17 Oct 2016

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

Suria Helang Lui: 7 years later Part 4: Behind the scenes

Suria Helang Lui is a family farm, not a large corporation farm. It took me 10 years to find the right piece of land for me. As far as possible I wanted to get a piece of land that hadn’t been developed or worked on for a while. The main reason being that it meant the exposure to chemical pesticides and herbicides would be minimal. Having the basic infrastructure is important. The basics are access, water and electricity. Another important factor is the distance from my home to the land had to be within commuting distance which also meant not far from K.L.

When I bought the land, it looked like a jungle so the first few months, I spent time with my parang

and weed cutter to check the lay of the land to figure out how I wanted to design the layout of the farm. I already had road access and electricity was near so nothing major to be done in this area. The water supply to this area was by Syabas and they used a 1 inch polypipe to supply the water to the area which meant that the water supply would be insufficient for what I wanted. So, I decided to lay polypipe to bring water to the farm. Three years later, I decided to lay a second water supply line strictly for the fish pond.

The farmhouse was built on a as-I-grow basis so it started out with a storage room/rest room and then I added a square structure of 24 fee by 24 feet and it was connected to the rest room via a walkway. This has evolved to what I have now: a 3-bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1 bookworm, 1 prayer room, living room, dining/work area (where the walkway used to be) and a large kitchen. The kitchen area is an open concept kitchen with plenty of work areas and storage all to support the operations of the farm. To date, I have still not completed the outer exterior – still have details but I hope someday I will get around to it as it is not high on my priority list. I had started out with a design that allowed for growth and additions so the farmhouse took a few years to be the way it is now. Each time we did an addition, we didn’t have to knock down walls because I didn’t want the headache of debris removal and I didn’t want to waste money unnecessarily.

The development of the farm is self-funded hence I have the freedom to develop it any way I want and no reporting needed. After all, I had done my share of reports in my previous life in the corporate world. As such, every major development is properly planned to reduce wastage and unnecessary investment. I would say I went to the University of Life as I develop the farm as my idea was different than what I had seen other do. All the farms that I have seen are focussed on a produce be it vegetables, fruits, chicken, fish, etc. and followed what has normally been done. Through it all, many have often remarked that what I was doing was wrong and that if I didn’t focus, it would not be commercially viable. All the produce we have now are from what we planted or started and it takes time for them to be productive. I am happy to say that we are now moving into the black though I do not foresee being a millionaire from it in the near future but what I gain from it is ultimately worth a lot more. I could have gone into the black earlier if I experimented less but I wouldn’t have gained all the knowledge that I have now. On top of that, I am my own employer, doing what I love and I do not have to worry about what I will do when I retire. I continue to experiment, do research and learn. This keeps my brain alive and I do not have time to be bored. It is through all this that I have been able to move the farm from being a purely raw goods producer to multi types of produce and products.

I am not from an agricultural background but I have never let that stop me from experimenting and researching as well as learning from practitioners. I cannot do it alone hence having a solid right-hand man who shares my vision for the farm is essential. From time to time, I add helpers for specific projects – mainly when there is building to do or preparation of area for planting. It is not a matter of throwing bodies but having the right people with the right mindset and attitude. Currently there are 3 of us – Azis, Lia and I. We each have our roles but help each other out as needed.

Farming is not a 8-5, Monday to Friday job. We are dealing with living things, nature and life. When it rains, we have to work around it to get things done. If the river otters or wild boars decide to invade the farm at night, we cannot just ignore them and let the dogs deal with them or we may end up with our plants destroyed or the fish gone. It cannot be treated as a job but more as living. Hence it has to be a full-time commitment. It has to be a team sharing the same vision of making the farm succeed to be successful. In every task we do, we have to do it to the best of our ability and not just say a task was done. I do monitor that members of the team get enough rest so at times outsiders may find that I have people sleeping in the afternoon or resting. It is not because they are lazy but more of the fact that they were taking care of the farm until dawn.

I am very much hands-on and am involved in every aspect hence I continually need to increase my knowledge from farm practices to marketing. One of the most important tenet is that we only sell what we will eat or use. Each week as we prepare for market, the question that I remind my team is “Will we eat it? Will we use it?”. If the answer is no then we don’t sell it. I care about our brand: Suria Helang Lui. It has taken us years to build our reputation and it is important that we maintain the trust and confidence from our customers.

While it may be hard work, it is infinitely satisfying and I know that what we produce are good and something that I would feed my family and friends. Pursuing my passion has given me a lot of pleasure and sense of accomplishment and a future, in shaa Allah, until the day I die.

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:

To grow vegetables that require more care
To have an area for me to propagate plants especially in creating new seedlings
To have an area that I can still have an activity on those rainy days
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 🙂

14 Dec 2015

0 Comments By admin Farm Information, SHL Journal

SHL Tips #2: Increasing the chances of germinating seeds and having healthy seedlings

At the farm, growing seedlings is one of our key activities. We are continuously sowing seeds in our effort to have a continuous supply of vegetables and fruits. For the moment, we rely on commercial seeds for all 50% of our vegetables and the rest are farm produced.

What we find at the farm, the two major factors for successfully germinating seeds is the quality of the seeds and composition of the germination medium. Hence I experimented with various types of germination medium with the aim to have one that is cost-effective and easy for us – both from the preparation as well as the maintenance throughout the germination and production of a healthy seedling.

Our germination medium comprises of the following 4 elements:

organic mulch
soil mix
vermicompost
chicken manure

Each of the element plays an important role in increasing the success rate of seed germination and healthy seedlings. The organic mulch helps in maintaining the moisture content in the mix and

preventing the mix from drying out and keeping the mix light. The soil mix contains soil and burnt soil to create the base for the root growth that also contains nutrients. Vermicompost is a good source of nutrients as well as beneficial organisms for the seedling growth. Apart from providing nutrients to the seedlings, chicken manure contains the key element for a healthy root growth – phosphorous.

When placing the seeds, it is important to place them at the right depth. In general, the larger the seed, the deeper it is. Whilst placing the seed at a lesser depth can still result in germination, it will cause the root to form too close to the surface resulting in a seedling that is not well-rooted hence it can topple easily.

A layer of mulch mixed with chicken manure and soil (7:1:2) is placed on top to further reduce the water evaporation rate. This will also help keep a continuous supply of nutrients to the seedling as the mixture breaks down thereby not requiring further fertilisation until transplanting.

With moist – not soggy- germination medium rich in the essential ingredients, a healthy seedling with good root growth can be produced. It is important to have a healthy root growth in order to produce a healthy plant as the root system is the key mechanism for the plant to “eat and drink”.

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