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 :).
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 :).
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