Oh dear, I am so "gassy"

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

Certain foods worsens flatulence:

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

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

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

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

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

Note:   This is more as information and not to be taken as medical advise.  For medical advise, please consult your doctor or health practitioner.

Pure Durian Nuggets: To sell or not to sell

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the Greenhouse: Part 1

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

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

The roof is almost totally plastic roofing sheets (similar to the zinc roofing sheets) to allow sunlight in  but keep the rain out hence it is where I can work rain or shine.  The walls are half brick and specially-crafted lattice wood with netting to reduce the amount of pests that can enter the greenhouse.  It is impossible to keep everything out as some are so tiny - almost like a speck of dirt size such as the whiteflies.  It is half bricks because on some area along the sides, I have built a cement rack that serves as seed germination and seedling area as well as newly propagated plants area.  Over the years, it has evolved from the simple design of 30 feet by 20 feet size to 60 feet by 20 feet and current setup.  By starting from a simple design, it allowed me time to test and figure out how I wanted my greenhouse to be to suit with the activities as well as my style of working.  It is a personal design space that I also enjoy relaxing in and getting oxygen therapy.

  As all the plants at the farm either are edible or therapeutic or both, the same types are planted in the greenhouse.  Working with my hands sometimes causes me to get cuts and nicks so I have my first aid plants in the greenhouse too.  The Indian Borage, Variegated Borage and Aloe Vera are my basics.  The borage with its antiseptic properties are great for cuts.  I just wash the affected area and mash the leaves and apply to the cut.  In a few minutes, it is taken care of and I can resume what I was doing.  If I get an inflammation on my skin, I just get the above vera leaf and get the gel and apply.  I also use the borage leaves to create an instant pest repellant by crushing the leaves in water and using the resulting liquid to spray on the plants.  It also has anti-viral and anti-fungus properties to care for the health of my plants.  Being non-toxic, I don't have to worry about using protective gear.  As I am creating the liquid, at the same time, I am also cleansing my hands from unwanted bacteria.  

Both plants are easy to propagate.  For the borage, I propagate from stem cuttings.  The aloe vera produces its own platelets which I will transplant to a separate container.  As I use them regularly, I propagate them often.

One of my favourite vegetable fruit is tomatoes.  They require a lot of care both from a pest control, fertilisation and water when grown organically and free from hormones as well.  It requires routine pest control activity as many pest love it like the whiteflies, aphids, black mold and ants to name a few.  The pests encourage each other.  With whiteflies, comes the aphids.  Then come the black mold and the ants.  Hence, it is imperative to control it from the beginning of the whiteflies.  I mix my own fertiliser from base ingredients like chicken manure, goat manure, compost, eco enzyme (a.k.a. garbage enzyme) and EM-1.  I tend to mix them depending on the growth and condition of the plant as having the fertiliser production mix are in the greenhouse, it makes it easier for me to get it done.  

Currently I have 3 varieties in various stages growing: Hybrid tomatoes, Cherry tomatoes and Heirloom tomatoes.  Although I have grown the hybrid and cherry tomatoes side by side, I planted the heirloom tomatoes separately in their own bed, separated by another planting bed as well as walkway.  I intend to save the seeds from the heirloom tomatoes in my seed bank.  These plants need to have their soil topped-up to cover their roots every so often so having my planting soil mixture area in the greenhouse also makes it convenient.  I will not plant them outside as then they will be exposed to many more pests including birds and my free-range chickens.  I have tried planting them outdoors but have always lost to the birds, chickens and other pests.

I also do companion planting in the greenhouse hence I also have various types of chilli plants in the greenhouse.  Although I do not eat much chillies, there are many around me who do.  I have a few varieties planted including habaneros, thai chilli and cili api.  I have the habaneros in a row but have the others planted in polybags in different sections of the greenhouse.  These plants also are a favourite of the whiteflies so whenever I do my pest control spray, I spray them at the same time too.  They also need to be fertilised rather frequently - once a week - so having them in the greenhouse also reduces time for fertilisation as I also custom fertilise them depending on the stage and any problems that I see with them.

I tend to spend hours at a time in the greenhouse so I also plant some ulam for me to munch on as

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

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