SHL Project: Aqua Jannah Part 2

The renovation works on the pond is still continuing.  Due to the frequent rains. work is progressing slowly but steadily.
Due to the shape of the pond, it has caused for access to the back portion of the farm a bit inconvenient.  The decision was made to build a bridge across. 
This bridge will also make for a pleasant chilling out place, with a nice view.  There will be additional finishing touches to be added, but this will be done after the fish holding area is completed.

To improve the harvesting process, a fish holding area is being created to enable the fish to be kept alive during the harvesting process. 

This will enable for the fish to be "Categorized" according to their grades easier as well as enable the buyers to make their selections.  As with many of the projects, the aesthetic aspects are not forgotten.  Access to the holding area is also made easier with the construction of steps.
With the recent rains and in view of the fact that one of the ponds borders with Sg. Lui, a retainer wall will be built to strengthen the wall of the third pond.  As the soil content is mainly sand and rocks, water from the pond seeps to the river which results in a weaker wall as well as compromising the control of water levels.  The area is a water catchment area with plenty of rain.  At times, with just a few hours of rain, the water levels can increase dramatically as well as causing strong currents in Sg. Lui.  This contributes to soil erosions on the river banks which can cause floods should there be a break in the banks.  This year alone, there have been 3 floods in the area due to the rains.  Hence, at the farm, we constantly watch the "health" of the river bank wall.  To improve the strength of the separating wall, this retainer wall will be built with concrete supported by iron bars.  This is the next major improvement to the pond.  Then, we will be ready to fill the ponds, stabilize it and put new fish in, insyAllah.

Farm Recipes: Tasty Green Sweet Potato Leaves Vegetable Dish

Nowadays we are more familar with the commercially available vegetables such as kailan, sawi, pak choy, etc. - with many of them being imported from China due to their cheaper cost.  Many of us do not know that sweet potato shoots or pucuk ubi keledek makes a great tasting vegetable dish and is very nutritious.  At my Sunday market stall, I am often asked how these leaves can be prepared.  There are many ways of cooking these leaves and they are quick to prepare.  In this blog, I am presenting two ways to prepare the dishes.

As with any leafy vegetable, get those that have not been contaminated by pesticides or herbicides - if the leaves have "bite" marks, this is one of the pointers.  In my opinion, these leaves taste like a cross between kangkong and spinach but without the "thready" texture of kangkong.

Green Sweet Potato Leaves with Eggs or Sayur Pucuk Ubi Manis Goreng Dengan Telor

Ingredients:

1. Sweet Potato young leaves (pucuk ubi manis)
2. Garlic (bawang putih)
3. Red onions (bawang merah)
4. Eggs
5. Salt and pepper
6. Oil

Preparation:
Cut the leaves the way you would prepare spinach, separating the young stalks and the leaves.  Dice onions and garlic.  Heat oil in pan and fry the onions until translucent.  Add garlic and continue cooking until garlic soft.  Add the sweet potato stalks and toss for a few minutes.  Add eggs, scrambling them in the mixture.  Add the leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes:

• The quantity of garlic used can be adjusted to your taste.  The garlic can also be cut in big chunks instead of diced.
• You can use 1-2 eggs, depending on the quantity of vegetable.
• You can use either white or black pepper - depending on your preference
• The oil used is according to your taste.  For added health benefits, you can use olive oil or good quality vegetable oil such as safflower or sunflower.
• If you like chillis, you can add them either as paste or cut.

Green Sweet Potato Leaves with Salted Fish or Sayur Pucuk Ubi Manis Goreng Dengan Ikan Masin

Ingredients:

1. Sweet Potato young leaves (pucuk ubi manis)
2. Garlic (bawang putih)
3. Red onions (bawang merah)
4. Dried salted fish
5. Salt and pepper
6. Oil

Preparation:
Cut the leaves the way you would prepare spinach, separating the young stalks and the leaves.  Dice onions and garlic.  Heat oil in pan and fry the onions until translucent.  Add garlic and cut-up salted fish and continue cooking until garlic soft.  Add the sweet potato stalks and toss for a few minutes.  Add the leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes:

• The quantity of garlic used can be adjusted to your taste.  The garlic can also be cut in big chunks instead of diced.
• Choose good salted fish that is not too salty.  Depending on the salt content in the fish, you may not need to add more salt.
• You can use either white or black pepper - depending on your preference
• The oil used is according to your taste.  For added health benefits, you can use olive oil or good quality vegetable oil such as safflower or sunflower.
• If you like chillis, you can add them either as paste or cut.

Farm Recipes - Ikan Kering Lampan Goreng Herba

The lampan fish has many bones but like many fish with lots of bones, have great taste.  I love dried salted fish but often find that the ones available are very salty hence that's the dominant taste in any dish you cook.  I decided to produce our own salted fish without the overpowering salty taste.  I also love the flavor of lemon basil and kaffir lime leaves and thought that it would enhance the flavor of the dried fish.
Most often, people just fry the fish or make a curry so I decided to make a variation to just frying the fish using lemon basil (kemangi) and kaffir lime (limau perut) leaves.  With the crispy, lemony taste of the fish, I also enjoy snacking on it without worrying about the bones.

Ingredients:

• 200gm Ikan lampan kering
• 1 red onion
• 2 stalks of lemon basil (Kemangi)
• 1 medium sizetomatoes
• 2 red chillis
• 2-3 kaffir lime (limau perut) leaves
• Cooking oil preferably sunflower or safflower oil

Preparation:
Rinse the dried fish and place on a strainer.  Heat the cooking oil, sufficient to fry the dried fish.  Fry the fish until crispy and remove from the pan.  Reduce the oil in the pan, leaving sufficient quantity to fry the the remaining ingredients. 
Slice the red onions and red chillis, and chop the lemon basil and tomatoes.  Fry the onions until soft and translucent, add the red chillis and lemon basil and toss until it has softened. Add the dried fish and tomatoes and mix them together in the pan.  It is now ready to serve.

SHL Project: Aqua Jannah Part 1

In the past two years, I have learnt a lot from my aquaculture project of producing fresh water fish.  The main driving factor of this project was the good quality water supply and sufficient land space to create the fish ponds.  Recently, I decided to do a major harvest.  In order to performn the harvest, it was necessary to drain all the water out of the pond. 

During this process, I discovered that it was difficult to dry the ponds due to the fact that my ponds were deeper than the Sg. Lui water level.  On top of that, since the depth of the pond had touched the ground water level, this resulting in difficulty of drying the pond, almost an impossible mission.

The quantity of the fish was also low and it was discovered days later, that it is possibly due to two main factors: (1) a clan of otters and (2) a species of snake that consumes fish.

The quality of the fish harvested was very good, sweet tasting with no "muddy" flavour or strong smell.  This is attributed to the water quality and what the fishes eat.  As SHL is a no pesticide, no herbicide farm, this help to prevent water contamination.  Since the water is piped down from the source up in the hills where pollutants are minimal, this ensured good quality water with good oxygen content constantly entering the ponds.  The presence of small river shrimp as fish provided a good natural source of food for the fish, supplemented by tapioca and keladi leaves as well as good fish meal.  Chicken innards or animal carcasses is a bid no-no.  This contributed to the good flavor of the fish.

Based on my proof-of-concept fish ponds, I have concluded that SHL Aqua Jannah is a viable aquaculture project capable of producing good quality and tasty fish.  The species of fish that do well include tilapia, lampam, haruan, keli, jelawat, kelah, tengas and ketutu.

Moving forward, improvements are underway.  A third pond has been constructed and the existing ponds are being made bigger.  The depth of the first and second pond will be adjusted to enable ease of drainage with a catchment area at each pond to ensure that the fish is kept alive and prevented from injury during the harvesting process.  Each pond will be separated by a barrier to enable the types of fish in each pond to remain separate.

The water supply will also be increased with the upgrading of the supply pipes to support the additional pond as well as the increase in size of the existing ponds and also support of fountains for water aeration to ensure plenty of oxygen in the water - an important factor for fish growth - as well as providing aesthetic value.  Drainage pipes will be placed at the base of the ponds to facilitate draining of the ponds and enable selective drainage of ponds.  The pond banks will also be reinforced to prevent soil erosion.

In the next phase, with the improved ponds as well as the additional pond, the quatity of fish will also be increased.  By the grace of Allah s.w.t., we should be able to have a bigger harvest in about 6 months time.

Misai Kucing Tea

I always enjoy a cup of tea, either in the morning or the late afternoon.  I enjoy a wide range of teas and I take this opportunity to add teas that provides me with health benefits without feeling like I am taking medication.  One of the teas that I have added to my selection is the Misai Kucing Tea also known as Java Tea or Cat's Whiskers' Tea (Botanical name: Orthosiphon Stamineus).  As I began my research on this tea, I discovered that it is a shrub that produces lovely flowers.  Hence I decided to experiment with it and planted two plants, to test how it would grow as well as to test the taste of the tea that is produced from it before I proceeded forward.  That was 2 years ago.  The first batch of tea was produced in July 2010 and served as a refreshment during my first Durian Fest at the farm.  From this small study, I found that those who drank the tea whilst consuming durian fared well whilst those who didn't experience the normal effects from over-consumption of durian. 

The many health benefits that have been reported include :

1. It has properties that enables it to be used to regulate the blood sugar hence is used as an alternative treatment for diabetes.
2. This herb inhibits blood platelet from sticking together and has powerful hemolytics that can lower blood pressure thus making it an alternative treatment for high blood pressure as well as for reducing cholestrol, which is often used in traditional medicine.
3. This herb has the ability to clean toxins within the blood hence it is also used in traditional herbal medicine in the process of detoxification and in removing metabolic waste within the body.  This in turn makes it a useful addition to weight loss efforts.
4. It also has diuretic properties making it beneficial in the treatment of kidney stones and for flushing the kidney and urinary tract.  It helps to flush out the uric acid as well as block the production of uric acid.  This in turn also helps other conditions such as gout and inflammation of joints due to high uric acid levels in the body.
5. Another health property of this herb is its ability to act as an anti-inflammatory hence its use in the herbal treatment for athritis and rheumatism.

In all my research on this tea, it has not been reported to cause any adverse reaction.  Based on my un-scientific study with the guests at my Durian Fest, the various properties of this tea ensured provided for a balance to the high-sugar durian enabling those who drank it to not feel the effects from too much durian.  Now this tea is one that I serve whenever I have guests over for rich, high sugar, high cholestrol feasts.  Personally, I consume it at least 3 times a week and have been doing it for the past year, mainly as a maintenance program for health, without feeling like I am taking medication, as I do love those raspberry yogurt cheesecake as well as many of our local sweet dishes.  Family and friends have also tried my tea and the response have been favorable.

To ensure quality and maximum benefits, it starts from the plants.  I do not use any chemical herbicides or pesticides on the farm and the water source for the plants is from a clean water source upstream or from the rain.  To me, it would be an oxymoron to use unhealthy products to produce a "healthy" product.  It requires more effort to maintain the plants as weeding will have to be done manually and the fertilizer used is the compost from the farm.  However, the effort is well worth it.

Currently I have approximately 200 plants and I am in the process of planting more.  The seedlings are produced on the farm from the existing plants.  I harvest once for at least every two months and this not only allows me to keep the plant groomed but also encourages new growth and flowering.  I find that tea produced with the flowers mixed-in results in a "sweeter" tasting tea.

The cut stems are rinsed and air-dried before the next step of the process.  The leaves, flowers and the flower stem is used to make the tea.  It is chopped and then placed in trays to be air-dried within a covered, netted box.  It is not exposed to sunlight or extreme heat to preserve its properties.
For sales, the tea is packed in loose-leaf form, in a plastic container that can be used to store the tea once the plastic package has been opened.  The tea is best prepared using recently boiled water, 1 flat teaspoon per cup.  It is left to steep for a few minutes, 5 minutes normally, and produces a lovely golden brown colored tea,  This tea can be drank hot, warm or cold.  For hot afternoons, I add ice and turn it into a refreshing iced tea.  Enjoying this tea makes taking care of my health a a normal course of my diet and not a pill-popping or additional act.

Suria Helang Lui produces this pure Misai Kucing tea that is sold in 20gm packages at RM 8 each as it is being introduced to market.  For more information on purchasing these tea, please e-mail suriahelanglui@yahoo.com.   This tea is also available at:

1. Organic Shop and Life Cafe, 125, Jalan Aminuddin Baki, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.
2. POLIKLINIK NORIHA, 19 Jalan Teratai PJU 6A, Kg Sg Kayu Ara, Damansara, 47400 Petaling Jaya

If you have diabetes or high blood, you should monitor your levels.  For treatment of conditions, you should check with your medical practitioner.

Pereskia Sacarosa (Bintang Tujuh / Jarum Tujuh)

This is one of the most interesting plant from the cactus family which is often used in herbal medicine and in Chinese medicine, known as qi xing zhen.  It is purported to be used for treatment of cancer (colon, breast, ovarian and cervix) as well as a preventative measure, stroke, high blood pressure  and other types of ailments in holistic or traditional medicine.  It is also used in treatment of hemorrhoids, stomach gastric and bloating. 

A very good friend of mine gave me three stems that she had obtained from her father for me to add to my collection of medicinal plants and herbs.  Planting the stems was an exercise in caution.  It was quite difficult to handle the stems as they were covered with sharp, pointy, needles that can stick into you easily.  I received a couple of jabs when I was planting them and yes, it did feel like a sharp needle sticking into you.  Being from the cactus family but a tropical plant as opposed to the normal dessert cactus, it loves the sun and the rain but does well in soil with at least 50% sand and 50% organic soil.

Four buds in bloom

Four buds

I find it to be a very beautiful plant with its rose-like flowers and beautiful green leaves but it has to be handled with care because it has the sharp needles on the stem.  You will definitely feel the effect of the needle prick for a few hours.  As such, if you have small children, I suggest that you plant it in areas where it is not accessible to them.  It is a great natural way as a deterrent to intruders when planted as a "fence".

This plant can grow to over 20m tall.  Periodic trimming of it will enable you to control the height of the plants whilst encouraging it to "bush out".  I enjoy watching how the flower changes from its bud form to a beautiful, striking red-orange or vermillion colored petals.  Sometimes, the buds are in multiples and sometimes, single.  Due to its appearance, I find that it makes a colorful addition to my herb section and can add beauty and color to your gardens to.  I often wonder where the name Bintang Tujuh comes from and then I started counting the number of leaves the level below the flowers.  Guess what?  There are seven leaves!

For medicinal purposes, the leaves are eaten raw, normally two to three young leaves a day.  It has a creamy taste, neither sweet, salty or sour.  In my research, I found that some articles indicate that it is bitter in taste but I have not found it to be so.  Personally, I consume 2-3 raw leaves about 3 times a week for general well-being - another reason why I prohibit usage of pesticides and herbicides on the farm.  These leaves are a definite positive addition to my "snack" list as I walk around the farm.

It is also a great addition to salads, adding some crunch.  It can also be blended with other items to create a health drink.  It also produces an edible fruit that is green in colour which changes to light yellow as it ripens but do not be fooled, it remains to very sour.

Updated: August 20, 2015

The Chicken And The Egg

If you follow the nutritional research on chicken and eggs, it seems that it changes over time.  But then again, the body's chemistry is still very much a mystery.  I remember a time when people were advised to avoid eggs due to high cholestrol and then recently I read that eggs were back to being good for you because the eggs do not contain harmful cholestrol.  The same goes with chickens but then again most chickens nowadays are given all kinds of medications as well as interesting types of feed.  I am also unsure of all these GM eggs - you know those eggs that claim to have Omega as well as other supplements.   Nutritionally, eggs contain the highest quality protein you can buy which has just the right mix of essential amino acids needed by humans to build tissues. It is second only to mother's milk for human nutrition. In addition, eggs have thirteen essential vitamins and minerals.  Egg yolk is the major source of the egg's vitamins and minerals.  A large egg contains only 70 calories and 5 grams of fat.  Egg yolks are one of the few foods that are a naturally good source of Vitamin D.

Hence, I embarked on my own journey of - rearing chickens and producing eggs.  As the basic principle of SHL is to stick as closely as possible to natural farming, the chicken currently get to run around the farm all over the place, including sometimes entering the house!  They have also started to become a nuisance to my newly planted crops, scratching the soil around it causing for the roots to be uncovered as well as at times, totally destroying the plants.  I started with 28 chickens and chicks, 3 of which were rooters, and of different ages, ranging from a month old to about 1 year old, all "kampung chicken".  In about 9 months, I now have 50 chickens and chicks.



Corn feed

  The chickens spend the day scrounging all over the farm for food and I supplement their diet with corn and rice as well as over-ripe papayas and bananas and leftover farm produce such as tapioca and sweet potatoes.  As I do not use pesticides on the farm, I do not have to worry about the chicken consuming harmful residues.  I enjoy watching them as they feed, especially the baby chicks and how they avoid from being stepped on by the bigger chickens and they look so cute :)

The chickens are free to wander all over the place, gathering their eggs was a challenge, mainly due to finding the location.  I knew that they were laying the eggs somewhere as from time to time, I would see the mother hen with newly-hatched chicks, happily strolling and being quite noisy.



Nest found

Sometimes, I was lucky to find the nest but as the hen was already sitting on the eggs, I didn't take the eggs as I wasn't sure how long the eggs had been laid.  At other times, I managed to locate the nest early enough so I was able to collect the eggs.  With over 2 acres of land available to them, and the challenge of keeping the grass and weed to a minimum, there was a lot of hiding places for the hens.   I am striving to produce organic eggs of which the main item  that may disqualify me is that I do not know if the corn that I feed them contain pesticides, fungicide or herbicide.

The eggs are a popular item at my Sunday market stall and often the demand outstrips the supply.  I have my regulars and also off-and-on, those who want them for health purposes.  To maintain the freshness of the eggs longer, it should be refrigerated as eggs age more in one day at room temperature than in one week in the refrigerator.  I get satisfaction from being able to produce eggs free from pesticides and additives.  I have people who ask it I will sell my chickens - for the moment, the answer is no.

My compromise to providing them with as natural a setting as well as to protect my crops and to improve egg collection efforts is to build a chicken run of 20'x15' with "apartments" for the hens to lay their eggs.  This project is underway which is targetted to be completed by this week.  From then on, the plan is to have them all housed in there, with scheduled "roaming" time to enable them to "exercise" and enjoy the scenery, so to speak.  This will also help me protect them from the eagle that once in a while, will choose one of them for its meal.  My goal is to be able to produce 60 eggs per week and then determining the growth path for this produce once I have achieved the target production.  So the adventures at SHL continues.......