Being a small farmer Part 4 - Selecting the inhabitants

The basic principle that I follow for "inhabitants" of the farm is that if they serve as food or therapy, then I will select it for introduction or retention at the farm.  The second principle is: I plant or grow only what I like :).  The third is the preservation of our natural heritage.  In selecting the plants, I have chosen to have plants that I consider to be short term revenue producers like the vegetables, mid term revenue produces such as fruits and long term such as surian.  However both the long term and mid term can generate revenue in the interim.  Annuals and perennials as well as evergreen are also taken into consideration as this will affect the maintenance work that needs to be done.  The plants and trees that we have at the farm include:

1. Fruits: Bananas, Rambutan, Soursop (Durian Belanda), Durian, Jackfruit (Nangka), Cempedak, Mangosteens, Jambu Madu, Longan (Mata Kucing), Mango, Calamansi (Limau Kasturi).
2. Herbs and therapeutic plants/trees: Cat's whiskers (Misai Lucing), Ruku, Selasih, Lemon Basil (Kemangi), Cosmos Dianthus (Ulam Raja), Tumeric, Lemongrass, Senduduk Hutan, Cilantro, Lengkuas, Ginger, Ginger torch (Bunga Kantan), Jeruju, Bebuas, Surian, Kaffir Lime (Limau Perut).
3. Roots and Tubers: Tapioca, Sweet potatoes, Yam (Keladi)
4. Vegetables etc.: Kailan, Sawi (Choy Sum), Cabbage, Tomatoes, Kangkong, Spinach, Bird Chillies (Cili Padi), Long Beans, Aubergine (Terong) and Turkey Berry (Terong pipit).

As there are various soil types at the farm, careful consideration is taken when selecting the location where it is planted to promote healthy plants and trees.  Thought is also put into how the plants can co-exist so as to promote benefits for both such as a tree providing a semi-shady area for plants that prefer semi-shade.  I have found that many plants or trees serve multiple purposes - some as food and at the same time can be used for therapeutic purposes or even as a bio-cleansing agent or pesticide.  I continuously seek to increase my knowledge on each plant or tree at the farm and I am continuously surprised at what I find.  Nature is definitely bountiful.

In line with making it an integrated farm, I have elected to rear chickens and fish.  Chickens of course provide not only meat but also healthy eggs.  They also function as my insect-control mechanism feeding on the ants and various other bugs and grass.

The fish that I have selected as the primary fishes to rear are tilapia, catfish (keli) and lampam.  I find that these fishes are really versatile as they can be eaten fresh, dried and salted either with or without herbs,  and smoked.
 I have also found that both tilapia and catfish can be filleted to produce beautiful fillets that can then be prepared in various other ways for consumption other than the normal Malay or Chinese style of preparation.  I am considering having some local goats - not so much for consumption - but more for its "weed-eating" capability as well as an additional source for fertilizers.  However, more research needs to be done so that I can provide the optimum living conditions for the goats as well achieving a balance with the other inhabitants.

I am pretty much done with selecting inhabitants though I am always on the lookout for interesting plants and trees.  Now we have basically moved away from the development phase and on to the "growing" phase to increase production quantity and quality.  The journey continues......

Durian Belanda (Soursop)

As I was doing my rounds at the farm today, I noticed some interesting things about my Soursop (Durian Belanda) tree.  The Malay name when translated to English means Dutch Durian.  Although it may have some similarities in its external appearance to a durian, it is very unlike the durian both in taste, smell and the fruit inside.  Its botanical name is Annona muricata.  The soursop fruit ripens with a green skin with yellow undertones but the “needles” are no longer sharp and pointy and has turned to a brown-black color.  The flesh is white with an almost custard-like texture with hard-shell brown/.black seeds.  The nearest taste that I can think of that is similar is soft green apple.

My interest in this plant was first raised when a customer at my Sunday morning market asked me if I sold Soursop leaves or know where he could obtain some.  He was from Thailand and I asked him what he wanted it for and he explained that it was for his brother that had stones in his gall bladder.  I provided him the leaves the following week and for a few more weeks after that and he told me that it helped improve his brother's condition.  Something so simple!

Based on my research on this tree and its fruit, I am quite astounded to learn about its benefits.  The whole tree - stem, bark, leaves, flower and fruit - are purported to have many therapeutic and medicinal properties.  The extracts from the leaves and stems are reported to have anti-cancer and anti-tumor properties in attacking the malignant cells,  In some traditional medicine, the leaves and bark are crushed and boiled and the resulting mixture is strained and consumed.  It is also purported to prevent cancer by consuming it periodically such as once a week.  There appears to have been many studies conducted specifically in the treatment of cancer.  Based on a study by Purdue University, the phytochemical Annonaceous acetogenins has demonstrated its ability to attack cancerous cells whilst not affecting healthy cells.
In Brazil, their traditional medicine men have used the plant to treat hypertension, influenza, rashes, neuralgia, arthritis, rheumatism, high blood pressure, diarrhea, nausea, dyspepsia, ulcers, ringworm, scurvy, malaria, dysentery, palpitations, nervousness, insomnia, fever, boils, muscle spasm.  In Thai and Malay traditional medicine, the leaves extract that was obtained by boiling the leaves have been consumed to treat liver and gall bladder ailments.

This tree grows tall and is not "rounded" - it just seems to get taller.  However, by pruning the branches, it encourages new branches to form.   The flower has an interesting shape and unless you are looking for it, you can easily miss it, hidden amongst the leaves.  The petal is a light green and the inner part of the flower is almost a light peach colour. 

This flower then becomes a brown colored bud-like shape that if you didn't know, would think that it has dried-up. 

You might even be tempted to remove it.  However, that would be a mistake as it is the beginnings of the fruit.  At a glance the fruit may appear like a durian but it does not have the sharp points.  The fruit is green in color that will turn into a lighter shade as it ripens.  To harvest, cut the fruit from the fruit stem.  I find that if you try to twist it off the stem, it may injure the branch and this can adversely affect the tree.

Based on research by USDA:

1. It is an excellent source of vitamin C
2. Has a high fiber content which can prevent constipation
3. Contains half the potassium in bananas which can help prevent leg cramps
4. Its high magnesium content can help prevent water retention especially for women who experience this in PMS.
5. Good source of thiamin, the B vitamin needed for aerobic energy production, the process where oxygen is used to convert sugar into usable energy
6. Loaded with the trace material copper which is essential for healthy bones.  It also helps boost the effectiveness of vitamin D, which promotes the absorption of calcium.
7. A good source of niacin which studies have shown to have significant benefits on levels of HDL, the good cholesterol
8. Good source of folate which is a mineral that is recommended to prevent deficiencies during pregnancy for pregnant women.
9. Good source of iron, an essential element in the body producing healthy red blood cells
10. Rich in riboflavin where studies have shown can help prevent migraines.

With its good content of iron and vitamin K, it promotes production of red blood cells hence it is sometimes used in alternative therapy for anemics.

As with anything good, over-consumption can lead to fatigue so based on my research, moderation is recommended and the consumption rate is three leaves as a tea, once a day.  At the farm, we produce soursop tea so that it can be easily stored and be ready on-demand.  It can be air-dried the chopped leaves and and to make tea, just steep it in just-boiled water for about 10 minutes.  It produced a golden-brown tea with a distinct smell of soursop.  The tea has a slightly sweet taste with the soursop flavor.  I enjoyed drinking it warm.  As a farm produce, we produce the tea using a dehydrator to dry the leaves.  

If you have a soursop tree and would like to make the tea yourselves, select mature leaves (starting from the the third or fourth leaf of the stalk) and you can either dry the leaves before or after "chopping" them to pieces.  As with harvesting of the fruit, use garden scissors to cut the leaves at the leaf stem.  You can also make an infusion by simmering the fresh leaves in a pot of water for about 10-15 minutes.  The drinks can be consumed hot or cold.  Happy growing the tree and trying the fruit and teas.

Updated: 25 July 2017

Being a small farmer Part 3 - Finding balance

Having an integrated farm is a challenge of balancing the natures of the various elements.  Since the goal is to go as natural as possible, we raise free-range kampung chicken so this means that they are free to wander all over the farm.  By nature they will scratch the ground looking for insects and worms to feed on as well as pecking at the young shoots.  Being what they are, they are also capable of flying quite a distance - I have watched them fly as high as 2m across the fish ponds which is about 10m wide.  So fencing off areas is not really feasible.  While they serve a function as pest control mechanism, they also become the pest.
At the same time, there are all those insects and worms that just love to munch their way on the leaves and for some reason, they tend to leave the weeds alone!  The rule is no chemical pesticides because not only do I not want to introduce them into the vegetable, albeit may be traces of it, I also do not want it to leach into the ground and making its way into the pond or the water system.  At the same time, not all insects and worms are bad - some insects are natural predators to the insects that are pests.  I also want to have earthworms and they are the natural soil aerator as well as natural mechanism for improving the soil.
I also have 10 cats and I need to protect my vegetables from them too.  In spite of having a large area for them to do their "business", they like to dig around the "softer" soil of the plant beds.  On top of that, when they decide to play catch, it wreaks havoc on the plants.  These cats serve a purpose of keeping what I consider pests to a minimum - I haven't seen a rat or mouse since I started having them on the farm and the smaller snakes have also seen to disappear - some were caught by them and maybe the others decided to find better living conditions.
I am constantly working on ways to better improve the balance so that I can produce the best.  Every day is a learning experience and nothing beats going through it and my mind is constantly challenged to try and figure out the solutions to issues.

I now plant all my leafy vegetables in polybags and there are placed in the greenhouse so that they are protected from the chickens and to a certain degree, the insects.  This also helps to ease controlling the weeds.  For climbers like long beans, they are also planted in polybags but each polybag is surrounded by "tube" fence that  keeps the chickens and goose from getting to them whilst at the same time providing a support structure for them to climb.

My tomatoes are also planted in polybags and when they are big enough, will be surrounded by the fence-tube to provide the support structure they need.  The tomato plants are also placed in the greenhouse.
We try to compost as much as possible, returning back to the earth what is good, in the effort of continuing to balance our environment.  In this manner, all the weeds have a function - they become fertilizers later. 
Finding balance is important after all, every living thing has a right for the best and we all co-exist.

Catfish (Keli) - A very versatile fish

Due to going the cheaper route, there is a lot of catfish (keli) out there that tastes just horrible.  Unfortunately, this has led to people having a poor impression of the taste of catfish.  This much maligned fish is really at the mercy of catfish producers who are bent on going the easy route by not taking care of the water and feeding the fish garbage. 
When produced properly, this fish is very tasty, definitely not smelly or having the "muddy" taste.  As with any fish, if you do not take care of its freshness once harvested, this further affects the taste and smell of the fish.  Do not blame the fish but blame it on these types of producers and the consumers who are not interested on taking care of themselves by eating quality food. So to the nay-sayers of the catfish, do not fault the fish if you have had a bad or not so good experience dining on the catfish.  I used to be a non-catfish eater but now I enjoy the catfish but of course, only from my farm :).
At the farm, I have spent about 2 years in studying and testing how to produce quality catfish.  The key components are the water quality and feed.  Flowing water is essential in ensuring that the water quality is good and fish wastes are removed regularly, and that there is sufficient oxygen as in keeping the bacteria in the water down due to wastes.  Even if aerators are used to ensure sufficient oxygen but if the water is not regularly refreshed, that the fish will be living in its wastes.  Think of it this way, if you are not willing to put your foot into the pond, why are you willing to put what is produced from that pond into your body? 
The second component is the feed,  Catfish that is fed with bacteria-laden food such as carcasses such as from goat, chicken, and pig, chicken innards, animal and human waste as well as all sorts of garbage will result in lower cost of fish feed which translates to cheaper prices but does not produce tasty fish.  After all, the age old axiom that "you are what you eat" can be applied to these catfish.  At the farm, the fish is feed with quality fish meal as well as "vegetables" such as tapioca leaves, keladi leaves, young shoots of tebrau and the inner pseudostem of the banana plants.  So, it is a matter of choice for the consumers.
When buying catfish, the first thing that you need to check is the underside of the fish.  Select catfish that has a white skin on the belly, avoid any fish that has slightly yellow color skin on its belly.  The flesh of the catfish should be firm and not "mushy" and the color on the skin of the catfish shouldn't have a greyish pallor - these are indicators of the freshness of the fish.  When the flesh is mushy, it is a good indicator that the fish is already well on its decomposition process, faster for fish that have been fed with bacteria-laden feed.
It is always best to buy live catfish or for those that prefer cleaned catfish, catfish that was cleaned after just killing it and frozen within the hour.  Of course you would need to know how to handle the catfish when live - watch out for its stingers.
Now that you have the cleaned fish, what can you do with it?  In Malay culture, most of the time it is fried to a crisp or made into curries or masak lemak bercili.  Sometimes, it is grilled but not often as this requires for the fish to be fresh or you end up with this mushy fish.
From my experience and testing in my farm kitchen, this is a very versatile fish and you can do more than this.

1. Whole smoked catfish - the fish is marinated with herbs - either kaffir lime leaves or lemongrass and salt overnight before it is slowly smoked.  Once ready, it is stored frozen to retain its "freshness".  The smoked catfish can be eaten in many ways - cooked in savoury/spicy dishes or fried or heated and eaten with rice, sticky rice or even in sushi.
2. Dried whole salted catfish - the fish is salted and sun-dried.  This fish can then be fried or cooked in savoury/spicy dishes.
3. Catfish fillet - the fish is fillet resulting in nice pieces of boneless, skinless fillets which can then be cooked in many ways.  It can be breaded and baked, dipped in flour and pan-fried, dipped in batter and fried, seasoned with a variety of herbs, lemon, salt and pepper and grilled or pan-fried.  The ways of preparing the fillet is limited by your imagination.  To produce the fillets, you should select a fish that is at least 800gm so you can get good-sized fillets.

I hope more people will opt to eat quality fish in their diets and discover the versatility of the catfish.

Bananas - Pisang Rastali

This is another "old-timer" banana which is now no longer easily found at the markets.  It is most often eaten raw and has a lighter albeit sweet taste.  It is a medium sized banana and when ripe has brown/black patterns over it;s yellow skin making it appear like a batik design on the skin hence the its other name - pisang batik. 

This is one of the few varieties of banana that should fully ripen on the tree.  It takes a longer time to mature and ripen as opposed to other varieties as it takes over 4 months from the inflorescence to ready-to-eat fruit but is well worth the wait.  When the fruit is unripe it is green in color.  The brown/black patterns only appear when it is mature and almost ripe.  By the time the fruit is ready for harvest, all the leaves would have already dried out.  A healthy plant should produce about 10-12 sisir (bunch of bananas) weighing about 10-15kg in total.

I do not recommend eating the inflorescence (jantung) as it has a bitter taste.  When the fruit is ripe, it can be used as the main ingredient in making a banana cake.  It has just the right moisture content resulting in a deliciously moist banana cake.  Due to its higher sugar content and texture, it doesn't work well when turned into banana fritters as it will soak up a lot of oil.  It teams up well with ice creams making it a good choice for banana splits.

Being a small farmer Part 2 - Setting the basics

I am often asked to explain what type of a farm I have and I find it difficult to define it within the more prevalent terms so I created my own term: a natural integrated farm.  At the heart of it, we strive to make the most use out of nature within the farm operations 

To start with, 2 separate polypipes are used to transport water from two separate sources, clean and natural water sources.  One polypipe provides for the water for household and agriculture use and the other pipe is strictly for the fish ponds for aquaculture use.  This ensures that water flows through the ponds 24 hours a day enabling the constant removal of any aquaculture waste and providing for good oxygenation of the pond, critical elements in rearing fish.  From an aesthetic value, the pond does not produce noxious odors and the sound of the water creates a calming environment.

The land clearing was done manually and selective bull-dozing, taking care to preserve as much of the top soil as possible.

Being situated in a water catchment area where there is plenty of rainfall, it was important to have facilities to provide for water run-off and a flood prevention mechanism, hence the ponds also serve this purpose.  The pond is built on the dried stream bed hence its shape is similar to a stream with the outflow going into Sg. Lui.  This is where I will start our aquaculture project of rearing fresh water fish.  With this in mind, it was imperative that no chemical herbicides or pesticides is used at the farm to prevent this being introduced into the ponds and ultimately into the fish,  With the great water quality, it would be almost criminal to contaminate the pond and the fish.  Whilst people who consume the fish may not be aware of any minute amounts of chemical toxins, I would know and this would go against my principle: I only sell produce that I would eat.

The selection of what was to be planted at the farm was also important in order to provide a balanced environment.  The first plants planted was banana plants.  This plant consumes a lot of water so it helps to absorb the water from the rains.  At the farm, only natural banana plants are planted which means that we do not plant any genetically-modified (GM) plants or plants from culture tissues.  In Malaysia, we have an abundance of variety of banana plants and I am on a quest to have all the varieties of bananas available at the farm.  This is my personal conservation effort to preserve our heritage.  It would be a shame to lose it and for us to become a GM culture and not be aware of the richness of varieties available.  Apart from being harvested for the bananas, the inflorescence is also harvested prior to the bananas and this is a great ulam or "vegetable" which has many health benefits based on our traditional medicine practitioners.  The inner portion of the pseudostem is used as a supplementary food for the fish as well as serving as a pond water natural cleansing agent.  Sometimes, we consume the inner portion of the stem as one of the ingredients in a curry.  The remaining portions of the plant after harvesting the fruit is turned into a compost providing for a natural fertilizer.  Hence from this one type of plant, it serves multiple purposes and provides a multitude of benefits naturally.

Since I foresee that there will be times when I will be too tired to drive home, I decided that I needed to have a house built but one with is functional to farm operations, easy to keep clean, comfortable and with lots of natural light.  I do not foresee working the farm alone so I designed the house to accomodate my workers too.  I use a lot of tiles all over the place - all the floors, the kitchen counters, most of the walls and to allow for privacy yet allowing for natural light, most walls have glass tile cubes.  Skylights are also strategically for more natural lighting.  All around the house, just below the roof, a 2 ft. lattice "wall" allows for fresh air to constantly circulate into the house.  The detail work on the house is still being done as the primary focus is the farm but I hope it will be completed before end of this year - my birthday present to myself.

Of course no farm is complete without some animals - other than the fish.  I started my initial stock of kampung chicken which I obtained from Kedah and later added more from my neighbour.  These are free-range chicken so they wonder all around the farm, eating their fill.  Another reason why no chemical pesticides or herbicides are used.  From my initial stock of 4 chickens, we currently have a total of about 60 chickens which I hope to further increase in the coming months.  They also serve to keep the insects at bay as well as helping with controlling the weeds and grass.

With all the different practices utilizing nature, this gave birth to our tag line: Maximizing Nature's Bounty.  More tales to follow so watch out for the next segment.

Being a small farmer - going the uncharted route Part 1

I changed direction in my life, leaving the corporate world and entering the agricultural world.  Before making this decision, I considered many things.  I realize that I no longer wanted to be involved in board room shenanigans and wanted to remain true to my principles.  I also wanted to be able to spend more time other than in meetings till late at night and to have my weekends back.  I also didn't see myself going at that pace for long nor do I see a long-term future.  Let's face reality, as we age, we come to a point that we have to "retire" and for the younger ones to move up.  So, what will I do then.  I cannot imaging myself facing the walls or watching tv day in and day out and not having much mental and physical activity.  To me, that is a sure way to get sick fast!  I began work on a life plan - considering what I love to do and to turn it into my "golden age" plan.
I have always loved plants and animals and being outside.  Added to that, I also love being active and not sitting in one place.  I also enjoy doing things that are a challenge.  Taking all those things into consideration, I decided to go into agriculture - not run of the mill type, but something new.  Hence the birth of the concept of natural integrated farm, a farm whereby emphasis is placed on maximizing nature to provide food without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides.  I tend to shy away from the term organic farming as I find that this term has been over-commercialized.

The first item was to select the right piece of property which has good, natural water supply, easy vehicle access, available utilities infrastructure, freehold land grant, within my budget and not far from Kuala Lumpur.  It took me about 10 years to find a piece of land that met my requirements.  To many, at first glance, the land represented a lot of work since it resembled a jungle - there was even vines that you can swing from tree to tree like Tarzan.  Taking a walk within the land then was a challenge and you need to have a parang handy to make your way through and good hiking boots as the land contour was not clearly visible and also as protection against leeches and who knows what else.  I fell in love with it at first sight - I saw possibilities in the different vegetation there as well as presence of dried stream beds.  My mind began to fill with all kinds of ideas and the vision of what this land can be developed into.
First things first, acquisition of the property.  I was fortunate that the land grant is in good order but with the twist that the property had 2 owner names on it as a portion of the total property as described in the land grant had been sold off at one time but the grant was  not converted into 2 separate land grants.  I refuse to just add my name to the grant so one of my terms of the sale was that the grant be divided accordingly before the sale can be concluded.  I wanted a proper land grant that fully described what I will own with my name on it to avoid any property disputes in the future.

During the period whilst I waited for the land grant to be processed, I visited the property many times, studying its contour and vegetation as well as checking out the water availability.  That area has poor Syabas water supply so I had to find alternative sources.  In the worst case scenario, I would have to use the Sg. Lui water where it crossed the land, splitting the land into 2 portions.  The river wasn't indicated in the land grant and apparently the land grant has not been updated since the 70's when a major flood caused the Sg. Lui to re-route itself.  However, in getting to know the people in the area, I found that water can be piped down from a clean water source up in the hills.

The land was filled with all kinds of plants, shrubs and trees and I began my study of what they were and how they can be useful to me.  It was during this period that I found that there are many plants that can be of medicinal and also nutrition value.  Thus began my adventure in the study of the properties and use of plants as well as herbs.  What to some people may be just a mess that using a backhoe can clean it all up, I found it to be a treasure trove.

I have always loved being close to water and with Sg. Lui running through the property was great, an added bonus was to find that there appeared to be stream beds running through the property and during heavy rains, the water would run through it.  This gave birth to the idea of being able to raise fish.
As the land had been left untended for many decades, I found that through the natural process, there was good quality top soil from the natural decomposition of plants and trees.  My decision to not use a backhoe to raze the land was a good one as I then can keep the top soil ensuring good fertile soil presence for my plants and trees. This meant that land clearing would be done in a manual manner with judicious selection of what plants and trees should remain and what is cleared.  My favorite tools are parang, weed cutter and cangkul.  Through the initial land clearing, I was able to see the contour properly and to set a first-level design plan for the land.

With an understanding of the elements of the property that I wanted to retain, I started selective land clearing and construction of the fish pond.  After the intial land clearing, the first structure that was built was a storeroom cum bathroom.  I needed a place to store tools and equipment as well as the need for privacy for....you all get my meaning.  I had a well dug in this room so that there was a water supply for washing and cleaning as well as a refreshing "bath" after the workout.  Now I was ready for the serious development.........