Looks similar but different: Pisang Rastali versus Pisang Raja Udang

c 

At a glance they may look similar but they are different in taste and texture as well as the pisang rastali being smaller than pisang raja udang..  Both fruits have a brownish design over the yellow skin but that is where the similarities end.

The Pisang Rattail is sweet with subtle undertone of sourness and when not fully ripen, will have a distinct "kelat" taste when not fully ripen.  When fully ripen, there should be no more green areas on the banana.  The bananas pictured above will be fully ripen in about 1 day.  The flesh is almost "fluffy" and relatively dry and is cream in colour.  This fruit is more often eaten raw but due to its "fluffy" texture and sweetness, is also a favourite for making banana cakes and muffins.

In comparison, the Pisang Raja Udang has a very sweet and sour taste - almost in equal measure.  The flesh is dense and has more moisture and is yellow in color.  When not fully ripen or harvested when not fully matured, the sour taste will overshadow the sweetness hence locally, it is also known as Pisang Masam or Sour Banana.  When harvested properly and fully ripen, the sweet taste is stronger than the sour taste.  This fruit is eaten raw or works well in fried banana dumplings. due to its taste and moistness.  It can also be used to make a dessert, serawa pisang or bananas cooked with a sweet coconut gravy.  It is also an option for banana splits.

So, be sure to pick the right banana for what you want or you may be disappointed in the outcome :)

Pisang Emas or Lemak Manis: Which is which?

Often I see and hear the argument of which is which between pisang emas and pisang lemak manis as well as pisang lemak manis labelled as pisang emas.   When buying them, please do not press or squeeze them to as this will bruise the fruit.  You can tell the ripeness of the fruit from the appearance.

There is a difference in taste and appearance.  The pisang emas has a honey-like sweetness to it when ripe as opposed to pisang lemak manis which has a sugary sweetness to it with a subtle sour undertone.  With their smaller sizes, they are great as a breakfast fruit - one that my son loves to have - and easily finished.  Full of natural goodness and fiber.  For children, they can eat it at one go so you won't be left with half a banana to store.  It is also easy for them to hold and normally my son will have a couple of fruits.  Rich in vitamin B6 as well as magnesium and other mineral, it is great for a growing boy.  A key function of magnesium is to aid in the absorption of calcium which is critical for strong bones in my son - and for adults as well.  Amongst the important benefits of vitamin B6 that I aim for is the proper brain development and function.

When not fully ripe, the pisang emas skin has a yellowish green colour versus a light green of the pisang lemak manis.  You can see the colour at the top of the banana the colour difference.   For both varieties, when the skin has turned yellow with some areas slightly green, it is ready to be eaten and considered ripe.  If bought at this stage, the banana can last about 1 week before it becomes overly ripe.  The flesh of the bananas are yellow with pisang emas being more golden in the inside hence the name.  As it ripens, the flesh will become softer before becoming "mushy" when over-ripe where at this stage it is perfect for making cucur kodok or fried banana dumplings.

L: Pisang Emas, R: Pisang Lemak Manis

Top: Pisang Lemak Manis, Bottom: Pisang Emas

To start with, the size of the fruits are different: pisang lemak manis (average 8.5cm long) is larger than pisang emas (average 6 cm).    Pisang lemak manis also has a "rounder" appearance.  A quick check when buying is to measure it against your index finger.  If it is longer  than your index finger, it is pisang lemak manis.  If it is shorter than your index finger, it is probably pisang emas.

The skin of the pisang emas is thinner and more delicate than pisang lemak manis.  If the pisang emas is not just ripe, the skin will tend to stick to the flesh making it more difficult to peel.  Pisang lemak manis has a thicker peel so it is more forgiving.

Both the varieties are popular and not easily found in supermarkets but can be found in fruit stalls in wet markets and at the roadsides.  So, go ahead and enjoy our local either bananas which are natural and may it bring all the great health benefits with it for you :)

SHL 2016: What we are

Many have visited our farm during our events and many have asked about our farm.  This farm was born out of my passion for edibles and therapeutic plants and trees as well as to prepare for my old age.  Since I have always been busy and active, I couldn't envision myself without activity once I reached the retirement age and forced to retire.  So, I opted to leave the corporate world and begin an adventure in natural organic farming - producing quality, healthy produce in an integrated farm
environment, maximising nature's bounty and maintaining an environmental balance.  One of the underlying core principles of the farm is to work with the natural resources and not destroy it.  The farm is slightly over 1 hectare (2.5 acres) in size and is located in Sg. Liu, Hulu Langat.  It took me 10 years to find the right piece of land, one that met my criteria.  Amongst the criteria was the location must be under 2 hours from K.L., availability of infrastructure (road, electricity, communications, etc.) as well as an abundance of one of the most basic resources: fresh, natural, uncontaminated water.  Anything else is considered as a bonus.  When I first got the land, you can play Tarzan - it was jungle-like with vines hanging from trees that was thick and strong enough for you to swing on.

After a challenging 7 years, today the farm is an integrated farm that produces natural, organic produce from fruits and vegetables, chicken and eggs, to fresh water fish as well as organic fertilisers and sprays as well as seeds and plants.  We have a very lean operation with  2 workers working with me.  This means that I am very hands-on.  Most of the seeding and planting as well as quite a bit of the maintenance work is done by me.  Being a stickler, I have specific things that I want done specific ways so my workers are there mainly to assist me and to take basic care of the farm and its inhabitants when I am not there.  It is pretty much on a small scale still but we hope to be able to bump up production substantially this year.  We sell our produce at the Sg. Penchala Sunday morning market and throughout the years, we have built relationships with our customers, many of whom are our regulars.

Another aim of the farm is to preserve our banana diversity.  We do not have any genetically modified bananas but focus on the many wonderful varieties of local bananas - many of which are difficult to find in the market.  We more than 25 varieties of local bananas and week to week, we have different varieties of bananas.  We have managed to weather the various problems that have occurred with the banana plant diseases and continue to be able to grow them healthily.  Of course we take quite a few preventive measures.  It is gratifying when people come to us looking for the rarer species.

Over the years, I have experimented with papaya trees and have finally settled to the few varieties that we have which are sweet and the flesh is either red, orange or like cantoloupe in colour.  Not all the papaya trees produce fruits - we have both male and female plants.  The male plants are for the flowers and leaves.  Our other fruit trees include rambutan, pulasan cempedak, nangka, mangosteen, mata kucing, pomegranate, soursop, jambu madu, lime, calamansi and abiu.  Not all have made it to market as they are enjoyed by family and friend, and some have just started to "learn" to fruit.

Chemical pesticide free vegetables are important to me and since I began the farm, I have planted many varieties and got to enjoy many of them.  I have learnt a lot regarding growing them, caring for them, soil composition and fertilising.  Looking forward to 2016, we are getting more organised in producing them as well as hope to have finally obtained the rhythm so we can have a continuous supply for our weekly market.  By not introducing toxic chemicals, I have discovered that many varieties of vegetables can be eaten raw where it is at its best.

I never used to enjoy fresh water fish like catfish (keli), tilapia and lampam.  I always associated the muddy taste as well as a strong, unpleasant smell with them.    With the availability of fresh, clean, uncontaminated water at the farm as well as the natural contour of the land at the farm, I had a fish pond built albeit it is not like the many fish ponds that you see at the fish farms.  Our fish pond resembles a flowing river with water flowing in and out all day long, every day.  Without feeding the fish wastes like chicken innards, carcasses, etc. like many fish farmers do and keeping the water clean, our fish tastes great without any muddy taste and a natural sweetness to it.  The ultimate test was when I have friends and customers who have steamed them and said that they taste good.  If you are familiar with steamed fish, you know how unforgiving it is if the fish is not fresh or good.  Our plan this year is to be able to bring fresh catfish once a month to market and to be able to produce about 10 kg of smoked catfish per month.  Both these items are a favourite with our customers so our aim is to be able to be consistent.  The tilapia and sampan will take longer to bring to market.

Another area of interest that I have and which I pursue is the area of herbals and therapeutic plants.  Over the years, I have collected and planted many plants from all over our country.  I enjoy using these natural flavourings in cooking, eating them as a salad as well as producing teas.  We have numeric, white basil, Thai basil, Holy basil, Small galangal, citronella, lemon grass, cekur, belalai gajah, misai kucing - to name a few.  When I walk around the farm, I graze a lot - picking a leaf here, a leaf there, a fruit here and a fruit there.  It feels great to be able to do that without worrying what chemicals are on it.

We have all sorts of other plants and trees not mentioned in this article but covering them all would make this article too long.  From time to time, we have open farm days where we accept visitors and have our produce on sale at the farm.    Due to the lean operations and the workload, we do not have daily or weekly visiting hours.  Weekdays are filled with our farm operation activities and weekends are busy with preparing for market and going to market as I am particular regarding the freshness of our produce.  Moving forward in 2016, we hope to be able to increase our yields, work more efficiently and get the infinite satisfaction from producing quality, healthy great tasting produce.

SHL Supplements and Complements

Over the years, I have developed my own concoctions for use at the farm and in accordance to the types of plants as well as experimenting products from friends as to what works best.  Most people refer to beneficial microorganism as EM or Effective microorganism.  We use clean, natural water for all our concentrate production.

1. Beneficial microorganism concentrate with citronella comprises of organic, chemical pesticide.herbicide free organic matter such as calamansi, papaya, banana, ginger torch with our own organically grown citronella and fermented with black sugar cane and molasses for a minimum period of 3 months.  The citronella is mainly used for pest deterrent properties but it also adds a lovely aroma to the concentrate along with citrus elements.
2. Beneficial microorganism concentrate with citronella and Epsom Salts is mainly targeted for fruiting plants and trees with the added magnesium content.
3. Green beneficial microorganism with citronella concentrate was developed mainly to have an all-in-one for our leafy vegetables such as kaolin, pal chop, cabbage, spinach, to name a few.
4. Organic mulch is mulch created from our chemical pesticide and herbicide free vegetation including ginger torch leaves and stems, "tebrau", etc.
5. Organic fertiliser mulch comprises of our mulch with the addition of fertilisers and nutrients and is mainly used to "top-up" our plants.  The mulch and beneficial microorganisms promotes the breakdown of the fertilisers over a time period, releasing them over a period of time and reducing leakages.
6. Organic potting soil contains various elements but is targeted as promoting healthy root growth and well as better seed germination success rate with its ability to maintain moist soil conditions with the appropriate watering and not soggy.
7. Fish Amino Acid concentrate is created from our own fish that is reared under 24-hour flowing water "river-like" pond and feed with quality fish pellets as well as the small river fish and shrimps that comes in with the water from a natural river source.  It is fermented for a period of not less than one month.

All the beneficial microorganism concentrate and fish amino acid concentrate are diluted at the rate of 10-20 ml of concentrate to 1 later of chlorine-free water.  Remember, our household water source is filled with chemical during the water processing to kill of bacteria and germs and this same chemicals will kill the beneficial microorganism thereby reducing or removing  the benefits derived from the beneficial microorganisms.

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:

1. organic mulch
2. soil mix
3. vermicompost
4. 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".

SHL Tips #1: It starts with the soil

I continually experiment with the purpose of trying to improve the quality and quantity of yield from my plants and trees.  To me, it all starts with the soil.  Based on my limited experience and experiments, there are a few aspects of the soil that I focus on:

1. Quality of the soil
2. Composition of soil
3. Moisture retention within the soil

Quality of the soil encompasses how healthy the soil is.  My farm is totally organic because I am a firm believer that the chemical pesticides and herbicides causes the soil to die as the various natural life forms that promote the health and well-being of the soil are killed off.  This includes the beneficial microorganisms and the various types of worms.  Earthworms are essential for promoting the health of the soil as well as performing the critical function of aerating the soil.  The beneficial microorganisms further enhances the breakdown of nutrient elements in the soil making it easily available to the plants and trees.

Composition of the soil matters when I am determining what I plan to plant.  Different types of plants and trees require different types of soil composition.  For example, plants that produce tubers prefer soil composition that has a higher proportion of sand than fruiting plants.  A simple way of thinking is this:  If the plant produces tubers like sweet potatoes, ginger, turmeric, and if the soil composition is heavy like clay, it would make it more difficult for the plant to produce the tubers as clay is heavy and hard to push through especially when dry.  If it is too wet, then it will make it more likely for the tubers to rot.  Clay soil is rich in minerals and nutrients so it is not necessarily bad, I just have to make some modifications to the composition to "lighten" it depending on the plant or tree that I want to plant.

Moisture within the soil also makes a big difference.  Some plants prefer "wet" soil and some prefer consistent moisture whilst others prefer to have the soil dry out before watering.  Depending on the plant and the capability of the moisture retention within the soil, this will affect how often and how long you water.  The moisture retention capabilities of the soil can be adjusted with the use of mulch and other organic material as well as sand.

At the farm, we only use organic soil improvers and additives and the majority are farm produced with an eye to organic recycling and minimisation of cost as well as cost-benefit.  With the right soil quality, composition and moisture, you have the option of planting in containers like pots or polybags, or in the ground.  To me, this is the foundation for healthy plants and trees.  If they cannot feed and grow roots, one cannot expect them to grow well.

PS>> I am not a trained agriculture expert nor am I a lifetime farmer.  What I am is a 7-years practicing, hands-on farmer :)

SHL Free Range Organic Chicken Soup

Once in a while, when I entertain guests at the farm, I will cook based on our farm produce.  At a recent gathering, I decided to do my version of the chicken soup featuring our chicken.  Cooking free range chicken is different than cooking "cooped up" chickens as free range chickens do not have soft flabby meat and tastes great when cooked with herbs and spices and will result in tender chicken meat.
To start with, we have fresh chicken which we will place over open flame for a few seconds to remove all the fine "hairs" left after the feathers have been plucked.  Cut the chicken into 10 pieces, separating them at the joints and the chicken breast is cut into 4 pieces.
Rinse them well to remove any unwanted innards left.  Place in a drainer and let the water drain off.

The ingredients I use to flavour the soup are:

1. Fresh tumeric (kunyit hidup)
2. Fresh small galangal (lengkuas kecil)
3. Kaffir lime leaves (daun lima pert)
4. Lemon grass (Serai)
5. White basil (selasih putih)
6. Fresh ginger (halia)
7. Star Anise (bunga lawang)
8. Cloves (Cengkih)
9. Coarse salt (garam kasar)
10. Big red onion (bawang merah besar)
11. Yellow onion (bawang kuning besar)
12. Garlic (bawling putih)
13. Chopped celery (saldri)
14. Chopped carrots (lobak merah)
15. Fresh bay leaves (daun salam)

When I cook dishes like this, I am pretty much old school which means I do not use a blender but prefer to use mortar and pestle.  I use olive oil and heat it up and add the onions which have been pound coarsely.  Next I will pound ginger, galangal and tumeric and add it to the pot once the onion has been cooked until it is translucent.  After allowing it to cook for a few minutes, I will add the white basil, bay leaves and kaffir lime leaves which I pound to just break it up a bit.  After 1 minute or so, I will add the garlic which has been pound to a relative fine consistency and follow it with Carrots, celery star anise and cloves.  I add the chicken to the pot and stir it around and add water followed by the lemon grass stalks which I just fund the ends.  I bring the mixture to a boil and then slow the heat to allow it to simmer for about 1 hour.  I add salt and turn off the heat.  The soup is ready.

My choice of the seasoning is based on the goodness that I want the soup to have apart from having it taste good.  This soup can be served on its own, eaten with rice or as the gravy for noodles.  So, there it is - our version of free range organic chicken soup which results in tender chicken meat and tasty soup filled with nutrients :)