Vegetable scrub

During one of my travels , I noticed a lot of sponge gourd being sold in the wet markets. Not only the loofah or petola are nice to eat, they make good scrubs and ideal for craftworks.

Usage of durian pulps

A picture of D101 , one of varieties that we planted.

A couple of weeks ago there was one article released by the Department Of Agriculture stating that Federal Agricultural Marketing Authourity (FAMA) have been successful in securing a contract to supply durian pulps to Shanghai early next year. After extracting pulp from fruit using machine, the frozen pulp will be shipped. The pulps will be used as fruit flavouring for food products. Previously when they shipped to Singapore, the pulp was for making mooncakes and dumplings.

Mangosteen

In P2 there are a few matured mangosteen trees. We will try to preserve them .. perhaps plant a few more ..

Known as the Queen of fruit , this exotic fruit is especially popular during the durian season. Many would eat durians and later finish off with some mangosteen ... as they believe the fruit is anti-inflammatory and have a " cooling effect " on the body system. But one thing for sure, this fruit with deep purple fruitskin contains lots of antioxidants. The while pulp inside is simply delicious and sweet with a slight sour edge. Mangosteen tree can flower up two times yearly. It fetches very good selling price in the fruit market. Also there is growing interest in mangosteen juice as it is healthy drink.

Buah dabai

I took this picture at morning wet markets in Sibu. When in season, the entire place would be crowded with buah dabai vendors. The buah dabai would be graded by size and freshness. Good profit for the vendors especially if they start selling before others.

Preparing P2

Some more pictures taken on P2. Land preparation will start mid December 08. After surveying the land, we will clear the land in stages. Quite a number of mature fruit trees to be kept - durian, local olive - buah dabai, langsat.

papaya tree

Papaya can grow almost anywhere. While a female tree bears fruit, a male tree only flowers. Although flowers can be eaten, most prefer the papaya. From large papaya to small exotica papaya .. some very sweet and others no so sweet. The ones that we are planting at the dusun are smaller fruit with a tougher fruitskin. Supposedly the fruit can last 4 or 5 days after plucking. Very sweet. It takes about 9 months for a papaya tree to mature and bear fruit.

papaya sprouts

Two months ago after sampling a very good papaya in KL that was RM10 per kg, I saved the seeds and took them back to my little nursery. Sowed the seeds onto the little black bags ... now at least 200 tiny papaya plants have sprouted. Next month they will be transplanted to the dusun.

This special papaya specie produces small but very sweet papaya. The uniqueness is the fruitskin is firmer and the papaya can last up to 4 or 5 days, which is ideal if we need to despatch them to the fruit wholesalers and vendors.

A peek into P2

Amidst the undergrowth and old abandoned rubber trees, there are quite a number of matured fruiting durian, langsat and local olive trees. Then there are other younger fruit trees, as you can see in the pictures above. The task in hand is to transform this plot of land into a dusun. What it takes is weeding, cutting away unwanted trees and shrubs ... still it will take some planning and hard labour !

limau madu

There are 33 mandarin orange clones registered with the DOA in the country, but only two are viable for commercial farming. The two clones are limau madu and limau langkat. The scientific name is citrus suhuiensis hort, and it belongs to the family of rutaceae. The tropical fruit is medium in size, the fruitskin is smooth .. green to yellowish green when ripe. Orange pulp and very sweet. The clone we intend to plant is limau madu or honey mandarin .

Maturity is 3 to 4 years after planting. First year of yield 8,000 kg per hectare of fruit. By the 6th year, the yield goes up to 24,000 kg. A non seasonal tree, fruiting is year round but peak season is Oct-Nov and Mar-Apr.

Per kg of limau madu is selling between RM 5-6 across the country.

P2 for honey mandarin

Several hundred metres away from P1, there is another plot of land. This plot of land, which we will call P2, used to be cultivated, however over time it had been left unattended. Now overgrown with jungle undergrowth, we need to do some clearing . Equally fertile, it will be ideal for our next dusun. P2 will be for growing honey mandarin or limau madu. It will be a government initiated project for 200 trees. Scheduled to start sometime in January 2009, we need to get the land ready for cultivation.

Above pictures show the discreet entrance. Not many will find this entrance , at least for now. Will take a tour of what's in store at P2 next couple of days.

IOI Community Run 2008

Last Sunday, November 8 .. we took part in a local community run. Took part in the 5.5 km run and managed to finish 3 mins ahead of Alex. Asp came in 1st , according to him , in the 3.2 km family run. TJ also finished the 3.2 km.

Grafting lesson

When we go to the nurseries to buy grafted seedlings, we are always confronted with the thoughts ... why don't we learn to do grafting. We have a very good mango ulam tree , at our house. These mangos make very good pickles and are ideal to eat with spicy condiments like belacan. These mangos have a fruiting season and there will be at least a thousand fruits. They can fetch very good selling price of RM5-6 per kg. The grafting have been done in June 2008 ... we will see if we are successful with our experiments , when we unwrapped next month. Hopefully we have a pleasant revelation !

Organic rice

Doing the old-fashioned way, we planted the land area with padi seedlings a couple of months back. Farmers still practice gotong-royong. Today or this week I help you, next week you help me. Of course hired farm-hands are willing to work at various stages of planting. Take a good look in between the long leaves .. you'll find the healthy growing durian and mango plants.

More pics at the 6th month

Farming is a continuous process. Although we mapped out the various phases - preparing land , planting seedlings , adding fertilizers , weeding , planting the cash crops .. and lots of waiting , in reality each week , each month we tend the farm and plant new crops. What we sowed is what we are going to reap ..

Right after a few cucumber harvest, we planted hill padi. Soil conditions were excellent for growing organic rice. Not so much for commercial objective , although in recent months , the price of rice have skyrocketed. At least with all these rice, they are chemical-free.

So in between the growing fruit plants , the padi replaces the weed or lallang. It will be a transformation , vastly different from the original secondary jungle and abandoned old rubber trees.

6th month growth

I cannot wait for the plants to grow taller, but at the 6th month some have grown faster than the rest. A simple lesson from this - always get the older grafted seedling from the nursery ! Even if it cost more, it is still a time-saving measure. These pictures were taken two weeks ago. Overall a healthy growing phase for P1.

Cucumber terrain

While the durian and mango plants take their time to grow, we planted cash crops. Cucumbers were the first vege that we planted. Usually farmers erect poles and let the cucumber plant creep up , but in our case here , we lay them on the ground. And they grew beautifully down the terrain. Such a pretty sight !

1st Anniversary

It is six months since we planted the 1st batch of grafted durian seedlings. It is coming to the end of Year 1 since we first prepared the land for fruit farming. For the most part, the seedlings have grown very well and have developed into young plants. In between the durian, longan, langsat, mango, lime, mangosteen plants we planted cash crops like cucumbers, brinjals and bananas. However, we had two seedlings that needed to be replaced. Indeed, the dusun is shaping up ! We shall call this first cultivated plot of land P1.

Yes, by naming this plot P1, we are setting our sights at several other plot of lands. We have surveyed P2, P3 and P4. Our intent is to start land clearing on P2 next month. Land clearing appears to be easier for P2, as it is taking over an existing farm that has been overgrown by weeds and creepers. There are quite a number of good old fruit trees that we may want to keep. Except now we need to upkeep with fertilizers. Primary cultivated crop for P2 is going to be honey oranges, otherwise called mandarin limau madu. It is going to be a busy December month.

Sweet rambutans

After planting the various fruit seedlings, I had to plant some rambutans. Although there were a couple of old, mature trees in adjacent plot of land (like in picture), I managed to buy 5 good grafted clones from the local weekend morning bazaar. Better clones mean better fruit texture. Not sour but sweet. Freshly plucked rambutans are simply delicious.

The next picture was taken during my last trip to Sibu. And I visited the morning bazaar as well. During peak periods, price go beyond RM5 per kg for this hairy fruit.

Just arrived from farm

Yesterday I was at a local hypermarket and I noticed 6 baskets of D24s, just offloaded from a fully loaded truck. Apparently the durians were from a farm in Johore. The consignment of durians were for a stall outside the entrance of the hypermarket. Sold at RM10 for a pack of 3 seeds or RM25 for 3 packs. Business must be alright, as I noticed the stall operated daily. Next to this stall was a coconut vendor, selling the fragrant pandan coconut. RM2 per coconut. This is a typical scene outside most hypermarkets in KL.

Under the tents

Earlier this month, there was a big regional agriculture exhibition, MAHA, in Serdang, KL. Lots of exhibitors, farm animals and equipments .. there was also a rodeo show put up by a US agro -consortium. Lots of tropical fruits and we finally spotted under these outdoor tents, loads and loads of D24s. Promo price RM10 per kg. Customers ate on the spot, no hassle to open the durian. Very thick and creamy !

Stay focus

I have been faithful to my running shoes. Three times a week , I try to clock in the kilometres at the stadium. If I stay off the running tracks for a while , regaining stamina is more than difficult. It is like trying to restart an old car ... once I get the momentum going , I shouldn't stop. I need to stay focus.

Easier said than done , to stay focus I need cooperation from every part of my limbs. Each time I hit the running tracks , it is a challenge. Not only convince my limbs to exert extra energy , but to convince my brain not to give up.

The on-going battle gets harder each time a faster runner overtakes us. I need to remind myself to stick to my own mission of finishing the set objectives of 20 or 25 laps. Running after a faster runner usually throws me off my rhythm and pushes me to the brink of giving up. I try to reassure myself .. practise makes perfect and .. no shortcuts to success !

Of course, I need to remind myself .. I have a fridge magnet that says " you must do the thing that you think you cannot do " . Oh well ...

Life begins

In durian planting , there are various ways of propagation - budgrafting , cleft grafting and approach grafting. The most common practise with the farming community is to grow seedling rootstocks in black polybags , then grafted. Ideally the grafted plants are raised to 1 - 1.5 metres in the nursery. This is to enhance the survival rate , from unpredictable mother nature. But sometimes we do not have the perfect situation ! The clones from the government nursery are less than 1 metre. Much too young to our liking. Rather than waiting for them to be nursed at the green house, ours had to take the plunge ...

When it comes to planting holes , they are 0.6m x 0.6m x 0.6m . Holes are dug about 3 weeks before actual planting . The plants are then transplanted , together with compost. In our case , with the aftermath of land burning , soil conditions are perfect for any planting.

Care must be taken not to damage the roots of the plant. Right after planting , we erected temporary shades , using wide-spanned coconut leaves to shield from the hot afternoon sun. At least temperature came down a few notches for sure !

For fear of the plants drying up and getting roasted , watering is important. With all the hard work the past few months, we prayed The Lord for rain that evening. Our prayers were answered generously as it rained cats and dogs ...

Planting begins

Thirty feet apart , we organized the planting. We started from the top of the hill , moving down the slopes. A hilly terrain to work on , but very ideal for growing durian. We hired a few local farmers who not only had experience but more importantly green fingers .. yes there are daily paid farmers that one can get assistance. It really speeds up the process.

More seedlings

These were some of the other fruit seedlings that we planted , like longan, mango , lime and honey orange. The selected kampung durian seedlings were taller and more matured as we prepared them much earlier. Although not grafted durian seedlings , we wanted to add more varieties to the dusun. Our intent was to grow the finest durian varieties. So far we have planted mostly D24 , D101 and D88s .

Seedlings

Planting started on May 26, 2008 , Most of the seedlings were purchased from the government nursery station. Three main varieties were planted namely D24 , D101 and MDUR88 . These were amongst the most popular clones in Malaysia. Along with this we also selected some very good kampung durian clones.

This is the start of a long journey ... planting and nurturing and fertilizers. Most of the durian seedlings were planted at the slopes , each 30 feet apart. For the initial stage, a total of 42 durian seedlings were planted. There were a couple of mango , longan , honey orange and pandan coconut seedlings as well.