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.