Farm Visit: Baba Educational Farm Tour In Simpang Ampat

Baba is selling organic vegetable once a month in our office. They also provide vege box in certain pick up points.  Last Saturday, we reached their office at Kean Beng Lee Industries at 8am before heading to the farm. The farm is 7 acres but only 3 acres are used for planting, mainly educational purpose. 

It was quite tough to stay awake for 1.5 hours in early morning to listen to sharing and watch video clips. No doubt the materials were great but i personally like to be in the farm more. We were led to the farm which are about 2 km from their office. It was one of the rainy days during the Nine Emperor God Festival. Fortunately, all of us were supplied with Baba umbrella..hehe..

Farm at a glance. This farm is mainly for educational purpose for visitors and farmers to learn organic farming. Vegetables sold by Baba are mostly not from this farm but from the farmer they train. We had chance to walk around the farm after the rain stopped.

 

帝王菜. I knows the leaves are used for cooking but never knew the plant has seeds. 

Seeds of 帝王菜. The dark color seeds can be used for planting.

So many long beans!

First time seeing long bean attached to a plant..haha

My first macro picture with insect! I know it was just an ugly fly but i am happy to capture it ....haha!!

These are Rosella flowers, the Rosella fruits are next to the flower.

Rosella plant itself can repel insects to protect vegetable. The leaves can be eaten and taste as sour as the Rosella fruits!

Cucumber plant with small yellow flowers.

Flower of Lady Fingers. So elegant!

Another side of the farm is full of Lady Finger plants.

 

四瓣豆 with small purple flowers.

 

Baby corn.

Baby Brinjal. These Brinjal were ready for harvested despite small size.

A sign in the farm showing how compost is done. They mentioned about using selective cow manure by farmer to use in compost. Very tedious. Ideally cow manure is great because cow eat grass but i think they are very hard to get.

I found organic fertilizer in the farm though. :)

Crop rotation in the farming cycle.

I quickly snap some photos when the farmer just plucked the cucumber and Brinjal from the plants. They are small. These were not for sale, i guess they were packed into the vege box as i inquired before the trip, most vege of this farm are allocated for vege box.

Papayas and cucumbers in a row.

Drinks made of Lemon Balm and sugar. Very refreshing and first time trying.

Vegetable and egg fried rice, and delicious cabbage and  佛手瓜 salad (Prepared by Jess). Yummy!!
I was very impressed on the drinks and foods prepared by the staffs as they were cooked with the organic vegetables from the farm.

Each of us had chance to choose our plant and add soil to the pot.

Yay!! I got a flower plant. Next to my plant is Stevia Rebaudiana (甜菊). The leave is very sweet and can use to replace sugar. I am counting on Yen Mei to grow this in her garden and give us baby plants next time...hehe

Sharing in the farm.

Do you know what is this? This is the White Cabbage. It was soaked into the colored water to show how the colored water is absorbed and can't wash away, just like the pesticides and herbicides. So don't need to bother to wash vegetables many many times if it is not organic.....

In summary, i enjoyed the time spent in the farm most. I got to see many types of vegetables which i had never seen their plants before. Too bad it was rainy and the soil is muddy, otherwise we would have chance to experience cleaning the weeds ....do some hard works like farmer...hehe..

This is also a fun outdoor activities for parents and kids to get away from TV and Ipad. Right?
Thanks to all the staffs from Baba whom gave us such a wonderful experience in the farm!

Office address: Kean Beng Lee Industries
No 1384, Atas Lot 841, MK-1, Jalan Tasek
14120 Simpang Ampat
Contact: Nicole Chew/ Emerald Tai
017-202 6122/ 012-410 0906
Fee: RM 5 for adult. Inclusive lunch, one plant and one vegetable to take home.
Duration:  8a-12p
Certification: SOM, Baba Insight 

Farm Visit: Corn Farm in Kedah

I always wanted to visit Hee's corn farm because once a while, he will deliver his chemical-free corns to our office for sale. The corns are delicious!

His farm is situated in Kampung Relau, a small town in Bandar Baharu, Kedah. One fine Sunday, we waited at the exit of Jawi toll and Hee led us to his farm which was about 20 minutes drive.

It is a three acres farm. When we stepped into the farm, we didn't see a lot of corn plants because he divided the farm into small plots and grow the corns on certain plots only.

Hee pointed to us the direction where the wild boars came and ate some of his corns. He said animal has the wisdom to eat the not so well grown crops and left the better quality crops for the human. Small part of the corn plants were actually flooded with water after rain.

He is doing one-man show in this farm. These are the fruits of his labor. We had the privilege to eat raw as Hee gave us a corn which was freshly plucked from the plant. It was the sweetest corn i ever had in my life! So fresh and so juicy!

Believe or not, he did not need to water the plants at all. No irrigated water, no sprinkle, and no hose in the farm.  The corn plants are solely depending on the rain water. When the weather is hot and dry, the leaves will be twisted to protect itself from "dehydration".

The stem of the corn plant indicated the nutrients it has and how good the corns will be. This one is rather fat...

We noticed the surface of the soil was quite dry until cracked. Hee said it was alright because the soil down there was actually moist. Healthy soil has the capability to absorb water from the lower ground.

These corn plants are 1 months old. This explained why we will not get to eat corns until September. A cycle of growing corn until harvest is about 65 days.

After harvesting the corns, the plants will be removed. The plot will be emptied for couple of months to improve the soil fertility.

Hee explained soils with high organic matter content contain a greater abundance of water-stable aggregates and have a greater exchange capacity, which translates into better structure and water-holding and nutrient absorption capacities. When the soil healthy, the plant will healthy and attract less insects, also less fertilizer will be needed.

In the farm, we can see plenty of bushes next to the corn plants. This is rare in normal farming because every inch of the soil are fully utilized for planting. These bushes serve the function to attract insects so that they won't attack the corn plants. I was curious how the insects know they should go to the bushes instead of the corn plants. Hee said the bushes have been there for long time and the corn plants are recently grown, so the insects recognize the place they used to visit. How interesting!

He did not bother to remove the unwanted grass or unknown plants. He believes they are helpers to improve the soil.

This is another plot that Hee did not grow anything to treat the soil. He is using Biodynamic method in his planting.
Wiki: 
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system.

Also, he is practicing "planting by the moon". Plants respond to the same gravitational pull of tides that affect the oceans, which alternately stimulates root and leaf growth. This methods has been practiced for hundreds of years. It is a great compliment to organic farming because the soil is not chemically treated.

This was the only vegetable found in the farm. Isn't the color of red bayam beautiful? Hee said the leaves has high iron.

What was Hee doing?

He plucked a baby corn for us to try! I tasted the silk first and it was actually sweet!!

Oh my god! This was the sweetest and tastiest baby corn i ever had. I could never imagine it can be so nice! After eating, my mouth still has the fragrant of corn. 

 The herb with small white flowers and the herb below it are naturally grown in the farm and Hee eats them everyday to give him energy. I tasted the one below, bitter!

Enzyme made of the fruits skin and chicken manure are used for composting.

Other side of the farm we saw Rosella plants and papaya tress. They are still young.

When we were about to leave, Hee told me that day was rather dry so no leeches. During rainy days, there are huge leeches from the small stream outside his farm that can suck blood for 2 hours until reach the size of hand palm and left a Y-shape wound! Honestly, i love nature but i am not so brave. Both my legs were soft after hearing what he said and luckily he only told after the visit. To Hee, he was fine with them and he said is good for health. 

After the visit, i learnt that life can be so simple and so natural. Hee never complaint the animals ate his corn or damaged his corns, or complaint about small harvest. Yet, he has so much to share from his experiences and knowledge, and keep improving for the next planting. 

Grow anything naturally is never easy. I wish to thank him for his love and care for the soils while growing us the healthy and nutrition corns.  Hee passed to us two boxes of corn kernels that his mom prepared for us before we left. I haven't met her but really appreciate her kindness. 

The following Monday  morning when i drove to work, it was raining. Naturally I thought of the corn plants as they got water that morning.

It was a short visit but it energized and inspired me so much! (is it because of the herbs? haha..)

How to visit:  Please contact Hee @ 012-6280422