DQ Farm (est. 1991)

I write this blog to celebrate life; that there is to be found the work of God ( Stephen Hawking's latest book, The Grand Design, notwithstanding ), and the love of God for us everywhere, in the rainforests, in trees, in birds; everywhere.

And in wonderful people like Lechimi Raman; of humble birth and humble upbringing but of the noblest of spirit.

As I am honoured to know the rainforests, the birds, the magical plants in the jungle, so too am I honoured to have known Lechimi Raman.

It is de riguer nowadays to put the blame for youths who turn out badly on the environment, on poverty, on physical deprivation, and a host of other external reasons.

Lechimi brought up 5 sons, singlehandedly, in the most difficult of circumstances.

They completed their tertiary education, became well balanced, loving human beings despite their deprived background, and grew to become role models for all those who know them or hear of them.  That is the legacy of Lechimi; that no matter the adversity, one continues to strive, one continues to do the best one can, with no blame or anger or bitterness in the heart towards anybody or anything.

I remember days spent in her humble home, and enjoying her curries and her fried curried fish.  After a long day of rugby, my hungry friends and I would wolf down an entire week's provisions I am sure, but she will always be topping up, always with that warm, open, motherly smile of hers; happy that her son's friends are enjoying her cooking.

I remember well her love for us all.  We were her children as well; and yes, I have had a couple of smacks from her.

Though time and distances have caused memories to fade, nonetheless the heart never forgets.

Thank you Lechimi, for being there for us in our growing up years.  We all grew up well, and you were part of the reason why.

May you rest in peace.

Our efforts to attract butterflies to the farm are showing results.

We noticed many new species lately, but it is not always possible to take a photo due to our limited equipment.

Here's a Common Rose Swallowtail that came and perch itself above our heads while we were having lunch.

Common Rose Swallowtail (Atrophaneura Pachliopta)

It's a beauty and behaves very nonchanlantly in the presence of humans.

Here's a Cruiser ( Vindula dejone erotella ):

The latest craze in the US is black rice, touted as a superfood because of its high anthocyanin content.  Here's an article from Yahoo! News. 

Wait till these direct sales marketers and health food companies get hold of our black kunyit.

I believe this curcuma is yet unnamed and clearly, it is a rich source of anthocyanin.  Having used it for more than a year, I can vouch for its strong anti-inflammation properties. 

It is not found in Indonesia otherwise the jamu ladies would have long ago included it in their concoction.  The Indonesian temu hitam or temu ereng ( Curcuma aeruginosa Roxb) is only slightly purplish.  It is clearly not Indian too, as the flowers and leaves are different from the curcuma caesia which more closely resembles the temu hitam.  The rhizomes too are not deep purple / black as the rhizomes here.

 

So best get the loggers to stop cutting down the forests as this little curcuma sits quietly in the shade and can easily be overlooked. 

 

There must be more of such magical plants in our 150 million year old forests.  Shame isn't it if they are lost.