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Apr 17, 2013

Useful Plants At The Farm - Sirihan, Piper Aduncum / Angustifolium

The early European explorers to South America must have thought this plant is so important they propagated it where ever they went.  It is now found naturalised in most tropical parts of the world.

At our farm it is a valuable part of the natural remedies we have for our chickens.

sirihan, piper aduncum, piper angustifolium, natural remedies for chickens,

The inflorescence attracts squirrels, tree shrews and civets.

sirihan, piper aduncum, piper angustifolium, natural remedies for chickens,

Like its cousin the green pepper vine, lots and lots of inflorescence.

sirihan, piper aduncum, piper angustifolium, natural remedies for chickens,

In the fields, they provide shade for the chickens but be careful, they are very invasive and will take over the entire padang!

Here's the technical information : Rain-Tree.com

Crush the leaves.  If it has a slight peppery smell, you have the sirihan in your farm.  Use it by pounding the leaves and squeezing out in a pail of water, or by decoction.  Dosage is dependent on age and symptom.

Apr 16, 2013

Free-Range Egg Model for Rural Farmers

This is the free-range layer model we intend to implement as a social enterprise with rural low-income farmers.  If they sell the eggs themselves at the Farmers’ Market, each egg should fetch rm1.00 each.  We will supply them 200 pullets that are close to laying unlike what is happening now when the poor farmers are given day-olds and in no time, disease will wipe out all the birds.

At the very least, the farmers can expect an income of between rm2500 to rm3000.00 per month.

We will be starting with five farmers in Pahang.

Apr 15, 2013

Sights And Sounds Of The Farm - Emerald Doves

Emerald Doves are usually very flighty and nervous near humans due to poaching.  At our farm, they are resident and are found in many nooks and corners.  Many times they will just swagger off, in a pigeony way (which they are) when they see us.  Here's one that's just in front of our workers' quarters.  The video of it feeding in our garden captures the sounds of the farm at around 11 am, mid-morning.  If we hadn't tell you, you would think the video is in the forest with the myriad sounds of birds and insects.  But that's what we are trying to achieve in our farming - that we can be commercial and yet be in harmony with Nature.

emerald dove, nature farming, permaculture, sounds of tropical forest,

Here's a recording of the sounds that you will hear at our farm.  You would be forgiven if you think you are in the jungle.

Apr 14, 2013

Our Chickens Love Our Fruits As Much As We Do

People ask why we feed our chickens fruits, up to 40% of their diet, and not sell the fruits and use the proceeds to buy cheap grains like corn, since fruits, especially our certified organic fruits fetch such a high price?  Well the answer is this: We Are What Our Animals Eat, health-wise that is.  Bananas for example have an omega 6: omega 3 ratio of 1:1.  Corn is 40:1.  Chickens fed corn and other grains will have ratios of 40:1 and more.  One chicken we had tested came in at 59:1.  That's scary. And what about those chickens fed organic grains?  Well, at the risk of sounding flippant, you will end up with 'organic' omega 6.