DQ Farm (est. 1991)

Marcotting or air layering is used in our farm to propagate fruit trees such as limau nipis, limau purut and lemon.  We also use it to increase the numbers of any endangered tree we come across.

Matured lemon tree from marcotting

 We have high success rates with the following method:

Have a clean cut on the chosen branch from the side of the tree facing the morning sun

Dusting with rooting powder helps speed up the process

Wrap with areca nut fiber that has been pre-soaked for an hour or so with boiled water

Wrap well with cling wrap

Finally wrap with aluminum foil

Keep the areca nut fiber continuously moist by injecting in boiled water once a week.  Use a syringe.  Inspect for root formation progress once a month.

Making areca nut fiber is easy.

Areca Palm ( areca catechu ) at the farm

Ripe areca nuts

Dry areca nuts

Peel open to expose the fiber

Fine areca nut fiber 

Sterilise the fiber by soaking in a light iodine solution for an hour and then sun drying.  The fiber will keep for months.  The fiber can also be used to make ropes, be woven, etc. Remember to soak thoroughly when using for marcotting.

 Next, how to poly bag it, and how to plant it in Marcotting II. 

Officers from FAMA say we are the only organic watermelon producer in the country.  They should know, since they visit almost all farms in Malaysia in efforts to upgrade farming methods to meet international marketing requirements.

We sell our watermelon at only one shop, Fine Organic Gallery at No. 103, Jalan Aminuddin Baki, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur.

The owner is Mr. Ng (picture below), and the phone number is 03 7727 6044

Here's his shop:

watermelon on raised beds made of old tires

We collect thrown plastic bottles to use to protect young watermelon seedlings

Proud farmer, Pak Cik Razaly, manager at the farm

Here are our previous posts on how we grow our watermelon:

1. Watermelons on raised beds

2. Look at what our composts did

3. Organic watermelons anyone

One of our passion is to teach people to grow chemical free vegetables at home; yes, in your terrace link house smack in the heart of P.J. or Subang Jaya.

Recently we held an 8 hour home organic vegetable gardening course for U3A students over 4 weekends during their second semester for 2010. U3A is located at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

We roped in Wong Tar Huei (TH), an Electrical Engineer by training but an organic gardening enthusiast for the past 12 years.

These are pictures of vegetables that TH have grown in his corner link house in P.J. whenever he has spare time and during weekends:

Cauliflower

Making use of free vertical spaces - the fence, to grow bitter gourd

Pumpkins

Cabbages in pots

Close up of home-grown cabbage, grown in a pot

TH sharing his experiences

Section of the class

40 U3A students signed up for the course.

The way to handle them is to bundle them in a sack and release them far, far away....

16 footer, 90 pounder (40kg) being manhandled by bouncers from Nepal.

We have received our Malaysia's Best certification from FAMA. This means that the country's national marketing authority for agricultural produce have satisfied themselves that we have met all national and international good agricultural practices.

We remain the ONLY certified organic durian farm in the country.  There's this guy selling 'organic' durians from Pahang at Bangsar in front of TMC.  It is not from our farm, be warned!

If we do sell our durians locally, it will be with a SOM sticker and a copy of the FAMA certificate or the organic certificate (SOM certificate) below:

West side sun shading leading to energy free cooling via passion fruit vines at our farm:

Plastic coated wires to act as support for the vines.

External ambient temperature, 38 celcius at 2 to 3pm.  Under the passion fruit shade, 31 to 32 celcius.

A film crew from the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water came to shoot a short for their internet tv, 1hijau.tv.

Joe and Dhanya Nambiar, the presenter

Beauty and the Beast

Look, a cooked egg from the compost heap!

Here's the website of our Ministry: http://www.kettha.gov.my/en

Here's the link to their online tv: http://www.1hijau.tv/index.php

I think the Ministry is doing a great job reaching out and communicating.

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 ):

Officers representing the Crop Quality Control Division of the Ministry of Agriculture came on short notice to audit the farm today.  Water, soil and plant samples were taken.

We had an interesting couple of hours sharing information and learning from each other.  It was a pleasure to meet so many young professionals in Government who are genuinely interested in sustainable farming and hopefully when they reach levels of policy making, they will remember that it IS possible to farm without damaging the environment and depleting resources.