DQ Farm (est. 1991)

We entered into an area of the forest where no human have entered before (or at least, not for a long, long while).  The 'feel' is different.  There was no sense of 'fear' from the jungle.  We felt 'protected', and being 'embraced' and one feels a reluctance to leave.  There were no mosquitoes, no disturbances.  Only the quiet peace of a 100 million year old rain forest.

The forest that we entered looking for a water source for our farm:

We reached the area after following a series of newly discovered small waterfalls rising over 100 meters. We named the falls 'Air Terjun Wahyu / Wahyu Falls' after Ali Wahyudi our Indonesian Technical Adviser who first discovered the falls.

How long ago was it when the first hominid appeared? 8 million years?

Is it not possible for another intelligence, another 'awareness' to have developed in our rain forests over the 150 million years of its existence ?

I must go back to the peace of the rain forest ....

On 30th Oct we switched on the sounds on a permanent basis.  Today, we noticed the droppings of at least 10 pairs of newly weds.  This must surely break all records for the time it takes for the walit to take up home in a man-made structure.

The walit in a farm like DQ provides a useful function in keeping the insect population low.  We first noticed the walit when we were scratching our heads as to why our honey bees just keep on disappearing.  Then we put two and two together. 

Completed walit house plus garden.

The forest around the farm never fails to surprise me.  After 20 years you would  have thought I have seen it all.  Then suddenly this lovely mimosa appeared.  Recently it was a strange passiflora.

What a lovely mimosa (click on pics to enlarge).

The seeds with a single wing.

The distinctive mimosa leaves.

The fruits.

There are warriors in  my midst; fighting thankless battles on our behalf.

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Today we had our first trial run calling the walit.

Completed walit house.

We switched on the 'bazooka' tweeter for the first time. It's that dark outline jutting up on the roof, in the picture.  It has a range of 1 km. 

And the walit came after just 5 minutes !  We counted easily a hundred! They dove down and around the house and some went in on investigatory flights.

Now we wait for some newly wed couples to make our house their home.

Officers from the Ministry of Agriculture came today to audit the farm on its organic compliance.  Water and plant samples were taken and records were carefully checked.  The auditors even asked after the welfare of the workers.

Puan Nurul Al Hana and Tengku Azman, auditors from the Ministry having a cup of mulberry leaf tea after the audit.

I love watermelons and just cannot find organic ones.

So we decided to grow our own.

Watermelons need sandy soil and plenty of water.

Watermelons on the way.

Almost ready for harvest.  So far, no loss to insects and disease due to our sprays of Teh Qi and herbs.

Our first watermelon

Beautiful color and juicy; shared by Alternative Mom and her family with us.

Next, watermelon on raised beds:

If successful, we will go commercial as the market have very little and inconsistent supply of organic watermelons.

Did two hours of taichi and qi gong at this small cascading stream near the farm yesterday.  The place was deserted.

Click on pictures to enlarge

A group of about ten Raja Brooke's Birdwings came to join me, fluttering around me with no fear.

And a pair of pretty yellow-green butterflies.

It doesn't get much better than this.

This morning my BP was 115 / 68; like new.  And that crick in the knee was gone.

Have to make it a habit to do the exercises here, each week; amongst the Raja Brooke's Birdwings

We have this very delicate small curcuma (barely a foot tall) that produces a completely black rhizome.

It is clearly not temu hitam or curcuma aeruginosa roxb.  The temu hitam plant is larger, more robust and the rhizome is only slightly bluish. The leaves of the temu hitam have a purplish spine and the flower is reddish, pinkish.

 Click for close up

The completely black / deep purple rhizome.

 Click for close up

The rhizome before removing the thin skin.

It does not seem to be curcuma caesia or  Kali Haldi (click on word for wiki article) which looks like curcuma aeruginosa.

 Click for close-up

Anybody knows the scientific name for this curcuma?  I have not been able to find any reference to it.

 Tok Guru on tree planting and the act of Ibadah: