DQ Farm (est. 1991)

The new Head of Veterinary Services Department, Pahang, Dr. Muhammad Safaruddin and his assistant, Dr. Rohaya, came on a surprise visit to the farm today.

Sorry Doc, it has been raining for the past few days and the farm is a tad untidy.  Anyway, it's a pleasure to have met you and in spite of fasting and all, you and your assistant certainly impressed us with your professionalism.

The mulberry tree (morus alba; pokok daun ulat sutera; chinese: sang shu ) has a long history ( 3000 years ) of medicinal use in China, Korea and Japan.

Sinseh Soon from Raub came to the farm for a 'look-see' and told us about the medicinal uses of the tree, under which he was resting.

Used as a shade tree for chickens.

Easy to propagate, just stick a cutting into some soil.

Boil the leaves ( sang ye ) for 20 mins for a 'cooling' tea.  Boil with  goji berries ( go to the Chinese herbal store and ask for kei ji ) to improve eye sight.  Boil with Chinese red dates to detoxify kidneys and to promote urination.

The bark ( sang bai pi ) is used to strengthen the lungs and to relieve nasal congestion.  To make:

Scrape off the thin outer layer

Pound it and strip it off

Ready to use.  Dry well to store.  Boil and reduce by 50% before drinking.

The wood ( sang zhi ) of the stripped branches is used to relieve bodily aches and pains.

Dry the wood to store.

Pound and boil to reduce by 50% and drink twice a day to relieve bodily aches and pains.

The roots can be boiled and reduced by 50% to relieve gout and to relieve 'masuk angin' pains such as rheumatism.

Olden days, families used to boil the roots or twigs with poultry meat for a health promoting soup.  Olden days, food is prepared and consumed according to health requirements - to balance yin and yang, to 'warm' the body during cold months, to improve blood flow, to enhance 'qi', etc.  Rainy humid seasons will have their food, dry hot seasons, theirs.

Food now is looked at differently.   It is no longer to promote health and to strengthen one's body.  It is to satisfy appetite and taste-buds. 

There was a flutter and a flash of iridescent green darting up from the ground towards some thick low branches.  I thought I saw a pair of pigeon.

I approached the branches slowly and they darted off again to a clump of kantan and then were gone.

I knew then that they were a pair of punai tanah or Emerald Dove (chalcophaps indica indica).  They were flighty, as are most first timers (birds I mean) to the farm.  Nonetheless it is great that this pair of young adults have come down from the rainforest to the farm.  Hopefully they will nest here.

Emerald doves in Malaysia are shy and flighty, possibly due to over hunting.  It is an honour that this pair feel secure enough to visit us.

Here's a photo I downloaded from Lip Kee's photostream at Flickr.

Readers, should you decide to use this picture, please accept the terms of use at Lip Kee's page at Flickr. It is the right thing to do (I have found my pics and writings in odd places without attribution and it is annoying to say the least).

The incident with the pigeons happened so fast, I did not have the chance to get my camera.  In any event without a good telephoto lens I would not be able to capture them.  Time to invest in a 400mm lens at least, I suppose.  That will set me back a few thousand ringgit.  Maybe next year.

This is what we use as a preventive, especially during rainy weather against bacterial and fungal attacks on our plants (leaves and stems, not roots);

Take 500 grams gelenggang ( cassia alata ) leaves and 400 grams lengkuas rhizomes ( alpinia galanga ) and pound them.

Lengkuas

Gelenggang

Mix Well

Then squeeze out active ingredients in 30 liters of water

After mixing and squeezing well in 30 liters of water, filter, then spray immediately without dilution.  Remember, use immediately.

We find the spray effective as a prevention against most fungal and bacterial infections on stems and leaves.  Spray regularly but lightly (sparingly) twice a week.  During bad weather or where there are early signs of disease, spray once a day sparingly (lightly) until disease is arrested. It is not effective if disease is well on its way.

Note however that no amount of spraying is going to help you if your soil is unhealthy, your plant is from weak seeds, and your plant is generally weak from lack of nutrients. 

Wild gingers have lovely flowers seldom seen.

Some of the wild gingers planted at our farm are flowering (click on pics for enlarged image).

The delicate flower of the potent all-black kunyit hitam or black turmeric, scientific name unknown.  We have successfully treated chronic inflammation and immune system related problems such as lichen planus with this ginger.

The Raja Brooke's Birdwings (Trogonoptera Brookiana) are gone from the waterfall.  What a difference a week makes. The clearing works at the side of the falls and further up have destroyed their habitat. All the aristolochia foveolata, their host plant, have been slashed as the undergrowth was cleared.

This is a photo we took of them in September last year at the banks of the falls (the smaller one is a Common Jay) :

Pair of Common Jay puddling at a footpath in the farm.

The low clouds made me contemplative, sitting by that waterfall.  Reminiscing that long train ride to Brockenhurst on a damp autumn day.  And alone in a stark rented apartment a different life ago, overlooking Tower Bridge; anxiously waiting.... And having cheap ice cream for lunch and dinner.

Then there was a barely perceptible change in the air.  An urgency in the breeze; a quickening in the mood of the birds that surrounded me and the Raja Brookes all suddenly took off.

Then a roar, and a wall of water came towards me...

This is what happens when we clear forests; water no longer have time to infiltrate, they 'runoff'.

Those autumn days were full of uncertainty.  Today, as I contemplate the flash flood before me, the heart is troubled by renewed uncertainty as development encroach the haven that's DQ Farm.

You don't find many kuini (mangifera odorata) in the market.  Part of the reason is that the tree is not very productive as far as commercial farmers are concerned.  For the same amount of fertiliser, pesticides and labour, the production is significantly less for the kuini tree as compared to other commercial hybrid mangoes.

Kuini trees in a row

Pak Din plucking the fruits

Another reason is that the weevils love kuini and losses can be high, unless one really go the 'overkill' path and spray pesticides copiously.

At DQ Farm we use nature to help us.  And nature works 24/7 without rest.

Vicious red ants swarming entire trees from root to fruit, keeping the fruits free from weevils and other insects.

Red ants swarming a fallen fruit protecting it from insects:

 buah macang buah kuini

masak sebiji dalam daun

mengapa begini hatiku ini

habis bulan berganti tahun

My translation:

the kuini the machang

fold one in leaves to ripen

this heart of mine, oh what's hidden

a year passes with each fading month