Matoa at Desa Seri Iskandar

This matoa tree has a story of its own. We joined a group tour to Batam Island way back in 2015.  Over a lunch there we were served with matoa fruits as desert. Woalla, such exotic taste!... , I put it as extremely delicious and must have surpassed all other fruits I have tasted before. I collected about 50 seeds and brought back home. Haha...

To my surprise, all seeds germinated. Only two seedlings found their way to my little garden in Seri Iskandar. The rest were distributed as gifts.

Five years later, the two matoa trees reach maturity and for the first time they bloom and put on nice display of fruits.

We will wait for the first harvest in two months time....

matoa flowers 7/9/2019

matoa fruits start appearing 25/9/2019

bangchik and kakdah

desa seri iskandar

Leucaena (Petai Belalang), a player in garden sustainability.

A young lady Nor Hidayah came to the office last week for her doctoral research. I was chosen as her expert panel for professional inputs, which I gladly accepted, to ease out her quest for knowledge. The central issue is sustainability.  While going through the discussion, I pointed out FOREST as the best example of sustainability, the fact that forest exist within a system that is self propelled.  We may emulate contributing factors in forest sustainability into other systems.

This particular post is about Leucaena, which many would happily regard as a nuisance, or invasive.  Folks around here call it as petai belalang.  I on the hand place Leucaena as a treasure. Leucana has small leaves which would fall off from time to time. So small the leaves, that they blend well with grass underneath and decay in no time, adding organic matter to the soil. Some snails may venture out at night munching leaves on the ground, and probably leave poos behind , again as first class  organic fertiliser in ready form.  And that is a recipe for sustainability.

Pic 1: Leucaena alongside Moringa, both with fine leaves
behaving like deciduous trees,
dropping leaves regularly as agent of organic matter

Pic 2: These leucaena had been pruned twice already.
In the wild, Leucaena will be very bushy.

________bangchik and kakdah________

Pigeon Peas - Kacang Dhal an adventure

The interest to grow pigeon peas began over the last two years,  as we were beginning to get hooked on permaculture.   I bought the first batch of pigeon pea seeds through ebay. The seeds came from Thailand, which share similar climate like ours; hot, humid and wet. 

Two trees died during monsoon season in tandem with reports I read about pigeon peas don't really like water log.  The rest are still growing, two in Putrajaya Backyard Garden, another four in Seri Iskandar Home.  However none seems to be flowering after 1 and a half years. The seeds packet mentioned about maturity period of about 160-180 days which adds up to 5 to 6 months.  So what went wrong with our pigeon pea tree?  Lets see if the dry spell of March and April can induce much awaited flowerings. 

Last month, while searching for early maturing variety, I came up to etsy online. 50 seeds altogether, it was suggested  to grow them at shorter intervals, 3 feet apart.  Once these little seedlings toughen a little bit, they become my hope of pigeon peas flowerings and fruiting. Before the end of the year, some conclusions can be made about backyard pigeon peas cultivation.  

I have been successful with sorghum and sunn hemp, who knows pigeon peas will not end with dissappointment.

pigeon pea seedlings of early maturing variety

Pic 1: pigeon peas seedlings, early maturing variety

Pic 2: pigeon peas seedlings, early maturing variety

pigeon pea trees, One and a half year old

Pic 3: Old pigeon pea tree at the backyard

Pic 4: Old pigeon pea tree at the backyard

Pic 5: Old pigeon pea tree at the backyard

Pic 5: Old pigeon pea tree at the backyard

Pic 6: Old pigeon pea tree at the driveway

___________bangchik and kakdah___________

golden banana - pisang emas

We put our self into groups we call race,where as  for banana and other fauna we call variety. Pisang tanduk is a variety that produce the longest banana, sometimes reaching a foot long. Pisang emas is almost the opposite, small yet sweet.

I am yet to see how pisang emas will end up in our garden. Its Zila again, giving 5 pisang emas seedlings a few monts back.  I wonder if I will be able to see them fruiting, because by October this year, we will shift to our retirement home in Seri Iskandar.  Zila did mention about pisang emas requiring 9 months to mature.

pic 1: Banana has its own unique way of opening up new shoot

pic 2: Pisang emas

pic3: Pisang emas, young shoot with light  brown colour.
It will slowly turn green as days pass by

Pic 4: Pisang emas, light pinkish brown along stalks and stem

pic 5: This is pisang tanduk,  more greenish.

_________bangchik and kakdah_________

Moringa towering over everything else.

Moringa is a fast growing tree.   In October 2016, its height was 20 feet, now its well over 30 feet.  Visible in the pictures, are a few moringa fruits or sometime called drumsticks dangling in the air.  We had picked  a few drumsticks at the lower branches  for curry adds on. 

The tree isn't  two year old yet,  but it towers over everything else in our garden and lawn under its shade, is getting a lot greener.

Pic 1:  Moringa drumsticks dangling

Pic 2:  Moringa drumsticks dangling

Pic 3:  Moringa trunk and branches. Lawn is greener.

Pic 4:   Even the leaves are beautiful

______bangchik and kakdah______

crotalaria pallida as landscape element

Crotalaria pallida was primarily grown as nitrogen fixer and cover crop in plantations in the early days before mucuna bracteata and a few other legumes become popular. For small backyard gardens like ours, crotalaria pallida  is  both useful and suitable. Its very manageable and neat.  If it grows too tall and leggy, it wouldn't mind a bit of pruning.

I will recommend  crotalaria pallida to anyone, 

as cover crop and nitrogen fixers 

and it has beauty to match. 

Pic 1: Crotalia pallida alongside Mengkudu

Three crotalaria pallida  at the edge of mengkudu tree.  

Lighter green of crotalaria soften 

the extremely rich green of mengkudu

Pic 2: Crotalaria Pallida in rows  as companions
to a few banana trees
(not visible in this picture)

_____bangchik and kakdah_____

Papaya, short lived dreams.

Dreams of good harvest had been short lived with papaya lately.  Leaves turned yellow over a week or two, and the whole papaya tree became weak and died within two weeks.  I guess it's erwinia papayae   a bacterial pathogen, at work. It's also known as bacterial crown rot.

Pic 1: affected papaya tree probably due to erwinia papayae bacteria

Pic 2: healthy papaya tree nearby

_______bangchik_______

Oxalis barrelieri remains as weeds

Much has been said about Oxalis barrelieri on its medicinal benefits,  but it remains as weeds, growing freely as it likes.. Since my lawn is regularly mowed, it cant appear in the center of things.  True to its wild traits,Oxalis barrelieri emerge at awkward places where lawnmower would not  venture; flower pots, edges of lawn, near drains, underneath trees.  

The berries taste exactly like starfruits (belimbing),  therefore it is widely known as belimbing tanah or belimbing pasir in Malaysia.

Oxalis barrelieri - Belimbing pasir

Oxalis barrelieri - Belimbing pasir

Oxalis barrelieri - Belimbing pasir

Oxalis barrelieri - Belimbing pasir

Bangchik and Kakdah

Putrajaya Backyard Garden

Passionfruit vine is crawling

Over here it is known as markisa, a vine that lasts for more than 5 years.  It will start flowering and fruiting after a year.  I germinated quite a number of them last year, most were given away to friends, 2 of them planted in Seri Iskandar home garden and one is grown here in Putrajaya backyard garden.

Passiflora_edulis , Markisa (Melayu) 

passionfruit (English), maracuya (Spanish) , granadille (French), 

maracuja (Portugese), liliko'i (Hawaiian) 

Passionfruit vine - markisa

Passionfruit vine - markisa

Passionfruit vine - markisa

Passionfruit vine - markisa
with bamboo trellis

The passionfruit vines will thicken and eventually cover up the whole trellis. In the meantime , taro (keladi) can still grow and use the space underneath.

Bangchik and Kakdah

Putrajaya Backyard Garden

Morinda citrifolia shoots and fruits ~ Mengkudu

Everybody around here call this tree as mengkudu. To germinate mengkudu seeds, one has to be extremely patient because the seeds take three months to germinate.  I remembered that very well because I was about to give up and wanting to throw the seemingly dormant seeds away. The better side of me took pity and put them in a pot and let nature handle them. Yes, its three long months to see little roots coming out. Once it set foot or rather root on the ground, it keeps on growing.  After a year and a half its almost 6 feet and it has lovely fruits as well.

I remembered putting all garden waste, leaves, and empty clay pots on  5 feet diameter spot, and left the organic matter to rot for about 3 months.  The first to be planted right in the centre there was one lucky mengkudu seedling, and later followed by other plants as companions The decayed organic matter must have soften the soil and make it really fertile for mengkudu tree to grow that fast. Another friend who had been given seedlings, had his tree half the size.

Before fruits mature, they had to go developmental phases

buah mengkudu ( the fruit of Morinda citrifolia)

buah mengkudu

buah mengkudu

buah mengkudu

Kakdah had tried using mengkudu shoots as ulam or salad. I expect it to be bitter, but it turned out to like cooked cabbage. The fruit is something else. When it is ripe, it smells awful, but it has all the medicinal values where extracts had long been packed and sold in drug stores.

bangchik and kakdah

putrajaya backyard garden

Papaya flower, will it turn to fruit?

The first promising papaya flower emerged yesterday. Out of 12 papaya trees, this particular tree is a bit quick in displaying its vitality. The rest are still learning. When they are learning, flowers just open up for the day and drop off  a few  days later.  Like little birds learning to fly, papaya trees are learning too..

papaya early stage

papaya early stage

Papaya little fruit emerging

Papaya tree

Papaya in a row

bangchik and kakdah

Berkebun di Putrajaya

Can papaya handle clitoria ternaeta?

Truly, I am a bit obsessed with permaculture lately, so allowing clitoria to go up papaya tree is somewhat natural. Climbers in the wild will climb any tree to touch the sky, as their weak stems cant keep them straight.

Clitoria ternaeta climbing up papaya tree

Clitoria ternaeta is a fighter. It seems to enjoy its pest free heritage. It can however choke any weak plants, with its thick foliage as it continues growing and blocking lights out of the host plant. I wish the two can be truly friendly, papaya alllowing clitoria to piggyback and clitoria oferring nutrients to papaya roots through its nitrogen fixing prowess.

Of course I will play the role of referee, not allowing clitoria to overrun. 

bangchik and kakdah

Putrajaya Vegetable Garden

crotalaria pallida with fancy flowers

crotalaria pallida

crotalaria pallida

bangchik and kakdah

Putrajaya Vegetable Garden

Moringa flowers - SECOND WEEK

Plants behave differently. Each has its own peculiarity as when to flower and when to bear fruits. Our single moringa tree has its first burst of flowers. Its all white except for slight yellowish filaments. Within a week, the buds open up the pure white petals, for insects to come and enjoy the taste of nature. The nectar!

Moringa flowers : WEEK 2

Moringa flowers - WEEK 1

I am tracking the emergence of little fruits in weeks to come.

bangchik and kakdah

Putrajaya Backyard Vegetable Garden

Garden stakes, where do we get them?

I had used coconut husk as vegetable garden borders while gardening at Presint 14 years ago.  Now I am using wooden sticks to mark or put border where the seedlings are, to avoid trampling on them, and to discourage cats from pooing over the tiny plants. Living in urban place like Putrajaya, wooden sticks are not easy to find.  

Perennials like senduduk can offer reasonably good sticks, and in fact senduduk can live through a couple of prunings. I had used senduduk sticks while staying in Presint 14, from year 2008 to 2010. This time around, I make full use of pokok petai belalang ( leucaena ).  These leucaena trees which grow so fast, reaching a height of 12 feet within a year,  require regular pruning  to keep them at manageable height. The leaves will become mulching materials, and the branches suitable as stakes. There are five leucaena trees in my backyard garden right now.

leucaena branches as stakes

ulam raja seedlings visible among weeds.

Its good to have perennials and trees in the garden that can provide garden stakes.

bangchik and kakdah

Putrajaya Backyard Garden

Birds nest fern, adding colour to backyard garden

One birds nest fern appeared as tiny baby beside Kakdah's roses pot sometime last year. I quickly had it transferred in a pot half filled with soil and let it grow under shade. It had grown big and healthy now.

The other three were taken from Hamimah's place in Sungai Batu recently. She has an acre full of matured oil palms which play host to different type of fern on their stems. We took three and they are adjusting to living in pots now.

 

birds nest fern

bangchik and kakdah backyard

If bird nest fern is well exposed to sunlight, its colour is yellowish green.  Under heavy shade, the colour will be a lot greener. 

bangchik and kakdah

Putrajaya Presint 8