Ulam Raja, tracing the roots.

All of us fall within a particular family tree and if every birth is recorded since the beginning of time we can really understand more how each family interact with another family tree through marriage. I can only trace to  our great grandfather by the name Mat Saman. The elders used to relate stories that Mat Saman was a man of importance in Kedah sultanate. One of his son Mat Isa  moved out of  Kedah  after a feud,  as a teenager with his younger brother and settled in Pantai Remis Perak. We have stopped trying to trace the family roots beyond Mat Saman as we had figured out the reasons of Mat Isa departure southwards. There is no reason to scrutinize old wounds and the best is to come to term with ancestral history and live with it.

On Kakdah side, her family can be traced back to Yemen , and she retains the sharp middle-east features. That's how life goes....

Ulam Raja in our garden, Pasir Gudang Johor. (dated 14.1.2012)

It's about our ulam raja. I remembered taking seeds while visiting Kakdah's elder sister who lived in Tanjong Rambutan, Perak. Those were the seeds later germinated to fill up a section of our Putrajaya garden in the year 2008. Then we moved northwards to Tanah Merah in 2010 and a year later traveled southwards and settled in Pasir Gudang, Johor. It's almost nomadic, each time bringing along the whole family, belongings and seeds. Ulam raja traveled too........

Ulam Raja at different location, our Pasir Gudang garden
(dated 1. 6. 2012)

Over here in Pasir Gudang Johor they are almost to the third generation already. First planted late last year, then the seedlings around the mother plants were moved to different corner and they are flowering now. Three generations in Putrajaya, two generations in Tanah Merah, and already two generations in Pasir Gudang Johor. After seven generations, they still are ulam raja, same look, same smell, same taste, same flower. The genetic code is intact, secretly locked in seeds to the end of time.... at least to the end of our time....

_____ bangchik and kakdah _____
my little vegetable garden

Grandmother.

Grandmother, grandma, and Opah. These are endearing terms connecting people over the generations.  The grandchildren came over the other day and Kakdah was the happiest grandma.

adlina and adli -  Agro-educational trip to the backyard

adlina

adli

alya

getting ready

kakdah, farah and the three grandchildren

and they left, 

bangchik and kakdah

my little vegetable garden

Thumbs up to chili harvest.

I have a few brothers, one is Azman or pakteh to the nieces and nephews. The whole family came last weekend. They gave thumbs up to the marvellous experience of chili harvest at the backyard. The price of chili had been stable at RM14 per kilo.

pakteh and makteh, thumbs up.

they were having fun

The 2000 chili project is coming to an interesting phase. Growing, fertilising, getting rid of pest and watering begin to be less pressing, as the team get used to the whole process. Marketing is a new thing for most of them, but Aina  and her friends manage to walk through, creating new contacts, opening up new opportunities. They are learning to serve more and more regular customers.  

The next  project will be more challenging as they are now planning to participate in MAHA 2012,  The International Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro tourism Exhibition to be held  at  Malaysian Agro Exposition Park Serdang from Nov 23rd to Dec 2nd. They are putting quite a high business target to deal with 3 million expected visitors.

bangchik and kakdah

my little vegetable garden

ASSESSING THE LAWN: six months after

It's slightly over six months now, since we first embarked on spot turfing project at Tanah Merah home.  Cowgrass is endemic to Malaysia, therefore it should find it natural to grow and spread. Every time we cut the grass, fertiliser will be applied, the normal granular NPK. The lawn stays green and healthy. I think give it a couple of years, there should be enough organic matter of dead leaves and grass chips for the lawn to survive without additional fertiliser.

Freshly cut lawn, with 4 papaya in the middle

 The four papaya are growing alright, almost in chorus, adjusting themselves to similar height and growth. The other day I saw little white flowers, but they dropped off, probably that's their way of learning.  The seven roselle plants were just cut to make way for okra/lady's fingers/bendi/kacang meo.

Lawn and papaya at lower angle

Farah and Ramli came along with Adlina, Adli and Alia and spent the whole weekend with us. Kakdah was very happy. Adlina is now 4, Adli is 2, and Alia is 4 month old ~ the three grandchildren.

Adli,Adlina,Alia

Adlina,Farah,Adli,Alia,Kakdah

Adlina and Adli went along to Rantau Panjang.

Adlina, on the lawn, in front of grandma orchid house.

Cowgrass will not offer clinical finish, immaculate kind of lawn.  But it is adequate for our home, to add green as background to our little vegetable garden. It should look decent with regular cut twice a month, but the busy schedule may push grass cutting low in the priority list. What's more important, Adlina can give a special pose!.

A Delightful Moment for Kakdah.

The little girl was born on the 13th of February 2011 8.00am, the third child for Farah and Ramli. We made a trip to Jitra Kedah the next day. Farah was fine and the little one too. Now Kakdah is the grandmother for three grandchildren. So is Bangchik.

Kakdah, Adlina, Adli and the little girl.

I probably clicked a second too early, before everyone opened up a smile, showed their teeth and said cheese.  Adlina (the eldest) is very conscious with her gaping teeth, that she would never open up for the camera.

a big yawn.

a little smile,

responding to the kiss from grandmother

what's she thinking?

bangchik and kakdah

Tanah Merah, Kelantan

MALAYSIA

WORDY WEDNESDAY: A different smile

Adlina

(3 years 4 months)

Adli

(1 year 7 months)

Kakak, our eldest daughter came last week. Her daughter is becoming more chatty and after a few hours, her words become quite familiar and does make sense. The little boy can walk steadily without falling down every two steps or so. How children change over months, even over weeks.

Suddenly TokAyah (Grandpa) and Opah (Grandma) became the most spoken words for that week. It lightened our days . Then they had to leave, heading far north to Kedah.

Adlina showed interest in plants and veggies, asking lot of questions. Sometimes, she had to be stopped so that I could give answers to 2-3 questions in one shot. She did give a pose right at the front of tomato plants. She smiled, but her smile was different.  She was quite conscious of her gaping teeth.....

Adlina has a different smile now.

Adlina




bangchik
Putrajaya Malaysia