Mulching, with Kantan leaves

Mulching is a technique to reduce water loss from the soil,  reduce weeds and  improve soil structure. Kantan leaves are  very  handy as mulch. There is a cluster of kantan at the corner of the house. After a while leaves will dry, so in between roselle, is a suitable place to put them.

two rows of roselle, kantan leaves in between

Kantan leaves, as mulch

Pokok Kantan / Torch Ginger ( Etlingera elatior)  as a plant is very showy indeed, especially if grown far from anything else. New shoots keep coming out forming a neat round shape. It is grown primarily for bunga kantan, it's beautiful pink flower. Kakdah would add the pink bunga kantan for her special menu: asam pedas, masak lemak and not forgetting laksa. Sometimes she would slice the flower as addition for her kerabu. Thin sliced onions, young mango, ulam raja, , carrots, a bit of chili, and carrots. A bit of sugar,  salt and lemon juice will complete the taste. Of course we can vary the contents to suit with what we have and the appetite of the day.

The plant which grow in a nice cluster cools the surroundings a little bit. I find dead leaves so convenient as ground cover, giving colour to the ground around roselle and keeping the soil  from drying up.

Pokok kantan / torch ginger /  Etlingera elatior

Kantan leaves as mulch may not look neat, but it helps on sustainability,

 that things eventually need to go back to the soil,  recycled.

........... b a n g c h i k      a n d      k a k d a h ..........

j o h o r

Roselle beyond juice and jam.

An email from Mr Ng caught me by surprise. Mr Ng, one of the food processing research group from local university nearby, is looking for a few kilos of  fresh roselle supply for research.  It's interesting to know how blogging connects people well, gardener and researchers. I know Andrea from the Philippines is a horticulturist and now is Mr Ng a food processing researcher. Last year a group of students from University Kelantan Malaysia came to our house in Tanah Merah for roselle seedlings for their entrepreneurial program. So, gardening world is not limited to relationship between man and plant but between man and man also.

Ng mentioned about roselle having anthocyanin , being one of the most beneficial content in roselle. The research team is currently looking into the preservation of anthocyanin after going through drying process. They are comparing the sterilisation effect between common drying methods and their new technique. Tengku Nadzion who is currently involved with 2000 cili project will look into it, and embark on strategic collaboration that will benefit both parties. In the meantime Suzana who is steering the overall entrepreneurial programs will not miss the opportunity of bringing up programs beyond the basics. I hope Bakar will take his team and serat nenas project or pina in Philippines around the whole spectrum:- cultivation, production, marketing, fiber extraction, clothes, souvenir items etc that will eventually benefit the whole community of Pontian.

roselle flower

The fruits are undoubtedly benefitial to us, but the flowers are equally good

so beautiful, pinkish creamy colour that will sooths tired eyes.

And the flowers are good from any angle.

roselle flower



roselle flower



roselle flower



roselle flower



roselle flower

Roselle growing at the backyard of our house, will soon find it's way to the food processing research center in a nearby university. I am happy to see home gardening evolves into the depth of academia that will benefit mankind in many ways.

The future of roselle

We germinated a lot of roselles recently, now in black polybags. It's about 100. They would be used as the next batch to replace the current ones, and some would be issued out as giveaways .

100 roselle seedlings waiting.

roselle has every potential
to brighten up anybody's garden. the flowers are beautiful,
and the fruits are tasty as juice and jam.


bangchik and kakdah
johor

roselle after two months here.

Any new vegetable gardener should include roselle in the list of plants, simply because of it's zest to keep growing. While other plants could be struggling, roselle will just keep growing, displaying deep green leaves and dark red stems and branches.

The row of roselle is so dense now, becoming really bushy. It keeps me wondering if I am guilty of putting them too close or the plants simply love the environment here and keep growing. Kakdah finds it difficult to get to the fruits in the bush. She had taken a few, to add taste to one of her menu.

The other day a friend asked for a roselle seedling. Luckily I have one extra from previous planting, in polybag. It is good to see people trying to grow plants. I had just finished germinating 10 new  roselle, so within a month the new roselle seedlings will need a plot to grow.

Row of roselle:  pink flowers are quite visible

row of roselle

roselle, dark red stem

kangkung, basil and roselle far back.

roselle, the side

roselle: some insects love the leaves

roselle, the shoots

roselle

bangchik and kakdah,
 johor

Earlier Post on Roselle in Johor

1. ROSELLE after a month here

Vegetable Garden maturing

It's slightly over two months since we arrived here, Pasir Gudang Johor. Weather is getting slightly drier, no more daily shower around 5pm. The other day, cloud swelled heavy, indicating it's readiness to rain, then some how wind carried the whole heavy cloud away.... surprising.  Neighbours Syed, Sanusi and Sahul mentioned about Jan and Feb being very windy, pointing out  that Pasir Gudang International Kite Fest will always be held in February.  This year, it is 15th to 19th February.

Our Vegetable Garden is really maturing now. A few weeks ago, roselle and lady's finger bent almost flat to the ground, as wind blew hard. But the next morning they sprang up like nothing happened.  Wonderful to know how plants endure wind, sun and rain again and again. They are designed to survive. Judging by the number of seeds most plants produce, they really are programmed to last to the end of time.

vegetable bed, okra, ulam raja and keladi

vegetable bed viewed from top left

sweet corns and pineapples

bayam

Keladi

okra / lady's fingers / bendi

Lady's finger flowering

Bayam has been harvested many many times, more for the neighbours than our own kitchen.  Lady's fingers were attacked by black ants a week ago, and of course I fought back. Now lady's fingers are growing happily and first harvest will happen tomorrow. Two months had passed, vegetables are maturing, harvest is daily chore for kakdah...... and our neighbourhood is blessed with fruits of labour..... gardening.

bangchik and kakdah

Pasir Gudang

ROSELLE after a month here.

We were told by neighbours that Aziyan and Jalil who previously stayed here  planted so many roselle. They mentioned about juice shared among neighbours.  I suppose soil and weather suit roselle well . Now, how our roselle grow, green with side branches, definitely healthier than Putrajaya and Tanah Merah days.  They get very bushy.

ROSELLE 18 DEC

The other day, Kakdah bought a sack of onions. Those with shoots were placed beside roselle. It would not disturb roselle's growth, who knows onions peculiar smell may push some pests away.

ROSELLE 18 DEC

Three Right vegetable Bed

Three rows, first is roselle, second reserved for chili centil, and the far right for eggplants/ brinjals or known here as terung.

ROW OF ROSELLE 18 DEC

ROSELLE  11 Dec 2011

ROSELLE 1 Dec 2011

bangchik and kakdah
Pasir Gudang, Johor

Roselle in Johor

Roselle is the first to be in the little vegetable garden plot. The seedlings were brought from Tanah Merah. I managed to squeezed in 11, with one left as spare just in case any one failed.... Roselle is not so fussy about soil.  We have enough experience over roselle in Putrajaya and Tanah Merah. We did notice about red bugs as angels of death, swarming over roselle towards the end of their healthy lives in Putrajaya and Tanah Merah... Lets see if red bugs around here can smell the eleven plants growing at the back of our house.

ROSELLE IN JOHOR

Work on six rows of vegetable bed is still in progress. I can't wait until all is ready, therefore 11 roselle plants were planted as early quickwin. I guess to keep enthusiasm  going there should be adequate number of quickwins spread along the journey. Applicable to gardening or any long term projects.

Definitely 11 roselle is the biggest so far, compared to 7 in Tanah Merah and 5 in Putrajaya. With 6 rows of vegetable bed, we can make sure that roselle remain as permanent feature, rotating from one row to another over the many years. 

A sure promise of juice and jam within two months..

bangchik and kakdah

Little Vegetable Garden in Johor

Being ambitious over Roselle.

Ever since red bugs ( Roselle surrendering to red bugs) attacked the row of aging roselle, we stopped thinking about having roselle in the garden. The spot had been replaced by lady's fingers / okra / bendi which produce fruits regularly, more than we can consume.  

We were invited by  Mardi Kelantan (Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute) to participate in "Farmers Day 2011, Kelantan" (Hari Peladang, Penternak dan Nelayan 2011) to be held at the end of September.  The group will exhibit rooftop gardening as showcase, and they will sell chili, agro products, and seedlings. To keep enthusiasm going, I agree to get 100 roselle, 100 stevia and markisa ready.

So, these roselle are for sale!

Last week: roselle in black polybags

Last week: roselle viewed from above.

I do hope these roselle will not be too old 

when the day comes. I don't even know how much to charge,

I guess I will let the group decides, 

definitely at current market price.

bangchik and kakdah

Roselle surrendering to red bugs

 I saw thousands of red bugs all over roselle plants while doing grass cutting around papaya and roselle. I didn't count of course, but it is definitely more than hundreds.... They were everywhere, leaves, fruits, stems. It must have been during my busy weeks that these colony got out of hand, and swelled to such quantity. There were big red bugs with wings, there were wingless bugs with big belly and there were tiny ones too, their little kids. It should be three or four generations staying and making roselle plants their first 5 star hotel. Roselle juice must be too tempting to them, and the plants provide such excellent camourflage for their hideout.....

about the red bugs

Common name: red cotton bug,

Sci name: Dysdercus cingulatus.

( Thanks Andrea )

Red bugs

Red bugs

red bugs over at mimosa

red bugs

The seven roselle plants were pulled out

Okra / lady's finger / bendi replacing the empty spot.

I got rid of all red bugs, and chopped all roselle plants. Like going to a battle when both side suffered.  A new entity comes in to fill the vacumn, OKRA/ lady's fingers / bendi / kacang meo. We have been seeing this..., birth upon death.

bangchik and kakdah

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!.

Helping local university students out over Roselle.

Miriam, a local university student emailed me asking for roselle seeds. I have no idea what's the seeds for in the beginning. I don't suppose she bought a new home and wish to green the place. I posted a packet, she hadn't received yet. The eagerness brought a group of them to our home. Kakdah showed them roselle plants and the fruits.

They are doing entrepreneurial program on roselle growing. I heard they are given an acre to do it... Growing roselle and other downstream business activities like jam and juice. Good luck to them

Miriam talking to Kakdah 

and the rest busy picking up seedlings.

He picked roselle seedlings

roselle seedling

I threw a few old fruits under ulam raja. 

Quite a number of seedlings there

Kakdah entertained them. Questions after questions

They left home with roselle seedlings and seeds and a few tips.

bangchik and kakdah

tanah merah home