Pandan

I asked my mom whether she keeps track of when it is best to plant certain herbs or veggies and she says that she doesn't. To her, it is all for the fun of it. 

Nature, I believe, in its appreciation gives even more in abundance.

From the beautiful view of the setting sun rays on the trees in the distance as my mom cooks dinner...

... to the animals that visit...

... to the bird that decided to bear its nestling amongst the branches of the lime tree.

And the small but growing bunches of pandan leaves. Pandan, pronounced as "pun-done", is a long green leafed plant which gives a sweet, almost almond-ish scent.

Ma says that pandan can help cure cholesterol-related diseases. She explains first that cholesterol is not only caused by eating meats or fatty foods but also from stress. Ma says to relax and not to worry about the small things at work.

And... to cook a cooling pandan drink. A great summer drink to cool down the body. All you need is a bunch of pandan leaves. Ma usual ties them in a knot and places them in a pot of boiling water. For a touch of sweetness, my mum says to add "bing tang".

In English, we call bing tang "rock sugar". It does kind of look like rocks.

On that note, adieu and rock on!

Jambu

Ma: "Go look, look at the rabbits in the backyard"

My initial thoughts were... "What? We have rabbits??"

So I put my sandals on and head to the back of the house to discover two huuuuge pens filled with rabbits.

But what caught my attention was the row of corn planted right in front of the pens. Corn!?

Then my mom points out to me that the plants that are grown beside the corn are good for people who have heart problems.

We have plants that heal??

And that was when I thought, I have to tell the world about this!

To me, being sustainable is all about being green. To be an individual as opposed to being a mass consumer. It is an initiative to halving the grocery spend.

But to my parents, this whole idea of growing one's own food is only practical. It is something that is done, simply because it can be done.

Today's produce is "shui weng". Known in English as wax apple. But my parents call it "jambu", the Malay version. The jambu tree was planted back in 2002, at a young height of 80cm.

My mum says that when the fruit is at about two weeks old, it needs to be wrapped up in plastic to prevent worms from getting into it.

And today, we have a basket full of jambu. My mum is planning to give them away to her friends and to the neighbours.

I told my mum that I was going to blog about... let's call it, "the farm"... and she was very happy to hear it. She even offered to answer any queries about the farm if anyone has any.

You can call her... Auntie Helen

That is ma with her home grown potatoes.

Right, I better go now. Ma just cooked herbal duck and a belacan dish.

Till next time, happy planting!