Organic warriors
On weekdays, Wong Tar Huei is your average IT worker. Come weekends, he's on his knees, meticulously plucking off snails from his leafy veggies, churning the compost or reaping his bounty.
His two-storey comer house looks like your typical home in the residential suburb of Bandar Utama, Petaling jaya. But beyond the ironcast gate lies a lush garden of dark green, leafy spinach and sweet potato leaves, chives, basil, okra, baby bok choy, cabbage, ginger...the list goes on.
Twelve years ago, before organic food became a fad, Wong was one of the pioneer students who picked up organic gardening skills from Cetdem (The Centre for Environment, Technology and Development, Malaysia).
"I've always liked gardening but i didn't want to eat organic," confesses Wong, 5Z "1 just wanted to do it (garden) the organic way."
Aside from composting (turning veggie, fruits and garden waste into rich, organic fertiliser), Wong learned to do kuntan, carbonised rice husks used for enriching the soil, and bokushi, another form of composting using a blend of natural microbes.
When Wong first moved into his house in 1994, the garden didn't even have topsoil (the uppermost layer of soil that contains nutrients and beneficial microbes for plants). It was sterile, laterite soil. But thanks to years of compost mix and diligence, Wong now has a rich and chemical-free soil. To deal with bugs and pests, he either picks the pests off or grows plants like marigolds whose scent wards off insects.
His only peeve is the maggots and flies that swarm around his compost bin. Though you're discouraged from adding meat to your compost as it attracts flies and smells, Wong dumps everything in.
Wong's garden supplies only 30% of the family's food needs.
"We have to buy the rest of our vegetables and fruits. And we don't consume 100% organic food due to the high costand limited choices," says Wong who feeds a household of four - his wife, mother and a maid. His daughter lives in Australia.
So why bother growing his own food?
"Our food/organic wastes goes into the compost," explains Wong.
"We don't need to transport our waste to the dumpsite so less fuel is wasted. If more people compost, you'll reduce the number of landfill methane (one of the main contributors of global warming). So you help save the environment."
"Also, we recycle more and cut down on wastage like re-using Styrofoam fruit boxes as plant containers," he adds.
"We have zero cost for fertiliser, pesticide or insecticide."
The Wongs collect fruit peels from their regular stall in Sea Park to use as fertiliser. Wong also saves most of his seeds and exchanges them with friends.
Some of the trees like the birdeye chillies attract birds.
"Most mornings, when I sleep in on weekends, it's nice to hear the birds chirping," chips in Mrs Wong.
"But the only 'problem' with home vegetable gardening is you'll end up eating the same veggies for the whole week until you get tired of them," She chuckles.
Practical AND looks good
If you think a back'yard garden is purely functional and lacks aesthetic value, take a look at Cho Suet Serfs beautifully landscaped garden. Amid leafy veggies, herbs and fruit trees are coloufful heliconias, straggly vines adorning a trellis and trees with lush foliage blocking out the harsh evening sun. Trickling sounds of water from the koi pond lends the garden a tranquil feel.
"I used to think that if it (a plant) can't be eaten, there's no point planting it," says the pragmatic and bubbly Cho, 50.
Like Wong, Cho was one of the early organic gardening enthusiasts who took part in Cetdem's workshops in 1998.
"But my husband thought the garden needed a little more colour so we added the flowers and houseplants."
From the start, Cho plunged headlong into organic gardening. She started a compost bin from a recycled wooden crate. Because her household of five doesn't generate enough waste, she collected chicken and fish intestines and leftover veggies from the wet market.
It was hard work - shaking, stomping and churning the compost," admits Cho.
But the results were plump tomatoes and eight-inch long chillies! She painstakingly photographed her healthy harvests and we spent the afternoon leafing through the photo albums of her garden's bounty.
To keeps pests at bay, she soaks garlic and chilli, pounds them and sprays the juices onto the plants. Snails are picked off by hand.
Across from her comerlot house, she has planted a fig tree which acts as a windbreaker during thunderstorms so that her roof tiles don't fly off. She spends one or two hours a day gardening and her maid shares the back-breaking job of turning the compost.
A chicken coop housing 15 chickens sits in the garden. More like family pets (Cho doesn't kill the chickens), they supply eggs and manure for compost.
When her kids were younger (they are now 13 and 141, Cho's garden was a "learning centre" of sorts.
"The children's playgroup used to come here and rd teach them abou composting, recycling and how to identify good and bad insects. My kids used to help with weeding too," says Cho whose garden only supplies 25% of the family food needs.
"For me, it's the joy and satisfaction of watching your garden grow and plucking your own food from the garden," says Cho, a homemaker. "And they taste so different finn commercially-farmed produce. My guava, ciku and papaya are honeysweet !"
FOR more information on Cerdem's organic farming project and kitchen gardening workshop, call: Cetdem
Tel: (031 7875 7767
E-mail: of@cetdem.org.my
www.cetdem.org.my
* Cetdem is looking for volunteers to help organise and run activities, do administrative work and work in the garden For information on gandar Harapan:
Tel: 019-375 1382 (ivan Ha)
E-mail: ivanwcho99@yahoo.
www.bandarharapan.org
Farm visits are on Saturday or Sunday, flora 9am- l lam. Please call to make prior arrangements and groups are preferred, Bander Harupan is also looking for volunteers, call for details. For information on a land adoption project:
You can adopt a piece af land (18.5sqm) at Bandar Harapan to plant your favourite vegetables and flowers with a monthly fee of RM200 (minus organic fertiliser and compost).
Ho and his team will teach you organk farming every Sunday morning and help maintain your plants.
