Kebun Kaki Bukit @ Janda Baik

It is Chinese New Year - Day # 3 and my childhood pal Stephen (plus Agnes and Amos) met us at Gombak toll at 0830 hours. And boy both parties timing was on the minute mark. Both cars made the trip to the new KKB farm.

The site is much smaller than the previous farm in Kuala Selangor (2 acres versus 10 acres) but the mild weather more than made up for it.

We met four WWOOFers there - from Brazil and Switzerland. The pond is being prepped to breed fish on commercial basis.

Kebun Kaki Bukit at Kuala Selangor

Note: Kebun Kaki Bukit has relocated to Janda Baik in Pahang in 2016

Nicole and I spent a night at the organic farm near the coastal town of Kuala Selangor. Being a holiday the drive was smooth.

We were greeted at the gate by Edy, a young chap from Taiping who has been at the farm since May this year. He is doing his final semester in Environmental Science at UNISEL (Universiti of Selangor in Bestari Jaya).

Next we were greeted by David Mak who manages the 10-acre farm with help mostly from WWOOFers but we missed the last batch as they had left a coupe of days ago.

After chatting for a bit David gave us a tour around the farm. Tilapia and prawn breeding has just begun and it certainly looks promising. Most of the revenue comes from the lime, calamansi and lemon trees at the moment. 

Nicole had fun with the two kittens and David's four children. They are very enthusiastic in starting bonfires.

In the evening we helped harvest the limes as there was an order that needed to be met. Boy, the mozzies were nasty and mosquito repellent did not deter them at all.

Even though it was a one night stay I had a good time. Why we even had our 'front-row seats' of a NatGeo moment - first it was a little (12 inches) brown snake attacking a brown frog much heavier than it. Then one of the kittens came to investigate thereby causing the snake to abandon it's prey (dead by then) and it flew (yes it did not slither but propelled itself) away from the kitten. That gave us a fright. In the middle of the night we awoke to squeals of a mice - lo and behold the big cat had caught it right beside Nicole's bed. After a few minutes of crunching noises we tried to sleep but couldn't. When we woke up we did not find any parts of the mice left, just some bloodstains and we saw the cat going out minus anything in its mouth so it had eaten it's prey entirely.

On leaving Edy brought us to a quaint eatery nearby famed for its cendol - called Cendol Bakar. It was fantastic!

 (Above: outside of our room)

Artwork by past WWOOFers

WWOOFing on an Organic Farm

After our Bentong farm experience I decided to volunteer on an organic farm for a few days. On December 8, I emailed Kenny Ng of Green Wish Vegi Garden which is located in Chenderiang, a small town 14km from Tapah in the state of Perak. I received a positive reply from Kenny the same night.

I decided to begin my *WWOOFing experience on December 17 and began making a list of essentials I needed.

D-Day and I depart for Chenderiang, about 166km north of Petaling Jaya. The drive was smooth and weather was overcast. Splendid! I exited the expressway into Tapah town and as I neared Chenderiang - I lowered my window. Lovely clean, fresh air. The small town had one main road with rustic pre-war shop-houses.

After another 8.8km passing through kampung (village) houses I arrived at my destination. At this moment I had not decided on the length of my stay. I reckon it will be the 3-day minimum and if I could I'd aim for five days.

I was greeted by Lee May, Kenny's wife at the main house. Minutes later Kenny emerges from the farm at back to welcome me. After I had stowed my kit away in the guest room I followed Kenny to the area where three other volunteers are busy weeding the plot. I am introduced to Romy, a young German lady and Mike and girlfriend Alle from Boston (short for Alejandra), who just arrived the night before.

My first task was to scoop compost with my bare hands from the wheelbarrow and spread it onto the raised bed. The compost comprised of weeds and goat dung - totally no smell. Next was our break and we feasted on juicy papayas in the dining area. I learned that the water was sourced from the mountain stream and it was safe for drinking even without boiling. 

The sheeting we installed is on the left. Compare to the weather-beaten one at right.

After the break we replaced the sheeting on a hoop house. It was quite challenging to get the UV sheet over the structure and down on both sides as it was about 12 feet high I guess.

Oh, did I mention that my hosts were vegitarians? It means I will for once in my life will not be eating any meat. Over lunch I learned that all the three other WWOOFers also do not consume meat. Romy, is the lone vegan. WWOOFing work hours are from 7.30 am to 12.30 pm, thus the afternoon I spent chatting with Romy. As for the Americans, well they were still recovering from jet-lag.

My alone time in the afternoon was to take a ride on my mountain bike. I must say that time really goes by quickly when I'm farming but the afternoons and nights dragged by slowly as the other WWOOFers preferred to retreat to their quarters. Between listening to music, reading and playing with the dogs (all nine of them), there isn't anything else to do.

Day two saw us uprooting the old okra plants and rebuilding the raised-bed which over the months had been eroded by rain. The entire work-day was spent doing so and boy my back was aching now. Lunch was a delight. We had a salad with over ten vegetables picked fresh from the garden. I never thought I'd hear myself say, 'being vegetarian is not that bad after all'.

After another night of inactivity I had decided tomorrow would be my last day. Also the fact my arthritis had flared up with my right knee and left ankle both swollen.

Day three was the most difficult as my knee and ankle pain is now further aggravated with backache shooting up my spine. I trudged on and we complete rebuilding the bed and planted bitter gourd seeds. Mission accomplished!

I may want to go on another WWOOFing stint at another farm. This time I will get in shape before I begin.

Last day_with Romy from Germany

*WWOOF - World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF, /ˈwʊf/), or Willing Workers on Organic Farms en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWOOF

Happy Farm Day Trip

Sunday morning and we set off to rendezvous with my old buddy Martin, his wife Vanis and their son Jesh (cheeky little guy). It is about quarter past nine and we meet near the iconic Batu Caves. Traffic was smooth and soon we reached Bentong town and the streets were packed with cars from KL/Selangor.

After breakfast we headed to the farm. Nicole was excited to play with the seven puppies and it has been two weeks and they have grown. The little critters chomped on the dog kibble we brought.

The remainder of our two hour sojourn we spent chatting with brothers Gan, Caleb, Robert and Tim.

Farmstay in Bentong, Pahang

I was scouting for a farmstay holiday the past month and after much reading online I decided to contact a permaculture farm in Lenggong, Perak named Ladang Teh Lenggong (Lenggong Tea Plantation). Apparently it used to be a tea plantation until it shut down in the 80s.

Plan had a change after a friend informed me about a farm in Bentong. I attended their talk in town and turns out they just launched a 'mini land lease' scheme. For a small fee which includes ten 2D1N stay one gets to rent a tiny piece of land to farm on. 

So off we went on Saturday, November 8th for Bentong (slightly over 80km away). Traffic was light and we drove at a somewhat leisurely speed. We reached the farm, GY Happy Farm about 2.30pm and the coolness was a welcome reprieve from the humidity and pollution back home. This is what 'greeted' us. Looking good so far.

I like!

 Gorgeous Nicole and Lavenders

Papaya Trees

Drip Agri System

Next we drove out to the Chamang waterfall about 5km away to hook up with Pastor Caleb and the main party. The site is a popular haunt for both locals and out of town folks too.

Check-in time into the little chalet. Spartan but it will suffice. Next to the canteen for a welcome and introduction to the farm's vision. The owner, Mr Gan's vision is to emulate the Israeli kibbutz way of life - sounds like a plan from my heart. Well the way prices of daily necessities are rising there may come a day not too long where a communal farm is the wiser option. Brings to mind a 70s song that goes, "a piece of bread could buy a bag of gold".

Day Two and I slept well. We got up at six am and gathered at 7 am to take a 15 or so minute trek up to the Prayer  Mountain. The view from up here was awesome. We stood in the clouds. Worship began soon after and Pastor Phillip and entourage from Kuala Lumpur arrived bringing with them half a dozen shofars and banners. Far out!

Next agenda - the goat farm. The farm enquired and were gifted forty Boer (South African) goats by our Agri Dept. The children had a blast playing with the baby goat. 

 (above) Specimen from prawn farm (below) Red Tilapias

Nic planting a Roselle sapling

Overall we had a great time. Granted that the owners are newbie farmers I think they are on the right track. I dream of the day the kibbutz becomes reality. I shall return. Hopefully very soon.

I'm city born but I love the country life