Advertisement
Published: August 27th 2010
It may seem funny when half way around the world to go back to the work we left in Canada but the 2 weeks we spent up in the highland jungle were stellar. Permaculture perak farm is a small operation run by a czech couple in the secluded jungle near the small town of lenggong. The farm has been there for 2 years and is still developing its infrastructure as well as trying many new farming techniques. Jenna and i first heard about the farm when we were waiting in KL international airport for the morning bus just after arriving from india. There was a discarded newspaper in the seat next to us and the first article we read was about this farm and on the spot decided it was a good idea to go there. The farm is quite remote; 2 hours off the main highway through malaysia and 6 km from the nearby Lenggong (pop. 2000?). When we met Ladia to trek up, he tried to instill in us that we were going to a very remote location deep in the jungle and to please not be careless. We were arlraedy in Malaysia's highlands around 1000m elevation and the
farm is another 400m up at the end of a dirt road that is barely drivable. Frankly the location is as serene and picturesque as it gets. Misty hills in the distance across a goregeous valley substitutes for a tv screen as the sceenery is constantly shifting. There is a cascading waterfall where you can be alone and if you are not one to care about being covered in leeches there is infinite trekking around in the thick jungle (bring your own machete).
The farm itself is rather ambitious and not what i am used to at all. Aside from the climactic differences from Canada, on all sides the jungle is constantly creeping in with vines, trees, impossibly tall grasses, and giant centipedes. One of the major difficulties is whatever work you do to make your gardens clean and clear will in a matter of days to weeks be erased by the vigorous growing power of jungle flora. For us it was a great challenge to give our weeding skills a run for their money. The work goes a little slower than we are used to as almost everythign is spikey on the stem, bees are constantly landing on
you to drink your sweat, and even with the altitude the sun is quite intense. The first day we got up to feed the animals; a small flock of ducks, turkeys, chickens, roosters, one quail, 4 rabbits, 9 goats and one weirdo sheep. Jenna and i both want to work with these animals but had never had the chance to before and it was really heartwarming. The goats have personality to boot, the ducks are always crowd you, and the chikcens... well they are the same as the chikcens we know back home, stupid and loud.
After morning chores coms breakfast, a perfect breakfast. Everyday there was fresh baked whole meal bread, fresh goat or cow cheese, a selection of fresh veggies, and fresh eggs. Such a wonderful change from the grind of subpar food you get used to on the road. Filled up and smiling we took to the pineapples which were overrun with vines. In a few hours we managed to have them cleared and mulched but even with all our hard work it will need monthly maintenance to not be overrun soon. In the afternoon we headed down to the ... ahem... LIMETREE ORCHARD! Trees are
another crop we wish to ahve in the future but had limited experience with plus limes are glorious and only the many nesting fire ants put a hamper on the situation. We harvested 20 kg in a short time but had to run back to the farm to get the goats out of pasture when the rain started. In this climate with quick temperature changes they can catch cold quite easily. Day 1 done, things were looking great already.
The next couple days were spent preparing the farm for having the most guests they have ever had. The farm runs a homestay (bed and breakfast) where city folk come up to escape into the jungle and there were 12 guests coming so Adrian, one of the volunteers, and i made 2 new bedframes. I have never made a bed before and though not farming it was a learning experience also. With all the guests and volunteers visiting we had a feast of a dinner with giant prawns, chicken, tons of veggies, and fresh caught tilapia from one of the ponds on the farm. The guests actually went into the pond with a net in a big group to catch
their dinner... not quite your average B & B. With the guests gone we took on some of the projects in progress; a smoke house, a new pond, vegetable gardens, solar dehydrater, and a few others. Develeoping a farm gets complicated.
One of the neat aspects of our experience there was exchanging with the owners, ladia, and hannah. They are self taught farmers but are on to a great start. One of the things they are having trouble with is veggie production and it is an area of somewhat expertise for me and jenna. The problems here are the opposite to Canada; too much intense sun, too high temperatures, too much water, and of course giant wild hungry pigs that eat everything just as it ripens. They asked for our help in establishing new gardens and we were much obliged to help. First the fun part... clearing the jungle growth from a sloped patch. We had a great crew of 5 volunteers ripping, digging, and cutting a swath out of the undergrowth and in one morning had a clear space to work with. We dug out terraces with rock walls and worked up the soil for new planting. All
of the plated areas were polyculture (more than one type of plant) and we sowed 20 or so varietys of veggies for them. It was a greatly rewarding experience to trasnform a space in such a way, working with the contours of the land and getting the chance to really be creative as well as employing our knowledge of row cropping to this crazy environment. All in all there shold in one month and for the following few months be enough veggies to support the full need of the farm as long as the pigs keep their grubby noses out of there.
Another awesome part of the farm is that the couple are avid fermenters. Jenna and i have missed our homemade saurkrauts, pickles, and beer more than most foods and there was so much going on there. Ladia is quite the homebrewer and it was inspiring to see his creative method for making beer. Ours is basically the same but he uses way more ingredients and had techniques for adjusting the body of a brew that make me anticipate the chance to get my brew on again. We were able to give them a few tips as well
on the process continuing with the theme of exchange that made the whole time there so great.
I could go on longer about the second week there and will do so later. as for now we are in Thailand and are about to venture into a peninsular region where pillars of rock shoot out of the ocean and apparently a bond movie was filmed here back in the 70s. There are caves, rock climbing, and snorkling awaiting so we need to rest up. Thailand is so beautiful already and it has only been 2 days; everyone here smiles as you walk by and the food is seriously spicy as heck. Things are looking good!
Wishing you all the best
Brian and Jenna
Advertisement
Tot: 0.102s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0658s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Kenneth
non-member comment
Beautiful
Papaya! I think that is my favourite fruit. Makes me miss the first house in Florida, with papaya, lime, lemon, grapefruit, pineapple, carambola, etc... Now I'm going to eat some pad thai...