The vastness of paddy field.

On this business trip, I have to meander through paddy fields to get to the place in Jitra from Farah's house at the far end of Taman Wira Mas, Kampung Naga. Paddy fields offer varying degree of beauty depending on the stage of paddy in the field.

The field will be yellow, when the grains are maturing and ready to be harvested. I took a few pictures somewhere around Lubuk Kawah, not far from Farah's place along the way towards Jitra.

the field is really yellow.

a few coconut trees put the rural setting really in place.

another view of the yellowing field.

drain on the right is for irrigation. 

primarily used to carry water into the fields from the canal.

a field just harvested

a field just harvested

The hill at far end which is rather obscure, is Bukit Tunjang

Early in the morning around 8am, 

the shadow is long.

bangchik

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Garden to table, kakdah's way

a bittergourd which is the last, winged beans and okra. 

The two big and long okra are hard and seedy, and I dont think kakdah will include them in her cooking. I guess they are matured enough to be saved and dried for seeds. Winged beans are in abundance now.

a close-up

kerabu kelisa



This salad has its own charm, colourful and tasty. Winged beans, young mango, tomato, carrots, red chili, and onions are thinly sliced and mixed. Then add salt and lemon juice. There is no specific amount of each, just add things and check for look and taste to your liking. It will take any lunch and dinner to a different height!

bangchik and kakdah's menu

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Helen had a tea party!

My work trip to Barbados coincided nicely with Helen's Tea Party so I got another wonderful visit to the Bajan Garden

 

Greeted by Monet’s lilies (: and a pack of friendly dogs

 I forgot to ask her if her fab toolshed used to be a stable or servant quarters.

 

All manner of delicious eats and drinks were served-I was so enjoying I forgot to take pics. Helen is a marvelous cook! Here are some of her Irvin mangoes

Moving on to the garden now...

My brother admiring a Bismark palm

Below: white musseander

Flamboyant in bloom and vines in the gazebo roof

Towering traveler's palms

Akee fruit

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kale strengthening its stem.

kale growing steadily in pots

a close up of kale



I love the character of these leafy vegetables. They don't really sit upright, the way we expect them to do.  The close up is showing kale forming a less than accurate, of letter S. The bottom part of the stem will harden and become woody. Before that happens, the whole plant will collapse whenever there is gutsy wind. Almost invisible to the eyes, the plant will rise and get back to the upright position hours later. The bottom part is so small compared to the  fatter and greener part of the stem.



They are no more babies as in the earlier post of  kale is here ,  a tale of kale  and Introducing Kale into the garden. Wait a while longer, then some leaves can be cut for a fried menu.

my little vegetable garden, bangchik and kakdah

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visitors

We know about grasshoppers habitual munching of leaves, and bees nectar licking. Engineers are used to having buildings over designed . The design far exceeds usual standards as of sturdiness or safety. Plants would probably do the same. They have far more leaves than necessary. I am not too sure what is enough as far as winged beans leaves are concerned. The whole plant is so heavy and dense with leaves.



Probably some are reserved for insects to bite. It is just a romantic view to look at their ecosystem. And nectar can also be seen as what we understand as reward system to keep productivity and enthusiasm high. The plants need insect to help with pollination and has nectar to offer for such service.

belalang kunyit,

belalang kunyit  or Valanga nigricornis 

is the biggest grasshopper in Malaysia that I know of, resting on winged bean leaves. According to a laboratory studies on the life-history of Valanga nigricornis ...  it requires 6 and a half to 8 and a half months to complete the life cycle. I never knew belalang kunyit lives that long, definitely longer than winged bean itself.

a carpenter bee

a carpenter bee

a carpenter bee

the carpenter bee is undecided; is it okra or bean flower.

the carpenter bee licking nectar of winged bean flower

the carpenter bee

or xylocopa confusa 

licking nectar of winged bean flower.



Carpenter bee or Xylocopa confusa

is a large bee reaching slightly more than 20mm. Female is mainly black. The thorax is with deep yellow hairs, making it almost fully yellow except for small black patch at the centre. The species is quite widely distributed across Southeast Asia, definitely a frequent visitor in my garden, hopping from one flower to another. It seems to love every flower available here; coleus, senduduk, winged beans, roselle and okra.

[reference:  Xylocopa confusa - Asian Hornet Net]

bangchik and kakdah, my little vegetable garden  

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Giving clitoria ternatea a room

 There is a change in plan, clitoria ternatea are not going to be planted directly outside the kitchen window. We shift the site 2 meters away. Kakdah will still enjoy the view,  at a diagonal which is a bit to the left. The two plants are protected by the shade of sunflowers which is blooming right now. Within a month, that bush of sunflowers will go, then clitoria will have the whole bed to themselves with trellis to climb.

a pair of clitoria ternatea near sunflower plants.

close-up of clitoria ternatea

Putting trellis up, 

will not disturb what sunflowers are busy doing right now, 

that is yellowing and flowering, 

before blue become a new colour

for that site.

bangchik

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