Growing greens the healthier way

FACTORY general manager Cheam Yeang Kung and his wife Yi Fong Kin decided to start eating healthy when they were in their 50s.

The couple started off by growing vegetables at their garden a few months ago.

Cheam prefers using organic fertiliser for vegetables grown in his home garden.

“We planted pumpkin and choy sum seeds that we bought from a nursery.

“I was also recommended to buy chemical fertiliser. But for the past eight months, I noticed the plants were not growing well.

“When we realised that the chemical fertilisers were harmful, we looked into natural farming using organic fertilisers to grow vegetables for our consumption,” he said.

Cheam and Yi were among 30 participants of Consumers Association of Penang’s (CAP) monthly natural farming workshop to learn about farming using organic fertilisers.

They found the workshop helpful as they learned about plants, vegetables and the right method of preparing organic fertilisers.

Participants also gained an understanding about composting, growing vegetables without using chemicals and preparing growth promoters and pest repellent.

CAP education officer NV Subbarow and urban garden trainer O. Saraswathi Devi briefed the participants and demonstrated planting vegetable seeds on soil as well as the use of organic fertiliser.

Other participants included Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) students Aminu Hashimu and Usman Muntari, both from Nigeria, who tagged along with their lecturer Professor Dr Srimala Sreekantan, 50, from the School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering and Centre of Innovation and Consultation (CIC) director.

Aminu, who is studying material engineering, said it was his first time attending such a workshop in Malaysia.

“Some of the material engineering students including Usman and I are working on producing booster fertiliser.

“Our efforts have failed, so when our lecturer Srimala told us about this workshop, we jumped at the opportunity to attend,” he said, adding that he had picked up valuable understanding on organic farming and natural fertiliser.

Apart from using the knowledge to rectify his mistakes, Aminu added that he planned to apply it to his garden back home as well as share it with friends and neighbours keen on natural farming.

“I usually use cow dung to enrich the soil back home and rely on natural fertilisers.

“What I learnt here is informative especially tips about soil preparation,” he added.

Subbarow showing a rainwater collection system which he says is useful during hot spells.

Later, Subbarow spoke on the benefits of rainwater harvesting especially for those practising home farming.

“It is practical to use rainwater for plant and vegetable plots instead of wasting piped water,” he said.

He urged the government to set up water tanks at new housing developments to collect rainwater that could be used by residents to water plants and wash their cars.

“The government needs to instal pipes to channel the water from the tanks to the residential units. This won’t cost much,” he added.

Subbarow also said that collecting rainwater could be helpful during hot spells such as the one Malaysia was experiencing now.

“About eight years ago, CAP installed two 600-gallon tanks and one 400-gallon tank to collect rainwater to water our garden and wash the toilets,” he said, adding that they had managed to reduce their water bill.

Non-governmental organisations and old folks homes, he said, could also instal water tanks at their premises to reduce their water bill.