Visiting a Malaysian Farm - How These Tropical Fruits Get so Delici...

Do you know where your food comes from? No, I don’t mean which supermarket aisle but more like on which soil it grew, what fertilizer it was fed and whose hands harvested it. We tend to loose this natural connection to our food since we often don’t even know on what kind of plant it grows - bush, tree or even under the earth? Especially when it comes to imported tropical fruits and veggies, I myself surely didn’t know much about their origin.

I decided that this was about to change.

Smell the soil, feel the leaves, admire the marvelous fruits

Since I am traveling the tropics and tried more and more new fruits, I looked not only into the best ways to eat them, but also how they become those wonderful pieces of flavors and richness. We were super lucky to meet a local farmer in a nearby organic veggie store the other day here in Kuala Lumpur (his name is Ooi) who offered to show us his farm. A possibility I long dreamed of, especially cause Ooi tries his best to use only natural methods of farming and various techniques non-harmful to humans as well as our precious earth.

One of my favorite fruits - Why papayas come with a wrapping

My favorite fruit from his farm is definitely the papaya, the best I have tasted so far. And did you ever see how papayas becomes so glowingly orange, creamy and sweet? This is how Ooi's papaya trees look like. And if you are wondering why they are decorated so creatively with yellow bags - it is a gentle measures to keep the hungry birds, bees and other insects from eating the fruit when it gets sweet.

Using toxic chemicals is bananas - How Ooi protects his fruits

The most part of Ooi's farm inhibits a colorful mixture of different banana varieties. And if I say colorful I do mean it, since there are bananas that are white inside or yellow, green outside or even red. Ooi does not only plant the most popular and profitable berangan banana variety, he also gives a chance to more uncommon, local varieties that are often only known by elder people. Well, I tried them all and my personal favorite are mas bananas - tiny fruits with a dark yellow flesh, so sweet and creamy, the taste weirdly reminds me of tangerine cake.

For his bananas, he also takes advantage of natural farming techniques. Ooi uses for example the leaves from the already harvested bitter melon to protect the banana plants from the relentless heat. To keep away insects that would love to dive into all his juicy, sweet fruits on his farm, he produces his own environmental-friendly insect repellent out of the peel of several citrus fruits.

Bitter between all the sweets - The coolest way to grow big

Among the beautiful fruits on his farm, Ooi also grows asparagus and the local bitter melon. This strange looking plant is the most bitter fruit on our planet and can be found on almost any colorful market stall here in Malaysia. The skin is already pretty funny in its texture, but just take a look at how they cutely grow down towards the ground - these plants are amazing! If you are also curious about this exceptionally healthy food, check out my bitter melon salad recipe which includes some more insight about this powerhouse of a fruit.

How our future farmers and fruit lovers learn from Ooi's farm

Not only does he thrive to do good for our environment, he also gives back to his community by dedicating one part of his farm to our future fruit and veggie growers. Nearby schools or kindergartens often come by on the weekends to learn from Ooi about growing our food. They even get to plant their own pineapple trees. A new project of his will allow a certain kindergarten group to come over regularly to see their own fruits becoming bigger and bigger until they can harvest the results by themselves.

So they learn right from the start how their daily foods grow and don't have to wait for the moment when they coincidently meet a local farmer in a veggie store and luckily get asked to visit his farm.

(This post is taking part in the amazing Fruits and Veggies Monday Competition from @lenasveganliving.)

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Have a wonderful day and a fruitful journey ahead!

Yours, Anais

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Visiting a Malaysian Farm - How These Tropical Fruits Get so Delicious!