Blog Garden

My Tamu Tale on the other weekend..

2009-10-23T02:36:00.000+08:00

When MIL is around, I always get the chance to go to Tamu *which means the place where local seller meets*. Armed with my cellphone I aimed for local's stuff as the victim for my daring shot. Other than becoming her best mate in veggie buying, I am the best moving hanger for her to carry stuffs etc etc..But I like it as after 'shopping' in the tamu, we will always head for our morning breakfast in the coffee shop and tapau*take away* breakfast for the family members. Then no more cooking for lunch as everyone's tummy is already fulled with the take away food.

The Tamu scene located in Keningau Town..

ranging from varieties of veggie....

crabs, prawns and freshwater fish..

to dried salty fish-the oldest ways to preserve fresh fish in order to prevent them from decaying.

varieties of pretty blooms and greens

local sweeties like tapai manis pulut, tapai manis ubi *fermented sweet rice/cassava, kuih cincin

wooden chopping boards - locally made

knives, parang *machete*, small hoes also locally made

aha..I knew you all will buy this if you happen to stumble to one that you dont have..

local cigarettes known as 'sigup' local tobacco, notice that brown tobacco, take a little of that stuffs and put it in the white rolled in the black plastic bag and roll it neat makes a 'sigup'..

and finally this last picture which I think two old couples chatting on something ...They look sweet with bundles of stems behind which I forgot the name..

So how's weekend on your place?
Happy weekend you all..

Finally Meme Award..

2009-10-11T16:44:00.013+08:00

Sorry for the long interval, just been away for the celebrations and being lazy at times. Pardon me Autumn Belle of My Nice Garden for the long wait of responding to your Meme's Award. Surely its hard to tell about myself at least seven for the sake that Im not into placing my self image in the blog, its kind like shyness allergy, whats the big deal right. But yes thats me, a glimpse of me will do as an appreciation of having a great blotanical friends like you in the net.
Seven of random choice that I can think of are :

1. This is me and the kids. Hubby is in the next pic..he is facing the other direction when I took the pic..both of us have this allergy..so excuse us ya..
2. Moving on to my kitchen.. facing this scenery and would you mind having one like this. Sometimes when the paddy harvesting is over, plots of veggies take place where you can see varieties of veggie being carried out to sell in the market by its owner.

the picture is from my other blog blog cabin

and blog garden sky is always like this :

3. This is where we suppose to live when it finish building. Currently Im staying in MIL 's house waiting its progress. Again sorry for the hibiscus blocking its view.

4. Working as a teacher, this is my class of year 08. They are big girls and boys now.

5. My kids. Son Darrell and daughter Emerald. Sure give me loads of work during playtime in the house..

Emerald 4Darrell 8

6. Love music and good songs..can play some musical instrument ..reading during free time but with hands full of messy things done by the kids, my new books almost untouched.

7. Love to watch horror and thrill movie like Wrong Turn and especially murder and ghost stories. A fan of CSI, children's adventure of anything as well as comedy movie. Mr. Bean as well. So you can guess what the person I am. Again sorry for the shy pictures and a not very exposed story of Blog Garden in personal as I admit we are shy people huhu..

I guess by now all the blotanicals that Ive known have already been tagged and Im not sure whether some were not, thus the Meme's award will be forwarded to non blotanical, sure hope they have greens and someday will blog about theirs.
So now I would like to give the awards to :

1. One day At A Time : for her inspiring word of the Heavenly and infos of the world.
2. RoomformyReverie : of her daily life which sometimes reflected me during her age.
3. My Sunny Happy Garden : for her beautiful shots of the greens and nature.
4. My Rustic Bajan Garden : of her garden in Barbados featuring wonderful greens and recipes.
5 Life's a bless : of her blessed family and children.
6. Fayedoza : of her courage and matured way of dealing with life in such a young age.
7. CicakCicak di dinding : of making me smile and grins of his way on telling stories in our Sabahan language.

These guidelines will help :

1. Link back to the person who gave you the award

2. Reveal the 7 things about yourself

3. Tag 7 other bloggers at the end of your post and link to them

4. Let each blogger know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

5. Let the tagger know when your post is up.

have a nice day ahead you all.

The Wani Fruits are falling..

2009-09-11T19:18:00.005+08:00

Come and walk with me under the Wani/Kuini tree..

The fruits are falling
the plastic bags laden
and the choice of giving
rather than selling
is chosen..
for the sake of the old wani tree..

The look alike Pangolin fruit-Buah Salak

2009-09-05T02:47:00.008+08:00

Do you know this fruit? Its called buah Salak or the Salak fruit, sometimes called the snake fruit.

It reminds me of the Pangolin or Tenggiling because of its scale.*credits to newshoard.blogspot*

the skin has to be peeled like peeling an egg shell..

the flesh
and the taste is sweet but puckery, and I can't even finish one. I rather prefer the betel nut. *grins*

The Tale of The Brinjal Updates

2009-09-05T02:11:00.004+08:00

I knew I'm neglecting this blog as the days were full and my hands were not enough. Wish I was an octopus then but the perfect time was always packed with something interesting from the net like shopping and reading celebrities gossips ..how impressing right..haha..
Though no updates, I didnt forget to take pictures just in case my time is right like this hour where the rest of my families are on their way to dreaming land. Now sit back and relax with the story, The tale of the brinjal updates again. Enjoy..

bloom more blooms brinjal

this one
and this one
all for one
makes today's lunch 'yum' said hubby.

Brinjals Updating

2009-08-17T23:56:00.006+08:00

Last picture of brinjal taken about a month ago..

Now its like this...
bearing flowers
Below angle

and perhaps weeks from now will be having brinjals cooked with spicy paste or Terung masak Sambal like this..*except that this pic was brinjal's market*hehe

When Mom visit..

2009-08-02T01:08:00.007+08:00

A Few months ago mum was here to help take care for the kids when I was not well at that time. She was having a good time helping me and enjoyed the greens in my yard. She even helped me pruning my neglected bougainvilleas and planting some veggies. We share the same interests in gardening as well as cooking. When she was about to return back to kampung, I insisted that she should bring some fruits back.
As avocado is her favorite we took some matured avocados and betel nut or buah pinang for her. She gladly offered to get the betel nut by herself but I warned her to wear gardening boots just in case of stepping unwanted legless reptiles..you know what I mean.

avocados

getting the betel nut by just poking the fruits with long bamboo stick

the betel nut ..again I share mum's hobby of eating this fruit, a little puckery but quite okay to my taste.
Happy Weekend to you all..

Bambangan Fruit

2009-07-30T00:48:00.005+08:00

Ever see this fruit? Its called Bambangan fruit here. Do you have this in your place? It is another species of mango but quite big and usually we make Bambangan pickles out of it.

You have to cut it like this to open, so that you can just pull the thick skin from the flesh.

credits to http://abgnua.blogspot.com

The taste is sweet kind like mango, sometimes sweet sour just like our life..

Calliandra brushy Heads

2009-07-27T01:27:00.002+08:00

Looks like a paintbrush..

Up close..

how about looking from the down angle..

gotcha. Im the Powder Puff- Calliandra.

This plant has flower that is brushy with long stamens, a reddish color on the upper part and white below. Growing near the barbed wire fence, planted by hubby. Anyone knows its other name?

Spotted Dove in my Garden

2009-07-27T00:11:00.007+08:00

The other day I managed to capture a Spotted Dove or burung tekukur quite close to the house. No wonder I always hear a coo coo kroo sound nearby. Zoom in was just not enough to get it close to my eyes and the camera I used was not the kind that can take the bird's color vividly.

The first picture taken when it was perching on the electric wire brushing its feathers.

Spotted Dove *Burung Tekukur*

The closest that I could shot. How I wish I own a DSLR..
For a very close burung tekukur picture go here

Cultivating Gardening from Childhood

2009-07-23T03:16:00.007+08:00

Been so busy lately, blogging now at nightime as the daytime are always packed with something or the net is booked by my kiddos.
Making my Science lesson as interesting as I can (depends on the mood, frankly) I came across 'plants' as the topic. Interesting as it is, I asked my Year 1 students to bring along a pot of soil and gave them my leftover seeds that were still intact to plant in their pot (actually a plastic bottle that was cut into half).
After two weeks these were the results.. I hope they can grow their tomatoes, brinjals and chillies and gets delighted with their labor. Those who managed to grow their plants fine were given Science story book to motivate them more to learn as well as they will not get bored with my daily teachings. Perhaps someday if they become a successful educated farmer, they will not forget me as the motivator gardener...(hoping :P...lol)

eager students

the labour

Black and white Kuini

2009-07-04T15:46:00.002+08:00

A black and white kuini or mangga wani for Saturday. Its more to arts and not the greens, sometimes its nice to try on new things where you will never know what you can do till you try one. Happy weekend you all.

Brinjal under the Starfruit Trees

2009-06-26T09:38:00.007+08:00

Sometimes having too many seeds get me confused, but hey just plant them and see what comes out of it right..

tada..but what is it..

moving them to larger space under the starfruit tree, providing natural shelter from the hot sun.

closer

I know you..you are a brinjal - eggplant, aubergine in other names..and Terung in my place..

Till then okay, you are not that big enough to show more pictures, Update soon..

The heaviest Veggie in the world..

2009-06-18T01:42:00.006+08:00

Hola. Its me on the go again. Just been in one of those days where sometimes one needs a break and now back to life again. Hope you all are happy with your greens despite of this hot and dry weather especially here in Malaysia where El Nino is expected to come soon. Keningau has just received its rain yesterday after almost a week of scorching hot weather. Its definitely way too hot for the greens to have their sunbathing!

A green riddle in the middle of June.
'What's the heaviest veggie in the world?' A big cabbage? a big broccoli? you can answer all you like but the thing is the 'tutan' is the heaviest veggie in the world. Why? because its weigh two ton (tutan) get it? Lol.
These are the pictures of the veggie 'Tutan" a local veggie but it might have other names in your places. I was thinking Im growing a chilli plant when the tutan was still small. The tutan taste like any leafy veggie but has a little bit bitter kind of thing but not bitter like the bitter gourd. Its actually a wild veggie that has been commercialised in my place. I hope some will come up with another name soon.

kinda like a chilli plant for me

revealed its true self ..The tutan but not the Titans :P

A Short Post for May..

2009-05-28T08:26:00.005+08:00

Its been a month since my last post. Time really flies, and so many things happened during that time. Just not quite in the mood to write but I did some gardening as well and also taking pictures for future posts to fill that time but did not write a new post here. Today I decided to write something as I will be away for the school break and maybe couldn't reach the net and it will be a long time to reach June, just in case my fellow bloggers are wondering where Ive been all this while. Here's a little snap of what Ive been through during those blank entry.

An Evening in Night Market

2009-04-24T00:24:00.011+08:00

Pasar Malam or literally 'Night Market' in Keningau, also known as street Market and opens at around 4 every evening, is the place I regularly go to after working hours. The mission is to buy veggies, fruits, kuih muih for my kid's evening treat and also for tomorrow's lunch. Stalls of veggies, fruits, kuih-muih in Malay (bake sales), dried fish, clothes, food and drinks etc can be found here. As I was wondering what veggies to buy, I came across the breadnut which is known as "buah Kemangsi", actually the fruit can be found here but I forgot the look and this fruit is cook best with curry as Helen of Rustic Bajan Garden mentioned before. I remembered my other alternative of taking pictures, that is my cellphone, but pretending like sms-ing, got the breadnut captured and some pictures of Keningau's night market. Here's the result. :)

breadnuts or the "buah kemangsi"

breadnuts in the sack

and these are the "tarap fruit", notice the difference between the two ?

view of the pasar malam
'Lemiding' a local veggie, grows in the wild.

banana flower or 'jantung pisang' cooked as veggie on the left

serai or lemon grass, bottles of honey, 'bambangan' a type of local pickles (yellow color in the small container on the right)

local jewellery crafts also can be found here, the picture a bit blurry in my attempt to'sms'

ending with kuih muih, bake or rather fried, steam delicacies sales?

Buah Tarap the Unique fruit in Sabah

2009-04-19T12:25:00.004+08:00

Buah tarap is a unique fruit here in Sabah. Its flesh is soft and sweet and has a strong scent. Buah tarap can be eaten just like that or cooked with flour to make kuih. It looks like jackfruit but its not. This fruit is very soft to open when ripen and thats why you have to get the fruit from the tree and left to ripen until soft as it couldnt afford to fall because of its softness. People here believed that if you are going to pluck this fruit be careful dont let the fruit touch your knee else it would not ripe accordingly. The seeds are also edible after boiling or roasting and taste like nuts. The young fruit can be used as veggie and cook with coconut milk like the jackfruit.

credits to www.travelpod.com

I dont have this in my yard as hubby said it is too big a tree to grow and it really needs bigger space. Anyway just to highlight my favorite fruit and the local fruit of Sabah here it is as feast to the eyes :)

Purple blooms on Friday

2009-04-17T08:25:00.009+08:00

wild purple orchid morning glory

Its Friday once again and who doesn't love Friday..Friday makes me happy with these purple blooms in my plot. I noticed Ive taken more purple blooms nowadays and here they are..

unknown purple flower and bougainvillea

wild purple orchids growing on the kuini tree

wild weed's flower
lemon flower
purple hibiscus

The Rain in Blog Garden..

2009-04-14T21:00:00.000+08:00

In the midst of rain
I found myself drain
In a pool of false puddle
where my minds seem to meddle

hope is the faith
where life is not death
enduring the pain of waiting
in the game of living
like the rain falling
where new hopes growing

Let it shine and rain
in my little garden
let the confuse mind
dwell and bind
in the darkness of night
where hope is the knight
with every waking hours
I will live to the fullest!!

p.s 1- just want to cool down things a bit :)
2- Rain is hujan in my language

Lemon Grass as Natural Herbal Remedy to Prevent Cancer

2009-04-14T20:05:00.000+08:00

Serai or Lemon Grass Cymbopogon ciatrusis used as herb either fresh, dried or powdered in Asian cuisine. It has a citrus flavour and widely used in soups, curries and any dish one like to mix it with. Other popular name for serai is citronella - the common scent you usually find in candles, perfumes and soaps. I rarely use serai but they were rows of them in the garden at the backyard and infront.

rows of serai

It is believed that serai is a good cleanser that helps to detoxify the liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder and the digestive tract. It cuts down uric acid, cholesterol, excess fats and other toxins in the body while stimulating digestion, blood circulation, and lactation; it also alleviates indigestion and gastroenteritis. It is said that lemongrass also helps improve the skin by reducing acne and pimples and acts as a muscle and tissue toner. Also, it can reduce blood pressure. Just make a concoction by boiling some lemon grass leaves, let it cool for a while and drink the liquid.

Some people believed that serai is able to prevent cancer and according to researchers from Ben Gurion University A drink with as little as one gram of lemon grass contains enough citral to prompt cancer cells to commit suicide in the test tube. II think its time for me to use more serai in my kitchen now.

credits to geocities

credits to eblog cari com my

Precious Kaffir Lime Leaves

2009-04-10T14:07:00.012+08:00

Limau purut lebat di pangkal,

sayang selasih condong uratnya
Angin ribut dapat ditangkal
hati kasih apa ubatnya..

Above is the Malay poem connected with the leaves -daun limau purut or Kaffir lime leaves merely a love poem of the fondness of heart searching for medication, so much appreciated that it fits into a poem. These leaves widely used in traditional Malay cooking and Thailand. I just pick two to three leaves and mix them in my soup or curry fish. The aroma is a therapy to the nostrils. Mix your bath with water boiled with these leaves when the weather is cold, you'll have a spa feeling after that.

Kaffir lime leaves -- also called makrut -- have a distinctive two-lobed shape, a glossy appearance, a leathery texture, and an unusual lemon-lime flavor. Leaves can be used fresh or dried. Fresh leaves will keep in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for a few weeks, and in the freezer for up to a year, and either way are much preferred to the dried leaves.

The kaffir lime tree reaching the sky, I guess it needs pruning as I didnt see any of its fruit anywhere on the tree. Well I guess we only need the leaves for its lushes perfume and striking flavour.
Tom Yam Prawns -1st pic below
Tom Yam Soup (Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup) with the leaves......2nd pic.

Fungus Part 3

2009-04-09T09:01:00.010+08:00

I wish I have more time with the greens and see new things in my yard. As tomorrow is the "Good Friday" public holiday in Sabah, today we are given extra holiday which called 'cuti peristiwa' in my workplace. Not all schools are having this extra day but since mine is a mission school than we got something extra special. Not rushing as always for work I took a walk with my daughter to see if I can find new fungus growing. The walk was not frustrating yet it gave me some of these new fungus. I saw some different ones and same fungus, anyway just to highlight my extra holidays and weekends here are some of the new and old species that I found..

just like two golf balls, except one was smaller..

this can be eaten, but not enough for one plate..

a flower look alike fungi

curling there among the greens

the color of bark's tree but more to flower shape with no petals

an open classic Chinese umbrella

and a closed umbrella :)

Pumpkin for Lunch

2009-03-29T19:37:00.010+08:00

I was wondering what to cook for lunch today when I saw this two big pumpkins hubby got from the garden and decided to cook it even though I was a bit lazy to get the pumpkin skin peeled and cut as it was big and heavy and needed quite an energy to cut it open.

Finally I managed to cut about a quarter size of pumpkin..

and diced it

Half an hour later pumpkin cooked with chicken meat was produced..

Tadaa ..still hot they were smoking..

that's my tale for today's lunch..fresh from the garden and into the wok :)

Moth or Kupu-kupu

2009-03-20T17:16:00.005+08:00

I rarely saw a striking moth in my surroundings but not this one I found resting on the house wall one day . Its beautiful patterns and look alike eyes are well formed. It is much closer to a butterfly I think. Since it has a feathery antennae I assumed it is a moth as butterfly's antennae is thin and slender.

Turmeric or Kunyit

2009-03-20T14:32:00.004+08:00

Turmeric or Kunyit (curcuma longa) here has many uses in culinary, medicinal, as dye and as well as ceremony uses particularly the wedding ceremony of North Indians. Turmeric is native to South Asia and a plant of the ginger family.

rows of turmeric plants

closer look of the leaves which can be used to mix with fish dish..

turmeric
turmeric powder