After having training from many aspects of sustainable agriculture throughout the years, like permaculture, biodynamic, natural farming etc, using different materials to improve the soil like compost, liquid manure, fish amino, EM, enzymes etc and the list really never ends. We realise that nature as complex as it will be, cannot be labelled or fixated with a certain terminology. Over the years we have realised how things and methods can also be complex and flexible to our advantages, benefits and convenience with maximum practicality in our daily work. We mock ourselves when we look back and see how stubborn we used to be with finding the perfect method. Below are few things that we stick our mind firmly to while working around the circumstances.
1. Biodiversity Controlling or suppressing one element of wildlife/plant, even if it is a pest/weed, will have unpredictable impacts on the rest of the food chain. Organic production systems are designed to respect the balance observed in our natural ecosystems. Diversification is another characteristic of sustainable agriculture that supports biodiversity. Through the non-use of chemicals, sustainable agriculture takes pressure off ecosystems and biodiversity, alleviating them off the chemicals’ toxic effects on plants and animals. To us, everything depends on fruitful soils that are rich in nutrients and full of beneficial microorganisms, enabling high and stable yields. Compost and green manure, the major ingredient of our farm, increases biodiversity through its living soils. Diversified cultivations are much more resilient against draughts, heavy rainfall or pests. While these events can have disastrous effects on monocultures, sustainable cultivations typically perform much better. Thus, biodiversity is the best insurance against agricultural productivity risks. 2. Sustainability Many changes observed in the environment are long term, occurring slowly over time, as what we can seeing now the ecological and social price has been steep: erosion; depleted and contaminated soil and water resources; loss of biodiversity; deforestation; labor abuse; and the decline of family farms. Sustainable agriculture is a way of raising food that satisfies human health and nutrition, protects the environment, make the most efficient use of non-renewable resources and farm resources, respects animals and insects, humanity to workers, sustain the economic viability of farm operations, enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole. 3. Positivity <<-------(NEW!) We believe that survival possibilites are limited only to our positivity, this is where we are able to be creative yet responsible with our farm activities as the ability to respond to circumstances is the true meaning of being responsible.
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Check out the cute owl! This is by far my favourite illustration for màn màn poster. I cant stop looking at the Owl. do you know what is the meaning of an Owl?
For weeks or months even we have been thinking of where to go and what to do for our team building. Finally we decided to approach our good friend Samm to bring us on a caving trip. To be honest the rock climbing was unexpected, I thought we're just gonna explore the caves!
Fear and anxiety was at it's peak when we have to start rock climbing only after 80metres above ground level and rappelling in the dark from 80 metres high. With every step climbing up, i tell myself to push a little more and was able to go higher and higher until my arms were so pumped up i had to let go of the rock, with a mindful and quick thug from my belayer, i am hanging in mid-air, admiring the most beautiful scenery i have seen in Malaysia. Huge giant thanks to Samm and his team Winnie, Kent and Ivo that is so professional, kept us safe and guided us through so many difficult times. My heart was weak and my whole body was trembling when it was my turn to finally rappel down from 80 metres high to ground level. With every step i take, a drop of tear is screaming inside my eyes to get out. just when i thought i couldn't take it, i hear a bunch of cheering and a headlight from on of my teammates. At that moment, that was the nicest, most pleasant and appealing noise I've ever hear in my life. The fact that the team is all waiting and cheering for me (the last one) to reach to their level has made my trembling heart feel so fortunate and blessed. Thanks girls, It's good to have all of you here with me. This trip sure has made all of us push our limits that we've never imagined and never known, faced our phobias and fears and i believe have mad all of us understand ourselves and others better on a deeper level. -Alicia Its time of the month again for Màn màn market! The coming market will be on 2nd July 8am-12pm. There have been a lot more new and younger faces seen at the last few markets, its so nice to know that this green lifestyle is attracting the attention of young people. When Meishy & Ai Li (a kinder teacher) first started Màn Màn in September 2013, it was actually held in our farm itself, with black nets above our heads and picnic mats placed on the grass patch and the market started. At that time there were only around 10 vendors and the people who came can be counted with our fingers. In the last 3.5 years, we have wanted to give up on this market countless times. It is very frequent we feel like we can’t go on handling both our farm and the market together, even though the market is only every 1st Sunday of the month, there is a lot of logistics, administration, advertising & marketing work to handle. For many markets in the 1st 3 years due to the busy schedule prepping the market, Wonder Wilderfarm were not able to setup our own farm booth properly as a lot of aspects of the markets needs to be taken care of and harvesting our own vegetables to sell had became secondary. Of course there were also times when we had volunteers to tend to our booths, that’s when we are able to sell more veggies but with the capital and maintenance needed to set up the market, the expense is unthinkable for small scale farmer like us. During the period of 2013 to 2015, Meishy pretty much run the market on her own with on and off volunteers coming to help with the setup. When I 1st came to the market in the middle of 2015, I was a vendor, selling homemade coconut oil, homemade jams & hot sauces etc. After 3 months of being a vendor, I took a further step to join Wonder Wilderfarm and the organizing committee of the market. That is when all the hand drawn market posters started. During the market’s 3rd anniversary in 2016, with the team work of Bee lian(a child care educator) and us, we manage to get funding from 3 YBs that is enough to cover our very own 1st ever PA system, we finally are able to change our rotten tables to new ones, gotten some canopies and we printed the markets’ own grocery bags. Màn màn market now have 5-7 on and off committee members each have their own roles in facebook posting, emcee, vendor confirmation, poster design, printing, market setup, stage performances planning, seminar planning, sharing session planning, farm tour & aftermath clean up, Màn màn market was the 1st consistent farmers market in Malaysia when it started, now with many markets popping up suddenly, we are no longer lonely.
A day in May I might Chase the sands of time To see the world in flight Until I’m back in crime The captain landed smoothly on my home ground 20mins ahead of schedule. Even so, all seemed to be a hurry. Walking on the ground after every travelator is suffering. With eyes wide open, expecting myself to be at the same speed still. With eyes closed, all thats needed is trust in myself and walking the path become a bliss. How interesting my expectations wants my future to be when what I’m seeing is the present. Oh how the two ends easily sway the present moment away. The truth can never be known when one has experience no consciousness about it. There I go again, wandering about life with my ever so flawed personality. Last Farm Lunch Last Friday’s farm lunch was absolutely satisfying, we are thankful to have a full house of 12 people, making this farm lunch possible as it was not until one day before that we are getting calls and messages for lunch bookings when all of a sudden all the seats have been booked. We have not made any cancellation on our lunches so far and we have been very blessed that head counts have been either above half or a full house. The vinaigrette salad was as refreshing as ever, we also made a delicious tapioca veggie shepherds pie with coconut cheese, lastly we had a sinful tapioca coconut pudding that was to die for as a happy ending. These past few lunch’s results have also given us more confidence and affirmation to do more in our fantasy kitchen. For this coming Saturday’s farm lunch I will make a smoky rice burger with a combination of veggies and tropical fruits and a zesty sauce. Hopefully at a ratio of 5(Grains):3(veggies):1(Protein):1(nuts). The last time I heard from Peichin, we had only last 4 seats left for this farm lunch. So make your reservations with her now if you’re interested at 017 725 1758 Holiday workshops! Although our workshops comes with different themes and age groups, we wish to give the younger generation a deeper not just understanding but a more grounded experience with the soil they are stepping on, the food they decide to put in their body. The whole idea is that the future/ younger generation get exposed to respecting the nature the feeds us all and when they grow up, if they so happen to one day have power to make a decision, this too shall be of importance in the decision that they are going to make. Next Farmers Market
Next màn màn market will be on the 4th June ’17 8am-12pm In celebration of parents day, Wen Hong our talented musician friend will open his unplugged session for song dedications from children to parents. There will be cooked food, handmade soaps, fresh organic produces and many many more! Lets come and enjoy your sunday morning here! Màn màn market is a run by Wonder wilderfarm together with some other individuals who are dedicated and care for the mental and body health of the future generations. We encourage practice in fairtrade. As we are organising this market on a good will, it pains our heart to see the amount of rubbish created everytime. So lets do our part to make this event clean and green. If you happen to buy any bottle drink in the market, we instst you return the empty bottles to the vendors you bought from, this way we can reduce wastage and at the same time built a stronger relationship with our food producers. Also note the bottom sentence of the 'BRING YOUR OWN' campaign :) EAT LOCAL, STAY FRESH, GO GREEN, BE HAPPY! Oi! Farm Lunch special this Friday, with a touch of Brazil! Raysa, our friend from Brazil, loves to cook back at home and a recipe passed down by her mother had won 'Best Pudding in Brazil award'! This Friday we are going to have Brazilian vegetarian shepherd's pie call Escondidinho and Pudim de tapioca! Rm30/ pax. only 12 seats available. This particular farm lunch will have kampong eggs in one of the dish.
For 3 days in a row before our farm lunch last Friday, the sound of electric jig saw, grinder and hammer banging never left our ears. A project was given to Arthur and Raysa, our farm volunteers from France and Brazil, to built 2 new tables for farm lunch. There was an older table for all the previous farm lunch, but it was only able to hold 8-10 people. Meishy and me had wanted to build a new table to hold 12pax for quite sometime now but there were just too many projects on hand to actually start with the dining table. Right about a month and a half ago, I’ve built a kitchen island from recycled wood, I wanted to make sure that it is strong and durable, considering that lots of pounding and chopping will be happening on the table, the stability of the table was really important if we want to use it in the long run. A lot thought was put into the joints and structure. Finally after 3 days of crafting, a classic kitchen island is ready to be use in our farm kitchen. On Friday morning, harvesting starts as early as 7.30am. Lettuce, brinjal, long bean, tapioca and some herbs was picked and carefully washed to remove the sand that were splashed on the leafs from the heavy rain last night. Using the purest ingredients available, the food preparation begins with chopping, tasting and indian spices sprinkling in our fantasy kitchen. The vinaigrette 2 days before the lunch I made a long bean vinaigrette with garlic, fragrant marigold, mugwort, thai basil, blue pea vinegar and coconut oil. Crunchy, long beans soaked in a fragrant yet sour mixture is almost dancing in my mouth when ever I try to sneak a bite from the jar. Fresh red coral lettuce was tear into chunks by hand, and with a chopsticks the long beans was delicately placed on top, last but not least a drizzle of the vinaigrette on the salad as dressing. The coconut cheese This cheese is made by fermenting coconut milk overnight until the protein curded, it is then separated and salted for storage. The chocolate banana pie 1 night before the lunch, Arthur had prepared the dough and the syrup for dessert. The next morning, the dough was rolled out evenly to fit snuggly into a clay baking tray. After 2 layers of sliced bananas was placed, a golden syrup of sugar, lime skin, cloves and cinnamon was drizzled followed by a mixture of cacao powder and cacao butter. The pie is bubbling to perfection after 1.3 hours of baking in our small tiny oven. The salty vegetable pie This process is the same as the sweet pie, but this time around with brinjals, coconut cheese and tapioca as fillings. Tapioca starts to turn brown and crunchy with fragrance floating in the air after around 1.5 hours of baking. The long bean fritters
As usual, Meishy was getting playful with the herbs in the garden. Finely chopped lemon grass and torched ginger was mixed into a batter of long beans, sourdough starter, kampong egg and a little sprinkle of sea salt. Slide into hot palm oil it goes with the symphony of fried food crackling in pure joy. For our coming friday farm lunch, an idea of Brazilian food sparkles. Only a limited of 12 seatings available and energy exchange will be Rm30/pax. Stay tune for poster and updates. Note: most ingredients used including sugar and flour are either organically grown in our farm or from organic source that we trust. Ingredients used that are usually non organic in the farm lunch are garlic, onions, indian spices and eggs. We planted a tree at our Lunch launch that fall on earth day.As you all may already know, Wonder Wilderfarm is growing fresh produces organically for almost 4 years now with a wide range of low land vegetables and some fruits. Over the past 2 years we have also been innovating on new organically processed foods with a variety of fermented vinegars, hot sauces, teas, jams, candies, balms, Scooby etc etc, the ideas never really stops for us. Me and Meishy have also spent a good amount of time in our farm kitchen creating new dishes for ourselves and some farm visitors using vegetables directly harvested from our farm. Modern city folks will loved it when they can find some local small scale organic farm to purchase directly from, it reduces much carbon foot prints, eliminates the unfair trading practices of a conventional middleman and most importantly, understanding the food production from soil to plate directly from the farmer itself. The only problem lies with not knowing how to use or cook the fresh produce. With the wide society influence on using only limited ingredients in everyday life is causing many low land native veggies to be neglected. In Wonder Widlerfarm, there’s no broccoli, cauliflower, carrots or cabbages grown as such veggies are more suitable to be grown in the highlands. We believe in eating locally, as we believe that plants that is grown from where are staying is designed by nature to customize for our body, it makes perfect sense that since the olden days people staying in the low land eats low land produced food and people in the highland eats highland produced food. We know that eliminating all out sourced food is not quite possible in our modern day lives, even we sometimes will crave for a apple or so, what makes the biggest difference is that we are well aware that it is a desire be it from our body or from our emotions. If we encourage small-scale farmers to continue pursuing self produced food or get more people to start farming small scale with good variety of native low land veggies, then the influx of imported produces will naturally be reduced. If we can see the value of our lives and future generations in agriculture land, more farm lands will be protected and preserved for the peoples well being instead of another high rise that ends up congesting our small little roads even more, making the place that you are already living in even harder to stay. The whole initial idea of ‘Agri-culture’ is a culture from the earth. It does not merely produce food in exchange for cold hard cash but it also includes, nature education, food education, soil and human relationship, a place that has agriculture is a place where you do not have to be afraid of your kids being exposed to any form of chemicals, a place to go to further understand ourselves as a role of the human organization, a place where the whole soil, the whole earth is alive, and this place can have its own individuality because the farmer can also seek out their very self and have their own individuality. In April’ 2017 we started our first farm lunch together with ‘Farm2plate Malaysia’, taking in only a limited seating of 10 pax for every lunch. Using as much ingredients from our farm as possible and making food with interesting combinations with whatever we have in the farm. We have gotten much appreciation and praises from our farm lunch visitors over this few months about food that we prepared and it has encouraged us to take a further step in preparing food for others. In the coming months, we will announce a breakfast session in our farm. People behind the food. Meishy is gifted for a fine taste for hidden flavors, when ever we have the chance to try a friends’ cooking or go to a new place for a meal, she will always be able to locate and identify the most subtle taste in a dish. Me, I grew up in a environment where my father is constantly innovating new menus for a restaurant and is also cooking all the time. I always have to do food tasting with my father, training the ingredient combinations in my mind since young. Pei Chin is extremely passionate about educating the public about food safety, food security, and ingredients background and of course with all these, bringing things from the farm2plate. Our farm lunch is what we will call it, ‘Cooking with imagination’, we try to imagine the combination of flavors & textures in our mind first. We will always think is it nicer if the dish is moister? What kind of surprise will the mouth transmit to the brain if there’s a sudden burst of pleasant refreshing herbs in the rice? How should the size of the chopped herbs be in the salad to be able to get the full flavor and aroma? How can we fully utilize the possibilities of one ingredient? All these come into our fantasy world of the farm kitchen. With much imaginations and ideas, we go around looking for opportunities to learn traditional methods of food preparation and traditional recipes, at the same time trying to understand the logic and wisdom behind the usage of certain methods or ingredients. A lot of people have asked us if its challenging to use only what we have in the farm, well for sure it’s a challenge at first, but that is because our mind is conditioned to the things and ways that we are formally used to. This is also why imagination plays a big part in our kitchen to break away from standard forms and creating own new standard in return. We serves farm lunch now with occasional travellers from around the world adding touches of their country in our farm lunch. This coming Friday we will have farm lunch with a touch of French, we are happy to have Arthur a young traveller from France who loves to cook to make us some delicious French pies!
This is our 5th times organizing farm lunch event at Wonder Wilderfarm 野逸园. We have a guest from Thailand to cook one authentic Thai food with our own farm freshly produce harbs.
This week our farm lunch is proudly represents to you by Alicia, Atiwat and Pei Chin! Thanks to our farmers: Alicia and Mei Shy! Join us! Let's Have Lunch @Wonder Wilderfarm Special of our Wonder Wilder Farm2plate Lunch offering: 1. Fresh picked harvest within 4 hours. 2. Most local food ingredients used are seasonal & organically grown from the farm. 3. Food free of MSG, artificial colourings, or other chemicals. 4. Chit-chatting with food producers, chef and get to know about what you eat and make new friends. (Isn't is exciting that you have no idea who is going to eat with you together?) 5. Vegetarian food. Please whatsapp to Pei Chin at 017 725 1758 for booking. Price: RM 25/pax (Children below 7 years old eat for free) Seats are limited, we served not more than 10 pax & if received less than 5 pax the lunch would be cancelled and we will notify you at least a day before. |
W.WFarmWe are dreamers dreaming of promoting a path towards a life in harmony with one another other and mother Earth. Wonder Wilderfarm (WWF) aims to promote sustainable living, while Màn Màn Market is organised by us together with some other passionate individuals to meet this objectives. Archives
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