FARMER FOR A DAY

18/10/2014

"Yes, I've left my high heels behind and become farmer for a day!"

The arrangement was to meet up for breakfast before departing to the organic farm.  We managed to find our way (trust the reliable Mr. Waze!) to the Purelife Organic Cafe.

Not only a wholesale market for organic foodstuff ....

the Shen G cafe within the shop serving organic food

and breads 

 These organic vegetables sourced from organic farms goes into boxes which the owners brought along and collected -something like the farmer's boxes. 

Our pre-ordered breakfast- veggie porridge 

and Nasi Lemak - wonderful aroma of santan, derive from pure coconut oil!  The sambal is Papaya Chilli- delectable! The green tea latte - very strong soy milk favour.

This is on the house from the owner- Roti Chappati Roll.... according to the owner, their Roti Chappati are the best sellers for weekends!

Proven  organic!

Finally we arrived at the Organic Farm after around 20 minutes drive  away and lastly over a stretch of  road with  9-bumps! 

Immediately refreshed ourselves .... 

The shop and dining area 

the meeting hall..... we sat on the floor at the low tables.... no fan but it was airy! 

the lovely green view behind the meeting hall 

the layout of  the dining table....

the dessert table... 

Ms Lee the person in charge of bookings.. 

Our welcome drink- lemongrass drink. 

These pumpkins have wrinkled skin but such thick flesh....special species from Thailand. 

Mr. Gan- the owner welcoming us and briefing about  his farm

Mr. Gan.... the yoga teacher.. showing off his poses! 

Trying our best to imitate  the teacher.... with simple yoga poses.

welcome fruits - fresh and sweet papayas -

Then it was time to ditch our shoes and walked barefooted to the farm..... 

explaining the source of their water supply

All these flowers are edible..... 

except the Sunflower petals....

Bright and sunny faces!

  

What is the must-have in an organic farm..... yes organic compost!

No chemicals fertilisers or pesticides!

  

How to tell the different colour of the sweet potatoes.... look at their leaves. 

Surprisingly, they also have cabbages... which is actually a highland product. 

the pumpkin patch... 

yes,  pumpkin supposed to grow on the ground but here they are hang up due to the long ripening time.

Do you know there are male papayas .....

and female "mamayas" (papayas)?

Our walk ended with hands-on planting  of sweet potato leaves... 

and digging for sweet potatoes!

feeling happy and accompolished with own harvest!

Back to the meeting hall for DIY cough syrup!

DIY Cough Syrup. 100 gm each of  mint  (these species are imported from Philippines) and lemon basil and organic brown sugar.  Just shred them and toss together and leave to ferment for 6 months. 

Mr. Gan told us that these cough mixture can last up to 12 years!  

Getting a taste of the medicine! Its yummy and soothing ... 

well, made me recall as kids, we would secretly steal to drink the cough mixture!

massage therapy using stick!

Finally, the moment we were waiting for.... food glorious food...

Veggie soup... very much like ABC soup minus the meat of course.

Refreshing salad - medley of  edible flowers and leaves, sprouted beans!

Cheesy Baked Pumpkin with chickpeas...

Baked Millet Cake stuffed with Black-eye beans and top with seaweed -very very delicious! 

Roasted Sweet potatoes with organic sesame seeds

crunchy lady fingers with Papaya Chilli sambal - best!

Stir-Fry Sweet potatoes leaves with wolfberries .. another fabulous greens!

Organic Soba Mee with pure sesame oil.... wonderful aroma... 

the outstanding Papaya Jelly of the dessert table.. there is the nut balls and brownies too   

Even though the buffet lunch was meat-less, we thoroughly enjoyed the food and it seems the chef was formerly a 5 star hotel chef- no wonder! 

I bought only 1 kg of the pumpkin and the packet of sweet potatoes was a gift from the farm. 

My sweet potatoes soup with black-eye beans.