Concerned about expensive vegetables? Why not do something about it…
Blog reader Anthony Louis comments from afar:
Hello Malaysians,
I live in Germany. You guys will be surprised how many people grow their own veges in their homes and then share them with their neighbours.
And the prices of veges are far, far cheaper than those in Penang.
Dont complain; just do it.
If you are looking for inspiration, check out what Yahqappu has done here.
Related posts:
I don’t even have a garden, how to grow?
Dear Anil,
Please ask Anthony Louis or Anyone on how to grow your own Vegetables when you are staying on the 9th Floor of a Low Cost Flat!!!
Unit size : 600 sq.ft. No Balcony. Front Door facing “Enclosed” corridor!!!
I live in an apartment without a balcony. Please teach me how to grow vegie in door naturally.
Check this out:
http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Growing_food/Growing_vegetables_with_no_garden/
Anil,
You know where I live… (in a Condo). In our balcony, we grow pandan, chillies, curry leaves, basil, and several other herbs used for cooking. We also plant other vegetables on and off. We have not bought any of these seasoning and herbs for a long time now. Note that 1 is bigger than ZERO, and 2 is more than 1. Start small and work your way up. Soon you will have a nice garden in your balcony. In some apartments, residents living on the ground floor have planted herbs and vegetables for their own use. So be positive, and make a start however small it can be.
That’s great, Sam. Hope others will be inspired by you to do likewise.
In Germany, everybody can afford house with land or apartment with balcony. In Malaysia, only corrupted umno members can afford such luxury.
Thats right…those who can afford landed property in Penang should not be worried about vege prices.
Nobody esp. the younger generation are bothered or interested. Has it got anything to do with our education system? In our secondary schooling days back in the early 70s, we study husbandary. Is this still subject still being taught in schools?
We have fertile land. We have perfect weather. We have same temp all year round. Its the PERFECT condition for planting crops.
Yet, we’re unable to feed our own people. We have to import veg & fruits. We had the Greenbook plan but this was dumped for Mad Hatter’s vision of quick money. Its not glamorous to have a farm spoiling the image of the steel & glass twin towers.
Mad Hatter can buy fruit, veg & meat with the $$$ from industrialization. He forgot that even in the US & EU, an industrialised nation still had efficient farms to produce food for the nation.
Poor planning. Poor foresight. Badly mis-managed organizations & civil service. Tidak apa attitude to efficiency. Rampant corruption. And lastly, getting away with it all.
That is what made this nation failed. We cant feed ourselves. We cant attract foreign investment. Our talented are leaving the country. Its like being on board Titanic & you can see the iceberg in front of you. Captain UMNO is blind to the iceberg & is enjoying himself in the dining room; eating & dancing the night away.
Not related, but for sharing purposes:
http://thecityfix.com/transit-agencies-need-to-invest-in-marketing-a-lesson-from-los-angeles/
Not related, but for sharing purpose:
The Star (27 December 2009) Page N4,
Mangrove tree slowly taking root via replanting programme
George Town: The Forestry Department and several environmental NGOs have planted more than five million mangrove saplings nationwide over the last five years and they are not slowing down…
Thumbs up for BN government. On the other hand, please take a look at our botanic garden.
Taking credit where it is not due. BN had been instrumental in destroying thousands and thousands of hectares of wetland in malaysia and when NGOs and many others thought it was imperative to prevent a repeat of the tsunami and started urging the planting of mangrove trees you now claim credit for something that the government had no hand in.
The forestry department is the government of the rakyat and they are not part of BN – a political party. You have to know the distinction. The forestry department exists whether BN exists or not.
I genuinely think you are below average people IQ. Do you know what is BN Administration? BN leaders, the ultimate decision maker for government or government’s agencies actions including planting million of trees. BN can also shut down any department including the Foresty Department at will. Nothing opposition can do about it including your idol LGE / Anwar.
Gerakan K, what lame reasons you have in “lauding” BN and condemning Pakatan Rakyat. … you are paid by BN to come and troll here (?)
You still enjoy fairy tales from PR. What I want is action. There were 5 million trees planted. That was good news for everyone.
@martin
Not everyone in Germany can afford house with land or apartment with balcony. There are plenty of poor beggers. Many people in Malaysia (whether related to UMNO or not) can afford luxury houses and cars. Such generalization is unfair to all. Selangor MB also owned a luxury house and car. Did you mean he also involved in corruption?
I think it is in Germany where the railway company rent out land beside the railroad tracks to weekend gardeners to grow their veges. The piece of land is generally wasted here. I guess it is not feasible here because of the squatters and illegal immigrants.
Maybe we could do the same here. Maybe Penang botanical garden can adopt this idea.
still tony thanka for your ideas no everyone can have everything n do everything i do not have a condo i do have a big garden but i have no green hands n bottomline i do not have time but i will do it next year resolution
My daughter asked why is the traffic cop hiding behind the bushes in order catch drivers violating speed limit taking a bend along a trunk road. She also noticed that there isn’t any speed limit sign within 500m from that bend. I told her, because that cop intend to penalize innocent car drivers and knowing very well that no one would violate the traffic rules. Malaysian cops, Malaysian ministers and Malaysian Prime Minister are not CORRUPTED. :O)
to start gardening if you stay in terrace or apartments
use a box- small enough to put and get it properly tied
near the window ledge , making sure that the box do
not fall as a killer litter. Nice polystyrene boxes
can be obtained from pasar malam -the guy who sells
fruits have loads of them thrown away. Boxes which are
cute include containers of grapes which need to be lined with some adequate plastic sheets-get them from shops
selling tvs fridges. next get some top soil which one can obtained fr the sapu sampah guy in the
morning.
initially try plant bawangs [onions] which had sprouted from the kitchen.
this is my contribution for 2009
- to make the world green in the spirit of the copenhagen accord !
now can we get tv people to run some simple gardening shows in the new year 2010.
happy new year and happy gardening towards a green
earth . each herbs that you plant might save a trip
to the market, so go marken a garden in a box!
I planted plenty of veges in my garden. Heck, my father-in-law has never bought greens for the past few years already as he planted so much that he gave it away to neighbours and all. The reason he started planting his own greens is because he used to sell veges and the supply from the supplier’s farm are all laced with heavy dosed of pesticides whereas the greens he plants now contains ZERO pesticides. The fact that the produce is smaller or contains more insect bites doesnt bothered him as health is his priority in this sense.