Monday, January 11, 2010

A TALE OF TWO "KACANGS"


KACANG GROWING I: LONG BEAN

This growing of long bean (kacang panjang / KP) on a very minute scale happened about two months ago.

All the three KP seeds that I germinated in the flower pot (placed close to the fence)proudly showed off their young shoots after a few days. When these young plants grew longer, I let them crawl in different directions around the fence. Some amount of fertilizer was given. Can't exactly remember how much, and how frequent. I wasn't sure too of the fertilizer's NPK contents. I watered the plants quite regularly. Each of the three plants developed several branches and they got entangled with one another around the fence.

After a while, I noticed some flowers coming out from the bushy KP. A few days later, "strands" of KP began to appear, each getting longer and bigger as days went by.



Then came the day for me to reap the reward of my labour. The 1st harvest, 12 strands of beautiful KP. The KP bush looked healthy and green, feeling proud of its first yield!



Two or three days after, the 2nd harvest was done. Total produce = 10 strands, one of which was quite "deformed". It turned to be a curly KP. But, definitely, edible!



Then, the 3rd & final harvest. 10 strands. By then, the leaves of the KP bush had turned yellowish.



So, insya Allah, I managed to collect a total of 30 strands of KP out of my minute project. 100% fresh & crispy KP, harvested at 3 different time. I purposely left one strand behind. The seeds inside it would dry up to be grown when I have the mood later on!



KACANG GROWING II: FOUR-ANGLED BEAN

I also planted the four-angled bean (kacang botol). Unfortunately, after a promising start, the plants just withered, and finally "passed away"! Probably I had over-dosed them with too much fertilizer. Harvest = 000.




Lesson learned: I should be more systematic next time. I have wasted valuable time by not making a proper record of the whole activity. I should have noted down things like which particular mixed soil did I use; how many days did the seeds take to germinate; how often did I fertilize the plants; what were the actual "contents" of the fertilizer used; how much did each harvest weigh, etc., etc. Of course I can gather such information from books, but I should have noted them down based on my own experience.

10 comments:

ahmad humairi said...

salam,
saya juga pernah menanamnya...berkongsi pagar dengan jiran sebelah (seperti dalam gambar). Tanam Kacang Panjang dan juga Kacang Kelisa (Kacang Botol). Kehijaunnya merimbun.... Cikgu!, nak suruh ular datangke???..katanya.

Kini jiran dah buat dinding...tapi tak aci sebab pagar dawai dia ambil...tanpa berbincang terlebih dahulu dengan saya.

Saya jugak tanam pisang, jagung dan betik...cukup nikmat rasanya..tapi bila ada 'perbalahan' akibat tanaman tersebut, saya mengalah...saya tebang pisang, mempelam dsb sebab menganggu ruang / halaman jiran.

Tanam dalam pasu...senang kontrol!!

Temuk said...

Salam Cikgu Humairi
Tanam menanam memang menyeronokkan. Satu terapi hebat! Betul, kita kena sensitif tentang kesejahteraan jiran. Saya susah hati kalau ada pelepah2 pokok terjun ke kawasan jiran. Kait sebelum ia menjunam! Tempat kacang saya merambat tu pagar kongsi dgn jiran belakang. Kebetulan rumah dia pun kosong. Tapi tak bererti kita boleh kotori. Pokok2 yg dah kering cepat2lah kita bersihkan. Mungkin lain kali Cikgu boleh tanam semula betik, jagung dll dlm kawasan sendiri tanpa risau hati merisaukan jiran. Have a nice day!

Hajah Zainab bt Abdullah said...

salam Temuk,

looking at your KP..bring back the memories of my deformed KP, but it was very crunchy. now, we no longer plant KP. hubby only prefers to plant cili padi as he is succumb to eating chillies!

Hjh Noralenna Abbas said...

Salam Temuk,
'Action Research' ke? But a good guide for future KP growers. My pokok daun kesum all 'sudah kering' tho I water them everyday.

Temuk said...

Salam Hjh Zainab
Yes, I do remember the beds of your deformed KP that were flooded by the heavy monsoon rain. Zaman pencen ni betul-betul boleh BAS, hingga ada kala buat kerja-kerja yg budak-budak buat! Hope your cili padi plants are growing well. Cili leaves love to wrinkle ... that's why I dislike growing cili. Will be great if you can have a special entry on your cili padi soon.

Temuk said...

Salam Hjh Nora
Adoooii, mujur sebenarnya dah tak kena buat research! Research dah jadi taboo diri. Bila kita BAS sekarang ni, namanya 'cuba tengok apa jadi'. Yg indahnya tu, tak jadi pun tak apa; kot jadi alhamdulillah. Daun kesum kena selalu dituai (kena rajin masaklah tu) supaya tunas2 baru rajin keluar. Siram memang perlu, tapi jgn lupa beri makanan @ baja kat dia. Tanam kat tanah ke pasu?

al-lavendari said...

your KP remind me of my former KP i.e Ketua Pengarah ! hehe

Temuk said...

Sdr al-lavendari
Saya anggap KP saya cukup berjasa. I got back more than what I deserved. Was your former KP the same? Hehe. Pastilah tu, sebab tu teringat sangat. Salam bahagia.

Kak Teh said...

Temuk, I have never been lucky with vegetables in my garden. Dulu2 ada juga tanam tomato, sweetcorn and carrots. Tapi tanah tak elok dan semangat pun suam-suam saja. Tambah pula sekarang ni sejuk yang teramat sangat. Selepas salji lebat, banyak nampak macam mati - tapi ada satu masih bertahan - passion fruit.
Saya kagum dengan orang yang suka berkebun.

Temuk said...

Hi Kak Teh (Alahai, baguih la kot buleh saya pangge Pn Teh ka, sebab umoq saya dok lagi tinggi...)
I had the experience of growing some types of vegetables in the US when I was a student there, in the early 80s. Seronok! Those vegetables grew very well. And my pudina bushes had to be cleared as the housing supervisor was worried they might harbour dangerous creatures. Di keliling rumah sekarang, memang tanam main-main saja (mainan retiree!), walaupun memang ada juga hasilnya yg boleh dibawa ke dapur. Where do you grow your passion fruit? That creeper has a lot of branches which could cover up the other plants & choke them. Salam bahagia.