Tuesday, June 9, 2009

"Illegal" Vegetables

Winter melon on the backyard fence. Maize by the side of the house.
Aloe vera in the back plot .

Salad, chillies and a lime tree on the kerb in front of a house.
We do not have much land in our township but the government has left idle bits and pieces of vacant plots in between houses and especially in our back yards. Of course we are not allowed to build anything on this land, but no one has stopped us from planting our greens. It is not that we are obsessed with vegetables over here, but the Malaysian weather is so "kind" with high humidity, good rainfall and eternal sunshine. "Everything grows so well" as Carolyn puts it. It seems like a waste not to make use of God's gifts to us - the free land and the good weather. As Maternal Tales said, "Imagine not having to wear coats and scarves all the time," it's really so convenient to go from inside to outside in the same shorts and T-shirts. I have taken photos of how we "squeeze" every bit of land for vegetables in this township.

Papaya tree
Government land put to good use.
Cabbages and Ceylon Spinach (purple stems) in troughs in the front of a house.
More cabbages, purple spinach in a pot and Chinese Chives in the trough.


This winter melon is truely as large as a bowling ball. We use it in our soups. The inside can be scooped out, chicken, mushrooms and other ingredients placed inside and the melon is then steamed.

6 comments:

  1. Wow!!!!! Now those watermelons are impressive. There you go - there are tons of benefits to living where you live - now I'm even more jealous!! Yum x

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  2. That melon dish sounds divine. It looks like you are blooming where you are planted and making things bloom even in forgotten corners.

    I love looking at your photos.

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  3. All your veggies look awesome and what great use of all the land!

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  4. Your vegetables were amazing. I think the government there will not mind you using the land for good purposes and besides if they wanted to use the land in the future they can because its their land. I have also couple of vegetables in our garden but we mostly planted flowers and plants. By the way, thank you so much for commenting of my post. Have a nice day and keep on planting!

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