"Were you constipated?", asked Gizmo Man. "Excuse me, the barrow was heavy!"
Here is the Real McCoy Ah Kiang showing how it's done.
I was only pretend farmer girl but I did learn about planting rock melons or cantaloupes on a commercial scale. NOPE, definitely not for me. It is way too HOT and I have to build up my biceps and triceps first. These farmers are STRONG and DEDICATED.
No walking for us to the melon patch, I drove the red bus. Firstly, the rock melon flowers
are TINY compared to the HUGE fruits. 
Melons on this commercial farm are not
grown in the ground but start of as seedlings in bags of earth and continue growing in these bags.
Melons on this commercial farm are not
grown in the ground but start of as seedlings in bags of earth and continue growing in these bags. 
An organised system of water and
nutrients is continuously pumped into the bags via tubes, so the farmers need
not water the plants daily. Like an intravenous feed in patients! Very innovative.
As the melons get larger, they are wrapped in
newspapers and tied with raffia strings to an overhanging support.
Friends tell me to “smell” them to see if they are ripe for picking but I was told this does not work!
The test is in the eating. We picked our own cantaloupes, paid and took these kettle balls home. One family filled their sedan car boot with 30 cantaloupes.
After pretend farmer, we went "amok" in the aquarium
and then just mosey along in the village.
All these were taken during my overnight trip to Bagan Sungei Burung.
Sunflowers and cantaloupes are the latest attractions in this fishing village previously famous for their seafood and Blue Tears.
Farmers are indeed strong and hardworking. And occasionally profit. Too often things get in the way.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a wonderful outing - thank you for taking us along.
Yes, Life can be unpredictable for them, a good crop brings revenue but sometimes a flood or heat wave and everything is gone
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