Mother's Day: Sweetly organic

Tan Siew Lua not only plants her own vegetables and herbs but she also makes her own compost, writes SOFIANNI SUBKI

IT was the huge difference in taste that made her switch to organic vegetables. “Organic vegetables have a natural sweetness, don’t have tough, fibrous stalks and don’t need any seasoning when you cook them,” says Tan Siew Lua, 57.



That was more than 20 years ago.



Tan, better known as Mrs Neo, still buys vegetables but she also grows her own in her 18.6 sq m garden. She’s harvested cabbage, choy sum (a green leafy vegetable), chili and more than 10 types of herbs from the small plot of land.



“When I’m out of vegetables and am too lazy to go to the shop, I’ll pluck something from my garden,” she says. “Nothing fancy but it’s fresh and free of pesticides.”



She lived in Desa Sri Hartamas for 13 years and Klang for five before moving to Setia Alam, Shah Alam, where she lives now with hubby Neo Wee Huan and 19-year-old daughter Pearly.



A homemaker, she was first introduced to organic vegetables in 1985 when she visited a farm started by Tan Siew Luang (no relation), coordinator of the Organic Farming Centre. The OFC is part of the Centre for Environment, Technology and Development, Malaysia (Cetdem), a non-profit organisation that’s committed to improving environmental quality through the appropriate use of technology and sustainable development. Among other things, it encourages people to eat organic food and offers training in organic farming.



In 1995, Neo herself joined Cetdem under its Kitchen Gardening Group, which was set up for people interested in growing vegetables in their backyard or in pots in their apartment. She’s still a Cetdem member and volunteer but says she’s not very active.



A believer in the healing properties of herbs, her garden has misai kucing (for arthritis, gout and high blood pressure and taken as tea or juice), centella also known as pegaga and peng da wan (good for eyesight and memory and taken as salad or juice), lesser galangal also known as cekur manis and sar keong (for stirfry or soup), arrowroot (ground and used as an egg substitute), Chinese basil (for baking and as a garnish), chuan sing lien or seruntum or putarwali (for asthma and sore throat and taken as tea), kui yit (for the kidney and taken as tea), wild ai leaf or senduduk (for women’s health), saga leaves (for sore throat and taken as tea).



She’s also got bittergourd, cucumber, mulberry, lemon grass, pineapple, sweet potato, Chinese chives, screwpine, aloe vera and eggplant. The flowers she grows are marigold, balsam and nian hwa (a white flower).

“Balsam petals combined with henna and hibiscus make a good hair dye,” she says, serving me a chilled misai kuching tea. “You get divine tea from mulberry but you can also eat the berries.”

She fertilises her garden with homemade compost. “I use kitchen waste and layer it with soil and dry leaves. When done properly, you won’t get maggots or bad smell.”



She says her garden makes her happy. “I want to grow old graciously. I do it by staying young at heart and going out with my daughter’s friends.”