KUALA LUMPUR: Majority of people today are only interested in making money. However, there is one man who cares only about the secrets of making the soil softer so that he can plant bigger and fresher vegetables.

Living in a busy city where every single square inch of land is such a precious commodity, it is indeed a problem for modern urbanites, especially those living in highrise apartments, to plant organic vegetables.

Xie Xun Pao, who is more than 60 years old, has proved that as long as we are willing to use our head, this can be achieved by following just some simple steps.

Small green yard

Xie’s terraced house in Setapak has an attractive green yard planted with more than 16 types of vegetables such as lettuce, garden vegetable, canola, cucumber, cabbage, kale, Mao melon, radish, eggplant, sweet potato leaf, long bean, Yong vegetable, okra and green onions. These big and fresh vegetables have attracted the eyes of local residents.

Since the news about his organic farm was published on Sin Chew Daily a few years ago, Xie has received positive comments from the public. However, he is not contented with his achievement back then, and has since continued to improve on the quality of his compost.

After countless researches, Xie finally discovered the way of making the soil loose so that he could plant bigger and fresher vegetables.

He stressed that the taste of pure organic vegetables is particularly sweet compared to others. As a result, he encourages people to spend some time each day planting organic vegetables so that they can eat healthily while also doing their part to preserve our environment.

Adding fruit skin and egg shell to compost

He said it is easy to make organic compost. First of all, load the ingredients into a container such as a bucket. Cover it up and store it for three months until the compost becomes darkened in colour. Pour it out and expose it under the sun for several days and it would then be ready for use.

He added, other than fruit skin, vegetables and egg shell, chicken feather or dried straw may also be added to the compost, as these substances can soften the compost so that the water can be easily drained from the soil. As a result, the vegetables will grow faster.

"I add a little of them to the compost each day until it is full, then I'll keep it for three months. Remember not to add any bone to it as it as worms will grow."

A secret method developed by Xie is to pour the soil on the compost layer so that water can be drained easily from it and the vegetables will grow faster, bigger and fresher.

The new planting method has shortened the harvesting time from 50 days to 40 days.

According to him, as long as the soil is fertile, pest control will become more effective as pest would only attack weak vegetables and not the strong ones. (Translated by LIM LIY EE/Sin Chew Daily)