Savings from the garden

What say you on the issue below?

UNWILLING to put up with the constant hikes in vegetable prices, some folks are planting their own greens in their gardens.

The rising prices of vegetables, especially cili padi, due to the flooding in Thailand and current monsoon season in the country, has had little effect on retired engineer Chew Keng Mien.

To save money, Chew, 66, and his wife Liew Lan Yen, 61, have been planting their own cili padi, sweet potato leaves and spring onions within the compound of their double-storey bungalow in Batu Gajah.

“We love eating cili padi and were getting tired of being hit by the constant price hikes.

Home grown: Kong holding a chilli she planted at her home in Batu Gajah.

“Two years ago, we decided to grow our own.

“It is not too much trouble since we love gardening as much as we love cili padi,” said Chew, adding that it was actually more convenient for them to grow their own cili padi than to go to the market all the time.

According to Chew, growing cili padi is not too difficult a task.

“All it takes to have a healthy plant is to water it daily and to put in compost fertilisers.

“They bud every three to four days and are ready for plucking in about four to five months.

“We are enjoying an endless supply of cili padi,” Chew said, adding that he could harvest up to 1kg of cili padi at a time, which he distributes to family and friends.

Their neighbour, 89-year-old Kong Moy, also plants cili padi and other varieties of chilli in pots.

Kong, who used to be a farmer, said she had started planting them about three months ago when prices kept going up.

“Cili padi and red chillies cost between RM14 and RM16 per kg now. Why waste the money, which I can use to buy other groceries?” she asked.