Tis harvesting time!

Note: The above pictures taken during harvesting time on 3 Nov.16

A day in the park ( 28 Aug'16)

Great Mormon butterfly at the Yellow Ixora bush, Zone C.

Wild red ginger flower
Licuala Hill, Zone I

 A day in the park could be a many splendoured thing.  I started the morning walk early and was greeted by the Great Mormon butterfly which was busy siphoning the nectar from the flowers of the Yellow Ixora.  I walked further into Zone I to check out the jungle trails there.  At the western slope of the Licuala Hill I stumbled upon a rare find that kind of made my day.  This is the first time ever that I come across a really wild red ginger flower.  It rose from beneath the ground (inset) and there were traces around the area that the stems were bitten or eaten by some kind of animals.   My wild guess is the Sambar deer's doing. The flowers produced some nice fragrance.  I spent a good half an hour around the site and cleared the trail properly.  Should I call it the wild red ginger trail?  Next to the wild ginger plant was a flushing treelet showing really attractive red young leaves.  I had on an earlier occasion trimmed this treelet to enable it to produce new branches which today I saw it did produce new branches and new flushes.  After the morning walk, I decided to pluck some fresh ferns (miding) at the Keruak wetlands of which I obtained sufficient quantity for lunch.  Yes, lunch was served with miding mixed with bamboo shoots cooked in coconut milk.  The cooking was done perfectly by my wife.  All of the vegetables were harvested freely and freshly from the park, the kind of healthy food I like.  Well, after lunch it was business as usual with harvesting of the oil palm fresh fruit bunches.  What kept me excited about working today was the abnormally high price of the ffb currently i.e. at RM 430/ton. Compared with last year the price of ffb was a meagre RM 330 on average (ramp price or at middleman's collection centre). For much of the period since January this year, the average price has been hovering around RM430/ton for many reasons which I will write in future postings.  Therefore, this year is a lot happier year in terms of the oil palm small holder.  I have read in some reports that the price of ffb will probably rise further throughout 2017.  Well, all this would be excellent news for the park as more money means more funds available for better amenities and care of the park.    After harvesting and before night falls I climbed the Licuala Hill again to catch a glimpse of the Tiong birds and witness the sunset from the hill.  I was rewarded by a good sunset but I thought I direct my camera lens instead  on the the wild grass flowers and view the sunset through them which produced a beautiful photographic capture.

Jungle treelet with red flushes, a potential for landscaping plant.

Fresh and free 'miding' young fronds for lunch

A lunch plate of mixed vegetables - miding combine with bamboo shoots cooked in 'santan' or coconut milk.

Oil palm fruit bunches in close up.  This month of August the price of oil palm ffb (fresh fruit bunches) has hit an average of RM 430/ton at collection centre or ramp price. 

It's harvesting time.

Before the day ends the Tiong birds (Hill Myna) perched on a tall dead tree at Licuala Hill

An artistic view of the sunset

Its harvesting time

Its harvesting time.

Average weight of ffb is 15 kilos

 The fortnightly schedule for  harvesting the oil palm bunches has started this morning.  I look forward to this activity because it provides an excellent physical workout that is at the same time rewarding.  I wish I could continue the activity after lunch but due to heavy rains I had to cancel my afternoon workout.  The average weight of the fresh fruit bunches (ffb) is 15 kg.  Of course there are those that are in the range of 20 - 30 kilos and are harder to lift and carry on the wheelbarrow.  But that is merely part of the occupational hazard.  For those trees that are between 7 - 8 years old the degree of difficulty increases when you need a much longer pruning pole to cut the fruit stalk.  For trees that are 3 - 6 years old a sharp harvesting chisel will do fine as the cutting operation is done at human height.  Below is shown the cutting operation of the leaf bases before finally cutting the fruit stalk.

Two leaf bases below the fruit bunch are  cut first

The pruning pole's cutting blade is fixed at the fruit stalk and with a little pull will remove the bunch from the trunk.

Done. The fruit bunch has been removed and other fruit bunches will be pruned once the fruits  show signs of ripening.

It's harvesting time

It's harvesting time and the fresh fruit bunches price is as good as the Malaysian Ringgit currently - RM 450 per ton (ramp price). Note: The whole of last year the best price of ffb was RM350/ton.)

When I am 46

One second swing

 Actually I am 64.  It is this healthy lifestyle that takes away the tons of my age.  I am feeling better each day as experience takes the better of me. To load a half ton or 500 kg of ffb (fresh fruit bunch) of the oil palm is a fun affair.  But you have to transport the bunches and place them at a central collection area first.  And before that you have to harvest them from the tree trunks.  All told the harvesting and transporting could be done in about 3 hours for a 500 kg collection.    Once ready to upload the ffb, take a sharp and solid metal picker for striking and   to pierce the fruit bunch.  Apply the best of your dance (swing) movement and have fun.  For 500 kilos of ffb the SOP (standard operating procedure) to complete loading into the pickup is 15 minutes.  Go and try  pick, heave and swing the ffb.  It's just so healthy for the body.  An excellent 15 minutes workout. Be healthy, be strong.

Loading the ffb
Location : Zone B

A half ton fully loaded and ready to be sold.

It's harvesting time

Pick-up fully loaded with ripe oil palm fruits
10 April'15

( Note: Internet by Celcom in Bintulu is back to its snail pace again..This picture took 2 hours to upload.  There goes all the marketing promises of Celcom..Hah!! " It's a Celcom territory")