Harvest!

    There is a jambu tree right across the street from our house.  It recently had tons of fruit on it.  The tree is not technically on anyone's property, so all the people in our neighborhood (especially kids) have been picking from it.  To make things easier, they made a tool to pick the jambu.

   The tool is basically a long bamboo pole with a big soda bottle at the end.  The soda bottle was cut in half and attached to the bamboo upside down.  It creates a little mini-basket in order to twist off and catch the jambu.

   Kenan and Jaiden would often help themselves to the jambu from the tree.  Kenan got better and better at using that bamboo picker.

If you want to see what the jambu looks like, you can click here.

Betel Nut - Sirih Pinang

   There is a unique combination of nut and leaf that has been chewed and celebrated in Southeast Asia for nearly 4000 years. Most people refer to it as 'betel', but it's actually a combo of betel and the areca nut.  It is an extremely bitter (in my opinion) and juicy concoction, and it creates a distinctive red juice that stains the teeth of the 'chewer'.  

   In many places in Indonesia, this combination is presented to all guests as they enter a home.  I visited one of these places last week, and I made up my mind to try it again (I actually tried it about 6 months ago but failed to keep it in my mouth.  I was ridiculed by a 90 year old man and a 5 year old kid who witnessed my failure).   This time, there was a group of older men that were all sitting around chewing the stuff, red teeth and all.  They gave me tips on how to mix it and chew it.  I clumsily combined the betel, the areca, and some chalk powder.  It all went in my mouth and stayed in for at least 5 minutes.  Success!
  
   The price of success was a bitter aftertaste that stayed for much of the day and stained teeth which required several brushings in order to get back to my standard yellowish-whitish tooth color.

My Ricefield

   Jaiden's class at school has been learning about how the ricefields and irrigation systems in Bali work (the irrigation system has been running for over 1,000 years and is on the UNESCO World Heritage site list). 

   As part of the learning, they all had to plant their own little ricefield (sawa). 

   Here's a picture of Jaiden with 'her ricefield'...
  

Jambu Time

We have several fruit trees in our yard.  One of our kids favorite is the Jambu tree.  I'm not sure how I could explain what it tastes like, maybe like a watery, bland apple?

Jaiden has to climb the tree to get them down, but she always grabs a couple for Kenan and Kaelen too.

Ants like to build their nests inside the fruit, so you have to make sure you get all the ants out before you dig into the jambu. 

After a long day of hiking up to water sources or wrestling goats, nothing quenches your thirst quite like drinking straight from a freshly picked 'young' coconut.

Young coconut still has lots of water inside it and the edible parts on the inside aren't too hard yet.  It is one of my favorite drinks here in Bali.  It's called kelapa muda in Indonesian or simply kuud in Balinese.

The tough thing about kuud is that if you want to drink it, you have to be willing to go up and get it.  I have tried to climb a palm tree, but I made it about three feet up.  I was too scared and too weak to make it any higher than that.

Recently I was delivering some goats to our friend that helps us raise goats, and his dad offered me some kuud.  I thought he had already some at his house, so I accepted the offer.  I didn't realize that his dad would have to go climb the tree...

About 10 minutes later I was walking from one goat pen to the other and I hear some rustling up in a palm tree.  I look up, and about 45 feet up in the air is my friend's 64 year old dad, getting coconuts for 32 year old me.  I felt pretty guilty, but I'm not gonna lie... I enjoyed the drink.

Can you see Pak Wayan in the photo on the left?

Up a Tree

Our neighbors planted this tree right down the street from our house about a year ago.  Tree climbing, on our street at least, is generally discouraged by parents because it is 'dangerous'.  Jaiden started to climb this tree shortly after it was planted, and we had to convince many of our friends that this activity would not result in her imminent death.

That may be a slight exaggeration, but it caused quite a stir.  We even considered not letting her climb trees, but in the end, the climbing continued.  Slowly, Jaiden's friends started to climb as well.  Parents have also gotten used to the idea... and no one has died yet!

Now it is very common to see 5 or 6 kids up in this tree at one time.  Jaiden spends much of her time up there.  She's in this picture too (top left, in the purple shirt).

Just in case you were wondering, it is called a pohon singapur (singapur tree).  I don't think there is an English equivalent...  during certain seasons, it produces red berries that are edible.

The Skyrocketing Frangipani

photo by Klynt B.

The flower pictured here is so common here in Bali.  You see them everywhere.  Some people call them Frangipani, but in America I think it's known as the Plumeria.

It has been traditionally, and primarily, used in daily offerings for the Hindus on the island.  There used to be always more than enough, with flowers often being found just laying on the ground.  Now, however, new factors are causing the plumeria to be a hot commodity. 

Here is an interesting article about it:

Frangipani flowers transformed into hot commodity

by Luh De Suriyani 

 

Bali is home to tropical flowers and the Balinese people use a large variety of flowers for their daily offerings and home decorations.

Frangipani flowers are very often used in the banten, or religious offerings. In almost every house in Bali, people will plant various species of frangipani trees adorned with colorful flowers in various hues. But now, people also pick the flowers as a profitable commodity.

“In the past, we always let the frangipani flowers cover the yards. Nobody would be willing to take them. People always viewed the flowers as God’s blessing on Balinese soil. The flowers made Bali’s land more beautiful and their fragrance is so divine,” said Ni Ketut Srimin.

Nowadays, frangipani flowers are one of the most sought after items and their price has rocketed on domestic and international markets.

Meet Rudi Suharto, a frangipani wholesaler in Bali. Suharto stocks tons of dried frangipani flowers in his warehouses in Bali. “The dried flowers will be shipped to China to be used in a herbal tea called Liang Tea,” he said, while walking around his warehouse in Gianyar regency.

The herbal tea had great medicinal potency, he said, curing many diseases, including high fever, coughs, constipation and other sicknesses.

In other areas, frangipani flowers are used as the raw material for spa and cosmetic products, incense sticks, fragrant candles, perfumes, essential oils and mosquito repellants. “The price of frangipani flowers is now set at Rp 150,000 [US$15.62 per kilogram, far higher than the price of cloves, vanilla and even coffee,” Suharto said.

He obtained dried frangipani flowers from local villagers who collected flowers from wherever they could find them.

“It is no wonder that people hardly see frangipani flowers scattered across the streets or in the yards like we used to. Everybody is collecting them and selling the flowers to people like me,” Suharto said.

He admitted that he employed hundreds of frangipani flower collectors.

“The export quality consists of really dried frangipani flowers with a water content of no more than 10 percent. I export at least 40 tons of frangipani flowers through Surabaya to various destinations,” he said. Bali and Lombok are the major frangipani producers. China, he said, used to
import frangipani from Hawaii and Australia.

In the past, the price of frangipani flowers was only Rp 30,000 per kilogram. “Now, the price is so high. The flowers have become an export premium for Bali,” he said.

Ni Nyoman Sumiati, one of the flower pickers, said she roamed the streets and housing complexes every day to pick the flowers. “Many times, we [the pickers] are trying to get as many flowers as possible and it can lead to us bickering with each other,” she said.

Every day, she collected at least 0.2 to 2 kilograms of flowers. “Collecting flowers has supported my family,” she said.

Smell-o-vision

I really wish you could smell these pictures... really.

One of the best things about driving up in the mountain roads of Bali around this time of year is the strong, sometimes overpowering, scent of the cloves drying along the roadside.  

The trees at the lower elevations are being harvested now.  A lot of my friends are working as clove harvesters right now.  It takes one guy about a full day to pick an entire tree, and he gets paid about $6.50 (60,000 rupiah) to do it.  After getting picked, they get set out like this to dry before being sold down in the markets. 

The clove harvest in Bali failed miserably last year, so everyone up in the mountains is relieved to have a decent harvest this year...

The Weave - Anyam

One of the villages that I visit often has a long tradition of making these really cool woven bamboo products like baskets, panels, containers. 

These three guys here are working together on a square piece that will be about 9 feet by 9 feet when it is finished (they are sitting on what they've already finished).  This panel can be used as a wall, ceiling, or divider.  Think of it as a tropical version of drywall/sheet rock.

The whole community is involved in the process.  Some go out and gather the bamboo, others cut it into the thin strips, then there are the ones that do the actual weaving, followed by decorating.  Some have been doing it for so long that they can do it without even looking at it.  The guys in this picture were having a lively conversation about politics while they worked on the weaving.   

The most wonderful time of year...

One of the great parts about living in Indonesia is all the great fruit we get to eat year round.  Right now however, some of our favorite fruits are in season, and are therefore really cheap.  Most of these are probably not available at your local supermarket...
 
Nangka (Jackfruit) is the yellow stuff on the left, mangga (mango) is on the right, the red spiky stuff is called rambutan (no translation, just means hairy), the brown pair of fruit in the front is called salak (snakeskin fruit), and in the back middle is manggis (mangosteen).

They're Finally Back

The flowers in this picture are such a big part of Balinese life. You see them in people's hair, in offerings, floating in holy water, scattered across temples, etc.

They are found all over the island, and they come in all kinds of colors. They're nearly continually in bloom. You may know them as plumeria or frangipani.

For about 6 months, some kind of disease hit most of the plumeria trees on the island. The leaves shriveled and there were no flowers. It was strange to not see them. It also made it tough for people that used to just grab (for free) flowers off the trees for their offerings, because for those 6 months, they were forced to pay for flowers at the markets for use in their offerings.

Just in the last month or so, the trees started putting out new leaves and flowering. It was good to see them in bloom again. Some people said Bali just didn't seem right without the plumeria blooming all over the place. I agreed...