Sibu Tales : Protecting Seeds

The lalang or huong chou (meaning wild grass) was not easy to cut because they were sharp and farmers had to wear long sleeves and gloves to harvest them. Once harvested the long grass was used to cover beds of vegetables and the trough in between the vegetable plots to prevent weeds from growing.

the lalang was also good for repairing the roofs for the chicken coops.

It was hard for my relatives to till the swampy land for vegetable growing. They had to use several methods. One was to put soil in raised boxes. Another method was to grow the vegetables along the bunds which kept the water in for the padi. Most of the soils used had to be "burnt" because chemical fertilizers were  unheard of in those days.

Once my Nang Chong  relatives prepared their vegetable beds they had to protect the seeds they sow. They would cut grass like lalang especially and spread them on top of the seeds in the bed . This was basically for two reasons - to prevent birds from eating the seeds, and to cool down the soil (ie. to prevent the soil from drying up under the hot tropical sun).

Hope this helps you to remember how our elders provided us with organic vegetables in those long ago days.