Growing Western vegetables and herbs in Malaysia

Tyler and her husband visit the farms every week and work alongside the farmers, doing all the hard work from seeding to harvesting.

There are many vegetables and herbs that thrive in Malaysia. Bak choy, okra, long beans, eggplant and curry leaves are just a random selection of the delicious produce you’re likely to see on plates in Malaysian restaurants.

But once local platters are loaded with more exotic options – heirloom tomatoes, tamarillo, purple carrots, fennel – the automatic assumption is that air miles have been clocked and the word “imported” is intuitively attached, because these are vegetables and herbs typically associated with colder climates. I mean, whoever heard of Malaysian-grown kohlrabi?