Their previous farm called Permaculture Perak, had existed for over 11 years and hosted over 1,000 local and international tourists as well as sustainable farming workshop participants.
The farm was even featured in an episode of National Geographic’s ‘Living Free with Kimi Werner’ in 2016.
The farm’s location between a logging area and a timber factory is believed to be the reason behind the couple’s eviction in 2019.
Having invested much energy, enthusiasm and money in that venture, losing the farm was devastating, to say the least, and yet, Tan and Kuta persevered to keep alive their dream of leading a self-sustainable life.
“We didn’t really have a clear plan (after the eviction), but we knew that we wanted to continue living the way we did in Lenggong,” says Tan, who used to work as a movement therapist and educator.
After acquiring the current plot of land, the couple started from scratch – getting used to the different elements of the land and improving soil fertility to starting a garden.
“We have since eliminated most of the oil palm trees here and that changed the biosphere significantly. There’s still a lot more work to be done,” says Kuta, who was originally from the Czech Republic and worked as a structural engineer in Kuala Lumpur.
The once ecologically unproductive monoculture soil now supports a thriving ‘food forest’ – comprising a diverse range of vegetables and herbs such as lettuce, ginger, pegaga and turmeric, and fruits such as banana, papaya, mangosteen, rambutan and durian – that mimics the ecosystems and patterns found in nature.
The couple also rears fish, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits and dogs.
“There are always little projects and things that need fixing,” says Tan, when asked about their day-to-day life on the farm.
“Our biggest project is taking care of our three children as they take up most of our time,” Kuta chips in, laughing. Their kids are aged between three and eight.
Now that Covid-19 restrictions have eased, the couple is kick-starting their self-sufficiency living course, which covers four weekly webinars and five days of hands-on experience at the farm.
“This course is an evolution of what we were teaching and sharing in Lenggong and it’s designed for people who feel the need to gain more skills in creating their own edible garden but don’t know where to start,” says Tan.
The course covers soil fertility, plant identification and off-grid infrastructure design, among other things.
“Participants will get a hands-on approach in setting up solar and water systems,” says Kuta, adding that the course focuses on practical skills rather than sustainability concepts.
Tan admits that it is easy to feel overwhelmed when embarking on a gardening project and, despite reading numerous books and watching countless YouTube videos, some still do not know where to start.
“Our aim is to simplify and break things down so that you will feel empowered to do it on your own,” she says, adding that one can apply the skills learned on Tigabiri farm to their patch of grass in their front or back yard, or balcony garden.
The course is also open to teenagers and in the past, the couple conducted workshops for several gap-year students.
Covid-19, meanwhile, “made us realise that we were set up to weather a pandemic”, says Tan, adding that their children still had the run of the garden and swam in the river.
“We couldn’t conduct our courses, but in terms of our general daily lives, we were self-sufficient as we had enough food coming from the garden.”
Kuta says the pandemic also allowed them the time and space to develop a new programme that could be conducted virtually for the most part.
“Now people can study the basics (of sustainable farming) from the comfort of their homes before spending the last week on our farm.”
The couple also plans to build a nursery as well as a visitor centre where short courses will be conducted over the weekends.
“At the end of the day, we’re not trying to convert people to be like us, and we’re not saying that our lifestyle is the best.
“We just want to share how aspects of self-sufficiency living can be incorporated into everyone’s lives,” says Kuta.
Tan’s advice to those who want to live on a farm is to take things step by step. “Don’t just drop everything and jump into it – that’s a recipe for disaster,” she says.
“If there’s a desire, just feed and nurture it; let it grow on you and just go with the flow.”
Tan says the calling to live on a farm is ultimately a need to be closer to nature.
“The relationship you cultivate with nature is like a romantic relationship – it keeps growing on you.”
Follow Amy Tan and Vladislav Kuta’s farming adventures at Tigabiri on their website, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channel.
Also check out their upcoming self-sufficiency living course.