Home Garden, How to Do It by Dr. Mike in the Philippines

Home Garden, How to Do It by Dr. Mike in the Philippines

Traditional home gardens in northern Philippines range from 20 to 100 square meters. Planted normally are a mixture of sweet potato, yam, corn, beans, and a tree or two of avocado, pomelo, and guava.

Sounds good but not so good. It is important to have a plan in developing a home garden. These tips can help you:

A. In the garden,
1. Consider where the sun rises from because you should not plant crops that will shade other crops. Do storey planting where shorter plants are fully exposed to sunlight before the taller ones. (eg. pechay, eggplants, corn). Thus, crop orientation is important.

2. Look at your soil. Does it need more fertilizer?. Reddish to brownish soils indicate lack of NPK nutrients. if you don't know how to get soil sample, the most appropriate thing to do is increase your NPK levels. What will you use? Use organic fertilizer for basal application. If you intend to plant green leafy vegetables, use compost made out from nitrogen fixing plants and trees (eg. centrosima, caliandra, alnus). If you will plant fruit-bearing veggies or tuber-producing crops, increase potassium and phosphorus basal fertilizer.

It is also important to know if your soil needs to be watered regularly or not. How will you know? Get a handful of soil from your tilled garden, close your fist on it until you make a lump, raise your hand and drop it on the ground. If it does not break freely, your soil is too soggy, you don't need to water every other day. But if the soil breaks freely into many parts, then your soil is too dry, water every other day.

Now examine your soil. Do you have earthworms, century bugs and tiny critters/ if yes, you have a good soil. If you don't see anything moving or crawling, you do a damn "dead soil", that's not too good.

3. Protecting your plant is of utmost important. But remember, if you have the right to produce, you have the responsibility to produce safe and nutritious crops. Always consider the need to make the environment safe and clean and the rights of consumers. Never try to poison both. Ordinarily, the main pests of vegetables are slugs, snails and caterpillars (of many different insects), are the worst enemies.

To rid of slugs and snail especially in your seedbeds, put a cup of beer in a can and place it at the edge or rim of your seedbed. These attracts the pests and fall into the can. In the morning, dispose the pests. For caterpillars, put 15 to 20 cigarette butts in a liter of water and let them stay there for a week. The nicotene and tar of the cigarette butt mixes with the water eventually. Use this to spray against caterpillars.

Okay guys, more next time so drop by.

Michael the Gardener

Crisphead Losses to Romaine or Cos Lettuce

The unfortunate typhoon events that caused massive flooding and landslides in Benguet and Cordillera region Philippines forced PINE TREE to adjust its project on organic vegetables. of the fifteen young men that were to be trained eleven backed out because they had to go and help their families.

Because PINE TREE was helping victims and evacuees, it involved instead 12 young mothers in its training program. With the advent of Christmas and the need to raise immediate cash to help the family victims, the trainees planted two kinds of lettuce--crisphead and romaine.

The harvest on the crisphead variety suffered marketing problems because smuggled Chinese crisphead found its way to the local market. the romaine lettuce sold well however.

Growing organic Romaine Lettuce

A Reprint from PINE TREE's Newsletter
Growing organic Romaine Lettuce
By Emmanuel Arañas, PINE TREE Staff and Trainee

Organic vegetables can be grown in a small area or containers such as garden boxes and pots. Last October, we at PINE TREE sowed romaine lettuce seeds in pots. The seeds were from our seed bank. We used soil that was fertilized by vermicast, or the so-called worm poop. These are the castings of the African night crawlers. They are rich in nutrients that improve soil fertility which in turn help the lettuces’ growth.

Moreover, the lettuce pots were placed where repellant and nitrogen-fixing plants are to protect them from pests and diseases. We harvested some of these organic lettuces in the first week of December. This proves that nutritious and healthy vegetables can be produced in your own home.

When I was an agriculture student in college, they taught us organic gardening but the vegetables were being sprayed with pesticides so I knew the produce were not really organic. And I have learned from our director, Dr Michael Bengwayan that organic farming in most areas in La Trinidad cannot be practiced because of the chemical farming methods that have been done over the years. He said that the soil has become acidic and the pest that the farmers repelled from their farms will infest the organic gardens that are in close proximity.

PINE TREE have been growing and promoting organic vegetables since it started. And I only learned how to grow them when I became a PINE TREE staff. I got to learn zero chemical treatment and the minimal use fertilizers in gardening. I am very lucky to be with Dr Bengwayan’s staff because I am learning a lot. And this is one of the things why I am proud to be with PINE TREE.

Cordillera Indigenous Peoples Have Long Used Organic Farming

Organic farming is a new name for an old practice among many indigenous peoples in the Cordillera region, Philippines. For many years, indigenous peoples called Igorots, maintained ricefields fertilized with composted pig manure called "lumeng". This is mixed with rice straw and during planting, the manure is spread in the ricefields together with wild sunflower. (Tithanium divesifolium). The Igorots also have been using the nitrogen-fixing algae, an aquatic fern to help fertilize their rice with nitrogen before scientists claimed they discovered it.

In the homes of Igorots are home gardens which are a mixture of vegetables,medicinal plants and spices.

It is sad however that these indigenous sustainable practices are being lost to cash crop industry. PINE TREE is one of the few NGOs in the region still promoting homegardens and organic gardening.

Michael A. Bengwayan, Ph.D
Director
PINE TREE

Hunger Awaits Filipino Families

Where Two Typhoons Struck - Philippines

Hunger Awaits Filipino Families

By Dr. Michael A. Bengwayan

Image
Manila, Philippines (October 5, 2009) – The Philippines will face nationwide hunger starting the end of this year and will worsen by the first quarter of 2010 because of the destruction wrought by typhoons Ketsana (Ondoy) and Parma (Pepeng), the United Nations warned.

Paolo Mattei, UN World Food Program (WFP) regional officer for Asia said the country should prepare for possible widespread shortage of food after inspection was carried out. Two powerful typhoons in four regions of the country ripped through the Philippines destroying thousands of hectares of rice and corn.

Right after the warning, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered that rice will be imported to meet the impending food shortage even though rice importation in the past has often resulted in corruption like kickbacks and smuggling.



Billions Worth of Food Destroyed

Mr. Mattei traveled with agriculture secretary Arthur Yap who said almost 150 million dollars worth of rice and corn were destroyed in the Cagayan and Ilocos regions alone.

The Cagayan region, made up of the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Batanes, is the country’s largest corn and rice grower. The expected harvest for this quarter, Yap said, is all but gone.

An estimated 400,000 metric tons of rice and 300,000 metric tons of corn have just been lost, Yap said.

In the province of Isabela, the nation’s largest corn grower, all of the corn planted was wiped out by Typhoon Parma, he added.

Agriculture infrastructure worth more than 30 million dollars were destroyed as well, and the government is hard pressed to come out with funds to mitigate the impact of such losses, Yap said.

Besides the Cagayan and Ilocos Regions, typhoon Parma wrecked havoc in the Cordillera, Central, Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions, displacing 170,000 families more besides the 2 two million families already made homeless earlier by Typhoon Ketsana.



Diseases on the Rise

The agony and personal loss of the thousands of Filipino families made victims by the storms are being made more painful by the fact that not only are many hungry, without enough clothes and belongings, but also sick and without enough medicine.

Red Cross Chief Richard Gordon said thousands are sick of colds, diarrhea, influenza, injuries caused by the evacuation, and fungal diseases caused by long exposure to the dirty water when people escaped the floods.

“There is medicine, but it is not enough, we need more and we are pleading to the international community to come to our aid”, he said.

Already, Canada, the US, European Union, Australia, Japan have poured millions of dollars to assist the impoverished country run by leaders perceived by many citizens as corrupt.

Majority of those sick are women, elderly and children and their immunity system is gradually deteriorating, he added.

The spread of diseases has been rapid, he noted, because thousands are crammed in limited spaces of evacuation centers, and there is widespread problem of water and sanitation.

“Toilets are limited, as well as water for washing and bathing”, 56 years old Inciang Denas said, who took a bath only once while many have not taken one yet.

“There are no separate toilet for women and toiletries like tissue paper, hand disinfectant and soap are nowhere to be found”, cried, Nancy Hista,

In many places, the stench of dead animals still lingers as well as the thousands of tons of waste and garbage that remains uncollected.


Hundreds of Flooded Villages Still Unreached

As the government struggles to cope with the gigantic task of evacuating, feeding, treating and rehabilitating towns that have been flooded, hundreds of villages in 26 provinces are still submerged, and thousands of isolated people have yet to receive relief and supplies.

According to Red Cross disaster expert Rene Sarmiento, many of these villages have not been reached basically because of lack of appropriate transportation like motorized rubber boats.

“Rubber boats cannot travel against flood waters with strong undercurrents, we need pump boats or rubber boats with motors”, he said.

Many of the rescue efforts done by boats were done by people with private yachts and personal speedboats.

Many villages also have become incommunicable because power and communication lines were cut, Sarmiento said.

“We lost contact with many local leaders and residents”, he said.



Blame Game

The disaster that struck the Philippines has made many people angry, especially the victims who lament how the government has been caught unprepared by the calamities.

The government, despite all its excuses, will be remembered for its corrupt and wasteful spending while no preparation has seriously ever been done to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.

However, it is the people, especially the rich and the government planners, who should share the blame. The country’s forests have been cut to almost just 20 per cent now from its original 75 million hectares of forests by the few elite rich families, many of whom are politicians. This has contributed to global warming.

Urban planners, likewise, have not looked into the probable environmental impacts of their plans that have been used to construct roads, housing, drainages, canals and sewer lines.

Garbage generated, especially by the many poor, find their way to rivers and canals and the government does not have an effective solid waste management programme

However, If at all, the two typhoons have taught the Filipinos a thing or two about caring for the environment. This time, hopefully, the Filipinos will learn after their bitter lesson.


Michael A. Bengwayan is a Journalist and environmental specialist based on Manila. He can be contacted through youth_campaign@iolteam.com.

My Family Is In My Scrapbooks

My Family Is In My Scrapbooks



By MICHAEL A. BENGWAYAN





Baguio City, Philippines – Where did you last see yourself and your family enjoying a happy get-together or bowing your heads in reverence to a passing relative?



For me, it is in my scrapbooks. They contain my family. A dried flower, a pressed rose petal, photos of kids with impish looks, a postcard from an unknown place, faded drawings of my grandparents chanting prayers—they are magic touchstones in my scrapbook that keep those I love with me forever.



I always love making scrapbooks. Once in elementary, I had the best one in my class.



Scrapbooks can be in the mind but it is best when you can hold and see them. You can’t do that to your memory.



Once, I thought of my father’s death. It seemed as if, everywhere I went, something awoke painful memories—the oil of his 1950 Ford clunker, the deck of cards which accompanied him for Russian poker and his piercing smile. But the memories are best preserved in my scrapbooks—when he hit a homer, the time hr brought me my first barbershop and when we grabbed frogs for dinner at a nearby creek.



Make Something Memorable



In making scrapbooks, remember that you are doing something once that might be turned into a family tradition. Choose family ceremonies for scrapbooks, they provide some of the most cherished memories.



I used to have a small fire outside our yard every evening of weekends and gather my children. While they roast sweet potato, sausages and burn marshmallows over the embers I read them stories of great and infamous men and people of the world—of Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Kemal Ataturk, the wars between Mesopotamia and Greece and even the Peking Man.



Those stories are one reason our family outings remain so memorable. We have photos of those evenings. I have a burned page of the history book I read pasted in my scrapbook



To make the ordinary unforgettable requires only that we look at everyday events with eyes open to the symbolism they hold as a metaphor of love. Whether it’s lighting the first fire during the cold months or going for a forest hike on summer, it becomes memorable when we do it and capture it on scrapbooks because we do it with appreciation and self-ceremony.

Lock In Special Moments



Having nearly lost my life three times, I have learned to make an effort to capture the lovely moments of my life. Whenever I sense that a moment is perfect, I take a photo or pick up an object—a stone, leaf, flower, -- that represents that moment and take it home. I mark the object, putting the date, place and time of the even and add it to my scrapbook.



When my only son was born, for instance and it was his first time to be bathed by my wife in an open tub in our yard with a friendly sunshine, I captured the pungent smell of the soap and water, of the sun’s warmth on the baby’s face and his shrieks—all in my handy-cam and camera. The videotape and the photos are in my scrapbooks bringing to mind happy awareness that on that day, everything seemed perfect and free.



It is especially important to help children lock in their memories, because they seldom have long term recall of early experiences. You can do this by letting them write what they remember or by writing down what you have witnessed and recalling it to them after a few years.



Collect Reminders



My early childhood friend who soon became my assistant for 15 years in doing forest conservation work in the Philippines, now in Canada, keeps in his pocket a key holder that contains a fossilized insect. It was given by his father. The fossil reminds him where his great grandparents came from, Sagada—a beautiful tourist-frequented town north of the Philippines which has giant limestone formations with fossils.



“I remember my hometown and my parents when I feel the small stone in my pocket. I am reminded how much we were loved by my parents”, he quipped.



Special things mean special people and special l memories. Think carefully before you throw away drawings, letters, pictures, objects, postcards, greetings cards, call cards, or toys.



They maybe your children’s first scribbling, drawing or property. Don’t assume because you are not interested at 25, in keeping family treasures, that you’ll feel the same way later in life...



It is also important to invest in future memories. For instance, knowing that it will be your parents’ anniversary, prepare an occasion, a bunch of flowers or candies. Give it to them and capture the surprise and happiness in their faces with a picture and a petal, leaf or wrapping from the flowers or chocolates.



You may never know if you will be around or they will be around for the next anniversary.



Into everyone’ life comes such opportunities. Sometimes, it is a simple thing—a parent’s decision on a lovely morning, forego chores and the laundry to walk around the neighborhood with her daughter. Or an impulsive visit to sick neighbor you have never been in conversation with.



It’s the composite of such moments when you take time for another person that creates a kind of memory collage. Bits of kindness stick to pieces of caring and they’re all pasted together to form beautiful memories—and a scrapbook. /30

Rapid Composting and Vermiculture Training

PINE TREE wil be conducting a training on rapid decomposition using natural decomposers and vermiculture for VIRAC household heads on October 27-29. Emphasis will be given on century bugs like springheads, Isopods, colembola and Demaptera as decomposers and on the earthworm african night crawler. Lectures and demonstrations will be given by Dr. Bengwayan