Clearing the Plots & Planting Herbs

Started clearing for my third plot

My compost pile

I did a lasagna method mulch here

The third plot was very challenging to clear out. The weeds were so difficult to cut.

Here's a mini plot I did between my second plot, compost pile, and third plot. I planted basil, oregano, mint, and tarragon.

Garden Tools from My Parents

With new garden tools, I was able to clear my second plot and mark it with two planks

My parents bought me a new hoe, shovel, and rake

Preparing the plot for a lasagna mulch method

Here's my housemate, Elmer, helping me with the lasagna mulch. A lasagna mulch is composed of layers of newspaper, dried leaves, and fresh cut grass

Help from the Neighborhood Kids

I started removing the weeds in the front yard with a broken hoe

I was excited to see an earthworm in my plot :)

Here are my neighbors, they helped me gather worms and put it in the first plot. Trying to explain what Organic Agriculture is to children was a very good experience for me

Not bad for a half-hoe!

Preparing FFJ - Fermented Fruit Juice

I decided to make FFJ yesterday  morning. Here are the materials that I used:
2 Kilos of Bananas and Papaya
Muscovado Sugar
Net Bag
Pail
A rock for crushing

1) First, I chopped the bananas and papayas into small pieces so I can pound them easily.

2) And then I added 500 grams of muscovado sugar and mixed it with the fruits using a piece of rock until it turned gooey and sludgy.

3) I transferred the mixture in a net bag ang placed it inside a pail. then i covered it with plastic. but i guess i should have covered it with brown paper instead.

4) Then I put the pail inside a broken jeep, beside my compost and vermi-tub.

And I also prepared the sili and Perla solution for my bell peppers to keep away aphids and bugs.

When I posted the photos on FB, people thought I was going to drink the juice! I didn't make it clear that it was for fertilizer. 

I Missed Our High School Agriculture Class

A day after pulling out the weeds, I checked the soil and cultivated it a bit. I had to remove a lot of plastic wrappers first.

I did a simple soil test that I learned from a handbook just to know if the soil had more clay or sand. You just grab a handful and squeeze the soil and see if it forms a ribbon. If it breaks, it has a lot of sand. I put the dried weeds that I left in the driveway and used it as mulch. I also did an all-original, "Soil Fatness Test." I threw a handful of tomato seeds in the raised and bed and observed if it would grow. It sprouted after a day but it never really grew because the broken jeep in front of the plot blocked all the sunlight.  

Starting Small, Trim the Plant Box

The most logical thing for me to do is to start with the plant box that turned into a weed box.

I just dumped the cut weeds in the pavement and let it dry for a few days.

I don't have a picture of what the plant box looked like prior to cutting. But I assure you that they were so tall, it can devour a dog!

This was my very first garden tool when the Organic Agriculture class started. Only a few minutes into chopping the grass, the handle split in two and I had to put it back together using masking tape and duct tape! It eventually split into two for good forcing me to use a very short hoe that led to back pains!

Conquering the Backyard Jungle

Two months ago, our yard looked like this. It's like a Mt. Everest of weeds.

When I look to the left from our door, an even bigger jungle of weeds greets me in the morning.

The Path to Good Health is Social Just as Much as it is Physiological

* I remember I wrote a blog article a year ago about making healthy choices and our inability to make them. "I just want to ask the surrounding culture to be supportive of our desire to change," I said in my blog entitled "My Life is Preventing Me from Changing My Lifestyle" (http://cafeantonioelbi.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-life-is-preventing-me-from-changing.html).

* Right now, that personal plea has been amplified and it looks like that my level of involvement as a part of that "surrounding culture" has increased. I'll break down this blog entry into bite-size, bulleted paragraphs so I can express my reflections and revelations in a way that I won't be obsessively concerned about structure and sentence construction (that would take 5 hours to write), so here it goes...

* The world tells us that it is cool to be healthy. So we look for things that are healthy like organic food, sports and outdoor activities, and eco-friendly involvement. The world is telling this to everybody. The problem is that "every body" is different and that "everybody" can be further dissected into several segments of somebody-s.

* I studied an online course in Medical Sociology (a branch of sociology that wasn't available during my sociology undergrad in UPLB so I have to look for it online in a British university's website), and found out that my plea for good health in relation to society's demands is indeed a pressing concern. 

* One determinant of health is the social and economic environment (this was confirmed in the Health Impact Assessment of the World Health Organization). And in sociological jargon, health can be more specifically attributed to social class or social status. The lower, middle, and upper class all have diverse problems with lifestyle choices and the usual issues of access to healthcare (ignorance or difficulty), ability to afford treatment, and perceptions and lay beliefs on health and disease prevention.

* Example, you're a student is UPLB and you want to be healthy. You jog after class and then you try your best to be healthy by eating munggo and fried tilapia in the cholesterol-dominated food  industry of Los Banos. It's crazy. We have no choice but to be sucked by the lure of convenience and affordability of fast foods and street food. Not everyone has the luxury of time to buy vegetables in the supermarket and make salads and sandwiches. I think this applies to all social classes. Everybody eats at Jollibee and McDo.

* Recently, a couple of researchers in UPLB went to UPOU and offered a course in Organic Agriculture. I'm enrolled in it right now. I took the course because I was interested in becoming a farmer but I didn't expect that this course would put so much emphasis in promoting good health for the community. 

* Organic food is expensive, about 30 to 40% more expensive than your conventionally farmed vegetables. It is expensive because organic farmers put extra effort in maintaining organic farms plus there are only a few organic farms. This means that existing organic farms can't supply the high demand for healthy veggies. 

* I decided that I wanted to become a neighborhood superhero and start an organic garden during or after the course ends. We have crazy soil here in our compound, grass and weeds can grow up to six feet in a week! 

* So as a contribution to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and development of a "culture that is supportive" to good health, I will grow organic vegetables for my family and my neighbors. It sounds small-time but it's a good start. Start somewhere, we can't save the world by saying, "I will save the world! Uh wait, it's too big. Maybe next time."

* I conclude by saying that involvement in organic farming is one of the many ways we can develop a "culture of support" to good health in our respective communities. Remember, we should promote good health and proper nutrition to everybody not just to those who can afford to do so or have the means to do so. Let's also look for ways in which we can successfully incorporate healthy and realistic ways of living in the context of our busy society.

Resource Materials and Inspirations:

- Go Negosyo: Joey Concepcions's 100 Inspiring Stories of Small Entrepreneurs - Tagumpay Mula sa Kahirapan

- Module 1 Organic Agriculture, Dr. Calub and Dr. Matienzo, University of the Philippines Open University

- Introduction to Sociology, Mitch Duneier, Princeton University

- Medical Sociology Interactive: A Multimedia Lecture Series, Tom Davies and Dawn Leeder, University of Cambridge

- Fundamentals of Pharmacology, Dr. Emma Meager, University of Pennsylvania

- Community Change in Public Health,  William Brieger, Johns Hopkins University

- Health Impact Assessment, World Health Organization