Corn Plot Experiments

Soil + Compost + Lactobac Las 1

Soil + Compost + EM-1

Soil + Vermicompost + Lactobac Las 1

Soil + Compost + Lactobac Las 1 + Fish Emulsion

Soil + Compost

Backyard Gardening and Climate Change: Developing an Ecological Consciousness

Humble Beginnings

I started my small organic herb and vegetable garden in front of my apartment in mid-2012 with the simple goal of growing pesticide-free vegetables for me and my family. Like any novice backyard gardener, I wanted to find out first if I had a “green thumb”--that is, if I was capable of growing any plant from seed at all! 

Curious, innocent, and very excited , I sowed tomato seeds directly on a small 1x4 plot I cleared right in front of my porch. Every night after work , I would check if the seeds have sprouted. After a few days, I finally saw signs of life. And yet the excitement was cut short when the midday sun started to bake the soil while the heavy July rains hammered the plot in the afternoons continuously. Maybe direct-seeding was wrong. That was my initial reaction. And so I started planting in pots and containers and placed net bags over it to protect it from the heat and the heavy rains. When the seedlings reached a certain height, I transplanted them into the tilled plots. 

This simple system of planting worked for me until the end of the year. I was able to harvest a decent amount of vegetables considering my limited experience in gardening. Thinking that I could just repeat what I did the following year, I started to expand my garden. Unfortunately, 2013 would become a very wet and rainy chapter.  

Climate Change and the Backyard Gardener

For the average person, the daily effects of climate change is usually experienced through increased personal discomfort and inconvenience brought about by extreme heat and heavy rains. But for the backyard gardener, climate change means more than just discomfort or inconvenience. Gardening and growing vegetables increases one’s sensitivity and awareness to climate change because crop yield is dependent on the climate. 

Focusing on individual crop protection and health, like the installation of net houses or greenhouses, are temporary solutions to reducing the harsh effects of climate change on our backyard gardens. But the backyard gardener must realize that he or she has a larger role to play rather than just feeding their own families and beautifying the landscape. 

As I read books and studied about gardening, I stumbled upon a concept called “permaculture.” Permaculture is a design system and a philosophy that encourages the backyard gardener to observe nature and work with it rather than against it while capturing and storing as much energy as he can. Having this in mind, I began observing how the elements within my garden interacted and responded with the larger ecosystem in which it is a part of. 

Observations

I spent most of 2013 just observing how my garden “worked” as a system. It’s all about planning and identifying patterns and the beneficial relationships of different elements or components and the roles they play in building a resilient and productive backyard garden. 

Trees provide shade and protection while softening the effects of strong winds and harsh sunlight. Mulch retains moisture in the soil and helps build organic matter. Some weeds provide a habitat for beneficial insects. Herbs keep pests at bay. Goats provide nitrogen-rich manure and control weed growth. 

By taking note of observations such as these, the backyard gardener will be able to design an efficient garden based on judgments made with an ecological consciousness. As the backyard gardener understands these relationships, he is allowing his landscape to be more responsive to the unpredictable behavior of the environment rather than building a man-made landscape patch that counteracts natural processes.   

An Ecological Consciousness 

Ever wondered why forests can withstand typhoons and intense heat? It’s because nature has its own way of restoring and regenerating itself. It’s our job to observe these natural processes and try to enhance these, not alter it, to provide what we need. 

My gardening style is more horticultural rather than agricultural--wherein tracks of land are stripped bare and tilled to make way for the planting of single crops. This leaves the landscape vulnerable to natural disasters and pest infestations. Call it horticulture, agroforestry, or permaculture, whatever the design or the philosophy is, at first glance the garden looks like a mess based on modern lawn and garden design standards. But letting nature take its course by allowing weeds to grow and producing as much organic matter as I can by using energy stored in manure and dried leaves, one can truly appreciate that nature has its way of healing itself and we have to respect it.

The key to a successful backyard garden is to restore rather than manipulate. In the long run, altering and manipulating the landscape would make the effects of climate change more prominent and more destructive. As scientists continue to debate whether climate change is a natural occurrence or man-made, it’s harsh effects would definitely be diminished if we garden with an ecological consciousness. 

The Goat Fence Project

My nephew, Jethy, showing Twinkle and Bumblebee's new home

I taught Jethy how to apply Lactobac and Fish Emulsion

The neighborhood kids feeding the goats some malunggay

Clockwise: a makeshift vermi pit; organized sections of the garden workshop; some corn sprouts 

Twinkle and Bumblebee's new apartment

Weekend Market @ Herb Republic, LB

Where: Herb Republic, Lopez Avenue, Los Banos, Laguna

When: Every 2nd and 4th weekend of the month; 7 AM to 9 PM

What: Organic products--vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat, chicken, coffee, etc.

For reservations, contact Pearl: 0922-843-7206

#TheHealthWalk

Herbs in My Garden and What to Do with It: GOTU KOLA

In Ayurvedic medicine, holy basil has been used for thousands of years. However, it is just in recent decades (and especially the past few years) begun gaining popularity in the West.

The plant is said to be an adaptogen.

Adaptogens essentially adapt to serve the body where it needs them most. Typically, adaptogens are characterized as stress-busters, and this is where we will find the majority of research on tulsi.

While all scientific research on the plant has been done on lab animals and not reproduced in humans, case after case of anecdotal evidence and thousands of years of use can’t be wrong.

Holy basil has numerous beneficial properties including:

• Adaptogenic (anti-stress)
• Antibacterial
• Anti-fungal
• Antioxidant
• Anti-inflammatory

These properties alone can account for many potential benefits including increased sense of well-being, increased immune function, and disease prevention.

Known benefits of holy basil include:

• Memory booster
• Fever reduction
• Cough soothing
• Sore throat relief
• Soothing to bites, cuts, and scrapes
• Headache treatment
• Increased kidney function
• Balanced emotional health
• Clearing acne
• Possible blood sugar regulation

Both as a general health tonic and as a treatment for specific maladies, tulsi has been the go-to herb for millennia. Experience holy basil benefits today - by growing your own!

Source: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_industryhealthiermedica139.htm

Garden Projects for this Year

I really have to secure the goat fence.

I've lost track of the number of times I received a message saying: NAKAWALA ANG MGA KAMBING MO. 

Tomorrow, our carpenters Kuya Charlie and Kuya Ides will construct a secure perimeter to enclose the goats' grazing area. I must admit that I really had a hard time planting anything last year. One reason is that the goats always ate anything that sprouted up. Yes, they actually destroyed my garden fence. And another reason is the weird weather. But those are real-world challenges that us gardeners have to deal with. We need to come up with creative solutions. 

Here's an improvised net house frame that I worked on. The net will help scatter big droplets of rain and excessive sunlight. The bundle of kawayan is only Php 180.

Here's a drawing I made based on a zoning plan and element analysis that I worked on before. I learned to do that in a Permaculture Design video by Geoff Lawton.

I used a fine kitchen strainer as a sifter for my compost. 

I also used a deep fryer strainer to separate the rocks and gravel from the compost. And the shape of the strainer works really well!

I planted corn and eggplant in the seedling trays. I used a chicken cage and some old window screens as a temporary green house.