College Students Learn About Organic Agriculture & Permaculture at Kainos Farm

* When my father, Philip, asked me a couple of months ago if I could teach 37 college students about organic farming, I didn't hesitate to say yes. This was exactly the kind of opportunity that I was waiting for--a hands-on training program where students can really experience what it feels like to live and work at a farm. 

* I had less than two months to prepare for the youth camp so I carefully reviewed my old notes from my organic agriculture course at UPOU and permaculture course at Cabiokid. I also watched some videos and documentaries and read some books to refresh my memory. 

* By the end of April, I was able to come up with an outline and a super-condensed and super-easy-to-follow training material and program that's good for 4 days. 

* The schedule: Day 1 - Lecture on Organic Agriculture; Day 2 - Lecture on Permaculture and farm work project; Day 3 - Farm work project and film showing; Day 4 - Hiking, farm work project, raised bed construction demo, and fun night.

* The 37 college students (with some young professionals in the mix) came from different schools in San Pablo, Laguna and the province of Cavite. The students from San Pablo are youth leaders from Church of Christ Disciples (COCD) and those from Cavite are youth leaders from Harvest Tree Church. The students are participants of an 18-day summer leadership training program called Kainos Leadership Training Institute 2 (KLTI) with the theme: Living and Leading Like Jesus. The program ends in May 18, 2014. My father, the facilitator of the program, wanted organic agriculture to be part of their training program so that the youth will learn more about Earth stewardship, sustainable living, and community solidarity. 

* During our first session, I learned that there were no BS Agriculture students and most of them live in the city. I thought that was a good thing because everything I would teach would sound new to them. 

* Day 1: The campers arrived from San Pablo at 10 am in the morning. They arrived while the Kainos staff and I were pitching their tents. Immediately, the campers helped us set up 12 tents for the boys while the girls stayed at the solar and wind-powered dorms at the back of the training center. My session would begin at 4 in the afternoon.

* In my organic agriculture lecture, I focused more on the principles and ethics--the "whys" rather than the "hows" although I did emphasize on composting and mulching in the end since this would be their work project. I thought that it was important for them to know why we need to practice organic agriculture in the first place. It's not really about the money. It's about caring for the Earth and keeping everything in it healthy. Everything begins with caring for the soil, it's not just about planting and harvesting crops. During the lecture, we watched video clips from documentaries such as Food Inc., Dirt: The Movie, and Grow Bio-Intensive Gardening. We also had one special guest, Tita Mely, a gardening enthusiast in her 70s from our church in San Pablo. She wanted to learn about organic agriculture so she insisted that she would join the youth camp.

* By the end of the session, the campers learned about the current food system, why they need to support local and organic products, and why cow manure is an important component in organic soil-building--I sensed that this was their favorite topic!

* Day 2 started at 4 in the morning with morning exercise before heading to the field for some farm work. The campers were divided into 6 groups and I gave a specific task to each. One group installed the frames for the raised beds; another group dug up soil to use for our compost heap and raised beds; another gathered cow manure in the cow field right across the farm; two groups gathered fresh and dry organic materials for the compost heap area; and one group filled up our two compost bins. After breakfast, all of the groups got together to mulch the 66 plots in the farm.

* In the afternoon, we proceeded with my lecture on permaculture. I grounded my lecture on ecology and systems thinking based on the lectures and books by Bert Peeters of Cabiokid Foundation. We also watched a video clip of Geoff Lawtons' Introduction to Permaculture Design. I told them that permaculture is a framework that one can apply not only in agriculture but in other aspects of life as well. In this way, those with no agriculture background, will feel that they too can start applying permaculture when they get home. 

* Day 3 was spent building another compost heap. I told them that the farm is full of organic materials which we can turn into soil using the correct composting processes. This activity helped them appreciate the things that we sometimes take for granted like fallen leaves and freshly cut grass. After they finished the compost heap, we watched Dirt: The Movie to give them an understanding about the activity that they did.

* We went up the hill in front of the farm in Day 4. Up there we had a good view of Mt. Makiling, Talim Island, Tagaytay, Calamba, Batangas, and Kainos Farm itself. It was a great place to reflect and to really see our place in this world as stewards of God's creation. Everything he created is beautiful and perfect. And there is no sense in trying to destroy it.

* In the evening the 6 groups had a few hours to prepare for the Fun Night where they will present what they have learned about organic agriculture and permaculture through song, dance, drama, and comedy. It was actually my first time to see the concepts I taught to be applied and presented in such creative ways. We ran out of power that night so we had to use my small solar lamp for the lighting.

* I'm very happy that the campers appreciated how fulfilling it is to live a simple life and grow your own food. I hope this would be a life-changing experience for them. Most of them didn't want to go home because they find life at Kainos Farm very relaxing!

* I have to thank my mentors, Dr. Bes Calub and Dr. Edna Matienzo for planting this organic seed in me. They took a very huge step when they offered the organic agriculture course at UPOU. Probably at that time, they didn't foresee that their students will be as passionate as they are in going organic. To Bert Peeters and Angelito Agustin, my permaculture mentors at Cabiokid, you have been an inspiration since I've met you last March. May you continue training more and more people every year! And finally, to my father, Philip Flores and the owner of Kainos Farm, Albert Tanlimco, for using the farm to change people's lives even if we haven't actually planted any vegetables yet! I can't imagine how much more we can inspire people when we have veggies growing from the raised beds!

* To God be the glory!