Muni-Muni Minute

This morning at Oras na Pilipinas on 702 DZAS with host, Efren Pallorina and The Mulching Matsings of Los Banos: Jabez, Timi and Dan

just spent an hour talking to an old farmer over the phone who heard me on the radio this morning. he doesn't have access to the internet so he can't read my blog or visit my FB account so we kinda had an impromptu over-the-phone organic workshop. he's a conventional farmer but he said he believed every word i said during the interview. 

i can feel his desire to go organic it's just that he has no access to the materials needed and the community to support what he wanted to do. coz back in their place, everyone is doing conventional farming. i hope i get to visit him someday and i also hope that he would find someone who can guide him through the process of conversion. anyone from Bacoor, Cavite here?

to all my new friends here on FB, the listeners of Oras Na Pilipinas, thanks for all your text messages, it's truly inspiring and heartwarming (even tear-jerking!) to read your positive feedback. some even called while i was on the bus. i hope that i can meet you guys someday in this organic journey of ours. just keep the fire burning!

i'm thankful that our labor is not in vain. victory is already secured and we know that God has brought us all together for a cause that will glorify His name. It brings me so much joy that I'm seeing the world change right before my eyes. 

always remember 1 Corinthians 1:27 - "Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful."

Let's have courage to step up and change the world with what we can do. Don't let our limitations or weaknesses stop us from fulfilling God's awesome plan for our lives. 

Isaiah 55:8-9

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Kainos Farm Week 23: Sowing and Transplanting

*Today my apprentice, Timi, helped me with farm duties at Kainos Farm. We sifted vermicast, compost, sand and garden soil for our potting mix; we transplanted herb seedlings (spearmint, peppermint, sweet basil, and Thai basil); and sowed sweet basil seeds. 

* Tomorrow we're going to the seminar at UPOU about the cocolisap. See details below.

* Then on Saturday and Sunday we will be attending a bamboo making and food processing workshop at Nueva Ecija together with some of our friends.

* On Monday, June 30, I'll be interviewed on a radio show called Oras na Pilipinas at 702 DZAS. I will talk about organic agriculture and the activities that we do to make a difference. Please tune in and show some love! The show starts at 8 am.

ELBIVORES Going to Foodstock 2014 Today!!!

ELBIVORES RIPRIZINT!!! The Health Walk, The Mulching Matsing, Cafe Antonio, Juniper Face The Corner, today is the day...so excited!!! Sana di tayo maligaw ala Balik Bukid! Sana pumunta din lahat ng bumili ng tickets sakin. If not, we will take lotsa pics for FB and Instagram to share the experience! #Foodstock2014 #GoodFoodCommunity

Working with The Mulching Matsings @ Vani's Garden

 * Dan and Maya cleaning the garden pathways and putting red and white pebbles and rocks. And then there's Vani sweeping the leaves.

* I did Vani's terraced beds at the back of the garden under the avocado tree. 

* Dan's veggies started sprouting! Pictured here are sitao, squash, cucumber, and pechay sprouts. Then we planted a bunch of herbs like citronella, lemongrass, oregano, gaynura, and aloe vera from Tita Glo.

* Breakfast at Dan's place then merrienda and lunch at Vani's house with her baby boy, Aiden, and Maya and Yvette. Hung out for quite some time, eating malunggay rice and giniling. Then we had black currant iced tea, cold drip coffee, exchanged stevia seeds and talked about road widening all afternoon. Good times! 

Free Permaculture Workshop @ Kainos Farm with The Mulching Matsings

Showing the participants how we mulched the beds at Kainos.
(Photo by Malaya Salas)

(L-R): Kuya Nonoy of Kainos Farm, Dan, Timi, Paulo, Kisig, and me having pandesal, coffee, and guyabano & lemongrass tea.

Looking at the nearby hill on the other side of the fence.
(Photo by Malaya Salas)

The Mulching Matsings getting ready for the workshop. Complete with handouts, pencils, coffee and tea.
 (Photo by Malaya Salas)

That's me before we started our 3-hour perma-marathon.
(Photo by Malaya Salas)

Thanks to Timi for staying for the night and helping with farm work. Well-appreciated bro!

Tara-Farming with Paulo and Timi

This morning at Tara Farms, we removed weeds to make way for the pathway and then mulched it with dried bamboo leaves. Then we made a perimeter fence out of twigs and branches and planted citronella in between each post.

Discounted Foodstock 2014 Tickets Available at Cafe Antonio

Twenty (20) Foodstock 2014: Peace, Love and Patola tickets are available for ELBI people at Cafe Antonio for only Php 245 courtesy of The Mulching Matsing. 

Enjoy a night of awesome organic food and music with people who love to eat, chat, learn, share and have a good time. Join the community at 6 pm at 10A Alabama, New Manila, Quezon City on June 21 (Saturday)

Presented by Good Food Community

The Health Walk | Transition Philippines

Kainos Week 20: Field of Marigolds and Other Fun Farm Activities

After mulching this bed in Garden 1, I made small round spaces for our seedlings. Then I put some compost from Ato Belen's Farm. 

First time we saw the Duhat tree bear fruit. Makes a delightful and convenient snack!

This is Garden 1 in Zone 2 of Kainos Farm. Garden 1 has 12 raised beds dedicated to Cafe Antonio. We will grow veggies such as arugula, lettuce, carrots, sweet basil, and a lot more in this small space. Of course, all the beds are mulched in Yummy Dayami care of Tara Farms!

I've been growing herbs for two years now. This technique was taught to me by my neighbor, Mat Dans. So far it's been doing well. Now I'm trying it in Kainos Farm. Thanks Mat!

Since one of the buildings didn't have a gutter, I put a drum underneath the edge of the polycarbonate sheet roof and tried to catch as much water as I can. It was full minutes before the rain stopped.

It's doesn't look like much in this photo but I planted a LOT of marigolds along the edges of our water catchment. I'll take a photo of this again when the flowers are blooming!