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| Photo by Dada Mercado |
We've been on the road since early October, I didn't have time to write a blog about our Palawan trip. But now I have a couple of hours write a short piece before we leave for Zamboanga del Sur later this morning.
Oh yes, Puerto Princesa, Palawan (finally)! We were greeted by the friendly staff of Aloha House when we arrived then we were introduced to Keith Mikkelson. He was teaching a vermiculture class at the moment.
Aloha House, a Christian ministry, is the first orphanage in Puerto Princesa. The urban farm design grew out of the need to have healthy and nutritious food for the kids and the staff. Eventually, the property was transformed into a 2800 square meter foodscape. Everywhere you look there's plants, trees, vegetables, and even livestock! The property was so dense with activity one would be confused where to look first.
The highlight was the aquaponics system that Keith designed using permaculture principles. We noticed that he was very methodical in how he grows his crops. His activities and experiments are all well-documented and he is very generous in sharing what he knows.
He operates Aloha House together with his wife, Narcy, Aside from being an orphanage and urban farm, Aloha House is also a bed and breakfast where visitors can stay and eat good food.
A 40-minute drive from Aloha House is another property called Aloha Ranch and Organic Farm, the site of his eco-village project. It's still in a work in progress but a lot of things are happening there like this rammed earth house that they are making (see photo below).
Keith and Narcy are quite well-known in Puerto Princesa for their social and environmental advocacy. We wish them all the best and we hope to visit again soon!
Want to visit them? Checkout the links below:
You can download Keith's book, Sustainable Agriculture in the Tropics, for free by clicking the link below:
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