PinoyEcoFarmer

The Sorsogon City Plant Nursery is just a walking distance away from our home in Sorsogon but I have yet to visit it until my recent trip home. The city nursery sits on a vacant lot at the Sts. Peter and Paul Subdivision near Gate 3.  I went there a day before going home back to Cavite.

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Balai Buhay is nestled on the slopes of Mt. Bulusan in the province of Sorsogon. The farm is in Baranggay San Roque just a few meters away from the chapel. There is a sloping access road from the main highway leading to the parking area. My brother told me about this place two years ago but I have not had a chance to visit it. Finally, we decided to drop by on our way back from a kayaking trip at the Bulusan Lake.

The farm doubles as a resort complete with a function hall and accommodation that can house about 40 guests. A room costs P1,000 for an overnight stay. A day tour will cost P80 per person with a complimentary drink of cold calamansi juice.

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Mama has always been into gardening ever since I was a young boy. It is no wonder that I have a fascination with gardening as well. I recently had a chance to see her garden again when I went home to our province in Sorsogon for a brief vacation.

There is  really nothing extraordinary about her garden but I think what is more important is that it serves the purpose of providing them with some common everyday vegetables which otherwise would have been bought from the market.

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I recently learned from a fellow blogger  and friend (www.PinoyOrganics.com) that Starbucks has been giving away their used coffee grounds as part of their recycling and reducing waste program. Starbucks dubs it as “Grounds for Your Garden”.

In the Starbucks website, they state that:

We introduced Grounds for Your Garden in 1995, which offers customers complimentary five-pound (2.27-kilogram) bags of used coffee grounds to enrich garden soil. And where commercial composting is available, many stores are able to divert other food waste and coffee grounds from the landfill as well.

I decided to get mine from a Starbucks outlet in Market2, Global City. The staff were very helpful when I inquired. They even offered to pack some more bags for me if I wanted to. I had to decline because I did not bring my car with me. I just got 4 bags which was just enough baggage for me to handle.

Some of the used grounds will go to my compost bin and the remaining will be spread on the sides of my plants at home. The instructions on how to use the discarded grounds are clearly printed on the sticker label. The aroma of the used grounds is still retained which pleasantly fills the air with coffee goodness.  I would have collected more had I known about this program before.

So for the gardeners out there go grab some free used coffee grounds from your nearest Starbucks and feed your plants with it. I wonder though if other coffee shops have a similar program of managing their used coffee grounds.

The New Self-Sufficient Gardener: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Planning, Growing, Storing and Preserving Your Own Garden Produce by John Seymour.

John Seymour’s classic guide gives you the knowledge and expertise to create your own self-sufficient garden and produce what you need. Whatever the size of your space, discover how to garden organically and maximize your harvest, without the need for radical changes to your lifestyle. From cultivating vegetables to making cider, keeping chickens to training vines, you’ll garden in tune with the seasons, growing for the year, eating for today and storing for tomorrow. No specialist knowledge required: just clearly explained principles and practicalities ideal for any gardener.

I already have one of John Seymour’s book “The Self-Sufficient Life & How To Live It” which I bought at Booksale (used but very cheap). I really enjoyed reading that book.

open source video, online video platform, video streaming, video solutions Most people use herbs to give food a bit of extra taste and flavour, but in this episode, ethnobotanist James Wong explores their more traditional use in helping treat a range of minor everyday ailments, from cold sores and insect bites to bad breath. Sufferers try them out to see if these natural remedies help relieve their symptoms.

James also uses peppermint to whip up a fragrant homemade body scrub.

An unplanned weekend trip to Lipa, Batangas to see a friend provided us an opportunity to visit the often talked about Casa Rap Restaurant in San Jose (a neighboring town of Lipa). The restaurant cum garden can be reached by exiting Lipa (Tambo) exit from the Star Expressway and turning left after the toll booth going to San Jose town direction. Just go straight until the kilometer marker (km 90/ SJ 0). The place is on the right side.

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In an era of soaring food prices and fastfood mentality, it is good to know that there are urban communities who still practice community farming/gardening. Communities in the cities can take advantage of the remaining spaces and transform them into productive areas where members can enjoy the fruits of their labor.

“Guide to Setting Up Your Own Edible Rooftop Garden” is another published reference on urban agriculture that we can learn from. This is a valuable resource for those who want to give it a try.

Gardening on rooftops in ever-increasingly dense and sprawling cities is an original way to take back unused and sterile spaces like rooftops, patios and balconies and to transform them into livable spaces that are lush, productive and purifying. In addition to embellishing the urban landscape with food-producing gardens at the tops of buildings and producing fresh food, these new spaces for the community enable us to reduce the ecological footprint of the houses and institutions of which we are an integral part. Recovering and decontaminating water, cultivating organic food, composting organic waste as well as filtering and cooling down air are all part of a mindset to make our established landscape more sustainable. Therefore, in the current context of environmental degradation, over-consumption and junk food culture, taking care of ourselves and our environment enables us to take a step down the path to healthy cities and communities.

Rooftop gardening means taking up an inspiring, ecological and productive activity, and developing new links with the food chain, the seasons, the environment and the community. This utopia’s vision is to turn the city into a garden and its inhabitants into gardeners.

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Hydroponics generates a lot of interest because of the many distinct advantages compared to the conventional way of growing crops using soil. Among them is the higher yield per square area of space needed, lesser water consumption, minimal labor requirements and a host of other benefits. This can also be an ideal setup for urban agriculture considering the space constraints in urban areas.

The book “Hydroponics for the Home Gardener” is a comprehensive reference on hydroponics that will appeal to farmers and gardeners alike. It provides a wealth of information that will guide those who are planning to engage in this method of growing select crops.

Click on Cover Page to download.

Tomatoes are undoubtedly one of the all-time favorite garden crops. They are easy to grow and requires just a little space. It can be a little intimidating though for amateur farmers/gardeners but planting and growing can be a breeze with some helpful references.

I found this interesting book  “Tomato – A Guide to the  Pleasures of Choosing, Growing and Cooking” (GAIL HARLAND SOFIA LARRINUA-CRAXTON) and had fun reading it. The book includes topic on – A tomato for every climate, Where should I grow my tomatoes?,  Preparing the soil, Seed or plantlet?, How to sow seeds, Reaping the harvest, and many more.

I will definitely grow my tomatoes using this as my reference and hope that I get the pleasures as well.

Click on Cover Page to download.