PinoyEcoFarmer

This is a list of botanical plants, methods of preparation and insect pests controlled and or prevented.  No formal scientific study was undertaken on the effects of these botanical plants in the control of pests. However, with the integration of other (cultural, biological and mechanical) measures, an experiment at the garden at the Bureau of Plant Industry – Los Banos National Crop Research and Development Center (BPI-LBNCRDC) produced substantial amount of healthy vegetables.

This is worth a try. Afterall, all of them are easy to obtain.

Our weekend visit to the University of the Philippines Los Banos to attend an activity at the Boy Scouts Campsite gave us a reason to finally drop-by the Herb Republic Restaurant for lunch. The heavy traffic (it took us 3 hours to get to Los Banos from Cavite) did not dampen our moods. It was already past 12 when we got there. The place was a oasis considering the searing heat of the midday sun.

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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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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.

open source video, online video platform, video streaming, video solutions Food Inc is an 2009 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner. The film examines corporate farming in the United States, concluding that the meat and vegetables produced by agribusiness have many hidden costs and are unhealthy and environmentally-harmful. The film is narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser. The documentary generated extensive controversy in that it was heavily criticized by large American corporations engaged in industrial food production.

Watch this and you decide.

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.

Click on Cover Page to download.

Internet has surely revolutionized a lot of things. One of the many advantages it brought is that it has eased the access to information and collaboration among like-minded individuals. As farmers we can also take advantage of the internet. The information is just there for learning and discussion . It is just up to us to discern what would be the best practice that will most benefit  us and the environment.

These are some of the local groups that I recommend:

1.  Natural Farming in the Philippines

(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/natural_farming_philippines/);

Worldwide, the growing demand for safe, pesticide-free and naturally-farmed products trigger interest on natural and organic farming. Still considered as a budding sector in Philippine agriculture, nonetheless, organic food production belongs to the top ten priority sectors for revenue development in the Philippines (DTI, 2006). Thus, the Executive Order 481 aims to “promote agriculture development, conserve environmental resources and promote social equity and product access to foreign and domestic markets.”

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