For years, we've been trying our hands at organic gardening but we only got very little success because of the elevation of our lot. It used to be a rice field and would usually get submerged in water when it rains. However, our situation has greatly improved since we had it filled with soil almost a year ago. It took 20 dump trucks of earth to have it filled to the elevation we desire. It's not cheap but it's a necessary expense for us to secure our yard as well as our house. I feel truly guilty too as the method of acquiring the filling is not earth-friendly. We're just making up to the environment by planting more trees on our properties. On our home lot alone, we have planted more than 10 trees, several of them are native.
Going back to the backyard garden, we've been reaping the benefits of our labor for several months already. The garden has been providing us with our daily vegetable needs and we even managed to share to family and relatives who live nearby. Our budget intended for vegetables is now spent on seafood and meat which are becoming more expensive everyday. My husband learned to time the planting so we have a steady supply of common vegetables like okra (ladies' fingers), sitaw (asparagus or yardlong bean), sigarilyas (winged bean), and kamote (sweet potato) tops. We've also been harvesting squash for weeks, just the right timing when squash is expensive in the market. We currently also have eggplants, pechay, corn, tomatoes, and patola (silk squash or ribbed loofah).
Aside from not having to spent for vegetables, we take pride in our organic vegetables. Since we started gardening, we have not used any chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides. To enrich the soil, we use traditional compost and later on vermicast when we managed to acquire African night crawlers from a local grower. To control pests, we rely on companion planting and natural alternatives such as water soaked with vinegar.
With pandemic lingering and not yet showing signs of going away, we couldn't be more thankful that we started gardening when we did. We only need to stock up on seafoods and meat, and enjoy the benefit of fresh organic vegetables.
I think starting now, I will be sharing more posts about gardening and rural living in general because I love it and it's gonna be a permanent part of my family's lives.
This is our gardening story. What's yours?
Sources and Links:
Goducate Vermiculture Farm (Iloilo) - We bought our African night crawlers from them.
Iloilo Organic Gardening - our IG page
Iloilo Organic Gardening - our Facebook
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