Farming and Gardening

Jungle alert: grass everywhere!

Farming and Gardening Life in Nuvali Philippines Sustainable Living

Visited a Celena unit in Avida Settings Nuvali Phase 4 last week, and was surprised to be greeted by wild vines inside the unit!
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This was turned over clean and with a visible perimeter in January 2012.  Six months after, it\’s overrun with grass and vines, literally looking like a jungle.

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I asked the ASNU admin re: grass cutting in the village, and was advised that not all areas have been turned over to them for maintenance, so they can only remind/call the attention of the existing landscaping service provider when certain areas remain unkempt.  Also, Avida\’s responsibility only extends to trimming grasses on sidewalks and vacant lots that haven\’t been turned over to owners.

I think this policy can be amended to include all vacant lots regardless of status, if only for the safety of existing residents (we recently heard stories of snakes combing the village grasses).  To date there are still no association dues in Avida Settings Nuvali, however, so we residents are actually in no position to be so demanding.

My own area has overgrown cogon, and we just decided to be proactive about it and replace it with manageable groundcovers ourselves:

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In a few months, hopefully, we\’ll have blooming peanut shrubs instead of wayward cogon covering the sidewalks, much like the one shown below:
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If I had the budget, I\’d plant frog grass– which supposedly never grows high and therefore has zero maintenance — on all sidewalks and frontage of vacant lots in the village.  This was actually an idea I heard from my friend\’s dad, who sits as board director of another residential/farming community in Silang  (bulk of their budget really goes to grass-cutting).  Not only will it maintain the visual and safety standards of a premier subdivision, but it will also cut down on grass-cutting costs and save money for the community in the long run.  We\’d also be doing future homeowners a favor– I remember it took considerable effort to uproot all the cogon on my lot before building could start.

Our QC vegetable garden project

Farming and Gardening Sustainable Living

Inspired by my friend Asha\’s thriving vegetable garden in her small townhouse in Quezon City, mom and I set out to transform the planters in our lanai– planted with flowering Birds of Paradise for years now –to our own \”vegetable backyard garden\” in the city.

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My brothers did their own herb garden project on one of our concrete planters/boxes a few years ago, shown below complete with the white picket fence, but mom and I thought to add actual vegetables and leafy greens to the garden.

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We visited the Manila Seedling Bank on Quezon Ave. cor EDSA last week to check out what\’s there.

On day 1, we went through the columns of shops by the entrance/exit road and made this big greenhouse at the end our last stop:

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Herb and vegetable seedlings here went for 3 for P100, which we thought was a good deal already.

The next day, we went back and really looked for the Manila Seedling Bank office, and saw seedlings for sale at P10!

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Our QC vegetable garden projectRead More »

Interior Vertical Gardens

Farming and Gardening Green Design and Architecture Sustainable Living
I’ve asked permission from a friend if I could post her research on indoor vertical gardens as a guest post here.  We had such a lively discussion about them over lunch a month ago– it was great finding a kindred green spirit right in Nuvali itself!  Am sure many others out there will resonate with these.  Thank you again, Duanne, for sharing your ideas and research:
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Interior Vertical Gardens
by Duanne
You’ll see from below the form and built of the standing vertical garden.
(I was thinking of rollers installed at the bottom of the platform so it can be moved around.)
You’ll see from here how they use the standing vertical garden as a wall partition between living areas.
(I actually intend to do this at our future bedroom in Parkway Settings since the 2nd floor doesn\’t have any partition.)
I was very inspired and loved the play of colors on the fully grown wall mounted plants on below photo.  It’s truly a living, breathing, green space.
And ang kulit ng concept ng photo with the bed of plants and the [wo]man figuring out how [s]he will water the plants on top.=)
Or if you happen to like a hanging vertical garden, then check the image below.
(By the way, I believe they used the Woolly Pockets in here.)

Another good green wall partitioning concept below with stacked potted plants.

Love green decorating, ‘no! =)

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Pictures from various online sources.  

Our sunflower in bloom!

Farming and Gardening Sustainable Living

Do you remember the giant sunflower head from Antipolo last summer?

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I didn\’t know our helpers actually planted the seeds– and now we have a tall sunflower plant in bloom! Amazing…

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The head is not nearly as big as the original (see below pic), but it\’s still a baby plant, about three months old, so who knows how much more it will grow… 🙂

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I got these giant sunflower heads from the Antipolo Earthfest last May2011.

Dad says we still have some seeds left for planting… I hope the Sta. Rosa weather in Nuvali will be just as conducive to sunflowers!

guyabano seedlings

Farming and Gardening Sustainable Living

I love guyabano, I can eat one whole fruit for breakfast everyday!

Whenever we chance upon an especially sweet fruit (we love it when it\’s also soft, literally like cotton), we set the seeds aside and try to sprout them for planting:

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The other week, we were excited to see these small guyabano seedlings (seen below on the left) ready for transferring to their own spot!

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Among the fruit trees in our Tagaytay garden, the avocado, langka and mango trees are the only ones still standing– the guyabano died from the strong winds. 🙁   Will make sure to plant these in a less windy area, maybe next to a protective wall.

Too bad in Avida Settings we\’re not allowed to plant fruit trees in our tiny gardens– maybe I\’ll grow them in big pots so their roots don\’t bother anyone.  Anyone knows how long it takes for a guyabano to bloom?

 

urban homesteading

Farming and Gardening Sustainable Living

Found this piece on urban homesteading on my browser today.

It was the last thing my dad read before he gave me back my laptop and it made me smile thinking he\’s still a farmer at heart after all these years.  Hope we get to work on some city farming projects soon– recently bought a book made by the Central Luzon University on Urban Farming and it has easy and encouraging suggestions suited to the Philippine climate!

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Similar to urban gardeners or backyard farmers, urban homesteaders:

…want to replicate the lifestyle of the original homesteaders in a modern-day setting: making many of their necessities themselves or sourcing items locally, motivated by a desire to leave a lighter impact on the planet and have a direct connection with their food.

That last bit is important, as it brings to light the spiritual / energy aspect of food (and farming).   When you eat raw vegetables everyday, you necessarily take an active part in sourcing your food, and behind that is a deeper connection with the physical land that grows it–the soil, the farmer, the tilling and waiting.    When you\’re the farmer yourself, you get to know your land to the point of familiarity, and you work and work until intuition sets in and you have a true connection with the earth and sun.  Imagine how different everything would be if we all just started planting again.

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Read the complete article on earth911.com: Inside the Urban Homesteading Craze

planting dreams in Palawan

Farming and Gardening Green Communities Sustainable Living

Last week I visited the Maia Earth Village in Palawan and planted my first tree:

Tree Planting at Maia Earth Village (1)

Was great to do it in full consciousness–my friend Pi asked us to plant with intention, to plant not just the physical tree but along with it something that we want to take root and grow to bear fruit– maybe a dream, a part of ourselves we want to nurture, or general good intentions for everyone.

Maia, which “is short for Mama Gaia…[and] also based on the ancient name of the Philippines (Ma-I, or I Am in reverse) and its inhabitants, Maians,” is an eco-community in Bacungan, Palawan. Says Pi Villaraza:

We dream of a community on the hills surrounded by mountains and near a beautiful beach. Next door would be a yoga teacher, a raw food chef, some healers, artists, gardeners and ecologists all planting, all painting and sculpting, making music, writing poetry, healing, meditating, exercising, living, loving and learning. Everyone is taking care of their bodies, cultivating their minds and nurturing their soul simultaneously.

Maia is a dream for me too.

Pi and I reconnected from out of the blue last year, exchanging notes on green communities we wanted to build — he in Palawan and I in Tagaytay.   I first visited him in Bacungan last August 2010, again in November, and a third time this June 2011.  I keep coming back to Palawan, which has slowly become a home for me too.  It’s a place where clarity is abundant and the beatings of my heart–even those carried from far away– make sense.  The journey is towards sacred simplicity, and it’s in Palawan that I’ve found an overflowing well for it, and also a converging point for other hearts on the same journey.

More pictures of Maia Earth Village on facebook

Raw food album during that same visit
Nagtabon Beach album
Also visit:  Back (and back again) to Bahay Kalipay – a house of healing

Orchids for the home: Inspiration from Milky Way Cafe

Farming and Gardening Green Design and Architecture Sustainable Living

Saw these potted orchids grouped together in one big vase at Milky Way Cafe:

Design inspiration

Beautiful. And great idea to group them and elevate on a table!

Milky Way Cafe is famous for its halo-halo, and was happy to see it still alive and buzzing after over 50 years of operation.

Design inspiration

The whole cafe felt like a warm home, so I tried to spot the other design elements that made it so:

Apart from the many indoor plants, there was enough breathing space in between the furniture. 3D art pieces like this tree sculpture helped give texture to the space–I like!
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Design inspiration

There’s abundant natural light inside the cafe. I also love alcove lighting and noticed it in the hallway– nice if you want a warm but not overly bright room.

Design inspiration

I’m naturally drawn to creative pieces, and I appreciated the paintings in varied textures that gave color and drama to the place, like it had a story to tell.

Milky Way Cafe

I especially liked this toro collage, and would’ve reached out to touch if not for the glass cover:

Milky Way Cafe

Also noticed music being played in the lobby–great way to regulate the mood and keep it light and happy 🙂

have you ever seen a fresh sunflower head?

Farming and Gardening Food Sustainable Living

Was so amazed by this, had to buy it to show friends and family!
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Gigantic sunflower head from Melendres farm, P500

So pretty, I just wanted to keep it on the table as a conversation piece. Even my titos and titas were gushing over it.

Seeds are ready to be eaten–They\’re blander than packaged raw sunflower seeds, and softer too. They supposedly keep for 6 months.

My dad took some seeds to try to plant– don\’t even know if that\’s the way to grow them, but wow, would be great to have these giant sunflowers (imagine how big the petals would be!) greeting you every morning… 🙂

Plants and sun pulling

Farming and Gardening Sustainable Living
Montalut 2010 (80)

Ink on Paper, 2010

Found this old doodle I made while in a detox and healing center in Palawan last August 2010.

What great imagery–the idea of plants being summoned by the sun, in a pull-push dance,  as a coming home of sorts.

Aren\’t we all coming home to the sun, sky and great beyond anyway?

Happy Easter, green friends!
xo

P.S.   Again inviting you to a special private sale this Saturday, April 30, as I launch EstelaShop.com, my new home and clothing store– our items are handpicked for their unique qualities (ex. woodblock printed fabrics in limited pieces) and are perfect for those looking for anything made with love.

easter-invite

More info on EstelaShop.com.