When lola Basyang howled

When typhoon Basyang swiped into Manila on July 13, I didn’t expect the winds would be that strong. My baby woke-up at midnight because of the howling winds, minutes later the power lines were immediately cut-off. We turned on the battery desk lamp, and to appease my son, I played videos in my cellphone for him to watch.

The next day, neighbors were cleaning their gardens. Like a true farmer, I was worried on the damage brought by the typhoon on Wacky Eco-farm.

Our beloved mango tree was uprooted by the strong winds

Imagine that tree can produce this many firewood.

The branches were cut into pieces to become firewood

Our sunflowers, forget-me-nots, and pansies did not make it – too much rainwater drowned the seedlings. The green ones you see are weeds.

good bye flowers

But it took me awhile to believe Joel, one of our caretakers. I insisted that the green sprouts were flowers. So he dug into the soil and showed me that the flowers have longer roots than weeds.

Death of a budding flower

But on the lighter side of the damage, my veggies started to sprout.

sproutlings

As they say, there’s always a rainbow after the storm.

Bok, bok, bok to Wacky Eco-farm

My son thinks he’s a chicken! He always likes to say “bok, bok, bok” even imitating the wings with his arms. So I have decided to bring him to Tatay’s farm. I hardly go there because it’s a macho place, but since he’s abroad, I am mandated to visit monthly.

I never really cared about farming until I became a mom. I am mainly inspired by my son Joachim. I spent my childhood in Iloilo – the beach was just walking distance away from our house, my playground was our neighbors fish pond and rice field, and I trek a palm forest at the back of our house. When we transferred to Manila, I became an urbanite. But now, I want my son to experience the joy I felt when I was a kid.

To be inspired, I turned a 30 sq. m piece of land of my father’s poultry farm in Rizal, into an organic little garden-farm. As much as i want to bring in other animals in tatay’s farm: goat, pig, or just African love birds – I can’t! The farm has to be protected from diseases of other animals. So i have to stick with chickens and plants lang talaga. But it’s fun, either way. Now I can’t wait to visit it weekly.

Join our journey in taking care of an organic farm garden.

Welcome to “Wacky Eco-farm!”

My little monarch went crazy when he saw the chickens

Running after a rooster!

Planting Pansies and forget-me-nots in little pots first.

We’re adding color to the very macho farm.

Forget-me-nots are deadly to cats and dogs. When eaten, it can cause convulsions.

I love kangkong, but when we eat out, i would always wonder where they were harvested – sana hindi sa Pasig river. These are organic kangkong that covered the whole 20sqm. We use chicken poop as its fertilizer. Will clean half of this land to pave way for the “wacky eco-farm ” =)

Don’t you think it looks greener than the ones you see in the groceries?

They need warmth without the mother hen

Some of these hatch-lings will become “Schwarzeneggers” for my dad, while others will become “monks” or organic chickens.

A chick introduces himself to his youngmaster Wackee

Native chicken in iloilo are called “bisaya”

they will be fed with palay, and corn…