Vegetable Seed Give Away... Harder Than I Thought.

[Bruce]

A few months ago the charity was given a nice seed donation for the poor on Samar by the people at

magnoliasong@comcast.net and www.5276magnoliaplace.webstore.com who sell seeds via the internet and are based in Hillsdale, Pa

 

Corn, beans, peas, wheat and squash and different varieties of them too as well as other seeds. I, in my usual running around started to ask for the farmers who wanted a donation of seeds. I was suprised at their honesty in taking only what they could use instead of grabbing all they could. Also there were some issues about certain farmers not owning the land so they were reluctant to take seeds to plant on someone elses land. They did take some seeds for the areas around their houses though.

 

This makes more work for me but it also makes sure that the right farmers get the seeds and those seeds will be used. These are not genetically modified so they will not grow a 2nd generation. These seeds are calld heirloom instead because you can get future generations from them.

 

I went around looking for farmers and found most of the men off.... farming! So I arrainged a time for me to return to meet them and explain what I had available and things progressed from there.  

 

One small group is a cluster of 5 housed on the hillside and the one beggar woman with the baby who has a double cleft lip lives there. Her husband who I had not met before is a farmer so she told him to wait for me the next morning before he climed the hills to get to the 'farm'.

 

While the Philippines does have a lot of 'real farms' on flat land, out where I am is mostly hilly and the 'farm' may actually be a hillside! So you have to pic and choose what will grow on a hillside and how much space you need. The target group for the seeds are the actual dirt poor farmers and not the plantation / big farm owners. They can afford to buy their own seeds.

 

Below are some pics of a hillside farm and the 1 group of people are the wives and children of the farmers with the 1 husband there. I returned the next day to drop off the seeds they said they wanted and in that pic, I am holing the business card of the Magnolia Place people to show it is a current picture. The baby is holding one of the packs of seeds for this group.

    

[earthdome]

Last month I went with my girlfriend to visit the family home of one of her friends in the rural area 40km or so north of San Fernando, La Union. There were maize (corn) fields which had recently been harvested but on some of the stalks one ear of corn had been left. My assumption was that these were being allowed to dry out to be used as seed corn (heirloom seeds) for planting next year.

 

This area also grows alot of tobacco.

 

We also went for a hike up into the steep hills for over an hour to pick some ripe papayas. These hills had papaya trees everywhere. A few mango trees and even some banana trees. Got a good workout on that hike and ended up with my shirt completely soaked in sweat.

 

We also participated (I just watched) in fishing the local river. I called it rock fishing and it took me a while to figure out what they were doing.

 

They went to the river with a net and put it in the water. The net had about a one meter diameter hole in the middle with floats. Then they started picking up big rocks out of the river and throwing them away from the center. It took me a while and a few questions to figure out what they were doing.

 

The day before they went out and piled up rocks under the water in a few places then embedded some vegetation. This creates a little habitat for small fish, shrimp and crabs. They pull out the vegetation then put the net over and towards the edges weigh down the net with rocks. When they

start pulling out the rocks all the small water creatures scoot over to the side into the net.

 

They did this 3 times and had maybe 3-4 inches of small fish, shrimp and crabs in a 5 gallon bucket. These were all cleaned and used for the evening meal.

 

 

 

[Americano]

Bruce,

 

I'm sure someday you will be rewarded for the good work you are doing for poor people.  If everyone was like you the world would be a better place to live.  Thank you for helping so many.

 

Phillip

[i am bob]

Are there any restrictions on bringing vegetable seeds into the Philippines?

 

This Inquiring mind and container gardener would love to know!

 

:dance:

[JJReyes]

Are there any restrictions on bringing vegetable seeds into the Philippines?

 

You can bring a small quantity of commercial seeds for a home garden. Those are seeds in small packages from nurseries and home & garden suppliers. What would constitute commercial quantity is not clearly defined. My father use to purchase corn seed in a one gallon sealed container. When asked by Customs, he would say, "Large family. I have eight children plus their spouses and the grandchildren."

Edited March 22, 2013 by JJReyes

[Bruce]

Are there any restrictions on bringing vegetable seeds into the Philippines?

 

This Inquiring mind and container gardener would love to know!

 

:dance:

 

I think that seeds are often over looked as a gift. They are cheap, weigh next to nothing, take no real room in a balikbayan box or suitcase.  

 

While there are many who are not farmers per se, they may want to grow a few things at their house. Cheap and easy and something for the kids to do.  

[i am bob]

Just gotta have my fresh tomatoes and peppers and lettuce and greens and carrots and radishes and basil and oregano and parsley and garlic and...

 

:dance:  :thumbsup:

[earthdome]

When I visited the Orchidarium in Baguio it was all gardeners selling flowers and plants. I saw many vendors selling starters for all kinds of different herbs. I even saw cilantro which comes in handy for mexican cooking. Once I am in Baguio full time I want to setup a small herb garden even if it is only in planters.

[Mike S]

Another neat way is to use old tires ... you know the Filipino way .... when it comes time for me to get new shoes for the car that's what I'm gonna do .... help the environment and grow plants at the same time ..... :mocking:  ... course where we live in Bacolod they have these clay pot vendors along side the road where you can buy a 12in tall clay pot for p20 and they have huge ones for more .... we stopped and bought 3 the other day ....  :dance:  :cheersty: 

[Bruce]

Just gotta have my fresh tomatoes and peppers and lettuce and greens and carrots and radishes and basil and oregano and parsley and garlic and...

 

:dance:  :thumbsup:

 

Bob.... Several trips ago I tried to make spaghetti sauce here. I had a hell of a time on Samar finding the spices. No ground beef either  :th_unfair: and I had to physically restrain one daughter in law from dumping a cup of sugar into it..... They do sell large foil packs of sauce here and one is labeled 'Italian Style'..... LIES all LIES!  

 

Since then I bought large containers of the spices and included them in a balikbayan box.