Day Spent With Betty At Silang. We enjoyed the day with an organic lunch of tender roast chicken, mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes and garden picked asparagus. The rain fell gently as we went around taking photos looking for flowers in bloom at that time.
Betty donning a hat before going outside. It's nice to have company during this interim period right before the rains come in torrents. Betty helped me with a new camera, and took some photos of my herbs and flowers.
I used to spend the rainy season enjoying the view of the silent, green rolling hills around my farm in Silang, Cavite. Yesterday, I heard the angry noise of bulldozers levelling the grounds at the Moldex subdivision beyong the hills at the back of my farm. A few years back, the only sounds I heard where the chirping of crickets announcing the rain. The urban sprawl has reached my backyard area. Only a thin strip of pine trees keep me from the eyes of the new home dwellers who I am sure will be peeking out at my farm from beyond the hill.
This photo below is Betty standing beside the shed infront of my pine tree grove.
There are guyabano fruit, langka almost ready for the table.
My mongo beans, okra and growing in Patch #1, ready for one final harvest before the monsoon season establishes a constant drone of cascading water that often lasts for hours.
I am attempting to stretch the summer season by planting several rows of sweet corn, to take advantage of the first few weeks of gentle rain before the torrents come.
Patience makes a gardener strong, but I am ridiculously excited to have a harvest of organically grown corn in about 54 days. They’re green and standing up strong, but I’m anticipating robust growth will set in a few weeks time.
I cut my hand on the chicken wire placed on the gate of my herb garden enclosure. This has been effective in allowing my herbs to grow to full size like the dill, laurel leaf bush, Thai basil, vanilla orchid vines.
My grape vines made it through the heat of summer, and I am hoping they will grow luscious and green with all the rain coming in a few weeks.
The mint needs to be replanted. However the dill was lush, and doing very well, its leaves are the brightest of greens and taste wonderful.
Betty gifted me with a natural sweetener substitute called "Stevia Herb" from South America. She was surprised to see the herb sprout almost microscopically tiny flowers.
Growing a flock of broilers in these last few weeks of summer brings me into the 2nd week with my new chicks. Today, I saw the pullets growing well, their downy, lemon colors are changing as white feathers beginning to grow out.
I did try to grow cucumbers as well this year but was total failure anyway, since more and more seeds being sold locally are "terminators." I have to order my organic seeds from USA. Even the local markets are selling produce from GMO seeds.
My tomato plants were wilting on the vine due to the intense heat this summer. I tried to use soaker hoses but that didn’t work out, when roots drinking up cool water, evaporating quickly in the intense tropical heat.
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Betty spent the day with me going over plants that I suggested she put in her house. The rain fell and we were only able to take some photographs for this journal.
