Do you know that vegetable farming can earn you more per square meter than sugarcane farming? At least that’s true in the case of Fresh Start Organics Farm in Silay City. What started as just a demo farm to showcase their organic fertilizer product is now a showcase of sustainable farming and one that is very productive also.
While the rest of the country was glued on their television for the Pacquiao-Marquez fight last November 13, the bloggers who attended the Philippine Blog Awards Visayas were toured at Fresh Start Organics Farm in Silay City.
We were met by the owner Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy, Jr. and he first introduced us to his army of workers, the African Night Crawlers. Their name sound ominous but these earthworms are the best friend of an organic farmer. They eat decomposing organic matter and convert them to vermicompost which were proven to be more superior to conventionally processed compost.
These worms have a voracious appetite. A gram of worm will also eat an equivalent amount of waste. They also mate incessantly and can exchange their sex in order to maintain balance. If there are more females, then some females would turn to males and vice versa. Just keep them happy by feeding them and they will do the rest.
Chin-Chin is your modern day farmer who approached farming in a scientific way. He feeds the worms in a mix of 25% nitrogen from plant source (green) and 75% carbon from animal manure and dry plant source (brown). They have developed their own blend of vermicompost and bokashi compost which they sell at P300 per 50-Kg bag.
I’m very interested in Fresh Start Organics farm because their methods are sustainable and simple enough that you can also implement it in your small urban garden in Bacolod. For pest control, they implement crop rotation and companion planting. Sunflowers are planted to attract pollinators while lemongrass is planted to repel insects.
As proof of the healthy soil and effective pest management, rows of different kinds of lettuce grow very healthy and ready for harvest. The bloggers had an opportunity to harvest some of the lettuces which are then washed under running water, drained and packed in zip locks. The lettuces just need to be washed to remove dirt and can already be eaten since they are free from chemicals and pesticides.
The herbs are so lush and healthy I envy them. I can’t seem to grow my rosemary at home very well and the staff gave me some tips how. There were also tarragon, basil, coriander, stevia, and other herbs. There were some bloggers who ate stevia for the first time and were surprised how sweet it is.
Some bloggers also milled around the vegetarian pig which is munching on madre de agua. This plant is a good source of protein and is used to feed livestock and even chickens. Everything in the farm are being utilized, nothing is wasted. Produce which are not sold are either processed or fed to the pigs. Those who can’t be fed to the pigs are fed to the worms.
I already knew that Chin-chin will be treating the group for an organic lunch at the Balay Negrense including a lechon of one of the grass-fed pigs from his farm. This I kept to myself as a special surprise to the bloggers especially those who were really delighted with the idea of a vegetarian pig.
There was a cool breeze blowing as we took refuge from the heat of the sun at the rest house in the middle of the farm. This is life for me since I dreamed of having a farm like this too. If I’m free to do what I want, I would rather spend my days travelling, blogging, and gardening.