SIMPLY BUSINESS

HOME GARDENS IN DINGLE

by LARRY LOCARA

“The incidence of malnutrition in Dingle is low and this had been the reason why we had not been included in President P-Noy's 4Ps or Pantawid sa Pamilyang Pilipino Program”, thus said Mayor Rufino P. Palabrica III. He attributes this to the widespread practice of Dingle residents to make home gardens. Before entering politics, Mayor Palabrica had a lucrative medical practice in the community. His rallying platform as a leader was to improve the health conditions of the people of his town.

For several decades now, Dingle farmers and residents have adopted the habit of growing vegetables in vacant spaces near their homes. “Traditionally the people of Dingle are fond of growing vegetables for home consumption. They have inherited this trait from their forebears. Our people had been traditionally isolated due to the bad roads and the decision of the national government to build a bypass road from Pototan to Duenas even added to this isolation and our people have developed the attitude to plant indigenous vegetables in wherever they can”, Mayor Palabrica added.

Home gardens come in a variety of shapes types and degrees of productivity. For those who have very little knowledge of farming, the home gardens can be as simple as just planting the cuttings of local vegetables like alugbati (Basella rubra) and camote (ipomea batatas) and kangkong (Ipomea aquatica) and allowing them to grow which way they want, either as creepers or as climbers often using whatever posts, trees or bushes available to creep on. The normal sight in Dingle and elsewhere is for alugbati to grow on fences and harvested for its tender shoots. Bushy vegetables like okra and eggplants may also be grown this way, with no order or arrangement because the only intent is for the plant to grow and bear fruits for the table.

However, various types of home gardens are taking shape in the municipality. Many yards, both front and back are still planted any which way but many farmers and gardeners have started to plan their gardens now. In our official travels to the municipality, we have noticed many of these as highly productive, diverse and can provide their owners with almost complete nutrition for the family.

Mixed Gardens:

Almost all home gardens in Dingle are mixed species, that is, all kinds of both local and exotic vegetables are planted. In many gardens, we would find what many call the pinakbet array of veggies. This means that even a 20 square meters garden would grow okra, squash, eggplants, amargoso (bitter gourd), some tomato plants and shallots or leek. Sometimes one would also find native chives which is as pungent as the imported garlic. The fence line would also be planted with alugbati and leaf-type camote which serve to hide the occupants when the foliage had become dense. In many instances, one would also find rare types of climbing beans like patani (lima), giant patani (misnomer) which is actually a climbing type of navy beans, pole sitao. Where there is space and plenty of sunlight, many also plant borders of cadios or pigeon pea, a favorite of Ilonggos, often cooked as a dish called KBL: kadios, baboy and langka.

Legumes should be a vital part of the home garden, said Mayor Rufino Palabrica III. Maybe the reason why there had been no incidence of severe protein malnutrition in our community is that our farmers see to it that they would plant several kinds of beans and also mungo during the dry season. These beans are rich in protein which is vital for the growth of people and animals, especially chickens and other poultry. It is usual for Dingleanon families to keep several kinds of poultry and even small ruminants and pigs both as “piggy” banks and to save on fiesta and celebration expenses. “Chickens are the fastest way to take in high protein food that is why, every rural family should raise them along with tending their gardens”, added Palabrica.

There are many benefits from a home garden. According to the ILEA magazine, a source book for practitioners of Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA), a mixed garden offers more than just the harvest (income and food) that one gets from them. The mix of crops especially those which are both nitrogen feeding and nitrogen producing (legumes) provides sustainability and stability to the garden and the immediate ecosystem. There are also plants which are not only spices and condiments but also provide both repellant and pesticidal actions against pests. Aromatic plants like lemon grass (tanglad) and chili peppers repel and even kill insects. Those planting tobacco in Dingle, especially in the barangays of Matangharon and Guinalinan Nuevo observe that there is very incidence of pest infestation in their home gardens. Tobacco had been used as insecticide long before the discovery of potent chemical poisons. Families who grow a mix crop of plants usually need very little external inputs like fertilizers and pesticides because there is the tendency of the different plants to depend on each other.

In many parts of the world, especially in Africa and Slouth America, mixed gardens had been in existence for as long as humanity. In these areas, the same plot of land, usually a few hundred to a few thousand square meters had been planted for generations because the mixed species have a symbiotic or helping relationships. In many instances, vegetables planted to provide the much needed protein like beans have leaves rich in amino acids which when decomposed become nitrates which provide the nitrogen for growth and development of the other plants in the system.

Productivity of Home Gardens:

Home gardens are highly productive especially when one plants mixed species that complement each others' growth and needs. Until now our mixed garden have plants like live ipil-ipil being grown for firewood but at the same time used by the lima and navy beans as climbers. When the vines die off, we also trim the side branches and use the leaves to feed to the goats and tilapia. Our okra plants are planted in the same plot as the camote which we grow for its leaves. As we harvest the okra fruits, we also harvest the young leaves of the camote.

Our malunggay trees are also used as fence lines and climbers The extra leaves of malunggay that we cannot consume either dried and used as supplements or fed directly to goats and chickens. Thus they are converted to other forms of food. Malunggay are also protein rich and contain high levels of other nutrients needed by people and livestock.

There are certain varieties of camote grown for both leaves and roots. The purple varieties are better than pale or yellow ones because of the high levels of anti-oxidants they contain. Even though creeping, we also plant other vegetables in the same plot as the camote. We just make sure we sustain the fertility so that both the camote and the other vegetables are highly productive.

In many low lying areas of Dingle where rice is the main crop, even the canals and dikes are turned into vegetable gardens. Along the Brgy. Sinibaan road, one can see long rows of dikes fully productive with all types of vegetables. Even the canals are planted to gabi for their roots, runners and leaves. A popular variety called the “abalong” grow profusely and are arvested for their young shoots which are often used to improve the taste and flavor of fish cooked as “pinaksiw” and also cooked with coconut milk.

Livestock and Poultry Mix:

Livestock and poultry are a natural addition to any family endeavor in Dingle. There is a helping relationship between gardening and raising these animals and fowls. The excess and waste from the vegetables are fed to the chickens, pigs and goats while the animals' dung are decomposed and used as organic fertilizers for the vegetables.

We have estimated that if chickens were raised to complement the home garden as a source of food for the family, one can sustain 5 to 10 heads of chickens on a 100 square meters garden with very limited needs to buy chicken feeds regularly. The manure or dung generated from the chickens would be enough to sustain the fertilizer requirements of the garden.

Need to Convert to Organic Gardening:

With the growing awareness for healthier food, home gardeners should immediately shift to organic farming where there is total independence from chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Government agencies are also strongly advocating this shift because the external inputs have become expensive and that there is a total shift in the food demand worldwide. Organically grown vegetables have become more expensive than chemically grown versions. Farmers who have already converted are earning well and much better than their still chemical farming-oriented counterparts.

“We feel that we have to be aggressive in promoting more families to make their own home gardens and as a medical doctor, I strongly advocate good food as a means to boost the health and well-being of our constituents. Again, the saying that an 'ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure' is highly relevant to our town. We not only promote healthful living and eating, we also promote healthful way of raising our food”.