GREEN Craftivist

Surfing is the only interesting thing about Siargao, or so I thought. With my one-and-a-half-year-old Viennese grandson in tow, we flew to Butuan City to visit some amazing tourist spots in Surigao del Sur. From Butuan, we took a ferry to Siargao Island and then a short van ride to Siargao Island Villas, our home for four fun-filled days.  COASTAL GARDENING Located along the main road but a bit farther away from the vibrant shopping area, the Siargao Island Villas is a sanctuary of beautifully landscaped, colorful tropical plants that thrive healthily even with sea water just a few feet away.   The gardener informed me that rain showers come at least once a week and the sandy soil is not mixed with any other soil nor fed with fertilizers. I had some doubts, but this brought back memories of my childhood years in Lubang Island where my mother grew beautiful, healthy plants in her garden despite scanty water supply, sandy soil and the salty ai...

Hallo! Wie Geht es Ihnen? It’s been a while since I posted my last blog, and I thought that my first placenta tree planting experience will be an interesting and unique topic to write about. Before anything else, please join me in raising a toast for being a proud grandmother to a beautiful and healthy baby boy - our first grandchild - who was born in late summer this year.   In keeping with family tradition, I flew to Austria - the land of Edelweiss - to assist my daughter with childcare and house concerns until she has fully recovered from childbirth. Thus, the brief hiatus from my monthly blogs. What is a Placenta? Based on medical references, the placenta is a pancake-shaped organ that develops inside the uterus during pregnancy. It is made up of blood vessels and provides a developing baby with nutrients, water, oxygen, antibodies against diseases along with a waste removal system. It attaches to the uterine wall and connects to the baby via the umbilical cord. The pla...

Raindrops are falling on your roof. Do you collect and save rainwater for the sunny days?  In the days when water was drawn from rivers, wells, and manually-operated pumps, the rainy season was a much awaited time of the year for farmers, gardeners and households.  The installation of running water systems in both urban and rural areas have somehow minimized this excited anticipation. For farmers and gardeners however, collecting rain water in drums, buckets and through modern rain harvesting methods is an essential part of planting activity.  BENEFITS OF RAINWATER TO PLANTS 1. Rainwater is a source of nitrogen. There are three primary minerals needed by plants to grow - Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium or NPK.  If you have noted number codes written on fertilizer bottles such as 10-10-10 or 20-20-10, they represent the value of these minerals that they contain. For example, 10-10-10 means 10 Nitrogen, 10 Phosphorous and 10 Potassium. Nitro...

Are you one of those who turned to gardening during the lockdown or quarantine days of the Covid19 pandemic?  Many discovered gardening as a therapy to ease the pain from the loss of loved ones if not the loss of employment or the lack of income opportunities. Some took to it as a way of release from anxiety over uncertainties on what the future holds with the more dangerous variants of Covid-19 virus causing breakthrough infection.   Others found joy in realizing that they have a  green thumb or can grow a tree in addition to succulents. If you are one of them, you are what we call in the Philippines gardening community as Plantita y   Plantito who experienced not only the healthful and emotional benefits of planting and caring for plants but also the pleasurable bonding time that gardening gave to the whole family during the era we describe as  plantdemic. Is gardening all pleasure with no pain? Anyone who got hooked on gardening during this period can sa...