The discussion on Bio-Intensive Gardening during one of the Family Development Sessions (FDS) has encouraged the 20 Pantawid Pamilya partner-beneficiaries to cultivate a communal garden.

“Nagsugod mi pagplano sa among communal garden tungod kay na-discuss man ang topic nga Bio-Intensive Gardening sa among Family Development Session (FDS)      (We started planning on how to come up a communal garden because the topic on Bio-Intensive Gardening was discussed during the Family Development Session (FDS),” said the group’s parent leader, Adriana Reyes.

According to Adriana, what she learned about BIG is that it is a technique that uses indigenous seeds and organic fertilizer to grow vegetables.

Situated in the mountain part of Barangay Balayong in Pamplona, Negros Oriental, the Gulayan sa Barangay in Sitio Baliwon, was established through the efforts of the Pantawid partner-beneficiaries headed by Adriana.

Out of the 20 active partner-beneficiaries, 18 are women while the remaining two are men.

A series of meetings and discussions happened, many concerns raised like the location of their communal garden, where to get the seedlings and how they will divide the tasks among themselves.

As their parent leader, Adriana voluntarily offered her family’s vacant lot near their residence to be used as their communal garden.

The lot is approximately 500 square meters and the soil is ideal for planting crops.

The rest of the members of Adriana’s group also shared their own seedlings which were taken from their own backyard garden. As agreed, all of them would have to work together once a week to cultivate their crops and vegetables.

“Nidesisyon kaming tanan nga magtapok usa ka beses matag semana aron pag-atiman sa among mga tanom ug ako isip nga duol raman ang among balay ang mubisbis sa mga tanom matag adlaw (We decided that we will gather once a week to tend our garden and because I live near our garden, I am the one who water the plants every day),” Adrian added.

The group planted 14 varieties of crops and vegetables like; kamote (sweet potato), gabi (taro root), alugbati (malabar spinach), sitaw (string beans), onion (sibuyas), eggplant (talong), bitter gourd (ampalaya), kamatis (tomato), okra (lady’s fingers), tanglad (lemon grass), siling pari (bell pepper), paminta (pepper), kalooy (holy basil) and mani (peanut).

Though the communal garden was relatively new and small, the partner-beneficiaries ensure that they adhere to organic farming.

In particular, they use simple ‘rapid composting’ technology in order for them to produce good quality fertilizers for their vegetables.

“Gisiguro namu nga ang among ma-ani unya kay presko ug way kemikal kay kini ipakaon namu sa among pamilya labi na sa among mga anak (We ensure that our harvests are fresh and chemical-free because we feed these vegetables to our family especially to our children),” Adriana underscored.

The group of Adriana was able to saved money because they won’t be taking much time in going to the market since they already have FAITH or ‘food always in the home’.

A ‘habal-habal’ drive would cost them Php 200.00 back and forth from the barangay proper to their home in Sitio Baliwon.

Aside from the group members who buy vegetables from their garden, their neighbors also patronize their freshly picked vegetables.

Initially, the communal garden is just for their own consumption but they are now planning to expand their garden and add more vegetables so that they can cater to more neighbors.

The success of their communal garden can be attributed to the ‘dagyaw’ or the community support work among the partner-beneficiaries.

“Malipay pud mi nga magkatapok kay samtang ga-atiman mi sa mga tanom, kini nakapalig-on sa among panaghilagaay ug adunay pagtambayayong sa tanan (We are happy that we can bond together as a group because while we tend to our crops, it also strengthens our friendship and camaraderie, which is instrumental in cultivating the sense of genuine partnership among us),” shared Adriana with all smiles on her face.

Adrian reveled that they are excited to join the ‘Project Arriba Gulayan Contest’ of the Local Government of Pamplona where they can showcase their organic crops and vegetables to the rest of the local communities of Pamplona. ###

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