Being Resourceful with the Permaculture Grow Kit

I don't think we are going to become extinct. We're very clever and extremely resourceful - and we will find ways of preserving ourselves, of that I'm sure. But whether our lives will be as rich as they are now is another question. — David Attenborough

With the convenience of online shopping apps, it can be tempting to click the add-to-cart button especially with the discount and shipping vouchers.

Buying individual packs is economical, but personalized grow kits can be very interesting, ranging from honeybee flower grow-it-your-own kits aside from the more common salsa and salad grow kits. But I resisted, the bank is dry. Of course, I am inflation-proof by having a zero balance. In effect, any percentage has no effect on our empty bank account, LOL! HAHAHA!

Instead, I took a visit at the kitchen and the storage to create my own permaculture grow kit, as they say: grow what you eat and eat what you grow.

I don't really have an option now, so this is where creativity and resourcefulness will prove very useful.

The DIY grow kit is just a mix seeds and other planting materials from the fruits and vegetables we consume each day. Also, I kept some of the Kangkong stems to regrow back in the permaculture garden.

Recently, I harvested a Guyabano fruit near the border of the orchard. While it can be harvested ripe, it can also be ripened onced picked. The fruit was misshapen and had some discloration during the harvest, so it didn't surprise me that morr than half of it got rotten while the remaining parts where no longer edible. Still, I collected and washed the seeds before drying.

It is worth noting that Guyabano is prized for its said anti-cancer properties, but my intuition says that it is the stem and leaves that might have the highest concentration of the said properties instead of the fruit itself. I have seen Guyabano trees around our village during my childhood, but it isn't a popular fruit. Probably, it is the birds that disperse the seeds in random places where they fly and nest.

The next seed was from the Papaya that was harvested at the farm, my Mama grew it from seeds that was grown on the Mountain Orchard. She said it is a native variety, but I have no proof. The fruit is smaller than the hybrids we grew at the farm and is also less sweeter. Although, the native Papaya grows better with less attention and maintenance.

Papaya is important locally.

Before the arrival of new vegetables available in the market today, unripe papaya is a vital ingredient in meat soups. Adding it to soup imparts a subtly sweet and tropical flavor versus chayote and other similar ingredients.

Right now, papaya is also popular during special occasions, but most people buy the sweetened fruit cocktail which is around 80% papaya per can. Sweetened fruits is used in fruit and macaroni salads which are served as chilled desserts.

The third set of seeds is string beans. I have been growing string beans ever since I started the permaculture garden. The ones I have came from my granny's home garden. Unknown to many, string beans helped us survive this year, along with the other crops that my parents grew at the farm and their home gardens.

String beans is high in fiber and protein, but eating string beans three times a day can be difficult, so creativity is needed during rough times.

I also transplanted the Kangkong stems to grow more of it. Kangkong loves wet environments, so the rainy season is best when growing it on a garden setting. In other countries, it is considered invasive as it can grow and multiply fast in bodies of freshwater when recklessly disposed.

In the Philippines, it grows in the wild, but is not considered as invasive. Some wild varieties can be foraged near brooks and ponds, but are mostly used to feed the livestock.

I am also adding more ginger rhizomes, so it can start sprouting by January next year. Ginger is a low maintenance crop and can be sold in high returns. Before garlic, onion, and other spices became common, ginger and lemongrass was already used in local cuisines especially in soups and stews.

Aside from being an important spice, ginger plants can be used to lessen erosion while also helping to aerate the soil. Along with lemongrass and the turmeric, I'm using ginger plants as barriers along the routes where the undercurrent of the annual flood proved to have severe damage.

As the ginger plants grow, hilling with more soil is ideal, but it can grow with minimal assistance.

Lastly, I also dispered some grape seeds from the storebought grapes my granny gave us. Grapes has been a staple in our home gardens as my father started growing a little vineyard in our yard. Whenever it starts fruiting, many people would be left glancing on its ripe bunches dangling the overhead trellises.

This time of the year, I really don't have any option on what to grow, but whatever is available, I will plant it. And every visit to the orchard, I must plant something, so that I can grow the food forest faster.

In times of crisis, it is good to sow seeds of creativity and resourcefulness to reap its fruits when everything is scarce.

Weather Forecast

^{NOAA: HIMAWARI-8 West Pacific Weather Satellite SOURCE}

2022-12-22 3PM
Thunderstorms
26°C / 96% H
W 3 km/h NNW
P 72% 1mm
UVi 2

Weather Forecast provided by Weather Atlas.

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About Me

@oniemaniego is a software developer, but outside work, he experiments in the kitchen, writes poetry and fiction, paints his heart out, or toils under the hot sun.

	Onie Maniego / Loy Bukid was born in rural Leyte. He often visits his family orchards during the summers and weekends, which greatly influenced his works.

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