Before I get to the important stuff implied in the title, I'd like to start with a few shots to wrap up 2017 on the Roots Farm.
The Last of the Rain
December is that tricky month, where the wind changes and the rain is supposed to stop. Sometimes it does, sometimes it decides to come back again. And sometimes those year end storms can get quite tricky. We got lucky here in Sibaltan. It got windy and stormy and wet. And our guests got stranded here for a few more days due to flight cancellations. Not that we minded though. What's a few more days in paradise, huh? It gave us time to take an adventurous off roading road trip that got involuntarily extended by 4 hours thanks to a river that didn't use to be that wide and deep (before the rainy season, mind you). And it gave us the opportunity to test out our living room's function as a storm shelter. They stayed dry.
Here we go...
And So It Begins...
You would think that after a year of project “island life”
and much progress in many aspects of said project, the title of this blog entry
is not quite fitting. And in some ways, it really isn’t. IT did begin over a
year ago and within that year there have been many different beginnings on
their own – the beginning of construction, the beginning of compost piles, the
beginning of seeds sprouting, plants growing, trees rooting. The beginning of
running water and solar power, of setting up house and home. Of a life with
pets and in natures elements. The beginning of every season we have experienced
in our first year here and the beginning of things settling down to a newfound
feeling of home.
It was an exciting, emotional, exhausting whirlwind of a year,
rich in rewards and newly gained skills and knowledge.
So what actually begins now? A new year on our calendar and with
it (coincidentally) a new chapter in our project “island life”. It is time to
find our way into the working task force.
The Plan
Plans are made to be changed. And so they have. Over and
over again. From beach to farm to beach and back to farm. From resort to farm
tourism to camp to let’s-just-wait-for-a-while. The waiting-a-while, the first
year of watching and observing was a good plan and has paid off. Because, in
all honesty, tourism did drop in Palawan and prices have gone up in the country
– considerations that have definitely influenced our plans. Also, with slightly
more open and less blue eyes, we have a slightly better idea of what we are
getting ourselves into. With a smidge more knowledge about the tourism industry
and market and some insight into logistics of living and possibly running a
business in the proverbial middle of nowhere, you could say we now feel more
confident in making a plan we dare realize.
Dive Sibaltan
And it already has begun! With a bang! Dive Sibaltan is the
first dive shop in this little town and it opened its doors on December 16
2017. With close family and friends, we celebrated, ate lechon and got excited
about all the great dive sites we would explore and share with our guests. Who
could have known that within only a month, we would already have a handful of
amazing sites, two new divers certified by us and many more happy customers
than we could have imagined in the beginning.
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| Beachfront office. |
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| Homey, isn't it? |
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| Ready! |
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| Set! |
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| GO! |
Starting from said beginning though… Jhong grew up here and
knows that the waters here in Sibaltan have much to offer. He proposed opening a
dive shop to my mom Noelle. And after almost 2 years, another partner joining
the group and a few weeks of building, Dive Sibaltan was born! I joined the team
as their first employee to help set up marketing and operations and ended up
managing the shop. And Mo, an innocent bystander at first, tripped over some
great diving, stumbled onto the fun of working in a dive shop and dove in head
first. And here we are, a month and a half later, joining the team and hopefully soon
able to call ourselves managing partners of a tourism venture that is stirring
up this sleepy little fisherman’s village. And it’s not even dive season yet…
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| Sibaltan Sunrise. |
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| Mo and mom exploring. Oh and that giant puffer and batfish are cute too. |
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| We found Nemo! |
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| Little blue fish. |
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| Corals corals corals. |
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| Pretty nudibranch. |
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| Inviting, isn't it? |
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| Come on, you know you want to dive here too! |
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| When safety stops become more than just safety stops. |
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| A full board with many highlights. |
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| After a busy day of diving. |
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| After a busy day of diving. |
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| From farm dog to beach dog. Mona the office mascot. |
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| Island hopping. |
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| Amihan winds. |
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| Come Explore With Us! |
In Roots Palawan Farming News…
And from the deep blue, we go to the green… Because the production of Roots Palawan Farm has begun as well.
Everyone needs a bit of spice and flavor in their life. And
after a year of shopping a cooking here, there are certain things I begin to
crave. And recent farming activities are geared towards satisfying them.
After receiving a lovely variety of basil seeds from Germany
(thanks, Moni!), I threw some in cups and crossed my fingers. The rapidity with
which they sprouted and grew was surprising and I hadn’t quite calculated just
how many plants I would actually need. So I ended up with an army of large and
medium leaf sweet basil, thai basil, red basil, bush basil, lemon basil and
cinnamon basil (my new favorite aroma). Watering hour filled our dining room
with such a lovely smell every evening.
Within a month and a half my babies were all grown up and I
was running out space. So, for the first time, I offered them up for grabs
online and ended up selling most plants within the day. Hooray!
The first batch of basil was dispatched last week and the next round is being sprouted as I write. Dill has been potted, citronella is next. Aloe vera maybe? I just might focus on useful and delicious plants for a while… And who knows what else might follow…
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| Cinnamon basil - happy in the greenouse. |
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| Thai. Red. Genovese. |
In my last entry, I wrote about processing our abundance of chilies into various forms of spicy goodness. This product development has expanded – Roots Palawan is now producing salts. This translates into me spending my evenings getting creative, grinding up a variety of ingredients and playing with aromas – all found and grown organically on our farm. It also means I have permanently chili-burned fingertips and a sore wrist. And will probably waste much time and paper on drawing my own labels till I have the time and find the creative support to come up with some branding and a logo. But I guess that’s what we call artisanal?
Two weeks ago marks the first time that this little
Roots Palawan went to market! Sunday morning we packed our beast to the brim
with basil, dill, citronella and passion fruit seedlings, some of our cashew
vinegar – both infused with chili and garlic and au natural with living scoby
culture and seven different kinds of homemade salts and unloaded them at Spin
hostel in El Nido town. Amongst good music and relaxed vibes, we spent the
afternoon mixing and mingling and actually selling some greenery.
Another craving that is well on its way to being satisfied
is zucchini! The six surviving seedlings have settled into home in the
greenhouse quite nicely and are already bearing tiny little zucchinis. It
worked! *me jumping up and down with a silly grin on my face* Needless to say,
the next round is sprouting already…
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| Two rows of beautiful zucchini plants. |
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| With actual zucchinis on them! |
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| Yesss! |
My next experiments include some imported tomato seeds –
heirloom, sweet cherry, black krim, san manzano… and peppers – shishito, ancho
grande, anaheim, poblano. The seedlings have already proven themselves a bit
more tricky and I have had a higher mortality rate, but the teenagers are
looking quite good right now.
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| Tomatoes. 50% I know which one is which. 50% will be a surprise. |
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| Peppers. |
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| Plantains. |
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| Turmeric. |
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| Lemongrass. |
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| Baby bananas. |
In the end, you know you’ve achieved something, when all
vegetables in your morning omelet are homegrown and freshly harvested. The
Roots Palawan breakfast includes tomatoes and three greens – kale, kalian
(chinese broccoli) and kulitis (local spinach) – served with a grilled cheese
pandesal (local bun). And the basil adding that fresh flavor to your pasta grew
next to the table you’re eating it at. The bursts of local color we add with
lemongrass, ginger, turmeric and chili have become part of the landscape… It is
definitely starting to feel like we have gotten somewhere.
One great development in the last month has been the support
from a new Roots Farm team member – Marisol. The daughter-in-law of our
caretaker, she has taken on the job of helping out on the farm and her quick
learning and dedication has played an essential role in rejuvenating the Roots
Farm greenery.
After such a long time of searching for helping hands,
anyone who is even remotely interested in farming and learning the organic way,
we have finally found someone who is equally excited about happy plants.
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| Farm Idyllic. |
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Marisol & mom collaboration on seedling production.
Also, we have no idea where to find the space for all these haha. |
The second round of rice has just been harvested and it’s
time for our rice paddies to take a break. The rains have stopped and without
additional irrigation, rice farming would not work.
Our little stream is drying up. It started getting slimmer
last week. Slowly at first, it still found its way along the deepest ridges and
then stopped flowing altogether. Now, what we used wade through or cross by
bridge is dry and you can almost watch the little pools in the ditches get
smaller by the hour. Only time will tell if our well will be able to handle
this coming summer of guests and farming.
When the rains stop, the work begins. The sun is out, the
wind is blowing - planting season is over. Mulch is needed to protect from
evaporation and harsh heat. Chili bushes and calamansi trees need pruning.
Mango and cashew trees need some love and support to maximize flowering and
fruiting. And the water must come from somewhere… watering cans, hoses, power
sprayers.
And it’s not even summer yet. Now it’s about winding down
the wet season and preparing for the hot dry months. During summer we will
protect what we have growing, trying our best to keep it happy and alive,
harvest fruit and cashew, compost as much as possible and make a proper plan
for the next season. Because, if it’s one thing we learned from this first year
of trying to be farmers – farming definitely needs a proper plan.
