Farm Joy

When you send out your request to the universe, the results can be instantaneous and astounding.  Dizzy tizzy from spinning around trying to figure out what I want to do in the next phase of life, I contemplated getting a ride to anywhere provincial and I got a text confirmation that my friend, Joy was visiting their farm in Bulacan so I could go along with her.

Over ten years ago, I went to my Mom’s farm in Batangas regularly on weekends and loved the soothing sea.  It was my dream to develop it since it was an idle resource – empty fishponds and gorgeous nearly empty land sitting under sun and sky.  Excited at the prospects, I clipped articles on sustainable farming, researched organic methods, visited model farms, talked with agriculturists and showed experts the property to see what can be done.  Except for planting a variety of trees, nothing happened after that nebulous planning stage since I got a job after graduation, worked in one office after another, eventually ended up in China, got married, had kids and came full circle back to the Philippines.

My husband has been dreaming of farming as well.  His vision is to plant vegetables and raise animals to be served at our dining table which means good health for us all.  But it won’t just be a hobby farm since there’s good profit to be made as well.

Joy says her husband, Kerry dreamt of farming “dahil nagmi-mid-life siya.”  Perhaps a number of people feel this way after working themselves to the bone, as if farming isn’t a lot of hard work.  But farming is more than hard work.  It restores our connection to earth and in turn, ourselves.  For people who have visions of the ideal society, there is the paramount of dealing with issues of food security and sustainable practices.  Farming is technical, scientific and it’s also an art.  It’s an attractive enterprise that has its risks and rewards.

Joy is a public servant, architect, urban planner, LEED consultant, mother of three.  Superwoman for short.  (They also have four dogs.)  Kerry is into HR training, team building, outdoor and recreational technologies.  You want a zipline installed so you can sail above treetops, he’s the guy to call.  When Kerry broached the topic of buying a farm, Joy nodded in support so Kerry scoured Luzon for something they could afford and last year in July, chose and closed the deal on a four hectare lot in San Miguel, Bulacan that has since expanded to nine.

In November, they started planting preparations and since then have gone through three cycles growing tomatoes, ampalaya, corn, eggplant, melon, sili, upo and rice.  They’ve gotten their seeds from the East West company who provided technicians to help out.  They’ve sold their produce in the “bagsakan sa Balintawak.”   They’ve used crop rotation so that the soil regenerates itself and on a smaller, trial basis scale, they’ve made broccoli, cauliflower, French beans, cabbage and cherry tomatoes bloom.  Kerry is proud of the vermicompost tea brew that he put together whereby the brewing action multiplies the potency of the fertilizer.  Joy and Kerry plan to have a 100% organic farm someday, but for now, it’s a hybrid.

Mistakes have been made and lessons learned the expensive way.  The corn project taught them to be more discerning of who they bring into the team.  The next time they cultivate broccoli and cauliflower, they have to put a protective net over them. They learned how to time their crops or else they lose their investment if the market catches them at a low price.  But most of all, they learned not to give up despite the losses and trials.

They only started to build a bahay kubo for their family after a year of operations. 

Before that, they’ve bought a tractor, bedder, truck and other farm implements.  They’ve put tilapia fingerlings in the natural pond and free-range chicken will soon be clucking away in the landscape.

What I admire about Joy and Kerry is their sheer chutzpah at starting this enterprise.  They did their homework and research but there’s no analysis paralysis.  They went straight to implementation after every germ of idea released and it’s amazing what could be done within one year.

The farm of my dream is merely a drawing in my head, "nilangaw na sa tagal ng panahon."  The articles I’ve put in binders have yellowed with age while the land that has been in our family for at least three decades is still barren and unproductive.  Maybe there is complacency because the land will always be there.  There’s frustration over lost opportunities and fear of what the investment entails.  My husband has more courage in initiating efforts.  He’s purchased a tractor, brought seeds from China and had sacks filled with soil to make a dam to store the water.

And that’s the other major inspiring lesson I got from Joy and Kerry – it’s their united stance as a couple committed to this endeavour.  Joy is a totally supportive wife.  I, on the other hand, am not and was filled with hesitations, vexations, scepticisms and anxieties despite the fact that this too is my personal dream, not just my husband’s.  I said, “Bahala ka.  I’ll stay here in Manila to take care of the children.” 

I suppose I’m more fearful now because it was different as a single person toying with those farm fantasies.  Back then, there was no financial responsibility of raising two kids.  Through the years, the baggage from the family’s past has accumulated and there’s my stubborn, nagging preference for the sea – yet unavailable Batangas over available Bulacan.  There’s a deep background not worth getting into.  Suffice it to say that Joy and Kerry’s story made me examine my motives and trepidations.

If Joy and Kerry can do it, why can’t I drop all the damned pesky, bulky overweight luggage, support my husband 100% and create our dream farm together?  Drop to my knees and get dirty.

                            Ang bahay kubo ni Mang Kerry at Aling Joy: