No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. — Buddha
TL;DR
Scroll further down for farm updates, for some insightful reads, continue reading below here.
Economic Downturn
With the economy going down, the media now pans their lenses to the looming recession. More economists predict the inflation to continue until the end of 2022 and the 2023 recession.
While no president wants to take the blame, we all know what factors continue to trigger this economic collapse—such as the inhumane pandemic policies, war sanctions, and others.
With this "unplanned" global events, we need someone to predict the future, even China urges its people to stockup , without any context, before the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine was formally announced in the media.
Domino Effect
On the second half of 2022, more and more people are feeling the effect of inflation.
When the lockdowns started, a lot of businesses were closed and eventually went bankrupt because of the dislocated operations and the broken supply chain. With the re-opening of public spaces, the the downsizing oper oprations is unable to keep up with the increasing demand for commodities.
What made it harder were war sanctions and greed over world power, dislocating the supply chain and pushing prices in chaotic directions.
Simply, if there is a low supply of farm inputs, then its prices go up. Farmers decide whether to stop operations lowring the output supply or risk it with higher operating costs. Low supply and higher operating costs means higher prices, again.
For example, if producing corn or soybean becomes more expensive, then feedstuff also becomes expensive, making cattle, pork, and poultry products also expensive.
Options, More Options
Economists, do not recommend jumping or switching jobs right now. If you have a job, just stay put, but also be wary of company bankruptcy. Lay offs are only a bad if the company goes bankrupt.
Opt for less meats and cheaper and more plant-based proteins, be it beans or beans(?)—just be creative on crafting your meals.
Lastly, start a garden. Remember, gardening has high initial costs! Start small, don't dream of a large homestead.
Build a small home garden, but if finances are still in a good condition invest in a sustainable farm wisely. Pland and spend wisely, you might just end up spending more instead of saving up on monthly expenses.
Right now, the let the government or your company do its thing. They can't directly help you at your home, so might as well help your own self.
Farm Updates
This year, I planned to initially plant 100 trees wherever possible until the year ends—but that doesn't end there, of course.
Last June, I was able to transplant 25 different fruit trees in the orchard. Then as of July, I added 24 more Apple Guava 'Guapple' seedlings.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. — Chinese Proverb
It may seem that I am late with the recession already one foot in, it is never late to plant a tree for the future's benefit.
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Although I have native (but not endemic) seedlings, some are hybrids possibly coming from other countries, so it may not be doing well in local conditions. An example is this one guava seedling (and one grapevine) being attacked by bugs causig a leaf-art pattern.
An option is to manually squash them or to spray Marigold infusion to deter pests while the seedling still need support.
It will still need two or more years before the new fruit trees will start bearing fruits. Whatever the state of the economy at that time, surely there's always a benefit of having building abundance before, during, or after a crisis.
Since the orchard is prone to overgrowth of weeds, I needed to place bamboo sticks as guide whenever there is a need for manual weeding around the seedlings.
The other method to lessen the waist-high weed growth is to plant shrubs, bananas, Marigolds, and Cosmos to add more shade on vacant areas of the orchard.
On pathways, I already added groundcover such as Pinto peanuts, so it can lessen grass growth and add more nutrients back to the soil.
Today, my two grandma visited the orchard while I was busy tending my garden. Since it is still the start of the gardening season, I was only able to offer some purple sweet potato tops, which is great for salads or for fish soups.
Before we left, I harvested some turmeric and it will be dried for future use. On random spots at the Garden, there are volunteer turmerics that continued to grow for almost a decade already.
It either from moving the soil (with bits of rhizome.) or through kitchen scraps, or maybe both.
Turmeric is rare on our pantry, since we only use the powder form when making curries. What we have tried is using turmeric tea for cough, and sometimes on balms and ointments. Occasionally, I add its extracts to a diluted vinegar solution on a wet hair/scalp.
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Better Farm Access
Now that the much-anticipated farm-to-market road has come into partial reality (probably after a lot of demands), the farmers, instead of parking at the orchard, they can now go further, nearer to their rice fields. The long-term plan will be connecting the road to the foothills, so that the Abaca and Coconut farmers can easily transport their produce.
More roads were built in less than 10 years in our village and what I have observed is that there are more businesses popping and more people exercising. There are even non-local bikers passing through the internal roads and out to the highway.
If the farm-to-market road will be completed, I might just bike the distance to the next orchard and to the farm in 30 mins, but for now, I'll pass ;D
PINNED POST
 | Clearing the Damage After the Storm Instead of falling into anxiety, it took time to make use of what the storm had given. |
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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 is often visits his family orchards during the summers and weekends, which greatly influenced his works. |
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