Quick Decomposition Season

Rainy season has me happy as the seeds I've been tossing in the hole are growing. It's time to collect topsoil again and transplant various things.

But wait! It's also time to create a raised bed! I made a decision not to spend any money on it. But see, that's easy.



These are the beginnings of a raised bed outside my bedroom window. Now is the only easy time to drive sticks into the otherwise tough soil. So I made a border of stakes and then took long branches and wove them through. This is a good and cheap way to create a small "wall". Alternate the weaving to create tension for sturdiness.

Gino and April helped me put the initial layer of ipil-ipil leaves. These decomposed pretty fast and were soon like brown ash! Next came the leaves from Alabang, and kitchen compost. Of course, the chickens were all over it like the chickens that they are. I'm going to combine topsoil with the fiber inputs, and soon plant some vegetables.

The whole question of national food security has me thinking a lot about local food security. Sure, we've got wildish vegetables growing around (as you see below new crop of uray cousin, spineless kulitis). But perhaps some more deliberately cultivated ones can supplement the household.



I've transplanted a lot of duhat seedlings (lining the wall of the plot, in the first picture), as well as mahogany. I shall collect more from around the garden and surrounding areas. Maximum tree planting is about to ensue, whether I own the lot or not. We need more trees!