In the second part of Organic Agriculture Tour we will first visit the Gift of Life Garden of Mr. Felix Tan. Mr. Felix Tan is one of the many students of the Mr. Pat Acosta of the Master’s Garden.
His garden was born out of the need to protect his land. There were numerous times when groups professional squatters were trying to take build houses on his land and potentially take over it. He hired a security to guard the land and eventually just decided to convert it to an organic garden.
Just like his teach Mr Felix Tan also has a wide variety of salad vegetables; lettuce, tomatoes, cabbages and others. What makes his garden different is that his garden also has a huge number of medicinal plants.
One of his prized herb is the Wheat Grass. Wheat Grass is a very popular herb for people that are into cleansing and detoxification. Most of his clients are patients looking for an alternative way of treating their diseases.
Just like any organic farm, Garden of Life also uses compost to feed the soil and aside from compost he also cultivates worms as an addition. I was able to taste some of his herbs just by picking it leaf and chewing it, no need to wash them.
The next farm we will be visiting will be a few hundred feet higher than where we were – Sagada. A coffee farm that started in the backyard is now his main source of income. Aside from his backyard, he also has a larger coffee farm that he manages.
Coffee Arabica is one of the most popular coffee because of its rich taste and aroma. In his backyard there are a lot of trees bearing his prized coffee which takes almost a year before it can be harvested. Since the beans do not mature at the same time, he never runs out of coffee beans to pick and harvest. The cofee bean is then roasted then and brought to the minicipal hall where they have grinders available for everyone to use. That’s how supportive their government is.
Since he has a very rich soil, he has a lot of other fruit bearing trees in his backyard. He has passion fruit, local pear, Japanese tomatoes and others.
After the tour I realized that Agriculture is made easier, healthier and more profitable when done the natural way, going organic. It will only be difficult during the initial months because of the adjustments made, but as soon as you get the hang of it, even you will be able to develop your own techniques. Organic Agriculture is the way to go.
