Gardens Or Hobby Farming In Philippines

[Curley]

 

 

Thomas, JJ have ether of you guys actively growing anything?

In those pictures JJ, I can see the raised garden beds. Most of the low laying land I have seen has very little top soil unless near a river or delta. I guess in most cases a raised bed of top soil is necessary. My garden here in the cool NW requires a raised bed to warm the soil.

Mike, why would you use aqua-phonics in Philippines? I bet you could grow some huge tomatoes!

 

Aquaponics is a very efficient way of producing your own fish and fruit/veg. No need to worry about the quality of the soil, you don't use any, definitely a great project for the Phils. There are a few people doing it in the Phils already, I found some info on it once. Google

 

 

 

Curly.

Where we live in Bohol,there is often very little rain and the gardening thing can be a bit frustrating..The other problem here are a multitude of pests that wipe out most crops at will..

Anyway..Back to the lack of rain..

I decided about 4 months ago to build a 9,000 liter Koy pond.. The final Biological filter is up about 7 feet high and I have built 3 streams that lead back to the pond..

In the streams I place potted plants and vegetables like Jalapenos etc.. The main purpose of this was because the plants act as a natural filter and consume nitrates produces by the biological filter.

Of course,this is also a variant of aquaponics and guess what?

Everything is growing fantastically! 

Its the first time I've ever tried anything like this and Im really impressed with early results.. 

One area outside the pond,is a second pond about 12" deep.. I am planting Filipino Gabby leaves (In pots) and even rice. Again,everything near that pond grows like nothing else in the garden.

I will experiment growing stuff without soil to see for myself if the veg produced has any difference in flavour and I will post the results when they are in..

 

Here`s an early pic during construction of outside section. (A type of refugium)

 

Cheers,

 

Fred.

 

 

That's great news Fred, keep it up.

[piglett]

 

those sound really neat! 1 would make a fine guest house on my farm   i want to build something that will stand 100 years i'm thinking 3 to 1 mix concrete with lots of rebar the roof will be concrete too  & it will be a 1/2 circle (i bet the storms will find it hard to blow that off) the footings will sit on a foot of crushed stone in the event of an earth quake the whole house can move if it wishes   i'm only planning on building 1 so i might as well build er good & stout

 

Research studies show that what causes the most damage from hurricanes and typhoons is when the roof blows off. Sometimes the entire roof is lift by the wind. In the Philippines, those corrugated metal sheets act like giant razor blades. They can cut a person in half. The solution is to use hurricanes clips. It's a clamping system integrating the roof through the posts all the way to the ground. All new construction in Hawaii and Florida requires the mandatory use of these clips. 

 

The use of crushed rocks as a base and pouring a slab of concrete on top is similar to a famous design called a, "floating foundation." It was developed by Frank Lyold Wright for the Imperial Hotel in Japan. The Tokyo Earthquake of 1923 destroyed the city and the Imperial Hotel was one of the few structures left standing.

 

In the Philippines, bamboo is considered a poor man's construction material, which means the poor won't touch it. The poor prefer corrugated metal roofs. Without a drop ceiling, they are hotter than hell and noisy when it rains. The current rage in the United States and Europe is laminate flooring rather than carpeting. A top seller is laminate bamboo tiles.

 

i'll have to find someone who can tell me how thick the walls & roof need to be but the roof would be tied to the walls with internal rebar 10mm sould do the trick. i understand that concrete can get dam hot durring the heat of the day i'll look into adding foam to the mix as i am pouring. the foam will add somewhat of an R value but it's not as strong so the concrete will need to be thicker  

[Markham]

i understand that concrete can get dam hot durring the heat of the day i'll look into adding foam to the mix as i am pouring. the foam will add somewhat of an R value but it's not as strong so the concrete will need to be thicker

 

You could probably substitute rice hulls for foam. Rice Hulls, a by-product of the rice milling industry, has a very high R factor and is used as household insulation; it is also very cheap and plentiful.

[JJReyes]

i'll have to find someone who can tell me how thick the walls & roof need to be but the roof would be tied to the walls with internal rebar 10mm sould do the trick. i understand that concrete can get dam hot durring the heat of the day i'll look into adding foam to the mix as i am pouring. the foam will add somewhat of an R value but it's not as strong so the concrete will need to be thicker  

 

Porous concrete can be problematic. Formosan termites are able to bore tunnels through it to get to the wood sections of your home. Most of the heat is from the roofing. If you can afford it, use tiles. A friend who inherited a family home with corrugated metal sheet roofing had a simple, creative solution. He had something like a long water hose following the ridges of the corrugated roof, which he filled with cold water in the morning. By evening, he had enough hot water for a bath or shower. Solar energy. Helped keep the home cool.

[Thomas]

You could probably substitute rice hulls for foam. Rice Hulls, a by-product of the rice milling industry, has a very high R factor and is used as household insulation; it is also very cheap and plentiful.

No problem with insects following the Rice husks, eating it inside the walls?

Most of the heat is from the roofing. If you can afford it, use tiles. A friend who inherited a family home with corrugated metal sheet roofing had a simple, creative solution.

Yes, and put issolation in the roof,

 

A very clever solution, solving both heat and water.

[robert k]

Off topic, but it's been treding that way for awhile anyway :) . I have heard of some earth bag schools that have been built in the RP. Earth bag builders are probably rare as opposed to dirtbag builders many of us are far too familliar with :mocking: .

 

Back to garden or hobby farm, I'm thinking vermiculture and possibly some raised aquaculture tanks, to go with some laying hens and  goats. nothing too labor intensive beyond startup. As I think someone has already mentioned, some blackberries would be nice.

[JJReyes]

Off topic, but it's been treding that way for awhile anyway  . I have heard of some earth bag schools that have been built in the RP. Earth bag builders are probably rare as opposed to dirtbag builders many of us are far too familliar with  .   Back to garden or hobby farm, I'm thinking vermiculture and possibly some raised aquaculture tanks, to go with some laying hens and  goats. nothing too labor intensive beyond startup. As I think someone has already mentioned, some blackberries would be nice.

 

Someone posted photographs of constructions using earth bag. I am not sure if it involved the use of Alar from the Mount Pinatubo eruption, but the finished house looked really nice. 

 

Waste from poultry, goats and pigs are used in vermiculture. Another is rabbit droppings, which are nitrogen rich. I don't think blackberries would grow. A substitute is Bignay for pies and cakes. Be careful, the red color stains everything. I used Bignay berries for my wine making and moonshine "school project" until my mother caught me. She confiscated my still. Those coiled copper pipes were expensive. By school project, I mean friends would come for a taste of the brew. 
 

[JJReyes]

Here`s an early pic during construction of outside section. (A type of refugium)

 

Fred, may I ask what is the size of the property? Is your water source municipal or deep well? BTW, nice photograph and impressive looking pond.

[fred]

 

Here`s an early pic during construction of outside section. (A type of refugium)

 

Fred, may I ask what is the size of the property? Is your water source municipal or deep well? BTW, nice photograph and impressive looking pond.

 

 

 

Hi JJ..

Thanks..It was good fun to build believe it or not and not that expensive for a project that provides me,the family and visitors so much pleasure!.

Our water source at present is from the Barangay deep well.. The pressure is enough to fill my water tanks that are in the roof of our nipa house so no further expenses with pumps and pressure tanks.

We have two joining lots here in Panglao that total 12.000 sqr meters.. 

Land was pretty damned cheap here 8 years ago.. I couldn't afford it at todays prices.

Cheers,

Fred.

[Thomas]

Land was pretty damned cheap here 8 years ago.. I couldn't afford it at todays prices.

In Tagbilaran/Panglao?  Or in resident developed area?  Or why expensive??

 

I have seen many ads with CHEAP land at Bohol, some can of course have titling problems,

but e g in Ubay province the government have sold DEVELOPED farmland for 40p/m2 to Filipins, and some of them are selling for similar price. I don't remember what's the cheapest TITLED land I have seen at Bohol, but at Cebu island it's 70p/m2, and from some other in Visayas and north Mindanao some asked price for titled have been as low as 30-40p/m2. (But I haven't checked if the titling documents are real  :)

UNTITLED there are land for 8p/m2 at Bohol inland, and inland with sea view for 15p.