A glimpse of our life in the province. We don’t have much but we have land. This is how we survive. Like they say, If you plant you will harvest.

It makes me glad to share with you the little blessings we enjoy here on the farm. Life here is not easy but it’s peaceful and fulfilling. We grew up in the province and farming has always been part of our daily life. Sometimes we feel tired but we keep going. It feels good to watch the plants grow, knowing how much effort we gave from start to harvest.

Pumpkin from our farm.

This may look simple, but behind it is months of care and effort. My brother planted squash on half a hectare and now it’s time to harvest. Some are already loaded in the truck ready to sell. And it’s not the last harvest, there’s more coming soon. That’s why all the hard work is worth it. The money we get from selling will be used again to buy seeds and fertilizer for the next planting. It’s rainy season now, so we need to plant while the soil is still good. When summer comes, we stop because the land gets too dry.

Do you like spicy flavor?

People say that food is not complete without chili. Even just one piece can make the food taste hot. For me, I don’t really like spicy flavor. I’m not used to it and when it’s too hot, my stomach hurts. But for others they want chili in every meal, they say it’s a must.

Banana is one fruit that is always on our table.

It’s easy to eat and good for snacks anytime. Some people say, It’s okay even if it’s just banana, as long as there’s love.

We planted more and the production is always good when the trees are healthy and well cared for. And we have different types of banana trees like lakatan, latundan and more. The saba banana is very useful, we can boil it fry it with brown sugar to make banana cue, or use a wrapper to make turon.

From stalks to kernels, nothing goes to waste.

The corn stalk can also be crushed or ground, we use it as food for cows. But we like it more when the corn is mature and ready to eat. That’s our favorite time to harvest. Aside from that, we also use the dry corn to make corn rice and we cook it just like regular rice.

That’s why corn is very useful and important for us, it gives food for both people and animals.

Peanuts are almost ready.

Who here loves boiled peanuts? They might seem small but there's a lot happening under the soil. The ground where we planted them is soft so it’s easy to pull them out. My nephew always checks if they’re ready to eat, he gets so excited.

One sign that peanuts are ready for harvest is when the leaves turn brown and dry. That’s how we know it’s almost time to harvest.

A root crop with delicious leaves too!

The cassava root grows under the soil and takes time to mature. But did you know the leaves can also be eaten?

I first tried it when I visited Bicol. People there love cooking vegetables with coconut milk. It tastes really good, especially with smoked fish. Sometimes they add chili for extra flavor. I didn’t expect to like it.

It has large green leaves and a thick stem.

Taro is a root crop that grows well in different kinds of soil. Even during the dry season, it can survive as long as the ground is not too dry or hard. We usually cook the root, or sometimes we just boil it with salt. Here in the Philippines, we call it gabi.

Malabar spinach / Leafy green vegetables.

I don’t know what they call it in other countries. Here, we call it alugbati. This is the kind of food my father didn’t like. I remember him, he left us a long time ago. When my mother cooked it, he never ate. But this plant grows fast. It takes time before the leaves get brown.

Note: All photos are mine. Edited using Canva.