TATAKalikasan Lesson in 5 Parts
Let's Revive the Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut) Culture
for Food Self-Sufficiency, Happy and Healthy Living
Bahay Kubo culture is key to food self-sufficiency and healthy living. It takes us closer to nature in peace, quiet and joy.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Part 1 - Love the Bahay Kubo for Healthy and Happy Living
Part 2 - Backyard Garden: Food Bank and Living Laboratory
Part 3 - Urban Vegetable Gardening Models and Homesite Design
Part 2 - Backyard Garden: Food Bank and Living Laboratory
Part 3 - Urban Vegetable Gardening Models and Homesite Design
Part 4 - Practical Composting and Organic Gardening
Part 5 - Food Plants Growing in the Wild
Bahay Kubo is an enduring symbol of food self-sufficiency, indigenous biodiversity, simplicity and quaintness of living and natural beauty. Traditional Bahay Kubo painting by the author
Part 1 - Love the Bahay Kubo for Healthy and Happy Living
Bahay kubo, kahit munti,ang halaman duon ay sari-sari.Singkamas at talong,Sigarilyas at mani.Sitaw, bataw, patani.Kundol, patola, upo't kalabasa.At saka meron pa,Labanos, mustasa.Sibuyas, kamatis,Bawang at luya.Sa paligid-ligid ay puno ng linga.
These are main features of the song.
· There are eighteen (18) plants, which are indigenous, mostly native species/varieties. (biodiversity)
· Many of the plants have medicinal values and are effective home remedies for common ailments (luya, sibuyas, bawang).
· The four kinds of vegetables are represented: leafy (mustasa), fruit (kamatis, talong, kalabasa), root (labanos, singkamas), seed (linga, patani, mani).
· Spices and condiments are included in the list (linga, luya, bawang)
· The plants have different planting and harvesting schedules, thus enhancing whole year round supply of vegetables, and the use of resources and family labor.
· The plants have different growing types or habits which means they occupy specific places and have space allocations. (viny, herb, bush).
· Nutrition-wise they provide the basic requirements for growing up and good health.
· The ambiance projected by the scene is green, tranquil, clean, shady and cool (environment-friendly).
· The garden exudes a feeling of self-sufficiency and offers a potential for livelihood.
· Simplicity is the key to a contented life (with least energy consumption, and amenities).
· Such a scene expands the imagination to include a backyard fishpond, chicken coop, orchard trees and ornamental plants, among others – all of these contribute to the enrichment of the Bahay Kubo, without modifying its basic concept and principle.
Folk wisdom tells us how good it is to live simply and naturally, eat properly, stay young, healthy and active, save and earn money, depend less on energy and imported goods, and enjoy being at home with the family. Bahay Kubo takes us closer to nature, to appreciate our culture, and leads us to the inner calling for peace, quiet and joy.~
Bahay Kubo is evolving to suit with simple, healthy and happy living - and safety from the onslaught of current pandemic. Upper photo, a cozy native home in Floridablanca, Pampanga (photo by the author); modern bahay kubo version, photo from the Internet.
Part 2 - Backyard Garden: Food Bank and Living Laboratory
There are crops “we plant and forget.” Before the pot starts to shimmer, you realize you need some malunggay leaves, a dozen tops of kamote, a handful of fresh onion leaves, etc. All you need is to dash to the backyard and pick these green ingredients. Paminta, kamias, tanglad, pandan - they go with your recipe, too. Reserve those pullets and catfish for special occasions.
By size, my home farm is a Liliputian version of a corporate farm. Intensive cultivation-wise however, it dwarfs the monoculture of a plantation. It is only when your area is small that you can attend to the requirements of an integrated farm with basic features of a garden.
Our children grew up with a garden at home.
When I moved to the city, I set aside a corner lot equivalent to a space of a two-bedroom bungalow. Here, after two years of experimentation and redesigning a city home garden evolved - a miniature version of tri-commodity farming where I have vegetables and fruits, chicken and hito.
My wife, who is an accountant, estimates that presently, the garden could save up to 20 percent of our family’s expense for food, in exchange for twenty family man-hours every week. Labor makes up to 50 percent of production costs, she says. Since gardening is a hobby in lieu of outdoor games, we agreed not to include labor as cost. This gives a positive sign to the garden’s financial picture.
We do not also consider in the book the aesthetic value of weekends when the garden becomes a family workshop to prove green thumbs, and gainful influence my family has made on the community, such as giving free seeds and seedlings, and know-how tips. When my children celebrate their birthdays, the kids in the neighborhood enjoy harvesting tomatoes, string beans and leafy vegetables - a rare experience for boys and girls in the city.
What makes a garden? Frankly, I have no formula for it. I first learned farming from my father who was a gentleman farmer before I became an agriculturist. But you do not have to go for formal training to be able to farm well. All that one needs is sixth sense or down-to-earth sense, the main ingredient of a green thumb. Here are valuable tips.
1. Get the most sunlight
A maximum of five hours of sunlight should be available - geographically speaking that is. Morning and direct sunlight is ideal for photosynthesis. But you need longer exposure for fruit vegetables, corn and viny plants like, ampalaya. So with crucifers like mustard and pechay because these are long-day plants.
Well, to get more sunlight, I prune the surrounding talisay or umbrella trees at least once a year. I use the branches for trellis and poles. Then, I paint the surrounding walls with white to enhance reflected and diffused light to increase photosynthesis.
Plot the sun’s course and align the rows on an East-West direction. Plants do not directly over-shadow each other this way. This is very important during wet season when days are cloudy and plants grow luxuriantly. Other than maximizing solar radiation you also get rid of soil borne plant diseases. Sunlight that gets in between the plants helps eliminate pest and pathogens. And in summer, you can increase your seeding rate, and therefore potential yield. Try planting in triangular formation or quincunx. Outline that part of the garden that receives the longest sunlight exposure. Plant this area with sun-loving plants like okra and ampalaya.
Lastly, remember that plants which grow on trellises and poles “reach out for the sun,” thus require less ground space. Put up trellises at blind corners and train viny plants to climb early and form a canopy. For string beans, use poles on which they climb. You wouldn’t believe it but as long as your rows are aligned with the sun’s movement, and that trellises and poles are used, you can plant more hills in a given area, and you can have dwarf and tall plants growing side by side. Try alternate rows of sitao, tomato and cabbage.
2. Try Mixed Garden or Storey CroppingWhat is the composition of an ideal garden? Again, there’s no standard design for it. The most practical type is a mixed garden. A mixed garden is like a multi-storey building. Plants are grouped according to height. That is why you have to analyze their growing habits.
Are they tall or dwarf? Are they seasonal, biennial or permanent? What part of the year do they thrive best? Refer to the planting calendar or consult your nearest agriculturist.
Look for proper cropping combinations through intercropping or crop rotation. Malunggay, papaya, kamias, banana and the like, make good border plants. Just be sure they do not shade smaller plants. Cassava and viny plants trained on trellis are next in height.
The group of pepper, tomato and eggplant follows, while the shortest in height hierarchy are sweet potato, ginger and other root crops. Imagine how these crops are grouped and built like a tall building. We call this storey cropping.
A friend commented, “Why streamline your garden the American way?” I agree with him. Plant the Filipino way.
At any rate there are crops “we plant and forget.” Before the pot starts to shimmer, you realize you need some malunggay leaves, a dozen tops of kamote, a handful of fresh onion leaves, etc. All you need is to dash to the backyard and pick these green ingredients.
3. Practice Organic Farming
Traditional farming is back with modern relevance. Organic farming is waste recycling - not by getting rid of the waste itself but by utilizing it as production input. “This system is an alternative to conventional chemical farming”, says Domingo C. Abadilla in his book, Organic Farming.
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Practice organic farming for two reasons. Crops grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides are safer and more nutritious.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What would you do with poultry droppings and Azolla from the fishpond? Kitchen refuse and weeds? Make valuable compost out of them. For potash, sieve ash from a garbage-dumping site. Just be sure it is not used for industrial waste. Can we grow crops without insecticides? Generally, no. But there are ways to protect plants in a safe way, such as the following:
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• Use mild detergent, preferably coconut-based soap, to control aphids and other plant lice.
Community gardening, QC
• Plant tomatoes around pest prone plants. They exude repellant odor on a wide variety of pests.
• Keep a vigil light above the garden pond to attract nocturnal insects that may lay eggs on your plants at daytime. Tilapia and hito relish on insects.
• A makeshift greenhouse made of plastic and mosquito net will eliminate most insects.
Alugbati, tops gathered for diningding and salad; tanglad for condiment.
If you find stubborn insect pest like caterpillars and crickets, make a nicotine solution and spray. Crush one or two sticks of cigarette, irrespective of its brand, dissolve it in a bucket of water. The solution is ready for application with sprinkler or sprayer. But be sure not to use the solution on tomato, pepper and eggplant. It is possible that tobacco mosaic virus can be transmitted to these crops.
A friend who is a heavy smoker, came to visit our garden. When he touched the tomato plants, he was unknowingly inoculating mosaic virus. Tobacco virus can remain dormant in cigars and cigarette for as long as twenty years. Then it springs to life in the living system of the host plant that belongs to Solanaceae or tobacco family.
4. Raise Fish in the Garden Pond
Catfish (hito) fattened in our garden pond have become pets; the biggest measures 2 ft long.
Water from the pond is rich with algae, plant nutrients and detritus. While you water your plants, you are also fertilizing them. The pond should be designed for growing tilapia, hito or dalag, or a combination of these. For tilapia, keep its population low to avoid overcrowding and competition. Stock fingerlings of the same size and age.
Try growing hito, native or African. When you buy live hito from the market, separate the small ones (juveniles), which will serve as your growers. They are ready to harvest in 3 to 6 months with 3 pieces making a kilo. Hito is easier to raise than any other freshwater fish. One thing is that you do not change water often because the fish prefers to have a muddy bottom to stay.
Feed the fish with chicken and fish entrails, vegetable trimmings, dog food, etc. Just avoid accumulation of feed that may decompose and cause foul odor, an indication that Oxygen is being replaced with Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen Sulfide.
Azolla, a floating fern, is good fish and animal feeds because it contains 20 to 25 percent protein,. It is also an excellent organic fertilizer because it is rich in nitrate, a product of nitrogen fixation by Anabaena, a microscopic blue-green algae living in the fronds of Azolla. Nitrate is important for plant growth. Grow Azolla in a separate pond, or in floating cage, so as to maintain a regular biomass supply.
A friend who is a heavy smoker, came to visit our garden. When he touched the tomato plants, he was unknowingly inoculating mosaic virus. Tobacco virus can remain dormant in cigars and cigarette for as long as twenty years. Then it springs to life in the living system of the host plant that belongs to Solanaceae or tobacco family.
4. Raise Fish in the Garden Pond
Catfish (hito) fattened in our garden pond have become pets; the biggest measures 2 ft long.
Water from the pond is rich with algae, plant nutrients and detritus. While you water your plants, you are also fertilizing them. The pond should be designed for growing tilapia, hito or dalag, or a combination of these. For tilapia, keep its population low to avoid overcrowding and competition. Stock fingerlings of the same size and age.
Try growing hito, native or African. When you buy live hito from the market, separate the small ones (juveniles), which will serve as your growers. They are ready to harvest in 3 to 6 months with 3 pieces making a kilo. Hito is easier to raise than any other freshwater fish. One thing is that you do not change water often because the fish prefers to have a muddy bottom to stay.
Feed the fish with chicken and fish entrails, vegetable trimmings, dog food, etc. Just avoid accumulation of feed that may decompose and cause foul odor, an indication that Oxygen is being replaced with Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen Sulfide.
Azolla, a floating fern, is good fish and animal feeds because it contains 20 to 25 percent protein,. It is also an excellent organic fertilizer because it is rich in nitrate, a product of nitrogen fixation by Anabaena, a microscopic blue-green algae living in the fronds of Azolla. Nitrate is important for plant growth. Grow Azolla in a separate pond, or in floating cage, so as to maintain a regular biomass supply.
5. Integrate Backyard Poultry
Raise some broilers and layers in separate cages. Have other cages to rear chicks and growers to replenish your stock. Formulate your feed. If not, mix commercial broiler feed and yellow corn in equal proportion. This is more economical and you may get better results than by using commercial broiler feeds alone.
Construct a fence around the cages and have some turkey on the loose. Similarly you may rear a few native chickens to get rid of feed waste. Clip their wings regularly to prevent them from escaping and destroying your garden. I don’t recommend piggery unless the neighborhood does not object to it.
6. Plant Fruit Trees
Do not forget to have some native fruit bearing trees such as guava, atis, guyabano, kamias, kalamansi and other citrus species. If your area is big you can include coconut, mango, kaimito, bananas. Rambutan? Why not? There are fruit bearing rambutan trees in some residences in Quezon City.
Just like annual plants, adopt the East-West planting method for trees so that you can have seasonal crops in between their rows. Use compost for the fruit trees, just like in vegetables. You can plant orchard trees like mango, guyabano, coconut and cashew along the sidewalk fronting your residence.
7. Make Your Own Compost, and Grow Mushrooms, Too
Atis, ripe in the tree
Just like annual plants, adopt the East-West planting method for trees so that you can have seasonal crops in between their rows. Use compost for the fruit trees, just like in vegetables. You can plant orchard trees like mango, guyabano, coconut and cashew along the sidewalk fronting your residence.
7. Make Your Own Compost, and Grow Mushrooms, Too
In one corner, build a compost pile with poles and mesh wire, 1m x 2m, and 2m in height. Dump leaves, kitchen refuse, chicken droppings and allow them to decompose to become valuable organic fertilizer. Turn the pile once a month until it is ready for use.
In another place you can have a mushroom pile made of rice straw, or water hyacinth. After harvesting the mushrooms, the spent material is a good compost material and composting will take a shorter time. To learn more about mushroom growing and composting, refer to the technology tips of DOST-PCARRD, or see your agriculturist in your area.
8. Plant Herbals - Nature’s First Aid
In another place you can have a mushroom pile made of rice straw, or water hyacinth. After harvesting the mushrooms, the spent material is a good compost material and composting will take a shorter time. To learn more about mushroom growing and composting, refer to the technology tips of DOST-PCARRD, or see your agriculturist in your area.
8. Plant Herbals - Nature’s First Aid
It is good to have the following plants as alternative medicine. Lagundi for flu and fever, guava for skin diseases and body odor, aromatic pandan and tanglad for deodorant and air freshener, oregano for cough and sore throat, mayana for boils and mumps, ikmo for toothache, pandakaki for cuts. There are other medicinal plants you can grow in your backyard. Remember, herbals are nature’s first-aid.
Pansit-pansitan (Piperomia felucida) for arthritis; Oregano for colds and sore throat, also for food flavoring (dinuguan, pizza)
Pandan mabango for rice flavoring; soro soro for lechon. Coconut provides the family young (buko) and mature nuts every two months.
Saluyot and squash flowers grow with very little attention; malunggay tree.
Saluyot and squash flowers grow with very little attention; malunggay tree.
Malunggay is a must in every backyard. It grows along fences and in dead corners into a moderate size tree that remains productive up to 20 years or even more. Our malunggay tree at home is around 35 years now. Both leaves and young pods are rich in vitamins and minerals.
These things and many others are the reasons you should have a home garden. One thing is sure in the offing: it is a source of safe and fresh vegetables and fruits, fish and meat, and natural medicine. Most important of all, the garden is a re-creation of nature itself, a patch of the lost Eden. •
These things and many others are the reasons you should have a home garden. One thing is sure in the offing: it is a source of safe and fresh vegetables and fruits, fish and meat, and natural medicine. Most important of all, the garden is a re-creation of nature itself, a patch of the lost Eden. •
*Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid Dr Abe V Rotor and Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8-9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Part 3 - Urban Vegetable Gardening Models
and Homesite Design 0046.JPG)
These gardening models have been developed from studies and observations of successful projects locally and abroad. They serve as guide to participants and listeners of Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (School-on-Air) to help them in their projects, particularly in times of food scarcity, such as the present situation caused by the El Niño phenomenon. But even during normal times, these models are useful to gardening enthusiasts, especially children and senior citizens who find this hobby highly rewarding to health and leisure, and as a source of livelihood, notwithstanding. Those who are participating in projects in food production and environmental beautification, such as the Clean and Green Movement, and Green Revolution projects, will find these models similarly valuable.
One however, can modify them according to the peculiarity of his place, and in fact, he can combine those models that are compatible so as to develop and integrate them into a larger and more diversified plan.
One who is familiar with the popular Filipino composition Bahay Kubo, can readily identify the plants mentioned therein with those that are cited in these models. And in his mind would appear an imagery of the scenario in which he can fit these models accordingly.
Here is a plan of a Homesite - an ideal integrated garden around a home in a rural setting. Compare this with Bahay Kubo. Update it. Innovate it according to your concept, situation and needs. Allow innovations as long as these do not lose the essence of the plan. You can even expand the area, adding more features to it. In effect, this Homesite model becomes a model farm, a Homestead - one that has economic and ecological attributes that characterize the concept of sustainable productivity cum aesthetics and educational values.
Here is a plan of a Homesite - an ideal integrated garden around a home in a rural setting. Compare this with Bahay Kubo. Update it. Innovate it according to your concept, situation and needs. Allow innovations as long as these do not lose the essence of the plan. You can even expand the area, adding more features to it. In effect, this Homesite model becomes a model farm, a Homestead - one that has economic and ecological attributes that characterize the concept of sustainable productivity cum aesthetics and educational values.
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Here is a plan of a Homesite - an ideal integrated garden around a home in a rural setting. Compare this with Bahay Kubo. Update it. Innovate it according to your concept, situation and needs. Allow innovations as long as these do not lose the essence of the plan. You can even expand the area, adding more features to it.
In effect, this Homesite model becomes a model farm, a Homestead - one that has economic and ecological attributes that characterize the concept of sustainable productivity cum aesthetics and educational values. ~
I invite all followers and readers of this Blog to adopt these models in their own capacities wherever they reside - in the rural or urban area - and whenever they find them feasible, and thus join the movement which Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (PBH) has been carrying on in the last twenty years or so.
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Part 4 - Practical Composting and Organic Gardening
Dr Abe V Rotor
"Composting is Nature's recycling, organic to inorganic matter, breaking compounds back into elements, for the use of the new set of living things." - avr
Converting dead parts of living things like leaves, into soil is the key to composting. All you have to do is help Nature do the process. Don't interfere by burning, or throwing them as waste. Rather, provide the necessary conditions. Take the case of composting mango leaves as shown in these photos.
Rake the leaves into a pile under the trees, and keep the file damp. The rainy season favors composting. This is pile composting, in situ, which keeps the nutrients in place. Do not ever build fire on the pile. Meantime, prepare a pit nearby. Dump the undecomposed leaves after harvesting the mature compost pile. Continually replace the pile every time you rake the surroundings. Your pit compost will soon be ready for harvesting. See photos.
Composting is a continuous process. Include other compostable materials like stems, fruits, weeds, stalks, but never plastics and glass. Composting continues in the sacks. Partially decomposed leaves will soon catch up in time. Avoid exposing harvested compost to direct sunlight. Don't allow compost to dry up in the sacks. Use soonest you can. Ideal compost has the typical earth smell. Foul odor and signs of heat mean the compost is not mature, or done by installment. There is a saying, "garbage in, garbage out." Composting is an art, it is a virtue to convert potential waste into a valuable product - more so, in helping Mother Nature keep the environment clean, healthy and balance. This is a key to sustainability, which in the long term is called homeostasis. ~
Compost is cheap and can be made at home from farm and home wastes, as compared to chemical fertilizer which is expensive, and a poor farmer can barely afford it. Compost is environment friendly. Chemical fertilizer on the other hand, is harmful to the environment. It pollutes waterways and increases acidity in soil which is harmful to most crops. Compost harbors beneficial soil organisms like nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and earthworm. On the contrary, chemical fertilizer, which is often used with chemical pesticide, destroys these organisms. ~
Practical Composting helps in reducing pollution and global warming, and their attendant ill-consequences. It is also a personal and collective means in contributing to food production, and keeping our environment balance, healthy and clean.
Grow Talinum (Talinum triangulare*) on Compost-in-Sack
Local beauty model Angie Tobias poses before a luxuriant growth of talinum at the Living with Nature Center in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. Growing talinum in compost-in-sack is a project initiated by the Rotor family in response to the current need of vegetables in the diet, and herbal remedies for local ailments and maintenance of
good health as explained in the two researches, the abstract of each is hereby presented as annexes.
Talinum is grown around a sack of composted leaves. Left, top view showing plastic receptible on top of sack for watering; right, talinum is ready for harvesting. Harvesting is done regularly at weekly interval or as needed. The portable garden is a source of fresh vegetable cooked in sinigang, diningding, steamed as salad, and other recipes.
Talinum growing on compost sacks arranged in a row on an East-West orientation at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.
Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid. Radyo ng Bayan DZRB 738 KHz AM Band, 8 to 9 o'clock in the evening from Monday to Friday, with Melly Tenorio and Ka Abe Rotor. It is for this nationwide campaign that PBH has earned, among other programs, the Oscar Florendo Award for Developmental Journalism, indeed a tribute to all those who have participated, and are going to participate, in the pursuit of the noble objectives of this campaign. Learn more about this project, its practical methods and techniques. Apply your knowledge and skill in your home and community. ~
Part 5
Food Plants Growing in the Wild
How familiar are you with these plants?
5.1 - "Famine or Survival” Food Plants
Palauan (Crytosperma merkusii) has large, starchy rootstock which is prepared for food in times of scarcity. It grows luxuriantly in thickets and on wetlands. This photo was taken on Mt Makiling with the late Professor Eduardo de Leon, a well known botanist and professor of the University of Santo Tomas.Survivors of war, plane crash, shipwreck have a lot of lessons to share, among them are edible plants that kept them alive.
• Talisay (Terminalia catappa) bears nut like fruits that contain small seeds that taste like almond.
• Tibig (Ficus nota) The fruits are edible and have a good flavor. They are soft and fleshy when mature.
• Isis (Ficus odorata) or isis because its rough leaves are used as natural sandpaper for utensil and wood. Its fruits like tibig are edible.
• Apulid or water chestnut (Eleocharis Dulcis). Our native apulid produces very small bulbs - only one-third the size of the Chinese or Vietnamese apulid. It grows wild in places where water is present year round. It is boiled, peeled and served. PHOTO
• Aratiles (Muntingia calabura) bears plenty of tiny berries which are red to violet when ripe. It is sweet and somewhat aromatic.
• Wild sinkamas (Pacchyrhizus erosus) has enlarged roots which may remain in the soil even after the plants has dried up in summer. It is gathered and eaten raw.
• Urai (Amaranthus spinosus). The plant become spiny as it matures. It is the very young plant that is gathered as vegetable. PHOTO
• Taro (Colocasia sp.). The Palawan gabi grows twice the height of man and produces a large corm. There is a technique in preparing and cooking the corm. Or making starch out of it. The key is thorough cleaning and cooking.
• Gulasiman (Portulaca oleracea) has succulent leaves and stems which are cooked as vegetables.• Alugbati (Basella rubra) is a twining plant with reddish stems and leaves. The tops are gathered as vegetable which is mucilaginous when cooked.
• Talinum (Talinum triangulare) PHOTO. The succulent stems and leaves are gathered as vegetable.
5.2 - Saluyot and Spinach
Wild food plants, may be a relative term today. Saluyot (Corchorus olitorius) and spinach (Amaranthus sp) which used to grow in the wild are now planted commercially. But the bulk of wild edible plants remains ethnic to remote communities and certain cultures. For example, nami (Dioscorea hispida) is a poisonous root crop but natives in the hinder lands where this plant abundantly grows know how to remove the poison before eating the starch of the tuber. During WW II people by necessity had to eat unlikely food such as the corm (enlarged base) of wild banana (butolan or balayang) and maguey (Agave cantala), earning the name famine food.
Bagbagkong (Telosma cordata) flower buds
Squash (Cucurbita maxima) male flowers,
and saluyot (Corchorus olitorius)
Many of these wild edible plants are facing extinction, including the less popular varieties of common crops. It is because our attention has been on the propagation of economically important ones, and those our palate has been accustomed to. Until lately however, people are becoming more conscious of natural and nutritious food, evading many crops which are raised with chemicals, and lately, crops that have been genetically altered (Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO).
Other wild food plants which are found in the market are portulaca (ngalog), dampalit, katuray, rosel, spinach, gulasiman, wild ampalaya, himbaba-o (alukong), to name a few. Old folks have also a way of making ordinary things edible such as the male flower of rimas (Arthocarpus communis) is made into sweets, the same way the thick rind of pomelo (Citrus maxima) is sweetened in boiling sugarcane juice. Sweets are also made from kamias (Averrhoa balimbi.
All these made a green revolution in some corner, so to speak. It might as well usher a signal that not all times is food plentiful. ~
5.3 - Papait, Tanglad, Sorosoro
Papait (Mollogo oppositifolia), wild and cultivated
Here is one for the book of Guinness. What is more bitter vegetable than ampalaya, Momordica charantia?
Answer: It is an unassuming slender, spreading, smooth, seasonal herb, Mollogo oppositifolia, a relative of a number of wild food plants belonging to Family Aizoaceae, locally known as papait (Iloko), malagoso or sarsalida( tagalog), amargoso-damulag (Pampango).
Anyone who has tasted this green salad that goes well with bagoong and calamansi or vinegar, plus a lot of rice to counteract its bitter taste, would agree that papait is probably the bitterest of all vegetables. Ampalaya comes at its heels when you gauge the facial expressions of those who are eating them.
Papait belongs to the same family - Aizoaceae – as dampalit, talinum, gulasiman, spinach, and alugbati- all wild food plants.
As a farm boy I first saw papait growing on dry river beds, the very catchments of floodwater during monsoon. There along the length of a river that runs under an old wooden bridge( now a flood gate made of culvert) which divided the towns of San Vicente and Sta.Catalina then, three kilometers from the capital town of Vigan, grew patches of Mollogo. It is difficult identify it among weeds- and being a weed itself none would bother to gather it. Wild food plants do not have a place in the kitchen - and much less in the market - when there is a lot of conventional food around. I soon forgot the plant after I lelt my hometown for my college education in Manila. In fact it was not in the list of plants which Dr. Fernando de Peralta, a prominent botanist, required us in class to study. That was in the sixties.
It was by chance that I saw the plant again, this time in the market at Lagro QC where I presently reside. Curiosity and reminiscence prompted me to buy a bundle. It cost ten pesos. What came to my mind is the idea of cultivating wild food plants on a commercial scale. The potential uses of dozens of plants that are not normally cultivated could be a good business. They augment vegetables that are not in season, as well as provide a ready and affordable source of vitamins and minerals.
Annual plants start sprouting soon after the first heavy rain ushering the arrival of the monsoon habagat. It seems that this year’s summer is short. In some places rains have started. A proof for this is the early appearance of papait in the market. From it I planted a few hills of papait in the backyard in anticipation for the May and June season which greatly favors the growth of annual plants.
For its food value, I found it in the book of my former professor, Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing, Medicinal Plants of the Philippines, and from that of William H. Brown, Useful Plants of the Philippines. As fresh food, it contains, among others
Its bitterness is associated with bitter medicine, an impression most of us have. And yet many relish the taste of papait. It reminds us also of the sacrifice at Golgotha. Take a bite of Mollogo.~
In my research I found out that a number of popular wild edible species are related to Mollogo. They all belong to Family Aizoaceae. In one way or the other, the readers of this article may find the following plants familiar, either because they are indigenous in their locality, or they are found being sold in the market.
Lemon Grass or tanglad (Baraniw Ilk) and Sorosoro or karimbuaya (Ilk) are the most popular spices to stuff lechon - baboy, baka, manok, and big fish like bangus.
Tanglad - Andropogon citratus DC; Soro-soro or Karimbuaya (Ilk) - Euphorbia neriifolia
Anyone who has tasted this green salad that goes well with bagoong and calamansi or vinegar, plus a lot of rice to counteract its bitter taste, would agree that papait is probably the bitterest of all vegetables. Ampalaya comes at its heels when you gauge the facial expressions of those who are eating them.
Papait belongs to the same family - Aizoaceae – as dampalit, talinum, gulasiman, spinach, and alugbati- all wild food plants.
As a farm boy I first saw papait growing on dry river beds, the very catchments of floodwater during monsoon. There along the length of a river that runs under an old wooden bridge( now a flood gate made of culvert) which divided the towns of San Vicente and Sta.Catalina then, three kilometers from the capital town of Vigan, grew patches of Mollogo. It is difficult identify it among weeds- and being a weed itself none would bother to gather it. Wild food plants do not have a place in the kitchen - and much less in the market - when there is a lot of conventional food around. I soon forgot the plant after I lelt my hometown for my college education in Manila. In fact it was not in the list of plants which Dr. Fernando de Peralta, a prominent botanist, required us in class to study. That was in the sixties.
It was by chance that I saw the plant again, this time in the market at Lagro QC where I presently reside. Curiosity and reminiscence prompted me to buy a bundle. It cost ten pesos. What came to my mind is the idea of cultivating wild food plants on a commercial scale. The potential uses of dozens of plants that are not normally cultivated could be a good business. They augment vegetables that are not in season, as well as provide a ready and affordable source of vitamins and minerals.
Annual plants start sprouting soon after the first heavy rain ushering the arrival of the monsoon habagat. It seems that this year’s summer is short. In some places rains have started. A proof for this is the early appearance of papait in the market. From it I planted a few hills of papait in the backyard in anticipation for the May and June season which greatly favors the growth of annual plants.
For its food value, I found it in the book of my former professor, Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing, Medicinal Plants of the Philippines, and from that of William H. Brown, Useful Plants of the Philippines. As fresh food, it contains, among others
- Phosphorus, 0.11%
- Calcium, 0.11%
- Iron, 0.003%
Its bitterness is associated with bitter medicine, an impression most of us have. And yet many relish the taste of papait. It reminds us also of the sacrifice at Golgotha. Take a bite of Mollogo.~
In my research I found out that a number of popular wild edible species are related to Mollogo. They all belong to Family Aizoaceae. In one way or the other, the readers of this article may find the following plants familiar, either because they are indigenous in their locality, or they are found being sold in the market.
Lemon Grass or tanglad (Baraniw Ilk) and Sorosoro or karimbuaya (Ilk) are the most popular spices to stuff lechon - baboy, baka, manok, and big fish like bangus.
These are wild plants that do not need cultivation; they simply grow where they are likely useful, indeed an evidence of co-evolution of a man-plant relationship. Tradition and culture evolve this way. Scientists elevated this knowledge to what is called ethnobotany, a subject in the graduate school. Retrieving and conserving traditional knowledge is as important as beating a new path.
For tanglad, all you have to do is gather the mature leaves, sometimes roots, make them into a fishful bundle and pound it to release the aromatic volatile oil. Stuff the whole thing into the dressed chicken or pig or calf to be roasted (lechon). Chop the leaves when broiling fish. Crushed leaves are used to give a final scrub. Tanglad removes the characteristic odor (malansa) and imparts a pleasant aroma and taste.
Tanglad is also used to spice up lemonade and other mixed drinks. It is an excellent deodorizer for bathrooms and kitchen. It is also used in the preparation of aromatic bath.
Not so many perople know that sorosoro makes an excellent stuff for lechon. The mature leaves are chopped tangential and stuffed into the dressed chicken or bangus for broiling.It has high oil content in its milky sap. It leaves a pleasant taste and it serves as a salad itself. It has a slight sour taste. Like tanglad, sorosoro removes the characteristic flesh and fishy odor. Add chopped ginger, onion and garlic as may be desired.
One word of caution: The fresh sap of sorosoro may cause irritation of the eye and skin. Wash hands immediately. Better still, use kitchen gloves.
For tanglad, all you have to do is gather the mature leaves, sometimes roots, make them into a fishful bundle and pound it to release the aromatic volatile oil. Stuff the whole thing into the dressed chicken or pig or calf to be roasted (lechon). Chop the leaves when broiling fish. Crushed leaves are used to give a final scrub. Tanglad removes the characteristic odor (malansa) and imparts a pleasant aroma and taste.
Tanglad is also used to spice up lemonade and other mixed drinks. It is an excellent deodorizer for bathrooms and kitchen. It is also used in the preparation of aromatic bath.
One word of caution: The fresh sap of sorosoro may cause irritation of the eye and skin. Wash hands immediately. Better still, use kitchen gloves.
Perhaps the first wild food plant placed under commercial cultivation is saluyot (Corchorus olitorius ). The technology lies in breaking the dormancy of its seeds, which under natural condition, will not germinate until after the first strong rain. Today saluyot can be grown anytime of the year and is no longer confined among the Ilocanos. It is exported to Japan in substantial volume. Doctors have found saluyot an excellent - and safer - substitute to Senecal for slimming and cleansing.
Wild varieties of ampalaya (Momordica charantia), eggplant (Solanum melongena), patani (Phaseolus lunatus), and the male flower of himbaba-o or alukong (Ilk)
Gulasiman or ngalog (Ilk) Portulaca oleracea;
Edible fern (pako) Diplazium esculentum.
- New Zealand Spinach, Tetragonia expansa, is known as Baguio spinach. It is sold as salad vegetable. The leaves are fleshly and soft, typical to other members of the family.
- Gulasiman, Portolaca oleracea- also known as purslane, a common weed cosmopolitan in distribution, rich in iron, calcium and high in roughage. Cooked as vegetable or served as salad.
- Talinum, Talinum triangulare- a fleshy herb that grows not more than a foot tall. It is excellent for beef stew and sinigang. It was introduced into the Philippines before W W II.
- Libato, Basella rubra- it is also called alugbati, a climbing leafy vegetable that is much used in stews. It makes a good substitute to spinach. The young leaves and shoots are gathered, and when cooked the consistency is somewhat mucilaginous.
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