Usapang Bayan March 21, 2025 (3rd session) 2-3 pm Friday
Fight inflation, be practical!
50 Tips for Practical Living,
and Home Biotechnology;
Practice Austerity,
Put up a Kitchen Garde
Ten (10) pillars of Practical Living as a way of life and philosophy. Self Evaluation - Scale of 1 to 10 (1 poor, 5 fair,10 excellent) for each item.
- Save, save, save
- Live simply
- Attain self-sufficiency
- Learn science and develop your skills
- Share with your community
- Keep your surroundings clean
- Systematize and organize
- Believe in serendipity and providence
- Sacrifice want in favor of need
- Set goal for the succeeding generations
Part 1 - 50 Tips for Practical Living
Dr Abe V Rotor
1. When dust gets in your eyes, blow your nose.
2. When an ant has entered into your ear, close the other ear and it will come out by its own.
2. When an ant has entered into your ear, close the other ear and it will come out by its own.
3. Press the base of the nail of the large toe to wake an unconscious person.
4. Gulat ang gamut sa sinok. To stop hiccup, jolt the person.
5. Press the base of the jaw joint to relieve toothache.
6. Sterilize handkerchief with hot iron in the absence of cotton gauze and bandage.
In an emergency case, or for simple treatment, this is what you can do. Get a clean handkerchief and iron it repeatedly at high temperature for a duration of five minutes to seven minutes. To save on energy, you may prepare two or three handkerchiefs for the purpose.
7. Lighted candles drive flies away.
8. If the father or mother leaves the house, place the clothes he or she last worn beside the sleeping child so that he goes into deep sleep. This is pheromones in action. Pheromones are chemical signals for bonding in the animal world, and among humans.
Like the queen bee that keeps its colony intact through pheromones, so we are attracted by a similar odor, although of a less specific one. People are compatible through smell. Pheromones are left in clothes and other belongings, so that a baby may remain fast asleep as if he were in his mother’s or father’s arms.
9. Prevent drinking glass from breaking, by first putting metal spoon before pouring the hot liquid.
10. Chopped banana stalk makes a cold pack to reduce fever.
11. Rub table salt on the cut stem of newly harvested fruits to hasten their ripening.
12. Incense (resin) rids chicken of lice. It also calms them down.
13. You feel you can’t hold it any longer. You are about to sneeze and you are in a conference. Press the base of your nose; hold it there until urge subsides. Find excuse to leave the room, then explode.
14. Cut your finger and it’s bleeding? Raise hand above heart level while attending to it. Keep this position steady until bleeding stops. Immediately seek medical treatment for serious cases.
15. To keep coffee hot longer, first pour hot water to preheat the cup. Empty the cup and pour in the real coffee. Enjoy.
16. If you are using glass for coffee, place a spoon first before pouring in the coffee. The metal absorbs sudden and excess heat that may cause the glass to crack.
17. Be sure oil is hot enough before putting into the pan the thing to wish to fry, say meat or fish. A drop of water will readily splatter when introduced into the pan. Be careful.
18. Get rid of ants in the kitchen. Wipe table, floor, and other surfaces with diluted natural vinegar. Vinegar freshens the smell of the kitchen as well.
19. To know if the honey you are buying is genuine or not, place it in the ref. Real honey does not solidify and has no residue. Fake honey does. Sugar in adulterated honey settles as thick residue.
19. Serve lemonade without tasting and know its sweetness is just right. Stir with calculated sugar. When seeds float, it’s too sweet. If they settle down you need more sugar.
20. To make potato fries crispy on the outside and soft inside, immerse in ice water for a minute or two. Proceed with usual deep frying. Do the same with kamote or sweet potato, gabi (taro), and ubi and sinkamas (yam)
21. Wood ash from firewood and charcoal for cleaning. Removes slime when scaling fish, cleans metals and utensils, and eases disposal of pet droppings. Gather ash after cooking and store in a convenient container. Dispose ash after use as fertilizer; ash is rich in potassium, a major plant nutrient.
22. Keep salt in glass container snugly closed every after use. It is hygroscopic, that is, it absorbs humidity causing it to become soggy. Coffee cakes when exposed, so with sugar. Spices lose their essence.
23. Hang in dry and cool place garlic and shallot onion in bundles to prolong shelf life. In the province. the bundles are hanged above the stove. Smoke is a natural protectant against pests and rot.
24. To hasten the ripening of fruits like chico, mango, guyabano, atis and caimito, rub a little salt at the base of the peduncle (fruit stem). For nangka, drive a stake of bamboo or wood 2 to 3 inches long through the base of the stem. As a rule pick only fully mature fruits.
25. Collective ripening of various fruits is hastened with the inclusion of banana in the plastic pack or container. Explanation: the trapped ethylene gas emitted by banana catalyzes ripening.
26. Pry open, instead of pounding with stone or hammer, using the tip of an ordinary knife. Find the hinge behind the shell. This is its Achilles heel. Insert and twist. Simply open, Eat straight with gusto. (Internet photos)
27. Bagoong smells, so with patis. But the best recipes can't be without. Here's what to do. Heat desired amount of water with bagoong to boiling, don't stir. Get rid of the froth. Now you can proceed with the usual cooking of bulanglang, pinakbet, and the like. Walang amoy bagoong o patis. (No trace of the raw smell)
28. Don't dispose used cooking oil in sink. It reacts with detergent and solidifies like soap - the same process called saponification, blocking drainage canal and sewer.
29. Cut spent toothpaste tube and glean on remaining content. You can have as much as five brushings. Use remaining paste as hand-wash to remove grease and fishy odor.
30. Make your own hand wash detergent. Scrape soap with knife, dissolve in water. Presto! You can have all the hand wash you need. Use your formula to refill empty dispensers. Label with the soap you used and the dilution you made. Avoid commercial concentrated brands - they are too strong, and dangerous to children.
31. Protect tip of pencil with rolled paper. This serves as cap to extend the life of the pencil, and prevent accident. Use gloss, colored paper - the kind used as promo leaflets. Instead of refusing, or throwing it away, you can make a beautiful pencil cap. You can also roll it as extender when the pencil becomes too short, thus maximizing its use.
32. Garden pots from PET bottles (1- to 2-li). It’s free, whereas commercial garden pots are expensive. Cut at midsection with a sharp knife or blade; puncture three equidistant holes on the side, an inch from the base, not at the bottom. This is to keep reserve water for the plant. Plant one kind per pot: oregano, alugbati, kamote, kangkong, ginger, onion, garlic, mustard, pechay, and the like. Scrape some topsoil for your planting medium. There’s no need of fertilizer and pesticide. Keep a pot or two of growing garlic or onion, also ginger; they are insect repellants.
33. How do you count seconds and minutes without a timepiece?
When counting seconds, it is more precise to count, “one-hundred-one, one-hundred-two, one-hundred-three, and so on.” This traditional technique is used today in photography (light exposure, shutter speed), games (swimming and track race), and during emergency (CPR, measuring body temperature, pulse rate). It may be useful in our daily routine (cooking, exercise).
34. Double the circumference of your neck and that is your waistline.
In the absence of a tape measure, and without fitting it, how do you know the waistline of your pants? Mothers have a simple formula. Button the pants and wrap it around the neck of the would-be user. Both ends should meet, not too tight or loose.
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35. Rice weevil, PHOTO by avr, can be controlled by placing crushed bulb of garlic in the stored rice. Loosely wrap garlic with cloth or paper. Cover the box. In a day or two, the weevils succumb to the garlic odor. Others simply escape.
36. Sugar solution extends the life of cut flowers. Pulsing for roses is done by immersing the stem ends for one to three hours in 10% sugar solution, and for gladiolus 12 to 24 hours in 20% sugar solution. Daisies, carnation, chrysanthemums, and the like are better handled if harvested and transported in their immature stage, then opened by pulsing. It is best to cut the stem at an angle, dipped 6 to 12 hours in 10% sugar solution. Best results are obtained at cool temperature and low relative humidity.
37. Insert balled newspaper (better brown paper to get rid of possible lead content from ink and paint) into shoes to remove odor, absorb moisture, keep shoes in shape.
38. Orange peeling kept in sugar jar prevents sugar from caking and discoloring into dark clumps.
39. Banana leaves as floor polisher. Mature leaves of saba variety (other varieties will do) is first wilted on flame to melt the natural wax. It also imparts a pleasant smell.
40. Don't throw away coconut husk. Make it into flower pot for orchids and ferns. Shred to make scrub for floor and utensils. Cut whole mature nut crosswise, trim off protruding shell. Now you have a foot floor polisher. Happy exercise.
41. Add talc powder (baby powder) to hardware nails to prevent rusting. Be sure to keep the container tight. Notice in some restaurants, rice is mixed with salt in the dispenser. Rice absorbs moisture preventing the salt from clumping and soggy.
42. Stuck bubble gum in clothes? Don't force to remove. Put soiled clothes in the freezer. Once solidified, peel off the gum clean and easy.
43. Ethnic music makes a wholesome life; it is therapy.
Have you ever noticed village folks singing or humming as they attend to their chores? They have songs when rowing the boat, songs when planting, songs of praise at sunrise, songs while walking up and down the trail, etc. Seldom is there an activity without music. Even the sounds of nature to them are music.
According to researcher Leonora Nacorda Collantes, of the UST graduate school, music influences the limbic system, called the “seat of emotions” and causes emotional response and mood change. Musical rhythms synchronize body rhythms, mediate within the sphere of the autonomous nervous and endocrine systems, and change the heart and respiratory rate. Music reduces anxiety and pain, induces relaxation, thus promoting the overall sense of well being of the individual.
Music is closely associated with everyday life among village folks more than it is to us living in the city. The natives find content and relaxation beside a waterfall, on the riverbank, under the trees, in fact there is to them music in silence under the stars, on the meadow, at sunset, at dawn. Breeze, crickets, running water, make a repetitious melody that induces sleep. Humming indicates that one likes his or her work., and can go on for hours without getting tired at it. Boat songs make rowing synchronized. Planting songs make the deities of the field happy, so they believe; and songs at harvest is thanksgiving. The natives are indeed a happy lot.
44. When earthworms crawl out of their holes, a flood is coming. This subterranean annelid has built-in sensors, a biblical Noah’s sense of a coming flood, so to speak. Its small brain is connected to clusters of nerve cells, called ganglia, running down the whole body length. These in turn are connected to numerous hair-like protrusions on the cuticle, which serve as receptor. When rain saturates the soil, ground water rises and before it reaches their burrows, they crawl out to higher grounds where they seek refuge until the flood or the rainy season is over.
The more earthworms abandoning their burrows, the more we should take precaution.
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Recycle writing materials:
a. Notebooks with unused pages.
b. Other side of used bond papers.
c. Replace spent ballpens with new fillers. Take with you samples.
d. Small notes and reminder slips, save blank spaces of used papers.
e. Papers which can't be recycled for writing can be used for wrapping
and similar purposes. Avoid waste.
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45. To control rhinoceros beetles from destroying coconuts throw some sand into the base of the leaves. 
This insect, Oryctes rhinoceros, is a scourge of coconut, the larva and adult burrow into the bud and destroy the whole top or crown of the tree. There is scientific explanation to this practice of throwing sand into the axis of the leaves. Sand, the raw material in making glass, penetrates into the conjunctiva - the soft skin adjoining the hard body plates, in effect injuring the insect. As the insect moves, the more it gets hurt. As a result the insect dies from wound infection, or by dehydration. Thus we observe that coconut trees growing along the seashore are seldom attacked by this beetle.
46. Don’t play with toads. Toads cause warts.
Old folks may be referring to the Bufo marinus, a poisonous toad that secretes white pasty poison from a pair of glands behind its eyes. Even snakes have learned to avoid this creature described as ugly in children’s fairy tales.
But what do we know! The toad’s defensive fluids have antibiotic properties. Chinese folk healers treat wounds such as sores and dog bites with toad secretions, sometimes obtained by surrounding the toads with mirrors to scare them in order to secrete more fluids.Aestivating toad
Similarly certain frogs secrete antibiotic substances. A certain Dr. Michael Zasloff, physician and biochemist, discovered an antibiotic from the skin of frogs he called magainins, derived from the Hebrew word for shield, a previously unknown antibiotic. It all started when researchers performed surgery on frogs and after returning them to murky bacteria-filled water, found out that the frogs almost never got any infection.
What are then the warts the old folks claim? They must be scars of ugly wounds healed by the toad’s secretion.
47. Animals become uneasy before an earthquake occurs.
It is because they are sensitive to the vibrations preceding an earthquake. They perceive the small numerous crackling of the earth before the final break (tectonic), which is the earthquake.
Fantail or pandangera bird is usually restless at the onset of bad weather.
As a means of self-preservation they try to escape from stables and pens, seek shelter, run to higher grounds, or simply escape to areas far from the impending earthquake. Snakes come out of their abode, reptiles move away from the water, horses neigh and kick around, elephants seem to defy the command of their masters (like in the case of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka). We humans can only detect such minute movements on our inventions such as the Richter Scale.
48. Don’t gather all the eggs. Leave some otherwise the laying hen will not return to its nest.
True. The layer is likely to abandon its nest when it finds it empty. Leave a decoy of say, three eggs. But there are layers that know simple arithmetic, and therefore, cannot be deceived, and so they abandon their nest and find a new one.
49. Raining while the sun is out breeds insects.
Now and then we experience simultaneous rain and sunshine, and may find ourselves walking under an arch of rainbow, a romantic scene reminiscent of the movie and song, Singing in the Rain. Old folks would rather grim with a kind of sadness on their faces, for they believe that such condition breeds caterpillars and other vermin that destroy their crops.
What could be the explanation to this belief? Thunderstorm is likely the kind of rain old folks are referring to. Warmth plus moisture is vital to egg incubation, and activation of aestivating insects, fungi, bacteria and the like. In a few days, they come out in search of food and hosts. Armyworms and cutworms (Spodoptera and Prodina), named after their huge numbers and voracious eating habit, are among these uninvited guests
50. Garlic drives the aswang away.
If aswang (ghost) being referred to are pests and diseases, then there is scientific explanation to offer, because garlic contains a dozen substances that have pesticidal, antimicrobial and antiviral properties such as allicin, from which its generic name of the plant is derived – Allium sativum. Garlic is placed on doorways, in the kitchen and some corners of the house where vermin usually hide, which is also practiced in other countries. It exudes a repellant odor found effective against insects and rodents – and to many people, also to evil spirits, such as the manananggal (half-bodied vampire). ~
Acknowledgement with gratitude: Cartoons and photos as indicated from Internet
Part 2 -
Home Biotechnology - People’s Green Revolution
Dr Abe V Rotor
We wake up to the fresh aroma of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, the cured taste of dried tapa, tinapa, ham and bacon – all these are products of a mysterious process we generally call fermentation.
Aged wine is mellower, cured tobacco is more aromatic, naturally ripened fruits are sweeter, dried prunes, raisin and dates have higher sugar content and have longer shelf life. Seasoned toyo, bagoong and patis make fine cuisine, so with vanilla, chili, laurel, banana blossom, and annatto.
Why many foods taste better after allowing them to stand for sometime! Take suman, tupig, puto, bibingka, and the like. The real taste of pinakbet comes out an hour or two after it has been cooked. So with the Ilocos dinuguan.
Thanks to the myriads of beneficial microorganisms, and the complex chemistry working in our favor even while we are asleep. Indeed Nature works silently through her invisible agents and processes.
The vast potential uses of microorganisms - bacteria, algae, fungi and the like - in providing food, medicine and better environment to supply the requirements of our fast growing population and standard of living are being tapped by biotechnology. Biotechnology hand in hand with genetic engineering dominate the Green Revolution of this century – the fourth since Neolithic time.
Let me cite particular areas of biotechnology in which small entrepreneurs play a vital role and which they have proven themselves successful in one way or the other. The first group involves the production of alcoholic drinks and vinegar through fermentation. These products are
§ Tapoy (rice wine of the Cordillera equivalent to the Japanese kampei)
§ Basi (sugarcane)
§ Lambanog (distilled coconut wine)
§ Tuba (young wine from coconut)
§ Layaw (nipa)
§ Bahalina (coconut and tangal)
§ Fruit wine (kasoy, bignay, strawberry, pineapple, etc.)
§ Root crop wine (potato, kamote, cassava, yakon)
§ Beer (malted corn, rice, sorghum, barley, wheat, rye)
§ Vinegar (nipa, sugarcane, coconut, various fruits)
Basi, pride of the Ilocos Region; and rice wine, indigenous
drink of the Cordillera region.
With readily available raw materials and simple tools used, brewing is a practical industry. More so, with the simplicity of fermentation itself - which is the conversion of sugar into ethanol through fermentation with yeast, as shown in this general formula?
C6H12O6 ------- 2C2H5OH + 2CO2
Sugar to Wine
This equation applies to all kinds of wine and beer in the world, varying only in the source of materials and technical aspects, cultural uniqueness notwithstanding. This is why wine making is universal. It is engrained in culture and history, and in all human activities. No ceremony is without wine. It is symbolic of religious faith and belief. And while there are popular brands in the market, still the best wine is found in the farmer’s cellar in Europe and Asia, or elsewhere.
The brewed product is either consumed immediately or allowed to age. Aging improves quality and lengthens the shelf life of the product. Wine making is an art, and a personalized enterprise, with each vintage or cellar having a distinctive quality trademark. Bordeaux in France for example, is famous for brandy, while the Scotch Whiskey remains a top grade liquor made from grains. Similarly we have basi in Ilocos, bahalina in the Visayas and lambanog in Southern Tagalog.
Wine does not go to waste if it fails to meet standards. And even if the brew is left unattended. Nature makes wine to vinegar. Vin-egar means sour wine. In chemistry it is oxidized ethyl alcohol, the product of which is acetic acid, as shown in this formula, similarly a universal one.
C2H5OH + O2 à CH3COOH + H2O
Wine or Ethyl Alcohol to Acetic Acid
Vinegar is perhaps the most common food preservative and additive. It is often associated with the local source such as Sukang Iloko and Sukang Paombong. Or material – sasa from nipa, pineapple vinegar, apple cider vinegar, etc.
Vinegar has many uses outside of the kitchen. Weed killer, bleaching agent, pesticide, drainage declogger, odor remover, etc. Many industries rely on this organic substance from food to textile to metallurgy.
The second group of products of village biotechnology are beverages, food condiments, tobacco and betel for chewing. Tea, coffee, fruit juice and chocolate, in this order, make up the world’s top beverages, thus pointing out the vast opportunities of biotechnology in this area.
§ Kapeng barako (Batangas and Cavite)
§ Cacao (Batangas, Mindanao)
§ Vanilla (Mindanao)
§ Tsaa (Batangas)
§ Fruit puree (mango, guyabano, pineapple, etc.,
Southern Tagalog, Mindanao)
§ Bagoong and patis (Navotas, Balayan, Dagupan)
§ Kesong Puti (Laguna)
§ Betel (Cordillera, Laguna, Ilocos)
§ Ketsup (banana, tomato)
§ Rolled tobacco (Cagayan Valley, Ilocos)Toyo (Southern Tagalog, Mindanao)
Like in the first group, these products are area-specific which point out to their indigenous production and processing, so with their patronage. Rolled tobacco or pinadis, for example, has a special market for old people who are used to the product – and not to the younger generation. This is also true with betel or nganga.
On the other hand, bagoong and patis, which used to be a specialty among Ilocanos, are now marketed abroad. So with kapeng barako a local coffee which is mainly grown in the highlands of Batangas and Tagaytay?
Fruit puree and fruit preserve, though relatively new, are amazingly growing fast, as people are shunning away from carbonated drinks. Because of high demand, these products became a boom to small growers, who recently are becoming mere conduits or raw products suppliers of big companies, instead of making and marketing the finished products themselves.
The third and largest group of village biotechnology products is in processed food.
§ Puto or rice cake, very popular among Filipinos
§ Bibingka (rice)
§ Maja (corn starch)
§ Burong manggang paho, mustasa (pickled mango, mustard)
§ Burong Isda (dalag and rice)
§ Hamon (manok, baboy, pato) ham
§ Tocino, longganisa
§ Itlog na pula and century egg
§ Balot and Penoy (incubated duck egg)
§ Tokwa (bean curd)
§ Taosi (fermented black bean)
§ Talangka (crab paste)
§ Pickles (papaya, carrot, amargoso, onion, cucumber, etc.)
§ Toge (mungo sprout)
§ Cakes (banana, cassava)
§ Ripening of fruits (with madre de cacao leaves)
Food processing constitutes the bulk of village biotechnology in developing countries, on both domestic and commercial scales. Like in the other groups, these undertakings are seldom organized as formal establishments; rather they fall under the category of informal economics which is life line of the people especially in these critical times.
The pioneering group, are the so-called “One-Celled Protein” food, a new term in food production by algae, fungi and bacteria. Actually many of these have long been known even in primitive societies because they grow in the wild.
· Spirulina (blue-green alga or BGA)
· Chlorella (green alga)
· Nostoc (BGA as food and fertilizer)
· Anabaena (BGA in symbiosis with Azolla a floating fern, for fertilizer and food)
· Nata - nata de coco, nata de piña (Leuconostoc mesenteroides, a capsule bacterium)
· Mushrooms –Pleurotus (abalone mushroom), Shitaki (black mushroom), Volvariella (banana mushroom), Agaricus (rice hay mushroom), Auricularia or “tainga ng daga,” and many other edible mushrooms, cultivated or wild.
· Chlorella (green alga)
· Nostoc (BGA as food and fertilizer)
· Anabaena (BGA in symbiosis with Azolla a floating fern, for fertilizer and food)
· Nata - nata de coco, nata de piña (Leuconostoc mesenteroides, a capsule bacterium)
· Mushrooms –Pleurotus (abalone mushroom), Shitaki (black mushroom), Volvariella (banana mushroom), Agaricus (rice hay mushroom), Auricularia or “tainga ng daga,” and many other edible mushrooms, cultivated or wild.
Let’s strive to make village biotechnology truly a Green Revolution of, for and by the people.
Part 3 -
Are you living an austere life?
Self-evaluation, 25 items
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Austere Life on the Countryside, painting by the author
Austerity is practiced where there is not much money, so that money is spent only on things that are necessary. It is a condition of living without unnecessary things; a practice,habit, or experience of living with limited resources. Austerity is a necessary economic tool of survival - and recovery - during difficult times, often as a policy of government. On the other hand, austerity is regarded as a virtue in the light of freeing oneself from the clutches of ostentatious and luxurious living.
Austere living keeps families and communities closer, a collective way to enjoy life with the least amenities, devoid of ostentatious show of wealth. Answer Yes to items you are presently practicing and/or those which you agree with.
1. You would rather buy things in bulk (paint, cooking oil, rice), or by the dozens (eggs, soft drinks) for ready supply at home, particularly these days when prices are increasing and supply is unpredictable.
2. You keep these tools and materials which you personally use now and then in various handiwork such as house repairs and gardening: a pair of pliers, hammer, set of screw driver, nails and screws, GI wires, electrical tester, and the like.
3. You would rather have your laundry and ironing once a week rather than daily or every other day, scheduling it usually on a weekend, thus saving precious water and electricity, and getting more helping hands from the family.
4. As a general policy of any state, the government should pursue a self sufficiency program in food, particularly staple (rice and corn) as the best way to insure food security, even if there is adequate supply in the world market.
5. In economics, austerity is when a national government reduces its spending in order to pay back creditors. Austerity is usually required when a government’s fiscal deficit spending is felt to be unsustainable. Austerity must cut down spending on development projects (countryside development funds from pork barrel), welfare and other social programs (subsidies and charitable expenditures).
7. The best way to save money is to set aside immediately a part of your salary, say 20 percent, and budget strictly the 80 percent. This is more effective than setting 20 percent after having budgeted and spent 80 percent of your salary.
8. You participate in the informal economy just like the farmer’s wife who goes to market to sell farm products and comes back with various household supplies. This is contemporary barter system. This is entrepreneurship on the grassroots.
9. Food supplementation reduces our dependence on conventional food, discovery of new food sources like seaweeds, wild food plants, as well as the discovery of new ways to prepare food comes at the heels of austere living. Hamburger from banana flower (puso), roasted rice for coffee or roasted corn, papait vegetable, sea cucumber, kuhol, the many uses of gabi, substitution of wheat flour with rice flour. Substitution of staple food with root crops (camote, cassava) to save on precious rice.
10. Postharvest losses reduces our supply, in fact to one-half, that by saving even only 10 percent of what is wasted, would be sufficient to fill up our annual deficit in rice and corn. Austerity is reducing our waste on all levels – production, post production, food preparation.
11. Austerity is the most practical weapon to fight obesity. It means avoidance of junk food, moderation in eating, and consumption of natural food. It is also favorable to health. Less kidney trouble, liver ailment, cardiac problem, high blood pressure. It means less hospital cases, cancer, ulcers, less alcohol consumption, etc. Austerity means natural beauty, good fit, good stride, and happy disposition.
12. There are more and more good schools in the provinces and chartered cities. We would rather send our children in these schools for practical reasons.
13. Grains would rather be used directly as food and lessen the amount of using them in producing animal protein by feeding the grains to poultry and animals. By doing this we maximize the value of food and make them available to ordinary people.
14. Israel as an emerging new state adopted an austerity program lasting for 10 years (1949-1959). When USSR collapsed, Cuba adopted an austerity policy (1991 onwards) to be able to survive as an “orphaned socialist” state. Austerity is aimed at attaining self-reliance at a time of crisis.
15. Private banks or institutions like IMP may require a country pursues an austerity policy if it wants to re-finance loans that are about to come due. The government may be asked to stop issuing subsidies or to otherwise reduce public spending. We call this as “IMF conditionality.”
16. People’s power – the cry of the first EDSA Revolution – fizzled out because the newly acquired empowerment was not used put to proper use as evidenced by unsuccessful cooperative movement, agrarian reform which turned out to be confrontational between right of property and right of tillage, rampant and blatant graft and corruption in the government, declined productivity in agriculture and industry, spread of poverty.
17. Family planning refers to limiting the number as well as proper spacing of your children. If there is a sin of commission or omission, there is also a sin of neglect – and if that neglect is within the knowledge of the sinner, and the consequence is the ruin of the lives of those under his care as parent, atonement is almost unthinkable.
It's time for the family and clan to stick together in weathering down the effects of economic crisis.
19. Youth today are torn between choices of white collar jobs and blue collar jobs. They are lured to easy education – diploma mill, and on the modern method of leaning on the computer which actually does not offer an “end course” that makes one a professional like a doctor, lawyer, agriculturist, and the like. Austerity calls for a re-definition of courses that are functional in nature and p[practical in application, and relevant to the changing times.
20. Limits to growth come like a moving vehicle suddenly running out of fuel, its tires worn-out and flat, engine conking out, while the road is getting rougher, narrower and steeper. Austerity is applying the brakes before all of these happen. It is anticipating the limits to growth, before it turns against you.
- People for manpower turning overpopulation, unemployment
- Industrial growth turning out pollution
- Agriculture causing erosion, siltation; invading wildlife
Austerity brings awareness, it gives us time to plan out, to review our goals in these difficult times.
22. Modeling of successful projects such as coops (farmers multipurpose cops), agro-eco center (Cabiokid), Kabsaka (Sta. Barbara, Iloilo), mangrove farming, seaweed farming, Irrigators’ association, Dr. Parra of Iloilo – these must ride on Filipino trait of gaya-gaya. Gaya-gaya put to good use. Peer teaching and learning is effective among the masses, and should be complementary with formal education. Austerity opens a gateway to look into models we can adopt under our local conditions.
23. “Necessity is the mother of invention," so “crisis is the sphinx of survival.” (Story of the Sphinx.) What is it that walks on all fours in the morning, two at noon and three in the evening?”) Crisis is Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest. It rewards the strong, eliminates the weak, humbles the proud, deepens the soul, and elevates the spirit. - of those who can make it.” Crisis is the time to test man’s soul.” Soul is the ultimate of man’s capacity to survive. (Thesis of Victor Frankl – A Search for Meaning)
Reference on living close to nature by the author
25. The more closely related supply and demand cycle in a given community, the more self-reliant the community is. This means that in that community, people produce what they consume; consumption motivates production and vice versa. This according to Dr. Anselmo Cabigan is a basic tenet of austerity, because the self-reliant community becomes less dependent on external factors and the vagaries of the larger environment.
When does Austerity come in? Wartime, recession and depression (US), epidemic, high inflation, queuing for food, disaster, embargo (N Korea), new settlements, poor harvest, political turmoil, religious conflict, El Niño, cyclone (Burma), earthquake (China), etc.
All questions are answered with Yes. You may use these items as your ready guide and reference for your home, school, and community outreach program.
Part 4 - Kitchen Garden
Practical Hydroponics: A Kitchen Garden
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]
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Three-week old kitchen garden
You can grow kamote or sweet potato tops in the kitchen. It also serves as a greenery of sort on the window sill.
Fill to three-fourth a convenient glass jar with tap water. Place a healthy tuber on the mouth of the jar. To keep it steady, stick three pieces of toothpick like a tripod. Add water daily as roots develop. Be sure to replace water weekly to prevent mosquitoes from breeding in the jar.
In a week's time or two you can start harvesting. At first allow the tops to extend. Just clip the leaves you need in your cooking. Rotate the position of the tuber towards the source of light, so that you will have more shoots, and greener and bigger leaves.
Now you have a dish garden for a whole month or longer. You can grow fresh onion leaves with this technique. Try it on garlic.
You see, this is simple hydroponics - soil-less gardening. It is introduction to the science of hydroponics and aeroponics. For school childre, why don't you try this as your project?
Kitchen Garden: Onion Leek
Dr Abe V Rotor
This is one way to encourage kids to have a daily supplement of vegetables. Vary the use of leek in their diet. Onion leek is rich in vitamin K, A, C and B6, manganese, folate, iron, fiber, magnesium, molybdenum, copper, calcium, and potassium. It also contains thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin, and antibiotic substances like Allicin and Alliin - from Allium, the genus of onion (A. cepa), garlic (A. sativum), kutchay (A tuberosum), and the original leek (A. ampeloprasum). Leeks generally have also high calorie value, and fair amounts of protein and fat. It is no wonder onion is the most important vegetable in the world.
Grow leek where there is sufficient sunlight, preferably on an elevated place. It's easy to grow leek from shallot (Sibuyas Tagalog) and from bulb onions (Granex or Creole). Staggered planting assures continuous supply of leek for the family - and for neighbors too.
A pot of onion leek makes a unique gift to friends who love to cook, those in their senior years, and those convalescing. Don't forget to add a little ribbon and a personal message. Make this as project in school and community. ~
Garlic Sprouts, Anyone?
Dr Abe V Rotor
Husked cloves of garlic sprouted in a refrigerator, 10 to 20 degrees Celsius (vegetables shelf), for a period of two weeks.
Sprouted garlic has higher anti-oxidant properties. This process is cleaner than directly sprouting garlic exposed to sunlight. Ref-sprouted garlic sprouts develop chlorophyll and turn green just after a few hours of indirect sunlight. Conventional garlic sprouts are green, harvested from germinating bulbs. or bulbs raised in the garden or pots. These are popularly called garlic shoots. (Photos taken from actual result of home experiment in the author's residence. Model is Miss Resabel "Isang" Dimalanta, 18.)How to use Garlic Sprouts
Ideally, their flavor is best appreciated eaten fresh. Garlic sprouts are excellent on top of baked potatoes, green salads, vegetable salads, or stirred into egg salads, pasta salads, dips, and as a quick garnish over hummus or guacamole (dips).
Sprouted garlic on caliente, ox hide.
Hide is cleaned, and softened under low fire for hours, sliced thinly, spiced heavily with onion and pepper, and salt - and, garlic sprouts
Add sprouted garlic to kilawen and pinapa-itan. it's simply superb!
Favorite goat recipes: kilawin (left) or medium rare; and pinapa-itan (soup made of entrails and chyme, which gives the bitter taste. Chyme is extracted from the partially digested grass, and heated to pasteurization temperature, around 70 degrees Celsius. Gall is often used as substitute.)
"Sprouted garlic enhances raw garlic's proven anti-inflammatory, immune-boosting, cardiovascular health protection, and its ability to kill 14 types of cancer cells. A sulfur-rich compound in garlic called allicin is effective against bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites without toxic side effects." - Korea's Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology,
The ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Here are 15 health benefits of garlic
By Dr Anitha Anchan
Antibacterial and AntiviralGarlic is most well-known for its antibacterial and antiviral properties. They help control bacterial, viral, fungal, yeast and worm infections. Fresh garlic is thought to play a role in preventing food poisoning by killing bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella enteritidis, etc. To treat skin infections
The chemical ajoene found in garlic may help treat fungal skin infections like ringworm and athlete’s foot.
Blood thinning
The anti-clotting properties of ajoene found in garlic help in preventing the formation of blood clots in the body. Hence, it may also increase the risk of bleeding after surgery.
Reduce blood pressure
Angiotensin II is a protein that helps our blood vessels contract thereby increasing the blood pressure. Allicin in garlic blocks the activity of angiotensin II and helps in reducing blood pressure. The polysulphides present in garlic are converted into a gas called hydrogen sulphide by the red blood cells. Hydrogen sulphide dilates our blood vessels and helps control blood pressure.
Protect heart
Garlic protects our heart against cardiovascular problems like heart attacks and atherosclerosis. This cardio-protective property can be attributed to various factors. With age, the arteries tend to lose their ability to stretch. Garlic may help reduce this and may also protect the heart from the damaging effects of free oxygen radicals. The sulphur-containing compounds of garlic also prevent our blood vessels from becoming blocked and slow the development of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The anti-clotting properties of ajoene help prevent clots from forming inside the blood vessels.
Reduce cholesterol
Garlic has the ability to moderately lower our blood triglycerides and total cholesterol and reduce arterial plaque formation.
Combat allergies
Garlic is known to have anti-inflammatory property. It can help the body fight against allergies. The anti-arthritic property of garlic is due to diallyl sulphide and thiacremonone. Garlic has been show to improve allergic airway inflammation (allergic rhinitis). Raw garlic juice may be used to immediately stop the itching due to rashes and bug bites.
Remedy for respiratory problems
Daily use of garlic might reduce the frequency and number of colds. Its antibacterial properties help in treating throat irritations. Garlic may also reduce the severity of upper respiratory tract infections. Its benefits in disorders of the lungs like asthma, difficulty of breathing, etc. make it a priceless medicine. Its ability to promote expectoration makes it irreplaceable in chronic bronchitis.
Diabetes
Garlic increases insulin release and regulates blood sugar levels in diabetics.
Effective against warts and corns
Applying fat dissolving garlic extracts to corns on the feet and warts on the hands is thought to improve these conditions.
Cancer prevention
Daily intake of garlic has been found to lower risk of most types of cancer. This anti-cancer property is due to allyl sulphides found in garlic. PhIP, a type of heterocyclic amine (HCA), has been associated with increased incidence of breast cancer among women. According to studies, diallyl sulphide found in garlic inhibits the transformation of PhIP into carcinogens.
Improve iron metabolism
Ferroportin is a protein which helps in iron absorption and release. Diallyl sulphides in garlic increase production of ferroportin and help improve iron metabolism.
Stir up passions
Garlic’s aphrodisiac property is due to its ability to increase the circulation.
Toothaches
Simply put some crushed garlic clove directly on the affected tooth can help relieve toothaches due to its antibacterial and analgesic properties. But be aware that it can be irritating to the gum.
Reduce weight
Many researchers believe that obesity is a state of long-term low-grade inflammation. According to recent research, garlic may help to regulate the formation of fat cells in our body. Pre-adipocytes are converted into fat cells (adipocytes) through inflammatory system activity. The anti-inflammatory property of 1, 2-DT (1, 2-vinyldithiin) found in garlic may help inhibit this conversion. This may help prevent weight gain.
References: Living with Nature AVR,
ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Internet
Lesson on Living with Nature - School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM, [www.pbs.gov.ph] 8-9 evening class Monday to Friday
Read more about hydroponics and aeroponics. Happy dish gardening!
Dedicated to the late Dr. Fernando de Peralta, my professor in botany:
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