BAGUIO CITY -- Sixty-seven-year-old Fely Tabilog, or Manang Fely to family and friends, toiled as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Hong Kong, away from her family, for 22 years.
A garden-lover, she happily transformed her family's 150-square-meter backyard in Barangay Irisan into a flower and vegetable garden, when she retired as an overseas worker in 2008.
She now grows pechay, squash, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, onion leeks, ginger, camote tops, sayote, strawberries, guavas, pineapples, passion fruits, oranges, lemons, papaya, and bananas mixed with flowering plants. The flowers that bloom in her garden are often given to friends as gifts, or as offerings to her departed loved ones on All Saints' Day.
For 10 years now, her backyard garden has been Manang Fely's favorite pastime, aside from her volunteer work in the barangay as a senior citizen.
She related that her family bought their residential lot in Irisan, Baguio's biggest barangay, in 1999. Before they built their small house, they first planted a calamansi tree in one corner, marking their lot's boundary and the beginning of their new life in that place.
Over the years, they have planted bananas, oranges, and lemons aside from some orchids that Manang Fely hung on the walls of their new house.
When she retired as an OFW, she started to fix the area, planting more edible plants in pots and on the sides of the property, where her family gets fresh vegetables every day.
“It's good when you have vegetables in your backyard. You can harvest anytime you want. You do not have to buy and you are assured of how your vegetables are grown,” she said.
Manang Fely practices organic production in her backyard. She turns the weeds into compost or organic soil for her garden.
She also does vermicomposting, where she gets vermin soil as fertilizer for her plants and the vermin tea that she sprays on her plants as a pesticide.
She learned all about organic gardening from seminars held by the Department of Agriculture in Baguio City.
Intending to spread her love for vegetable gardening, she encouraged her sister to grow vegetables on pots on their porches as a source of fresh vegetables.
"Planting vegetables does not just result in savings. It is also healthy because you don't use chemical fertilizers on your plants. Tending to your plants, especially harvesting, is a good way to relax,” she said.
Manang Fely's daughter, who is a government employee, also enjoys getting camote tops for her “dinengdeng” (Ilocano vegetable dish) and “sinigang” (sour soup) from her garden. "When they are home with the children, especially on weekends, she harvests various vegetables that she mixes and cooks the Ilocano way,” Manang Fely relates.
Manang Fely is not the only one enticed to practice urban gardening. More Baguio residents are apparently lured to the hobby, found to be enjoyable by many.
Last year, the city government set May as the Urban Farmer's Month, launching a yearly competition for the best backyard farm.
This year, the contest mustered 43 entries, exceeding last year's total entries of 30 backyard vegetable gardens. Baguio City Councilor Leandro Yangot Jr., chairman of the committee on Market, Trade, Commerce, and Agriculture, said more city residents are now into backyard farming, especially for fresh vegetables.
“We are elated because it only shows that organic farming is alive even in a highly urbanized city like Baguio. We urge our residents to maximize the use of their limited spaces to produce their own supply of organic vegetables and make the presence of urban farms in the barangays an added tourist attraction,” Yangot said.
He added that urban farmers even exchange ideas, know-how, and strategies for better farming with agriculture experts through seminars supported by the agriculture department and the newly established City Agriculture Division under the City Veterinary Office. (PNA)
