The harvest of old age is the recollection and abundance of blessing previously secured. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The weather this August is what should have been for July, but I am still happy the rainy season came although very late.
Last night, while I was half asleep, the rain poured heavily and I thought it wouldn't stop until morning. After about two hours, it stopped, and by morning, the ground was drained but the leaves were still drenched by rainwater.
When there's lightning and rain, it will bring nitrogen back to the soil and the garden soil should be ready to capture and store it instead of running off.
This has been the problem of our orchard before, there are a lot of weeds but low in organic matter, leaving the soil eroded and depleted from nutrients. To slow down the erosion, I build organic barriers and shallow swales to slow down the undercurrent during floods and to capture organic matters and sediments in the long run.
Most of the flowers have died off already, but have self-seeded already and the flower seedlings are almost half a foot in height already. One that is still blooming is the lone sunflower bush which was attracting a lot of pollinators lately. I keep an eye on it, so I can disperse the seeds everyday in other areas of the orchard.
Now that the rain has come, I resumed my vegetable gardening activities again, since the rainwater would be sufficient enough while seedlings are still rooting.
I have heard somewhere that clay soil is actually nutrient dense, but without organic matter and moisture, it would be difficult for the roots to consume it especially during the dry season. That's why I am doing raised-beds instead of directly sowing it on the ground, to make it possible to grow crops almost year-round.
Growing What You Eat
In the recent months, I have been concluding some insights on how I should do things on life. Just one basic rule, if my great grandparents died of old age, why is there a need to follow workout routines and hyped diets?
My solution is to follow what has been practiced for centuries and what fits my genes—local and whole foods!
Do your own research, check your biological family tree, and/or see your professional health expert.
It doesn't matter what the health experts because I already have the data embedded in my DNA. If something worked for generations, surely that what worked and will work.
What remains to be emulated is the hardwork outside, in the fields or up the mountain. No more fancy workout machines, just brisk walking, manual labor, nature, and sunshine.
Growing More Purple Foods
One of my plans is to collect colored cultivars and varieties aside from the usual ones. Examples of which are purple-leafed leafy greens, purple and orange root crops, and pink guavas.
Just today, I completed a smaller raised-bed and accompanied it with its own bamboo trellis. It's about 2x2 ft. and should be enough to fit purple alugbati or Malabar spinach in it. Though I like almost all vegetables, alugbati is surely one of my favorites!
Its fresh, young leaves and stalks can be added to mung bean stew just after removing from the stove. Once cooked, it has a bit of a slimy texture, but that's what I like about it.
How about you, what are you growing now in your garden?
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About Me
@oniemaniego is a software developer, but outside work, he experiments in the kitchen, writes poetry and fiction, paints his heart out, or toils under the hot sun.
 | Onie Maniego / Loy Bukid was born in rural Leyte. He often visits his family orchards during the summers and weekends, which greatly influenced his works. |
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Hello dear @oniemaniego, I congratulate you for the excellent work you are doing with the sowing, without a doubt you managed to sow at a correct time, because the rainfall maintained the humidity required by the crops. Clay soils tend to retain the greatest amount of water, which is why developing drains is important.
I recommend you to make compost and integrate it into the soil to improve its structure by providing organic matter, thanks for sharing your experiences have an excellent week.
Thanks @amesty for the advice!
It may seem weird to have my gardening on rainy days, haha! But we only have two season here, drought or very wet, so it's really hard to schedule things. It has been normal here to just plant whenever the weekly weather permits especially with the changing weather patterns.
Based on recent experience and because of the raised-beds, I was able to grow almost year-round unlike on traditional plow/till practice. While not 100% successful, most of my crops are still doing fine now and will just be waiting for a few weeks/months before harvest.
The ones I planted recently are just vines and leafy greens, just long enough before the monsoon season this upcoming November/December.
Very true. I come from family who have easily lived into their 100s which should mean the ability to have a long-lived and healthy life already exists within me. Thanks for sharing your personal insight into healthy living. Cheers!
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Hello @epodcaster!
Glad you enjoy the post, but I still recommend talking to professional health experts on person-to-person basis when dealing with personal health because of the different environment and stresses we are living in versus our grandparents' time.
100s is beyond amazing, btw! Mine is mostly 90s and rarely 100s, but I think that's still okay. I have acquaintances though which already had maintenance meds at their early 30s and that scared me, that's why I opted to change my previous habits to lessen the risks to diseases. :)
Agreed. Living well, eating well, taking whatever nutritional supplements makes sense for each of us. In my experience, living a healthy life involves the physical, spiritual, mental. Be well.
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Gotcha! Nice to meet you. Great post with good infos and plans. Good luck, and thanks for sharing.
!CTP