WHILE the Philippines is busy paying attention to cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, Helen Joy Icogo Cejar has been reaping the health benefits and profit from kale, the cabbage’s superfood family member.
The health and income potentials of kale are often underestimated, unpopular, and overlooked that even the garden geek Cejar was unaware about it when she started planting its seeds.
“Si kale, hindi ko siya kilala. Tinanim ko lang kasi seed siya from the sister-in-law ko from the US and yung niece ko from Hong Kong pinadalhan ako (I did not about kale but I planted it anyway from the seed given to me by sister-in-law from US and my niece from Hong Kong),” she shared.
Having the fondness to grow almost every plant she can think of, she cultivated kale just as how she does with other ornamental plants.
When she sent photos of the kale to her sister-in-law, it was when she was told how valuable it was.
"From there, nagpropagate ako kasi nga pwede pala siyang makain. Pwede pala siyang i-salad, i-gulay (I propagated more because it can be consumed like a salad or along with other vegetables)," she said.
Apart from eating it raw like a salad, she has also tried using it as a topping to soups and has experimented stir frying it.
Cejar is currently growing six varieties of kale namely, Premier, Red Chinese Kale, Dwarf Blue Curled Kale, Siberian Kale, Red Russian Kale, Lacinato or Dinosaur Kale.
She studied kale further and introduced them to other people who were at first hesitant of the vegetable. She also posted it in Facebook Marketplace intending to just show the vegetable.
Unexpectedly, she received orders of kale from General Santos and Cotabato. One is a veterinary doctor who includes kale as an ingredient to her baby’s food. There were also customers who were into vegan diet. She has also been supplying kale as well as basil to restaurants in Digos City and in Davao City.
Some of her customers also encouraged their friends to consume kale, expanding her customer base.
They would buy them for as much as P400 per kilogram which already included the shipping fee.
She is also practicing organic gardening. She makes her own compost by separating vegetable scraps in another container and mixing it with soil when it is ready. She also formulates her pesticide from diluted dried chili powder.
“Mabilis magdaghan. Pag-nagharvest ako ngayong week, next week meron na naman (It grows fast. If I harvest this week, it grows again the following week),” she said.
“Nakakasustain siya. Ngayon, wala kaming other source of income but it sustains our needs (We do not have a steady source of income but it is sustaining our needs),” Cejar said, adding she has been selling kale for two years already.
She said she has given up her full-time work to take care of her mother which also gave her the chance to focus on what she loved doing: gardening.
She is currently an on-call research consultant for agriculture projects of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
Yet, besides the sustenance and its health benefits, she said what inspired her to continue propagating and selling kale is the happiness of her customers whenever they receive it.
“Ngayon, icareer ko na siya. Makita ko yung tuwa ng mga tao kung paano nila ako ichat. Yan yung nagapush sa akin na ituloy ko dahil sa happiness ng tao na hindi ko alam. Kasi sa akin, naging business ko na siya (I will focus on it now. Just reading how happy my customers were encourages me to plant more),” she said.
Apart from her bestseller, she also propagates other ornamental plants like roses, herbs like basil and lavender, and even strawberry seedlings in her garden The Farmacy in Sta. Ana, Tres de Mayo, Digos City. She has a garden a few walks away from her home but most of her kale is grown on her rooftop.
Right now, she is scouting for more spaces to expand her garden and wishes to share her knowledge in the business so that people will also have alternative source of income.