Marquez: Growing gardens in small spaces

"ALL we need to do is to survive in 2020!" A plea, a prayer and a mantra I so often hear nowadays. The world is suffering and so are we. Tragic deaths, global pandemic, political unrest and most recently, a massive explosion in Beirut. The chain of unfortunate events has truly been devastating. Not a single soul is spared directly or indirectly from the pain and anxiety piling up in monumental layers.

I tried to avoid overthinking but our current circumstance makes me wonder what would happen if food becomes scarce and the only way to survive is to grow your own food. How will you cope? ... Plant.

Growing their gardens at the comfort of their homes, sports enthusiast, Carlo Gonzalez and entrepreneur, Richard Ulat found their way to "Hydroponics." It is a form of gardening that uses no soil, but instead grows plants in a solution of nutrients. No wonder many plant lovers are giving hydroponics a try. It allows you to grow plenty of plants in a small area. Carlo has both an indoor set-up with grow lights to help the plants thrive and like Richard, an outdoor garden too.

While both were drawn to the system and its immeasurable benefits of bringing in fresh produce from their backyard, or rooftop as in Carlos' case straight to their dining table. Their interests were carved in two different ways.

Richard wanted to be productive during the lockdown. To say that his project is "katas ng COVID-19" is undeniably true. It's not hard for anyone who's moderately handy to build his own hydroponics system.

Richard used PVC pipes readily available at local hardware (at least when shops opened once ECQ restrictions were lifted) and the seeds sourced out from the Department of Agriculture. The agency, through the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), distributed assorted vegetable seeds, among them eggplant, tomato, and onions, and planting materials to some interested households.

Carlo on the other hand, found his interest in soilless agriculture way back in 2019 after reading about hydroponics. From a small project and his first produce of lettuce, basil and "pechay," his interest evolved into a passion, determined to help and assist hydroponic starters with his know-how and supply materials.

The liberty of time during the ECQ had a social entrepreneur, Maricar Docyogen worked on a patch of land in their property. A hobby she got into after working on PPE distribution during the height of the pandemic. Maricar's interest in urban gardening was driven by the desire to continue her father's legacy, by cultivating mulberries from cuttings from an adult mulberry tree her dad planted back in the '80s now reaching about a hundred cuttings ready for distribution to her family and friends who has a space to plant a mulberry tree.

Unlike Carlo and Richard, her challenge was to find a good garden soil to start with her project. Fortunately, her good friend, businesswoman, Ellen Lao came through.

Beyond propagating vegetables like tomatoes, beans, strawberries and squash, Maricar ventured into bartering herbs in exchange for paints to be used by our local artists. The kind gesture was made to help a local greenhouse disposed of their produce since shipping them to their Manila clients was impossible due to the lockdown. Today, with her husband's help, she has built a simple greenhouse in her home she now calls her "happy space". #fileunderbuhayentrepreneur

Those interested in availing the free vegetable seeds and planting materials may reach the DA-BPI through these contact numbers: (02) 8525-7313 or 8524-0837 or through email: bpi.crpsd.planning@gmail.com.

For interested parties, you may contact Carlo Gonzalez at 0908-888-8898 or DM him at https://www.facebook.com/carloot.

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