Evan Iliadis blog

The farm Stela’s paradise.

The farm Stela’s paradise.

Our first farming experience was a success, Tatay has once again reaffirmed his knowledge and passion for mother nature, Stela’s turn was next. She was known for “having a magic hand”, for the locals this means that certain people has this inner and inexplicable power of anything they plant is growing. Some say they are talking to the plants in magic words!

Whatever this is, she decided to allocate one hectare of the thirty her father owns to plant peanuts. The place is in the most remote areas of the interior of Bohol, where Stela’s 4×4 could go as close as 2 kilometers to the land, then by foot if there were no materials to bring, in which case a  rented carabao was the only way.

First, she proceeds by cleaning the area, removing a big number of the stones  facilitating so the plowing, then she built a “resting  house” as they call the  nipa hat resting area for the workers

On an early morning 3 carabaos start plowing the soil for the first time in years if not ages.. locals couldn’t afford the cost of this operation, so here we go again another “worthless land”

Indigenous living in the area were looking at us with a bit of suspicion questioning the undertaking of the operation in such remote area, some were saying the “Americano” is digging for gold, not to plant peanuts and other  tsismis about our real motivation.

Even myself, observing on the sideline perplexed, wondering “how much money we can make from one hectare of peanuts? “… Probably… Just peanuts!….
But if I couldn’t figure out the math, I discovered out something I didn’t know about my wife. Her true love for nature and challenges related to her passion.

Stela who lived more years of her life in the US than in the Philippines her heart was still in Mindanao where she lived her childhood, walking miles away every day for bringing food to her father working on the farm and how much she enjoyed it.
She had never complained to me about the harsh condition of life, instead, she was telling me about the beauty of the area, the abundance of fruits and vegetables and their exceptional taste, also plenty of fish.

So it was clear to me, it wasn’t for financial gain she was doing it but for reviving her childhood, showing us in real time what work on the farm is all about, she wanted me and our children to get a first-hand experience, sending us her usual message like ” You guys in your countries are taking everything for granted!”

The farm Stela’s paradise.
Did we make any money? Not really! As I thought!  You don’t go to the Philippines to make money. You bring it there to spend it! Did we lose any? No! We got our expenses back by selling the peanuts as cheap as….. Peanuts! China has flooded the country for half the price! The farm Stela’s paradise.
Stela fulfilled part of her dream, the kids were in heaven, still remember those days, the best gift we ever gave them, the kind of fun money can’t buy.  Me, I started learning to do the math… “A la Filipino” that yielded in “Bring a big fortune in the country if you want to make a small profit.”

On the left side column, I posted a photo album  of this entry. Enjoy.

The farm Stela’s paradise.