Evan Iliadis blog

The Aristofarmers

The Aristofarmers

Once moved into our new house  next project in line was the farming as Stella designed it in her mind, eager to implement but spending limited time so far, the landscaping of the house yard being a priority.  Remember. 3 000 Sq meters to handle folks! There were  only rocks and wild grass. She made it a paradise… The Aristofarmers

Tatay and Nanay had a small land of about half a hectare nearby their house, abandoned, uncultivable, mean not suitable  for rice field. But whatever is “worthless” for others it can useful  for Stella… Tatay  agreed. No land is worthless in the hand of real farmers, father and daughter share their love for nature and the savoir faire, they  decided to challenge the naysayers. We hired 3 carabaos  and an early morning after the traditional breakfast the digging began. Exiting to see it, admirable, 18th century “technics”, yet bringing results beyond expectation. Look at them below. Tatay Dodo always the leader…  The Aristofarmers

The rest of the extended family kept busy finding  Mahogany seedlings under the mother trees as they call it. In effect, we decided as a test not to seek seedlings from the local DNER office the nearest being located at 55 kilometers but instead do it the old way. According to the knowledgeable, “look under the big and healthy trees  and check for their “babies!” That’s exactly what we did!.. Cousins, nieces nephews, all in-laws were busy in the forest. We needed 3 000, we got half of them in 3-4 days and decided to buy the rest from  the village nearby . I will post a photo  album on the sidebar with comments on each photo for the rest of the steps, but I wouldn’t close this entry without a couple of pictures of me.

As I said before, the carabao’s work fascinated me and decided to try. I haven’t been as good as driving a tractor. Yes, folks! It’s more complicated to deal with a carabao! Because the animal has a soul, it obeys to one who feels the love and understands his kind words. Brutal westerners are not included!

You don’t become a farmer. You are born a farmer, All the credit I can get is for being tenacious and a believer, convince the villagers that where there is soil there is a mine, be it a gold mine or a tomatoes mine, both are profitable.  Three years later it looks like probably our efforts shall pay off. The Aristofarmers

You can now follow the rest of the story by browsing the pictures on the album posted on the sidebar titled THE FARMING YEARS The Aristofarmers

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