Reflections on crops, etc.

Being a farmer's daughter, I would naturally be observing and thinking about crops.

taken out the window while moving

I observed a lot of sugar cane.   What I understand is that someone (who doesn't live on the land) owns the land.  There is usually an overseer who does live on the land.   Then there are the harvesters who make their year's wages by harvesting the sugarcane--which I must confirm how many times a year it is harvested.   I do know that the typhoon messed up a lot of fields and interrupted the harvest.     Cutting seems to be done by hand.



  Tilling the ground seems to be done by plow drawn by water buffalo, although one day we counted 5  'real' tractors (unfortunately, not John Deere) in one field!! 

stubble.....

        A few times I saw the "stubble" after the sugar cane harvested, being burned.  This is a way to facilitate nutrients returning to the soil and not as difficult to plow into the soil, as cut off stalks is.   This burning adds to air pollution.






  
 Oh---speaking of burning.    Perhaps it is daily a woman will sweep up the back yard--or the outside area of the small home.  Then the leaves, animal poo, and other trash can be added, and it  is set fire.   This is a smoldering, smokey, smelling addition to the air one breathes. 

Some areas of Cebu Island are conducive to raising rice.    There are fish farms as well--tilapia.   Coconuts are harvested, of course, and it broke my heart to see so many coconut trees simply snapped off by the typhoon.  It can take 5 to 10 years for a coconut tree to grow/mature.  Sigh.

sorry, can't seem to rotate the picture

  The downed wood is being cut up into lumber--but don't think our precise 2 x 4's--they hand cut the tree trunks into lumber, so thickness and width vary.

free range hen and chicks

Water buffalo, goats, pigs and chickens are the animals I saw.   In the more rural and smaller communities, the goats and chickens roam about free and so one much watch where one walks and sits!!


  Oh!    The  Filipinos seem to love puppies--the adult dogs they could care less about and it shows.     We saw a lot of mangy dogs, scavenging for food.  Sometimes yes, there was a dog by a home and somewhat more fed--but most families can't feed themselves, let alone a pet.  

            

                                                                                                   

Yes, I saw cats--all pretty thin and wild.

I would hope they are effective at mousing, because I am sure mice and rats are a problem.   For some homes the dogs function as guard dogs or at least deterrents to robbers.  There is a fear of rabies here.

I did get some pictures of fighting cock 'farms'--there are 'amusement parks' which are solely for cock fighting--which I imagine with the gambling and such can be good income if you have a good cock.

when doing destruction on the 23rd--we disturbed a gekko--or at least a relation of a gekko!

Somewhere vegetables are raised.   I was told that for the most part the soil is not real fertile--again varying from place to place. (and island to island)    Where the men raised the houses they dealt with limestone.  I did observe a lot of rocks when winding on paths to homes back in various communities.     To see a grassy(or at least green with some type of covering plant) lawn is a truly rare sight--at least the  places we were in did NOT have grass, or in some places even weeds!    Lots of differing kinds of palms and ferns.    I got pictures of flowers:  hibiscus, orchid, palmetto…..
 

 

orchid growing out of another tree

 

Oh!  Corn is also a crop--different kinds.   Pineapple is a crop, too, of course.    I didn't see any corn crops.  Bananas they have--several kinds.      Eggplant, okra, turnups, cabbage, lettuce, a large radish, tomatoes--but not sure where they are grown.  Noone really has a garden or even container vegetables.  Oh and saw several kinds of watermelon, too.   Peanuts are often sold--they steam (?) them---and so they are soft when opened to eat.    Some even grind their peanuts to make peanut butter, but I haven't seen that. 

I would have enjoyed more time in a market with Chris or someone to really show and explain the different types of mangoes, melons, bananas, and well, the fruits and vegetables in general.        

well, this is long and I need to crash.

I believe this is a shot of part of a fish farm

 PS:   Coastal and inland waters and many species of fish, make good fishing grounds.  Apparently the Philippines is 8th in the world  among fishing countries.   Fish consumption is high, especially in the country where sardines and rice make up the staple diet for many people.  

Besides water buffalo I saw some brahman type cattle.  Generally they seemed to be tethered along roadsides and backyards or in the occasional field, and fed with whatever available feed there is.            Of course rice is the staple food and main agricultural crop.  Coconut and sugar are abundant and are a major part of the Philippine diet.  Coconut milk is used to cook fish, meat, or vegetables; the flesh can be candied or mixed in fruit salads.     So the main agricultural crops include:  sugarcane, rice, coconuts, corn, bananas, cassavas, pineapples, mangoes, pork, eggs, beef, and fish.      

  Something I didn't see, but read,  is that the Philippines has metallic reserves of gold, copper, nickel, silver and cobalt; non-metalic reserves of limestone and marble.     While mining is a sizable source of income it has also been a threat to the environment.