Denver Seed School in a Day- A Great Success!

Sep 19, 2016 | Activities

On Saturday, August 20th nearly 20 eager participants gathered at DeLaney Community Farm in Aurora, Colorado for Seed School in a Day! This course was made possible through a grant from The Posner Center for International Development received by tenants: Denver Urban Gardens (DUG), Friends of ENCA Farm (FoE), and outside collaborator The Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance (RMSA).

 

Seed School in a Day is a dynamic program created by RMSA, the jam packed one-day workshop offers a comprehensive overview of seed saving. Practical, hands-on activities are balanced with engaging lectures to provide a fun and interactive learning experience. Participants leave the workshop with a deeper understanding of why regional seed saving is so important and the skills needed to start their own seed saving adventures!

Our course included this learning and so much more! Participants ranged from seasoned seed savers, community gardeners, backyard gardeners, educators and community non-profit partners. The dynamic and infectious passion of lead facilitator Penn Parmenter of Miss Penn’s Mountain Seeds in Westcliffe, Colorado set a fun and engaging tone for the day. Participants learned about the history of seed saving, how to save specific seeds including tomatoes, beans, squash and more. They also learned how to conduct their own germination tests on seeds and connected with the growing community of people returning to the historic practice of saving seeds.

The first half of the course was held at the beautiful 5 acre DeLaney Community Farm, which provided a fantastic natural classroom for many of the lessons including; observing how to self-pollinate squash in the field, and a brief wild seed walk in the fields at DeLaney where participants observed wild dill, cat-nip, and other wild plants.

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Participants left the course inspired to take the knowledge they learned and implement it at their home and community gardens.

“The class opened my eyes to a whole new-critical-aspect of gardening this offers hope for healthy food production in the face of climate change and population challenges.”

-Carol, Seed School Participant

“ I learned so much! I can’t wait to get home and turn my basement into a seed palace.”

– Amy, Seed School Participant

In November staff from DUG and RMSA will be traveling to the Philippines with Friends of ENCA Farm to conduct Seed School and Farmer Capacity Building with organic farmers in the Philippines.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to share this powerful seed saving knowledge with Denver and the Philippines and build a global community of seed stewards and advocates!

To learn more about our collaborators in this work please visit:

The Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance website

Denver Urban Gardens website

 

Volunteer Perspective on Visiting The Seed Savers

Mar 23, 2016 | BASS, Uncategorized

Image above: Boaz explaning his planting system

A few weeks ago our Seed Savers Group spent an entire Saturday visiting each others’ farms. We were lucky to have J. Forte, a Filipino-American volunteer participate in this program. Below are his reflections about spending the day visiting the land of our passionate organic farmers.

Reflections By Volunteer:  J.Forte, from Los Angeles, CA

Graduate from UCLA, Philosophy Degree

 “God bless this gift of nourishment that will sustain our bodies so that they may serve you better” said Pastor Alex, prior to a mid-morning snack that was hosted in the humble living room of his abode in the agricultural region of Tublay, Benguet just north of Baguio City.

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The Seed Savers Group, supported by Friends of ENCA Farm, had assembled to conduct a tour of their individual farms. The group has banded together to promote the importance of preserving the genetic lines of heirloom seeds, (seeds from strains of plants that have not been genetically modified in laboratories), and the importance of using organic farming methods to raise, sustain, and harvest crops for consumption.

The farmers who hosted the tour were quite enthusiastic to show off their farms, their methods, and the fruits of their labor. They spoke highly of the peaceful culture of the farming region and made sure that their visitors felt welcomed and had plenty of delicious organic food to sample. While touring the individual farms, all of which are environmentally sustainable, it also became evident that the individual farmers are each very sincere in their belief of a philosophy and movement that makes good-natured sense. Perhaps it’s that what they are doing is in line with the same kind of godliness behind that sincere prayer offered over a couple of simple store-bought snacks by Pastor Alex.

However, as Pastor Alex expressed, there is unfortunately not much to show for the adoption of the organic foods philosophy. While the organic foods movement has increased its following worldwide, it still meets age-old challenges. These challenges typically revolve around a lack of exposure to education concerning food, and more significantly, profits. If there are no severe, immediate, and noticeable repercussions for consuming fruits, vegetables, and herbs that can’t be labeled organic, then what’s to keep a farmer from using a genetically modified seed that will yield a product that is resistant to the pests which plague a particular region? What’s to keep a farmer from using unnatural chemical pesticides to protect his profits? What’s to stop a consumer from saving money at a grocery store?

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On the bright side, thanks to organizations like Friends of ENCA Farm, the culture of organic foods is indeed gaining ground here in the Philippines, although significantly behind nations where the general perspective is more health conscious. As long as there is support in the form of increased education about the organic foods movement, increasing market demand for natural whole foods, and opportunities such as eco-tours to places like ENCA Farm, the good ideas and philosophies behind producing and consuming organic foods will surely better manifest.

Galvey farm handpicking worms to feed their compost                        IMG_0554

Volunteer Joah

Volunteer J.Forte on the way to the farm tours.

Traditional Farming Builds a Sustainable Environment

Mar 23, 2016 | Ideas

Image above: Members of the Seed Savers Group during the recent farm visits.

Two weeks ago our Seed Savers Group spent the entire weekend together. They visited each others’ farms on Saturday and participated in a cooking demo led by local chef Agunaiya Cloche on Sunday. Below are reflections on the importance of this work from one of our volunteers, a Filipina college student, April Rhoss.

“As traditional farmers, we want to contribute to the protection of our environment and support food security,” said Cesar Galvey, a member of the recently formed Seed Savers Group, regarding their goal as organic practitioners.

Cesar galveys planting system

Cesar Galvey explains planting techniques during a farm visit!

Filipino communities are starting to recognize the importance of preserving our natural environment. This movement is led by organic farmers like Cesar Galvey. Farmers and consumers are becoming  more aware of the many benefits of organic farming including: health, livelihood, education and most importantly, the protection of the natural environment.

In Health: Production of chemical-free products will benefit the growers, consumers, and natural environment.

As Livelihood: Critics say that organic products have lesser yield. However, in the market people are willing to pay more for the produce, because they are aware that the crops are much safer and healthier. This allows organic farmers to not only practice sustainable farming, but earn more money for their labor.

For Education: The farmers are being educated through seminars regarding the different subject matters in organic farming. This widens their knowledge on farming which they can add to the skills they posses and use on a daily basis.

As Natural Environment Protection: Organic farming is an environmentally friendly practice. Organic farming improves soil maintenance, produces less pollution to nearby water systems, and promotes the health and well-being of the entire natural environment. The Seed Saver program also helps the growers to protect their soil as they are able to avoid planting genetically engineered seeds that contain dangerous chemicals, which have large negative impacts on the conservation and protection of the natural environment.

With all these benefits, organically-propagated, regionally-adapted seeds are essential to the on-going support of organic farmers like Cesar Galvey. The Seed Savers Program of Friends of ENCA Farm has created an excellent opportunity for the traditional farmers of Tublay to gain direct access to organic seeds. Cesar and his colleagues are incredibly grateful for this access!

Reflections on a Sagada Native Wedding

Dec 16, 2015 | Activities

Image above: The next generation learning to play the gangsa!

Last week, after a very productive Friends of ENCA/Benguet Tivangdal board meeting, during which we reviewed drawings and costing’s for the repairs of the Nipa Huts at ENCA and introduced Karen Hizola our new Baguio Based Program Manager (more about her soon). I headed North to Sagada for a dear friends native wedding.

It is always wonderful to return to Sagada a beautiful mountain town about 6 hours north of Tublay. Sagada is known for their amazing natural caves, peaceful mountains, and delicious yogurt at the world famous Yogurt House. Siegird, a local potter and environmental activist, has been a dear friend since my early Peace Corps days. She and her husband Steve, an RPCV from the 70’s (that has never left the Philippines), had a civil marriage seven years ago and have two beautiful boys Chico (6) and David (almost one year).

In Sagada, it is very important and as Siegird put it “part of their obligation” to host a native wedding. This is an opportunity for extended friends and relatives and most importantly the entire town of Sagada to celebrate the marriage and give their blessing and congratulations in the form of financial contribution. This also means the entire town comes together to help in the elaborate preparations of feeding literally 1,000’s of people. Sigerid and Steve purchased and extended relatives and community member’s butchered 14 pigs and 1 carabao (native water buffalo) for the party the lasted four days!

As I sat with women from all over the community (who each brought a bowl and knife to help chop the copious amounts of veggies it takes to feed this many people), chatted with the beautiful Lola’s who’s weathered faces tell a story that does not need words, and enjoyed the sound of the Gangsa (native gong music) till literally the wee hours of the morning I was struck with the true community that Sagada demonstrated to pull off this beautiful gathering. Loved ones near and far gathered to honor Siegrid and Steve as tradition has done for 100’s of years. Indeed I am blessed to have been a small part of this beautiful gathering and demonstration of true community and love!

 

 

 

 

 

Successful Planting of the First “Seed School” In Tublay

Dec 4, 2015 | Seed School

Yesterday, over 70 farmers and community members from both Tublay and La Trinidad gathered for Seed School at the Municipal Hall in Tublay. As the room filled with eager and energetic farmers I was overwhelmed with excitement for the launch of this important program.

I attended a similar one-day Seed School in Denver in August, facilitated by our new friends and partners from The Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance (RMSA). While there is far too much information regarding the history and great importance of seeds to share in just one day, RMSA has developed incredible curriculum over the years that they shared with me to adapt to the Philippine farming audience. I am forever grateful to Bill and Belle from RMSA for sharing this knowledge and helping make yesterday’s program a great success. Our big vision is for RMSA to come to the Philippines next fall to conduct more in-depth follow up seed programming with the farmers.

During the program farmers learned the history of seeds, why they are critically important to local bio-diversity preservation, all participants learned to save wet tomato seeds and got to take them home, and they also learned the basics of saving biennial crops (these crops such as carrots and cabbage take two years to flower and produce seeds). While only a handful of farmers said they are currently saving seeds, they all expressed and remember a time not long ago, when their grandparents saved seeds. This means that this indigenous practice is not completely lost and can be restored with the enthusiasm and hard work of these dedicated farmers.

Thanks to the great talent and passion of my host cousin, Chef Aguinaya Cloche (or as we call her Dimples) all participants enjoyed a delicious homemade local organic meal. The menu included: malunggay (local super food plant) pesto pasta, veggie burgers (made w/ tofu and banana blossom), spinach pie, rosemary roasted chicken, eggplant rolls, and a fresh green salad with sprouts and radishes. Farmers here work incredibly hard to produce these amazing veggies but they rarely get to see the diverse ways they can be prepared. It was wonderful to see their smiling faces as they enjoyed this unique, healthy, and amazing meal prepared with love!

After lunch we did small group breakout sessions where participants shared their ideas for future training’s including: bee keeping, mushroom propagation, advanced seed saving in the fields. Farmers also shared the seeds they would like to see available locally and Friends of ENCA Farm will help make this a reality. I was most inspired to see the rooms excitement about starting a local organic seed bank, in fact one group shared that their vision is to see farmers in each Barangay of Tublay producing their own seeds and saving them at the centralized community seed bank. Indeed yesterday was the start to see this big vision become a reality!

In the coming months, we will be conducting follow up meetings with farmers that said they want to be apart of the organic seed trial program. Friends of ENCA Farm will distribute organic seeds to the farmers that meet our requirements, and conduct field trials with these initial seeds to monitor their success and challenges. I am incredibly excited to have planted this first seed in Tublay and look forward to watching it germinate and grow over the course of the coming year! I am honored to work with such a passionate community of farmers all actively working to make this world a better and healthier place starting with each seed they sow!

Gratitude and Many Thanks Not Only On Thanksgiving

Nov 27, 2015 | Activities

Returning to a place of the past can be filled with many emotions: happiness recalling the kind people and memories made, both comfort and sadness seeing that some things never change, and mainly joy in knowing there are pockets of the world that still embrace kindness and a true spirit of thanksgiving…. not only on the last Thursday of November.

This is how I felt spending the day Wednesday in the rural community of Ambongdolan, Tublay. This was the site of my main Peace Corps assignment nearly a decade ago, where I was tasked with training the community to support the potential eco-tourism industry of promoting their beautiful natural caves. While I did not spend a lot of time in this peaceful rural community, I do have wonderful memories of the kind people and humble lives they lived. Which after Wednesday’s visit proves to still be the case.

My host cousin Paul is a community nurse and his main post is in Ambongdolan. He visits every few weeks since it is about an hour-plus drive and hike from Tublay proper. We loaded on a Jeepney around 7:30am from Acop and after a 30min. ride we where dropped at the junction to the community. As Paul and I hiked the hour down to the Rural Health Unit (RHU) I was pleased to see the forested mountainsides, community protected forestland, and clean trails all around. Arriving at the RHU filled me with memories of the first-aid training we held for the community there in 2007 and of course seeing the Rural Midwife and her team of Rural Health Workers was wonderful. One in particular Ma’am Mercy, remembered me right away a said wow, “Sherry Manning you are back!” While I have come back to the Philippines nearly each year my time has been focused at ENCA so I had not seen these wonderful diligent community workers for a long time.

As I watched Cousin Paul and the others advise young mothers on how to improve their kids failing nutrition, administer MMR shots to babies, and engage in informal conversations with the community about life, love, and health I was overwhelmed with the joyful way this rural community lives their lives. While they may have to hike an hour plus to the main road, they may not have shiny cars and stores to frequent on #BlackFriday, they are gracious and kind hosts that work hard to build a better life for their families.

As we shared a beautiful lunch of chicken tinola complete with local green papaya, lemongrass I harvest behind the RHU, and guavas just picked from a household tree I was filled with gratitude for this Thanksgiving Meal. With friends old and new, even a decade apart did not dampen their kindness and memories of our time and work together. These are the things to be truly thankful for: community around the globe, meals prepared with love (turkey or tinola), and the kind and open hearts of friends and family each and everyday!!

 

Tublay Farmers Congress and ENCA Farm Update Post Typhoon Lando

Nov 21, 2015 | Activities

Image above: The MAO, Mayor, and Dr. Sudaypan the event guest speaker.

Last Monday after a lovely morning coffee session with Lola Carmen, I headed to the Tublay Municipal Hall to talk with the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) about our seed saving programs and partnership.

I was pleased to see that Jeffery, the head of the office was there, and was also excited to learn that they were preparing for the start of a Tublay Farmers Congress. We spoke briefly about the seed saving program and they invited me to join the farmer’s congress, which I of course did! As we waited for the program to begin I was able to meet with the guest speaker for the event, Dr. Sudaypan. He is the Director of the Extension Program at Benguet State University (BSU). BSU is the leading agriculture college for the region. We discussed my history working in the country and Friends of ENCA Farm’s plans to help the growing community of organic farmers in Tublay and elsewhere, access seed saving education and training, and start a seed library in Tublay in the coming year. He was excited to learn of these plans and I look forward to following up with him and formalizing a partnership with BSU moving forward.

During his compelling talk he spoke to the room full of nearly 100 Tublay Farmers about the critically important role they play in the sustainable development and food security of the Philippines. He shared an acronym for the word Farmers that was both truthful and inspiring. Farmers are the following:

F- Firm
A- Agriculturist
R- Responsible
M- Manager (input-output)
E- Ecologists (maintain balance)
R- Resilience
S- Self-Sufficient

R for Resilience speaks a particular truth to me after seeing the damage caused to ENCA Farm from Typhoon Lando last month. As Auntie Olive showed me the fields of wilted lettuce and broken garden peas she is patiently transplanting and working hard to re-grow, I was struck with the level of resiliency needed to be a farmer in a country that is most venerable to the dramatic effects of climate change. The storms that hammer this island nation are only getting stronger so therefore the farmers are needing to embrace the realities of this acronym like never before.

This is where I know “the planting” of seed saving knowledge and educational programs will make a true and lasting impact in Tublay and beyond. In fact during, the farmers congress the MAO shared his own acronym called Tublay SEEDS, no accident that earlier in the program I was able to briefly introduce the seed saving programs we plan to launch, which were very well received by all who attended the congress. We are still working to finalize the date but plan to host the first seed saving training sometime the first week of December in partnership with the Municipal Agriculture Office and the Tublay Organic Farming Practitioners Association. The serendipity of timing on each of these connections cannot be understated!

As I spent Wednesday morning harvesting nearly 10 lbs. of coffee, listening to the incredible bird calls, and viewing the forested mountain sides at ENCA Farm…I was struck, as I always am here, with the beauty and balance that is abundant at ENCA Farm. Yes, there has been damage to the crops and physical structures, but when you take a moment to be still in a natural space such as ENCA, you slow down and have time to reflect on the great need for preserved farm land and natural spaces like ENCA. Perhaps these spaces are needed now more then ever in light of climate change, troubling news around the globe, and the far to chaotic life we experience in the urban environment!

Solar Light Presentations and Manila Reflections

Nov 17, 2015 | Activities

As I de-boarded the plane in Manila last Wednesday, I was filled with energy and excitement about the work to unfold during the next month. The intense humidity and heat of the crowded Manila streets is palpable even through the air-conditioned walls of the NAIA airport. I gathered my bags, exchanged some money, purchased a local cell phone sim, and took the advice of Manila friends and requested my first Uber ride. Uber recently opened in Manila and it is a complete revelation in a city packed with far too many dishonest taxi drivers and traffic that is so intense it is impossible to describe in a simple blog post. After waiting only 10 minuets my safe, clean, and very affordable (under $5) Uber car arrived curbside and I was off to the high-rise concrete jungle of Makati!

On Thursday, I headed to the Peace Corps Office to see old friends/colleagues and arranged for a lunchtime solar light demo. The Peace Corps Staff was very excited to learn about the Nokero Solar Lights and the new GreenLight Planet lights we are distributing throughout the country. In fact the presentation was so successful we sold out of the new Sun King Pro 2 lights (complete with 3 light modes and two cell phone USB charging ports). I only carried over 5 so we could gauge interest and I am so glad that Peace Corps Philippines is excited to support this initiative. In light of this success related problem, we have found another local Philippine distributer of these new lights, Hybrid Social Solutions, and hope to order 5-10 more lights from them in the coming weeks.

Peace Corps Philippines Staff with Solar Lights

Peace Corps Philippines Staff with Solar Lights

 

Thursday evening I enjoyed street tacos with my gracious hosts in Manila, my old high school buddy Kent and his wife Susie have lived here for 2 plus years. Kent is a wildlife conservation photographer and videographer and Susie works for Catholic Relief Services. I am excited for Kent to head north in the coming weeks and capture high quality footage of ENCA Farm and our various projects.

I then braved the traffic to Quezon City to connect with Red at his iconic bar, Fred’s Revolution. Red, is the Executive Director of the fantastic local NGO The Institute for Climate Sustainable Cities. In August, we hosted him in Denver for one week to launch the incredible book Agam: Filipino Narratives on Uncertainty and Climate Change. Red and his team had just received the news that Agam was awarded the Philippine National Book Award! This is a huge honor and a great testament to the depth and beauty of Agam and the climate change mitigation work it supports. As we sat and enjoyed beers at Fred’s discussing our work and commitment to community development and sustainability I was reminded how blessed I am to be apart of this dynamic community of global change makers. All of this with only 24 hours in the country!

* Side note: Red is apart of the Philippine Delegation leaving for Paris in two weeks for the international climate talks. Last week he and others from the most climate venerable nations met in Manila to finalize their request for climate action.

Introducing the Friends of ENCA Farm Blog

Nov 7, 2015 | Activities, Nourish Celebration

As I sit in the comfort of my sisters beautiful mountain home in NE Oregon (with a small dusting of winters’ first snow still on the front yard), I prepare for my annual trip to the Philippines as I have done so many times over the years. However, this year there is a new excitement and energy that overwhelms me. This excitement comes from a multitude of places, and is fueled by the momentum and success of the past year and the larger impact Friends of ENCA Farm is starting to make.

We recently held our 5th Annual Nourish event highlighting Filipino Cuisine and gathering friends, new and old, for a fantastic day of celebrating Filipino Culture and our work in the Philippines. We also received some long awaited good news that we have been awarded our first grant from the Presbyterian Hunger Program to support the implementation of our organic seed bank and education programs in the Philippines throughout 2016.

Each of these recent successes are wonderful fuel for my up-coming trip to the Philippines. But, as I spend the day here, with my 5 week old nephew DeLos, I am struck by a new found motivation for the work I have been engaged in for nearly 10 years. Holding his squirming little body and thinking about the world I hope he will grow up in I am energized to know that the work we do is helping make this a reality. Respecting and honoring our food systems and the people that sustain them, working to protect and restore our natural world, and being an engaged world citizen are all values I hope to share and demonstrate for DeLos.

Auntie Olive and Lola Carmen

Auntie Olive and Lola Carmen pictured on Christmas Day in Acop last year.

These are the values and way of life I am always eager to return to in the Philippines. Sipping lemongrass tea with ENCA Farm Manager, Auntie Olive over evening solar light conversations. The warmth of Lola (Grandma) Carmen’s smile when I first arrive back to Acop, and the tenacity and vision of the entire Cosalan Family to launch a community movement to restore organic farming and ensure that their families 100 acre land inspires this critical work throughout the Philippines and indeed the world! These visions and passions are what continue to make me excited to support this work and return to a country half way across the world that I am blessed to call a second home.