Beast of burden

One of our mother water buffalo suckling her young. From the looks of it she seems to be saying "A little privacy please?"

The domesticated water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a common but precious livestock in the Philippines and parts of South and Southeast Asia. Like the cow, it is also a source of meat and milk. Although its meat (called "carabeef") is not as prized as that of the cow, its milk is considered superior in taste than that of the cow's.

In rural Asia, the carabao (another name for the water buffalo) is employed to plough fields prior to planting rice, corn and other crops. Known for its inherent strength, it is also used to carry or pull heavy loads. While the West have completely shifted to machines for farm-related tasks, rural Asia continues to stick to its trusted ally, even though it's much slower than its mechanical counterpart. Plus, it is much cheaper to buy and take care of this animal than to purchase and maintain mechanical farm implements.

Some of our carabaos grazing on the grass in the lower garden.

They are also used for transportation. In typical countryside scenes, it is very common to see adults or children (or both) seated at the back of the carabao for a leisurely ride. Normally, it has a gentle and very slow stride but a little whip near its buttocks and it will move faster, a hard whip and be prepared to literally hold on for dear life.

Reproduction is very slow. Gestation takes 9 to 11 months and after giving birth it takes almost two years before the adult female is ready to reproduce again.

Other water buffalos grazing in an open space in the upper garden.

Feeding is easy. All it needs is a fresh supply of green grass. A lick of salt will endear it to its master. I remember on my last visit to the farm, I was astonished why our carabaos would come close to my Dad whenever they see him and start licking his hands. Dad explained that sometimes he would handfeed them a little salt and they just love it.

The water buffalo, another livestock species that still roams with relative freedom in our small farm.

Carabao Ferns

On the long list of plants that I wish to collect for the garden is a certain elegant species belonging to the fern family - tree ferns.

So when mom and dad were out in search for tree ferns, I thought that's the only thing they'll get. Then they told me they also bought 'carabao ferns', around 20 of them. Apparently the seller told them that these ferns will also grow big, tall and beautiful like tree ferns.

Carabao ferns with new shoots sprouting.

When they told me about the 'carabao ferns', of course I got curious since I've never seen or heard of this kind of fern before. So I surfed the net in the hope of getting a bit more acquainted with this plant species. After a thorough search, I was stumped. I could not find a single result for 'carabao fern'. So I assumed it might be a vernacular name that only the locals use. But since I could not identify this plant my curiosity turned to frustration. What is a 'carabao fern'?

Like the tree ferns, they were delivered bare, all limbs chopped off. Eventually, they sent pictures of the mystery plant. And based on those images, I think I know where it got the name 'carabao fern' from. The base, where the stipules and stems develop resembles a heap of fresh carabao (water buffalo) dung. Hopefully that's not how it got its name.

A whole row of carabao ferns under the row of Mast ('Indian') trees.

So what is a 'carabao fern'? Armed with pictures to compare with, once more I searched the net for anything that could help me identify this plant. And I think I found the answer. I believe 'carabao ferns' and 'giant ferns' (Angiopteris evecta) are one and the same. If not then I'm pretty sure they are closely related.

The seller was right, this is a beautiful, big and tall fern. But the base will not grow tall like tree ferns do, only the fronds grow tall and wide.

Even though now I know that they will never look like tree ferns, I am still satisfied with the purchase of these plants. If they survive, they will grow big and bulky, a great focal point and a unique specimen in a tropical garden landscape.

Watering Holes

In certain areas of the farm are some holes in the ground which naturally collect water, or little depressions that remain soggy even during the middle of the hot summer days.

Those depressions serve as stopping stations for the carabaos (water buffalo) where they lie and roll around the wet, muddy surface perhaps to cool down or just to rid themselves of pesky insects.

The holes on the other hand are quite deep enough and are used for human purposes. Surprisingly the water looks clean which makes you want to scoop it up to refresh yourself with it. I am no microbiologist so I cannot say what microscopic organisms are lurking there, so I dared not drink from them. Its enough that they aroused my curiosity.



They use some of these holes as sources of water for the plants. They have purposely widened some holes so they could collect more water. The farm is not connected to a central city or town water system so these free sources of life-giving liquid are simply a blessing.

Construction update #2 --- the fence

After fixing the hassle of going under budget because of a misquoted pipe posts, all the materials have been ordered.

In a matter of few days, all fence materials are in except for the chain-link (interlink). But that can wait since they have to erect all the posts first. Then they need to let the concrete that holds the posts upright to cure for several days. It sounds easy right? Well, if you're a carabao then its not.

A truckful of gravel and sand was delivered but the truck had brake problems and since the driveway slopes downward, the driver was a little afraid of losing control and risk damaging the truck or any nearby structures. The easy solution was to unload the gravel and sand at the entrance by the gate of the farm. Now there's a huge mound of earth blocking the driveway which needed to be carted to the construction site.

They had to find a way to get the huge mound of earth out of the driveway as soon as possible since not only is it on the driveway but the gates could not be closed either. They had to look for mechanical equipments to do the hauling but it's the middle of the harvest season so they could not find available equipment to borrow much less rent.

The only quick solution was to manually put the gravel and sand in sacks and load the sacks on a cart to be pulled by a carabao to where they need to go. And this they did for almost the whole day, going back and forth until the mountain of gravel was moved out of the driveway.


NOTE: Topography of the farm.

Poor beast of burden, she had to pull a heavy load from one end of the farm all the way up to the other end and down to the ledge. Hopefully she's okay since she may be on the family way. We'll see in a couple of months of she is indeed carrying a baby.