Make it two

NOTE

This post is several days overdue. The truth is I could not decide whether I should publish it or not, and not for any major reason either. So finally, today, at this very minute, I pressed the 'PUBLISH POST' button.

July 31, 2011

Solitude Rising is officially two years old today.

Today marks the second year of my personal record of the development and progress of our little project. In fact, it's so personal that it's open to the public. It's so personal that I didn't even care when it turned one year old. Hmmm, how could have I missed that pivotal event?

So many events transpired during the past year, while time slowly turned this diary's page from one to two. Below are the highlights.

• the goats got a new house
  
• no new plants but the ones we have have been growing well and propagation are in full force
  
• new garden spots established, old ones revisited and improved
  
• the sheep have a new home too
  
• road infrastructures within the farm were improved
  
• plants blooming for the first time
  
• the farm is now our farm (at least in theory)
  

There were also missteps and encountered some stumbling blocks

• the farm was devastated by a super typhoon (category 5 hurricane)
  
• the small mango orchard destroyed by the typhoon
  
• a new structure recently build was demolished (just because I found it unappealing)
  
• several animals died due to disease
  
• the farm may be ours but not yet on paper
  
• the source of financing for future projects has dried up, growth will drastically slow down
  

To the very few who have been peeking inside this private (yet very public) journal, I wish to convey my gratitude for all your comments, suggestions, or even your simple 'hi'. Some have come and immediately gone, even their short visits are much appreciated. I know so few have visited and followed religiously, and I understand why this is not a popular destination. After all, who would want to read about just one subject (that being the happenings inside one dusty, forlorn, off the beaten track farm in a similarly unknown town)?

To my target readers, I know you are all still very young (and some of you are not even born yet) to care. When your time has come to take up the reins, here you would know the history of it all, how it all began when Solitude was still rising.
tropical garden Tropical Garden tropical garden Tropical Garden

Milestone #3 - Bittersweet taste of ownership

This journal entry is dedicated to my nephews, nieces and my future children (if I ever get blessed to have at least one).

May you learn to appreciate the sacrifices your elders are making so that you may have a better and brighter future.

Like a dark chocolate, one must endure the bitterness to enjoy this decadent treat.

First the sweet...

Woohooo!!! All debts have been settled with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), the government bank holding the encumbrances to the farm. We are another step closer towards complete ownership of our farm (and garden) !

Annotation at the last page of each of the title stating that the lot is encumbered in favor of the Land Bank of the Philippines, the owner.

Because this is a Land Reform issue, the bank had to sit and wait for the Supreme Court's ruling to determine the price for a hectare of reformed lot. And this is the year the ruling came out. With that, I asked my parents to immediately get in touch with the bank.

After long years of anxious waiting we have been presented with the bill that must be settled so the government bank could release all its claims to the farm. And contrary to some might think, we don't have "inside connections" so the bill we got was calculated based on what the highest court of the country has mandated. And that's the amount we paid, no more, no less :(

Our only consolation is the fact that we were told that with this particular land reform saga, we hold the record for being the first in our entire region to settle our debts...and voluntarily at that. The bank didn't even have to come after us, we went to them, we presented our papers and "begged" them to please, please compute the total amount of our debts. Now if only there's an award for that.

My gratitude also to the LBP officer and the Agrarian Reform officer who promptly looked into our case and did not give my parents the runaround that is usually encountered by ordinary individuals when dealing with government entities.

And now the bitter...

The budget meant for the farm's daily expenses had to be diverted to completely settle our bank debts. Because of that, the farm is ours (woohoo again!).

But not quite yet! Despite its minuscule size, the farm is an aggregate of 13 different titles under 13 different names, both current and previous owners. Lucky 13 indeed! The process it takes to transfer the titles under just one name will require more legwork and even more funds to pay for the taxes and other associated fees.

The top part of the first page of the Land Reform title. There are 13 of these titles that must be consolidated under one name

Unfortunately, the "bank" (guess who that is) that finances all expenses in the farm is already in the red and is at the point of insolvency. What does this mean? This means that all projects must be frozen, all non-essential expenses must be avoided, and no one is allowed to get sick until the financial institution (guess who that is) is again in the black. And that will take a very long time.

(Sigh) the hustle and bustle in the farm must momentarily grind to a halt. If only I could eat dirt and pretend it's a dark chocolate... LOLtropical garden Tropical Garden tropical garden Tropical Garden

Milestone #2 - The dirt road

In the latter part of January, a thick cloud of dust was churning somewhere in the farm. After several days of maneuvering around the irregular terrain, breaking, pushing, and reshaping the dry ground, the bulldozer we rented has done its job. The most important stage of building an access road within the farm is complete.

After this, they built the temporary enclosures for the goats and sheep which were freely roaming before in the open field. When the animals were finally corralled, they started transplanting some of the hardy plants into their new location.

Here's what the dirt road looks like now after the dust has finally settled.

The dirt road begins right after crossing the 'land bridge'...

... then it twists and turns as it goes up to the upper level.

Along the sides of the road, they have started to transfer some of the plants they were propagating in the garden 'nursery'. The plants are now growing directly on the ground, their roots have been liberated from the confines of the black plastic bags.

The rough road then goes straight and curves once again. On the right side, the young black bamboos have been transplanted along this stretch of the road.

They planted a few ornamental plants on both sides of the path. As they mature, they will soften the stark look of the rough road. This path curves to the left...

It has become real obvious now that despite the varied and large number of plants we have been buying and propagating since early last year, they still are not enough to completely landscape the areas along the road.

... and from here it goes to the highest part of the farm. This path branches to the left right after the trees. The straight path continues all the way to the very end where it also veers to the left...

A view of the left branch of the path as mentioned from the caption above.

But they are not done yet with the partial landscaping. There are still a substantial number of plants left in the nursery. They are being kept there for the mean time while the dry and hot summer, aggravated by the drought brought by 'El Nino', has its firm grips over the land.

This path parallels the cliff. From here the river below can be seen. Right below this cliff is the 'ledge'.

There are no irrigation or sprinkler system, not even a single faucet on the upper level of the farm so watering the plants are done manually. The men have to carry on their shoulders large buckets of water that they fetch all the way from the lower level. Then one by one they water the plants. They repeat this process until every plant is watered.

Before, when the plants were still concentrated in the nursery, watering them was already a time-consuming task. Now that the plants are already scattered all over, the task has become even harder.

I'm still thinking of a way to remedy this water-shortage problem.

Milestone #1 - The farm wall

A milestone has been reached!

One major project is finally complete. The farm is now fully enclosed on all sides, concrete blocks were used in front and cyclone wires (chain links) were used on the rest of the perimeter. This will give the premises a little more of privacy and security it needs, a far cry from its previous state of unrestricted access.

Construction of the concrete wall began late October. When facing the farm, the wall was built from left to right. Below are a few pictures of the wall in its final stage of construction.

The leftmost edge of the farm. In the picture above, there is a vacant lot which is not part of the farm so the wall was built around it. There is another area (not seen) wherein they had to build around another neighbor's property.

The area where some people are gathered (far right) is the main entrance to the farm.

The gaps between the walls will be filled with concrete posts for additional support. The wall on the left side of the main gate was pushed in to make room for guest parking spaces.

The wall on the right side of the main gate was also pushed in for more parking spaces. The mound of rice husks on the right are used for soil amendments for the plants.

A worker continues to build the wall up to the desired height of eight feet.

The wall goes all the way to the rightmost edge of the farm.

For additional privacy the wall was also extended a little further down on the right side.

Installation of the cyclone wire on the left, back and right sides of the farm began in the middle of August and ran until late October. A few problems were encountered but none too serious to derail the task.

Part of the fence on the left side.

Part of the fence at the back, facing the river.

Part of the fence on the right side.

My original plan was to have the entire wall (front and back) plastered simply for aesthetic reasons. But I was told it will cost a hefty sum of money to accomplish this finished look. So for now I have decided to let go of this desire (at least for the time being) and instead pour my meager financial resource into more important and essential projects.