Long summers in the country lately, beach-line farming cannot be more challenging. One would wish for the rains that may not come in six months or longer. All that is left is to look for remedies that will mitigate the rising temperatures especially on sandy arid places like the coastal areas.
People may have heard about planting the rain that may mean many things, like simply planting certain types of trees that hold rainwater, maintaining a shallow water table thus keeping the soil moist during the dry months. It may also be digging a pit or basin into which rain runoff would be directed to drench the dry arid land, allowing some vegetation to germinate and grow. It could spell miracles, especially along sandy coasts where the water table tends to sink instantly unless there is incessant rains that replenish surface water on a regular basis.
There are several models on planting the rain or conserving surface water to prevent people from using potable water to maintain gardens.
Brad Lancaster, harvestingrainwater.com, author of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, is among those who found inspiration in the Zimbabwe experience and talks about rain-harvesting and planting the rain. In one of his posts, he demonstrated how to harness water runoff from a road by digging a hole on the gutter that would direct water into a pit that holds some plants and tree seedlings. His Tucson, Arizona community benefits from these roadside basins that he and his brother initiated.
The series of basins collects rainwater that fill the road when it rains. This prevents flooding during the wet months and conserves rainwater for use in dry months. The basins become tree and plant sanctuaries and each basin builds and supports its own unique ecosystem.
The Lancasters aimed to use and harness just rainwater for agriculture. The duo has lobbied for policy support to their work and has influenced road builders to create a dent on the road gutter, as an innovation to road construction instead of the brothers doing it when no one was looking as they did in their village.
Brad reveals that he draws his inspiration from a water famer from Zimbabwe. Living sponges of vegetation, according to a Zimbabwe water farmer Pierrie II in South Africa whose experience proves that planting the rain is possible, and that agriculture thrives even in the driest desert. These are pockets of moist oases in the dry regions of Zimbabwe, developed by catching the rain runoff from the road and diverting this runoff on a portion that grows a forest. The said water farmer called this a basin and there are several such basins that cascade as he initiated water farming in Zimbabwe.
Swales in some parts of the world also collect and conserve water on a large scale. These swales are portions of the vast arid land that are cut to form a strip of pond or a series of “little rivers.” The outflow from the higher swales cascades to lower ones and these conserve water down the line, creating strips of oases even in drylands.
Philippine native trees in coastal forests
A visit to various Philippine beaches reveals that forest trees line the shores that may have been planted in coastal reforestation efforts. Or more often, they may have been naturally grown species in what used to be beach forests that have been altered as man-made parks. The trend now, however, is the planting of native tree species in coastal parks to revive old forests.
Preservation of these beach forests has in fact gained strong community support.
A case in point is the recent cutting of 64 fully grown trees at the back of the Lingayen Provincial Capitol in Pangasinan. Some of the trees cut were age-old agoho and talisay, native coastal trees.This incident went viral on social media in a display of sentiments favoring the undisturbed existence of trees in the capitol compound. The plan is to have man-made water pools vegetated on the sides with alien tabebuia.
Celso Salazar, former Community Environment and Natural Resources officer and now head of the Pangasinan Native Trees Enthusiasts Incorporated (PangNTE Inc.), said most of the trees cut were exotic and invasive tree species. PangNTE had an earlier agreement with the provincial government for the planting of native trees within the premises of the capitol compound to replace invasive trees planted in the past decade or so, retaining older native narra, siar, botong, bitaog, kamagong, talisay and agoho that previous administrations planted.
“As a remedy, we asked the provincial administration to plant more flowering native trees that are suitable for parks like the provincial capitol complex. Our group even offered to procure large planting materials (LPMs) to appease those who have been hurling vindictives on social media,” Salazar said. He added that PangNTE is volunteering to find sources of flowering native tree species suitable for coastal areas like Lingayen.
Engr. Nelio Gusto, acting president of PangNTE, Inc., has an arboretum of native trees n Umingan, Pangasinan. This is a work in progress but the place is now home to more than a hundred species of Philippine native trees and naturalized fruit trees. He recently came up with a proposal for the replanting of beach forest native trees suitable for the capitol premises and the nearby baywalk stretches. Among the trees Gusto had in mind are bani, bitaog, labayanan, botong, balitbitan, talisay, balai-lamok, agoho,dapdap, malubago, siar, ipil, molave, tui and malak-malak.
Gusto proposes the building of tree wells in the parks with large native trees in the middle and another for smaller species arpund it, not necessarily native, like banaba and kamuning; balitbitan and fukien tea; and aunasin and bougainvilleas.
The capitol complex is along the coast of Lingayen Gulf with a spacious open space that extends to the Maramba Boulevard, as if to entice visitors and promenaders to walk some 15 to 20 minutes through a wooden walkway of a distance of more than one kilometer to the shore. It gives visitors a chance to appreciate siar’s yellow canopy and narra’s yellow carpet during a bloom fall. Banaba’s purple flowers also provide some respite and the shoreline row of talisay (salaysay) further refreshens. Agoho trees line the inner alley of the park. Purple blooms and big green diamond-shaped fruits of the palpaltak or bitoon front the provincial capitol. Exotic Asian acacia, full-grown fruit-bearing mahogany and a few African tulips, all alien invasive species in between older narra, isar and talisay, shade a pavement that ushers in a view of the Lingayen Gulf.
From the shores of St. Ana in Cagayan to Basilan, and probably Jolo, in Mindanao the coasts show considerable natural forests.
Cris Beers, a Pangasinense who travels with her Dutch family to various beaches in the country observes that where a beach forest exists the beach is usually beautiful, the water cool and clear. She adds that the breeze refreshes and the chirping of birds soothes. Beers is a member of the Pang NTE, Inc Board of Directors and has seen many beaches around the world.
Talisay, bitaog, botong (palpaltak) pantog-lobo, among others beautify the beaches of Aurora and Pangasinan, according to Beers.
“The unidentified trees have white flowers and another has leaves that resemble pandan and has beautiful orange fruits that come in clusters like a giant pineapple,” Beers narrates with excitement. She may be referring to pandan-dagat, a native coastal species. Pandan-dagat is also noticeable in Boracay, some parts of Lingayen beach and in Sta. Ana, Cagayan. It used to line the Lingayen Beach up to the early 80’s.
Emman Cayabyab, a member of the PangNTE, was in Coron recently and noticed bitaog, balai-lamok, botong, agoho, gmelina, mahogany, catmon; igyo, ipil, balinawnaw, bayok and bani.
According to Cayabyab, balitbitan, bani, siar, pandan dagat, kalumpang, banuyo, bayok, molave, agoho, labayanan, balai-lamok, balu, and bitaog are among known coastal forest species. He specifically mentioned balai-lamok for its beautiful white blooms and balu with orange flowers, as his personal choice for coastline parks.
He maintains an arboretum of native trees in his residence and does lectures among grade-school pupils to inform them on native trees and entice them to plant in school grounds. Bani’s pink flowers, he said, has a potential for extracting oil as biofuel. He also pointed out that bitaog wood has historical significance as it has been used to repair ships used during the galleon trade.
“For our riverine native trees, I suggest Dao, a very big tree with roots,” he said. Dao can live up to 300 years and is a fast-growing tree which is also good for the mountains, Cayabyab added.
He urges people to focus more on the ficus species, like niyog-niyogan, with edible tops and fruits. Ficus absorb rainwater, thus these help prevent floods and also give off water droplets that come from their trunk, twigs and leaves, thus moistening the soil surrounding each tree.
Is planting the rain possible in the context of the Philippines’ sandy shores?
This is a true story. This does not come as a warning. It is just a simple story of a couple who ventured into a journey that other farmers before them dared not to plunge into.
It was pre-pandemic, in the last week of January 2020, that the landowner consented for the visiting couple to plant and regreen an idle portion of a vast estate along the coasts of Lingayen.
An elder brother, their octogenarian mother and a set of pre-school grandchildren were then the only workforce to rely on. There was also Kuya ike, caretaker of the seven-hectare area.
The place initially had neem trees, Asian acacia and weeds, indicating that the place might be barren. With cogon growing abundantly, the place might be acidic; and it also spells disaster to farmers because it is considered to be a very invasive weed. This did not make the farming couple happy, who nevertheless, remained very optimistic to turn it into something productive. Neem made Kuya Jimmy, the couple’s elder brother, expectant of its many uses in the garden. He said it is most sought after for its oily leaves that aid in the treatment of dogs infested with ticks. Asian acacia might be more invasive that both cogon and neem but the landlord insisted to plant this for its timber, which he said makes sturdy furniture
“We would make do with these invasives,” the farming team resolved.
It was hot and humid when the team first reached the place, which was then covered with a very thick blanket of fallen acacia leaves. It turned out the leaves were covering sand where not even grass could grow.
Kuya Ike offered to lend a hand pump. It was important to have it right at the planting site.
That cogon and other weeds abound may mean that there might be some moisture to keep the weeds green and growing. Cogon grass supports biodiversity, enriches the soil, keeps soil moist and its roots control erosion.
There were also shrubs like matang-hipon, pandakaki, lantana, talisay, palochina, alim, binunga, castor and others on the property, especially the part nearest the coast. A narra tree and a full-grown gmelina were also in the area. Nearby, some coconut, talisay or umbrella trees, madre cacao and some other tree species grew. From a distance, cows, sheeps and goats fed on wide meadows feed cows, sheep and goats and a green fence of fully grown trees delineated the vast grassland estate from parcels of land that people occupied.
“In coastal areas, a tree cluster indicates a place where people stay, as shelter from the rain and respite from the hot sun” Nanay Nena, 88, said.
The idea that planting a tree is like planting the rain comes very close. For the couple, how to do it was another story.
Doing it is a true story. It is the story of The Happy Scion.
It is our story.
The Happy Scion Experience
The Happy Scion is now home to several species of native trees, aside from the original Dragon Fruit that was earlier conceived for the sandy and sunny property. The reforestation site has doubled in size with the growing population of native trees.
Originally growing was a beautiful tree, it now has several wildlings scattered all over the place. Alim and binunga just appeared simultaneously. Bonsai practitioners, Sergio Velasco and son Joshua planted malubago, initially intending this in due time for bonsai production. They also planted kamuning bilog, agoho and red balete, a native ficus species. It was Jovi Tomeldan who brought a large trunk of bignay, which also weathered the very hot temperature of the dry sand.
Among the trees initially planted aside were bani, bitaog, balitbitan and supa. PangNTE then gave seeds to plant and the trees are now thriving. The group also provided initial seedlings of ipil, igyo, tangisang bayawak balai-lamok, arangen, akleng parang, ilang-ilang, hauili, balete, tibig, is-is and balinghasay. Another tree donor gave The Happy Scion four full-grown narra trees, three of these survived but only one is now towering along with the alien acacia.
Four years after the initial planting, The Happy Scion has rows of native trees. A row on the eastern end has agoho, toog, kalumpang, lagundi, hauili, tibig and molave. Another row has ipil, igyo, tangisang bayawak and bayok. On the other side, there stand alibangbang, narra, ilang-ilang, bagawak puti and bagawak morado. Right in front of the kitchen are balai-lamok, kamuning, catmon and toog. At both north and south ends are malabago or native hibiscus. On the space nearest the shore are malabago, ipil, balinghasay and bani. Matang-hipon continues to spread its wildlings.Pandakaki enjoys growing anywhere.
Volunteer native trees include matang-hipon, alim, binunga, pandakaki and balangbang, a water plant.
Caring for the native trees and other trees
To plant in a barren, dry and sandy space meant a lot of back-breaking labor.
Preparing the soil entailed carrying tons of organic materials from a nearby dumping site into the planting spaces. These twigs, leaves and decaying trunks of trees served as green manure, mulch and a steady repository of slow-release plant-based fertilizers. Sacks of sun dried seaweeds from the shore also enriched the soil further and neutralized its acidity, improved the soil PH level.
Animal manure also keep adding nutrients to the soil.
Watering when there was no rain was a challenge. A second pump had to be installed, followed by a third and yet a fourth, of which one was stolen and another returned to Kuya Ike.
Children and adults carry small pails to water all the plants, especially the trees.
Mulching not only controlled weeds. It also kept the soil moist and added organic fertilizers
Shallow canals and pits on the ground serve as receptacles for biodegradable kitchen waste from a catering group. Kuya Jim collects these twice a week so we have a steady supply of kitchen refuse, some of which feed farm animals. Sand covers these recycling and composting pits to prevent the dogs from digging up the garbage.
Individual trees occupy a dug pit where biodegradables used to be dumped. Around each tree are smaller plants that also serve as companion plants and ground cover. Mulch and mini-fence surround each tree.
Watering during the dry summer months is a tedious daily grind. Ficus species like tangisang bayawak, tibig, balete, hauili, and is-is have not matured yet so thye need a lot of watering. These are considered keystone species, which are important tree species that provide birds and insects food as well as habitat for a lot of insects, mammals and birds year-round because of their continuous fruiting. These are also water-bearing species that also support plant life and the ecosystem.
Swales and pits on the sandy space tend not to collect water but these bring the rain deeper into the ground. A one-inch rain on the surface barely reaches the roots of a tree. With swales or a deeper pit near the tree, water tends to be collected and redirected right at the level of the roots. At the happy scion these swales and pits also carry biodegradable organic materials so the pits near the trees actually deliver fertilizers.
Live fence trees may not all be native trees like malunggay, dragon fruits, bougainvilleas mulberries and cacao, but for now these prevent cows, goats horses and sheep from entering the premises; thus, protecting the native trees from being eaten by the stray ruminants.
Cover plants consist of smaller plants that may not always be native but are either for the kitchen or for pollinators. These occupy the space between the trees or these surround the trees in circular little gardens. Cover plants, like camote, beans, peanuts, tomatoes, cosmos, marigolds and the like keep the sand cool and moist. These usually receive heavy watering during the dry months.
Creating a network of new friends and Sourcing
Aside from the group of native tree enthusiasts nationwide who provide The Happy Scion with know-how and physical seedlings and other planting materials, other groups also contribute to the upkeep of the place.
Virtual friends from social media gardening and tree-planting groups have transformed into real-life friendships. Once or twice a year there are meet-ups outside of the planting sites . Seed and seedling exchanges are now a normal during these encounters.
The Philippine Native Tree Enthusiasts (PNTE), a loose aggrupation of tree farmers on social media now conducts tree walks and distributes books and similar literature on Philippine native trees.
Fire razed the farm in February, but Catmon, toog, kamuning and balai-lamok survived. Among those that did not survive were seedlings of malak-malak, kalingag pandan-dagat, bignay, mali-mali, tagpo and many others. Some trees are now having new shoots and it turns out that native trees regrow faster than introduced species like atis, guyabano and aratiles.
Through all these, The Happy Scion thrives. It is our story, our own true story of planting the rain.
