Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace. The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm. — Charles Caleb Colton
The first quarter of 2022 ended with bountiful harvests. Though there was trouble successfully growing most crops, cucumbers did well, which returned ample profits to support us in the dire months of the pandemic.
With such abundance, I was able to improve our consumption with healthier options by snacking into cucumber salads more than once a day. Cucumbers are mostly water, which is great for hydration, and is also packed with nutrients and antioxidants like any other fruits and vegetables do.
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When April started, it was supposedly the beginning of the hot and humid season, but rain continued for days and weeks that it became so normal that everyone was too comfortable by the impending storms as forecasted by the national weather station.
As my daily routine goes, I was spending sleepless nights on school works and side projects, so the news was not in my mind. Mama shared to me that two weather disturbances were coming to our country, though it wasn't yet a tropical storm that time--it was after the first two storms that we knew that there was another one was coming.
April 10 — The first storm 'Agaton' came in the morning with the heavy and deafening rainfall.
April 11 — The next storm 'Basyang' (Malakas) came at night, slightly less powerful, but still with heavy rainfall.
April 12 — It was still raining until the afternoon, but the electricity and internet were back already.
Over 7 landslides and flooding were recorded in the city, the search and rescue operations continued for about two weeks to find survivors. I can only hope for everyone's safety and for the affected families for strength.
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A few farmers dared to check the expanse of the damage caused by the first storm on the very next day after it happened, the flood was waist-high and was very saddening. I waited for the second storm to pass before visiting the orchard.
Along the way, I met farmers with heavy hearts, soothing themselves with calming words, but evidently the damage was too difficult to suppress. The never-ending rains throughout the first three months of the year has already stunted the potential of the rice fields, and the flood has plunged the supposed income further down into losses.
Mama visited the farm and was disheartened seeing the banana plantation zeroed out, we will need to wait another year for recovery. I felt obliged to visit the orchard again, but seeing the wreckage, made me weak and helpless. The raised beds were damaged and most crops were either de-leafed or uprooted as it was submerged in the undercurrents of the flood.
This was the time I began distancing a bit from the orchard, with only occasional visits each week.
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With the damage to the flooding, I had realizations of how small our lives are to act big and prideful. Also, it came to me that the orchard needs a bigger work, it needs to be storm-resilient by adding more trees to protect it from further erosion.
My planned transitioned from a vegetable farm into an even more sustainable food forest. Well, it is a food forest, it was my father's first projects more than two decades ago. He planted fruit trees on the untended property--but it needed a revamp and some minor improvements.
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After the event, I still have a few harvest from what was left. I considered it lucky to still get fruits and vegetables, though I was hesitant to work on the property again.
What inspired me to continue what I started was this gigantic Soursop fruit, usually local varieties only weighs about a kilogram or less, but this was almost 4 kilograms already! I was receiving a lot of glances, I walked home carrying some of my harvests and the extra large Soursop.
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By May 2022, the weather became more predictable, with more hot and humid days with lesser occurrences of rain. Even during the driest months, all of our properties are blessed with the abundance of water.
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The catastrophes that happen to us, might not be an accident itself, but are reminders that us humans are just a tiny part of the universe, we are never bigger than any other people or the world we are in. This reality has been forgotten by those in power in favor of wealth, fame, and temporary-respect they earned from their status.
There are select people who were bestowed authority over people, and those below theme are not to be played or stepped on, but rather should be nurtured and raised from where they started with. While it is uncommon, those who maintain their power are those who have faith in God and love from its people over obsession with wealth and status.
I have seen the societal downfall and the recession long before it happened, not in a prophetic way, but through insights. The only regret I had was not taking gut feelings seriously and had valued emotions strongly than it should be.
The world will be in a more difficult situation in two more years, if people can migrate to distant places southward, it could be better. The developed countries are only a facade for the failures of the elite to culture a controlled society which clearly isn't working anymore.
As for those with lesser capacity to financially decide for the future, let's just continue building permaculture gardens and sustainable food forests to ride us through the pandemic and inflation, it may be harder than ever, but let's see how far we can sustain our families even with the chaotic global environment.
PINNED POST
 | Clearing the Damage After the Storm Instead of falling into anxiety, it took time to make use of what the storm had given. |
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About Me
@oniemaniego is a software developer, but outside work, he experiments in the kitchen, writes poetry and fiction, paints his heart out, or toils under the hot sun.
 | Onie Maniego / Loy Bukid was born in Leyte, PH. He grew up in a rural area with a close-knit community and a simple lifestyle, he is often visiting his father's orchards during summer and weekends, which has a great impact on his works. |
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