Category: Plants

trees, bushes, shrubs, wildflowers, weeds, crops, flowers, and also mushrooms

Why Permaculture?

You know how kids nowadays are encouraged to be curious, ask questions, be creative, and think out of the box?  Attending a Permaculture Design Course is like that, but for grown-ups who are interested in farming, nature, and the environment.

Learning conventional farming is like going to a traditional school. You learn formulas and schedules. I haven’t learned conventional farming, but that’s what I imagine it’s like!

Attending a two week Permaculture Design Course is like going to a progressive, non-traditional school where you learn how to learn. Instead of formulas and schedules, you have ethics, principles, and prime directives. You learn how to recognize patterns, read the landscape, assess needs and resources, find your own solutions, and see problems as opportunities. We were also introduced to skills like grafting, knife sharpening, bamboo building, cooking, and more.

Permaculture design is the practice of designing sustainable human habitats by following nature’s patterns

 

We came home very inspired and after attending the two week Permaculture Design Course hosted by Kul Kul Farm in Bali in April 2017.  We also felt more focused, determined, and excited by all the possibilities!

Here’s permaculture in action!

The Bombax ceiba was getting choked by the grass and vines. We are using the leaves of the very abundant Gliricidia sepium as protective mulch for the Bombax ceiba. IMG_1459

Using the wood from the invasive Leucaena leucocephala to slow down water run-off in this small gully.

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Making compost out of two waste products– horse manure and dry grass.

There are so many more interesting projects to try! Just going slowly or poco a poco, as our Permaculture teacher  Chris Shanks  always likes to say!

Pasionariang Mabaho

Passiflora foetida

Family: Passifloraceae

Common Name: Pasionariang Mabaho, Stinking Passion Flower, Prutas Baguio

Origin: introduced from tropical America, now pantropic

Reference: Stuartxchange

According to Stuartxchange, all parts of this plant have a disagreeable odor. I did not notice any smell when inspecting, photographing, and sketching the plant. We noticed a rotting smell in the air the day after I collected this plant. It’s possible, but I am not sure if the odor was from the discarded plant.

Pasionariang Mabaho

The fruit looks like a tiny version of the edible passion fruit. The dogs were very interested in it. Momo grabbed it from me and ate it. Later that day, he threw up.

IMG_1450

Saga

Abrus precatorius

Family: Fabaceae

Common Name: Saga, (Tagalog), Rosary Pea, Matang Pusa, Berdegonis (Ilocano), Oyang-ya (Visayas), Mata-Mata, Mata ni Kenkoy, Jaquerity Pea, Wild Liquorice

Reference: Co’s Digital Flora of the Philippines Facebook Group

Origin: probably a native of tropical Asia, found in South Africa, China, West Indies, Brazil and India (Stuartxchange)

The seeds are very attractive and are made into bracelets or chokers as protection from bad spirits. The seeds are also toxic! Strange to think that bracelets made of toxic seeds are put on infants. The seeds contain the toxin abrin, a ribosome inhibitor. According to Trinket C, no need to remove the plant because “the toxin is only very potent when purified”.

It is a vine. I found it growing at the compost area. I couldn’t see the leaves or flowers of the plant.

saga

update: I know what the leaves look like. It looks like an Ipil-Ipil seedling that’s growing like a vine. I see it in shady areas.