AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan I’ve always maintained that owning a farm is the original Filipino dream. Unfortunately, like many dreams, owning a successful farm can be challenging. Aside from the difficulty in acquiring adequate farmland suitable for the crops or livestock one wants to cultivate or...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Agriculture industry. This is the name we call everything that falls under the terms “agriculture,” which, contrary to popular misconception, isn’t just about planting and harvesting. Agriculture work isn’t limited to farming, but that’s for another column....
The first quarter of 2020 was undoubtedly a difficult chapter for many Filipinos. After the eruption of Taal Volcano on January 12, 2020, it was followed by a lockdown almost two months later caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The quarantine protocols kept the public from leaving their homes,...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Chocolate and bananas are a delicious combination, but did you know that these two crops also pair well together in the field? Cacao has been on the news lately. What isn’t talked about is how many cacao farmers have been commenting that it takes a long time - about four...
In San Pedro, Laguna, Randy Maranan, a gardener and retired executive of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), recently shared about his jackfruit ( Artocarpus heterophyllus ) that weighs heavier than the current record holder at the Guinness World Records. Last July 2021, Randy Maranan, a gardener...
There are important factors that must be taken into account when growing crops. This includes responsible use of fertilizer and resources, prevention of landscape pollution, waste reduction, and protection of wildlife. However, it is the basic requirements that are sometimes overlooked by...
Losing a loved one may take years or even a lifetime of recovery from grief. Marissa “Marz” Ebarle Middleton, 42, a homecare therapist, knows this feeling as she suffered from her baby’s loss seven years ago. Marissa “Marz” Ebarle Middleton, 42, a homecare therapist, with her fur...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan When I’m not writing about agriculture, I’m writing about folk practices, beliefs, and the supernatural. This was because before I became an agriculture editor, I was (and still am) a horror writer whose stories focused on local folkloric beings and practices, a lot of...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan As the number of farmers in the country continues to decrease even as their median age increases, there has been a push to encourage people, especially young ones, to consider agriculture as a source of income. While there are many success stories of people who have made a...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Food has become such a big part of pop culture that there are people who base their personalities on what they’ve eaten and where they’ve eaten it. There is nothing bad about this. Eating is an easy way to get to know a culture, and experiencing different flavors can...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan There’s a story about Nick Joaquin that’s been going around the creative writing circle for as long as I can remember. It’s said that during a writer’s workshop, the National Artist got so annoyed at a participant's work that he allegedly told the poor workshop...
Nikka Veronni Factolerin Espinili-Restovic, 32, is a seafarer turned Filipina gardener based in Serbia, where she grows Philippine or Asian vegetables. Espinili-Restovic settled abroad after marrying a Serbian national named Radoje Restovic and is now a mother to their three-year-old...
