My Share for #BeautifulSunday initiated by @ace108

Farming is one of the major sources of income here in the Philippines. Often you will see rice fields along the highway as you travel across the country. Have you ever considered farming? Do you see yourself plowing or managing a land to reap the bounties of nature? Well today let me take you with me and visit my father's land.

Field of Dreams

A small piece of property that ranges almost two hectares provides my father a whole year's supply of rice. This also provides a little bit of income for him during harvest time.

He has been talking to me about his land and how he always wanted me to see it. This time I had the opportunity to visit.

The air here is fresh and you could smell freshly cut grass as my father led me to the field.

I wanted to visit during the harvest time, but it was too late. All the rice has already been harvested.

In the field, he was showing me the border of his property. He wanted me to know which part he owns. He told me that one day it would be my time to take care if this land and I should know about it.

My father is an old man, but still very strong. In his way of managing the farm, he made a partnership with a farmer. He provides the capital during the planting season. When it is time for harvest, the capital is taken out first from the sale of the rice. Then the profit is split between the two of them. I think that is a fair partnership. Although, it is not that easy as there are still a lot of factors involved.

Factors that involves are typhoons, insect pests, rats and theft during harvest. During his early years of farming, he lost his capital as the field was devastated by rats. He was dismayed, but still he kept on. He learned how to control rats by electrocution. At the time when the crops are young, the scent is irresistible to rats. He then sets up electric wires around the field to kill the rats. Sounds harsh, but it is a must if you want your crops to survive.

I also learned from him that he only plants for one season. I learned from one of the farmers that you could plant twice in one year. This gave me an idea and opportunity to learn the business of farming. I asked my father if he would allow me to take over the second season of planting. He plants during the end of December and harvests in April. The second planting season would start immediately, but there is a problem. During these times water is scarce in summer.

Although, the field faces Laguna lake it would be hard and expensive to pump water to the rice fields. The best option is to hire a contractor to tap spring water from the mountains. This would be done by burying pipes. Still it would cost money and from the estimate it would take around 50,000 pesos or almost $1000 usd. It may sound cheap to some, but here that kind of money is not easy to come by.

My father said that once the pipes are buried and water has been tapped. We would have unlimited supply of water forever. We could plant anytime that we want. I told him that I will try to save up some money and hopefully get the pipes buried next year. I do not know how many content I would need to create to come up with that amount if money. But I guess every bit would help. I am also hopeful the steem price would rise soon and that would solve it.

Anyway, if there is a will there is a way. Looking at the neighboring fields I see that they have not completed the harvest yet. A lone farmer tends to the land and inspects the rice field.

Here a woman is gathering left over rice that was not harvested. During harvest tiny portions of rice plants are missed as they are cut by hand and not by machinery. These tiny portions are then gathered and then brought home to their families.

My father allows this type of practice as it is one way of helping those less fortunate. Although, what is unacceptable is during harvest. My father told me that you need to have someone to watch over when harvesting. Some people have plastic bags and just grabs as much as they can. They then run and hide it away in their houses. In this kind difficult situation diplomacy would need to come in. You cannot just reprimand the people but instead offer them to work in return for the rice. A fair trade don't you think? In that way you would not be creating bad blood within the community.

This man is digging a canal to irrigate his field. Water is already getting hard at this time. The government provided irrigation, but unfortunately it doesn't reach all. This is the reason why my father wanted me to invest in the water pipes first. That way we cab also share the water to our neighboring fields.

This is what we call "ipa"or rice husk. These rice are empty and did not fully develop. Looks like a very large mound that could have been turned into profit. I am not sure what causes this. I guess I would need to do some research to find out. It could benifit a lot when it is time for me to plant.

I guess these can be still used as fuel for cooking. I am not sure if it can be used as fertilizer.

A shack in the middle of the field used by the farmers. A great spot with the cool breeze from the lake.

Another source of income of the community is fishing. Farmers fish once the planting and harvesting is over. A difficult life, but helps them to get by.

This area is also part of my father's property. He planted coconut trees around it, but sad to say the coconuts gets stolen most of the time. My father said that there would be no problem if people would ask, as he would gladly share. It is painful to know that there are some people who doesn't respect the property and hard work of others.

Here in this small piece of land vegetables are also planted. There is so much satisfaction in harvesting and cooking what you grow.

Fresh tomatoes are available to add goodness to your home cooked meals. He had more vegetables plants, but was ransacked one reason why he doesn't plant too much varieties anymore.

One thing that I noticed is the property is unfenced. Anyone could come in and out anytime. The solution that I am thinking is it build a concrete perimeter around the area to secure the property. But that would cost again some money. Maybe I could help work in that in the future if things looks good.

Chickens here are free to roam around the area. This is not my father's chicken just happened to enter the property. I love native chickens and I would want to raise a couple of them too. Fresh eggs for breakfast would be very inviting.

This ends our visit to the property and I hope you found it interesting. A simple life, but requires hard work. A field that could turn dreams to reality. This made me think of how our future may turn out to be. Never was it a plan for me to manage a farm. Maybe at the back of my mind it is one of my dreams to live on a farm. Things may still change and nothing is certain in this world . But if it is meant to be, I would gladly take on the challenge.

Thank you for joining me and I hope you have a blessed Sunday.

 

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All photos are original and taken with
Lumix GX85 12-32 mm kit lens

 

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://watersnake101.steemblogs.club/2019/06/02/field-of-dreams-beautiful-sunday/

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