SOAP in Agrilink

SOAP for Spread Organic Agriculture in the Philippines will be at Agrilink!

October 6-8, World Trade Center.  We will have a table in the Department of Agriculture Pavilion.

Talks on Oct7 at 10:30am:  "Kamote as an Alternative Staple", Growing in the City by Perrine Collin.  Pamela Henares of NISARD talks of SOAP and Vermiculture.  AANI's Raymond Rubia will talk about "All About Herbs".

Come and visit us for sustainable organic agriculture practices.

FREE Seminars At MATH

Reminder: Market At The Hills, starting Nov 08, will have extended hours, to night market. Saturdays, 9am-9pm. Sundays, 9am-6pm.

Activities have been lined up to make it interesting for the customers and booth owners.

Free seminars have been lined up. To kick off the start of the night market:

Nov 08, 2-5pm, Starting An Organic Garden by Raymond Rubia of Daily Dose Farm

Nov 09, 2-5pm, Raising Grass Fed Sunshine Chicken by Rey B. Itchon, DVM

See you at Market at the Hills, Corinthian Hills Clubhouse, Temple Drive

We Planned To Have Sunshine

Two months prior to Agrilink, that was in early August, I had to make sure that we will have dressed chickens for display ready by mid October.

Due to the demand, I foresaw that the growers can't be relied on to supply our marketing needs. Of course, they have to fulfill their own commitments first, before they will give me. That is understandable. Besides, I was also the one to give them those clients. Surely, they had to be given priority.

How do I make sure I will have my dressed Sunshines? I encouraged one of my store managers to egg her hubby to grow. Also encouraged Raymond Rubia to load at that period to meet the October harvest.

We ended up having a mini competition :) Raymond and I would look forward to Monday mornings when we would compare weights.

Raymond harvested some already. I personally vacuumed them. Just two days ago, I had a big chest freezer filled, thinking it will be good buffer stock. Gone! I anticipated the shortage amongst the growers. But, I didn't forsee that even our stocks will be wiped out by the increase in demand by our own work during trade shows and Market At The Hills.

Good thing, I had a fall back position with my staff that we didn't harvest yet. Not that my staff lost in terms of weight, but we were just timing the dressing of her Sunshines to the schedule of the truck that heads back to Manila to bring me the products.

Two important things were brought by this planning. The stocks on dressed chicken turned out just the bonus...

1) Both Raymond and my staff grew it to almost uniformly, to about 1.4 in 42days, 1.7 in 49days. Shows that proper care and the improved lines of Sunshine did perform :)

2) My staff was able to sell the day old chicks better. The store that she handles, far performs compared to our other branches. Why? She had first hand experience in growing...and raising it carefully as she had profits at stake there. I can hear her explaining well to customers and talking with conviction.

The problem of shortage was answered, plus plus.

Raymond Makes Me Laugh

I have always told Raymond how much I enjoy reading his blog.

He is so cute in describing things and humor is very intelligent. You will have to think a second before you can see why you have to laugh wehehehhehe.

Let's see if he can tickle your wish bones too :)

When Grown Naturally

A trip is most enjoyable when you visit with friends because you can laugh and say the most outrageous things.

Friday, August 01, we headed to Quezon, first stop was Candelaria. Never been there before and I was surprised at how progressive the place is.

Breakfast was heavenly because dessert was two fresh Durian fruits picked the day before from Daily Dose Farm of the Rubias. As I was swirling the creaminess inside my mouth, I know I was literally eating my words saying how different it was. Raymond replied the freshness mattered a lot when everything else was equal in the variety and farming.

We headed to the Municipal Hall to give the seminars by AANI for the farmers. Well attended and people were approaching Doc Rey after to ask questions.

Lunch was so good. We were introduced to the fact that Candelaria is known for Crispy Pata and Ulo. I was blessed to seat between Doc Rey and Pol Rubia who tries hard not to eat pork :) The best Crispy Pata and Ulo....so far I have had!

Then a small group of us proceeded to Daily Dose Farm of Raymond. Our first time here and the bridge that is the entrance is already a clue to how homey the place is :)

Now I know why the others we left at the bayan, kept telling us to make sure we get Rambutan for them. I went home with a bag now...and I noticed I never had a single one with a hole from a worm...and they were grown chemical free.

As we walked to Raymond's herbs and veggies...I saw Raymond picking some corn and cleaning the some ears of the yellow corn. I can't help but nudge the ever shy Raymond...."was that for eating now?" wehehhehe...."YES" he says and I grab mine :)

GRABE.....never ate one. The sweetest juice bursts inside your mouth, then tickles your gums. Honest, you are missing a lot if you don't try it. But then, these are raised chemical free, and picked just before eaten. They say the freshness of corn runs away fast from time picked.

Next we went to visit the Sunshines of Earthkeepers in Tiaong, Quezon. After picking up their eggs from the range, Tere and Armand leads us to the office for small talk over their suman and coffee. We were raving about the fresh sweet corn, eaten raw....Armand asks if we had fresh Okra. OKRA? Sounds yucky eaten fresh huh?

But I trust the couple....I bit into what seemed like Sampaguita! It was that fresh and of course grown naturally.

Chit chat with Tere and Armand always evolves into a passionate conversation, that you know you will look forward to the next visit.

We go home with bags of fruits and more Durians from Daily Dose Farm, and Pork slices from naturally grown pigs from Earthkeepers. We have raved about how good their pork is in several past postings.

Please do try to eat fresh. Grow your own veggies and fruits or get from reliable sources, to enjoy what I just did. It is not bad to eat meat in moderation, specially of grass fed and naturally grown.

IFEX Philippines 2008

There were no expectations when we joined this trade show. We are just always in the lookout for avenues where our growers may market their products and get known in the industry.

IFEX was different. It was enjoyable!!!


Before the IFEX started, CITEM contacted us to do a radio/television interview. It just reiterated our stand in pushing our growers in marketing strategies. That was how we felt when CITEM wanted to present their exhibitors.

Again I have to thank Raymond Rubia of Daily Dose Farm for doing the ingress for us. Though he got sick and wasn't able to join for the first 2days, he came on the lastday :)

Doing a food show didn't prepare us for the inquiries we got for the Sunshine Day Old Chicks. We worked side by side with the Sunshine growers who used the opportunity to be seen. Rumandan Farms of Rosario Batangas brought their dressed chickens and Sunshine Capons of Joey and Doc Mitzi Rigor of Victoria Tarlac were around to explain the benefits of eating Sunshines. That was a real big assistance to us, so Doc Rey and I were focused on answering queries on growing for backyard and commercial farming. For the lucky ones to have experienced it....we had reverse roles for a moment. Zac Sarian was carving the Sunshine Capons, Doc Mitzi was assisting, Joey Rogor and Doc Rey were talking to clients and I was photographing.

Met so many interesting people. People who have read about us, read the blog, and even a couple who saw us after searching on the earthquake prediction! A side anecdote to this earthquake scare was that Joey Rigor was texting friends and relatives that the photo of Doc Mitzi was on the newspaper....weehehehhehe no one wanted to believe him and even his own mother-in-law asked if it was just a "text hoax" :)

IFEX Philippines was a great experience. The visitors were from all walks and trades in the food industry. Restaurant owners, supermarket reps, hotel reps, food critics, chefs and consumers who were on the lookout for good supplies. Then there were also the ones looking into what business they can get into in the food industry.

Best lessons we need to learn to get us through are learned during kinder. I always refer to that line and its like a comfort saying for me. Being in a retail zone of a trade show gives you the jumpiness of other entrepreneurs. When you are exasperated with slow learning employees...you know you are with entrepreneurs when you feel the " GO GO GO". From ingress, opening of doors every morning, walking around the aisles....you know an entrepreneur when you see one. I guess they are really born and bred to be one...not learned in university.

Classic example is the booth across us...selling ChocoMani.....I even dream of hearing their voices! I will never forget that in one of the brownouts...in the pitch dark of things...I heard her voice... "free taste....free taste Choco Mani".

As usual, the stars whenever we join tradeshows? Our decor!!!! Literally, people always ask for our cuties. Several tradeshows old now and we have learned to pack up light as we giveaway all our stickies, hangies and props of flowers and chicks.

Can't wait for the next food exhibits.....

Ingress IFEX Philippines 2008

Thankful that I was able to rebook flight back to Manila as I wanted to see how ingress was at IFEX.

I really appreciate that Raymond and AANI help to set up our booth, just to make sure its done if I got delayed.

See you May16-18.

Quite Quiet?

In the blog, quiet, yes...but not a few steps away from this desk!

Unforseen turn of events have me flying to Cebu tomorrow, after a breakfast meeting with my breeder partners at the Park N Fly building.

Hopefully it isn't raining in Cebu so we can take updated photos of growers' ranging areas in the afternoon.

Back to Manila for ingress of IFEX....or so I thought :( Just realized after opening emails that ingress is only until 7pm. Well, option#1, I ask Raymond to fix booth himself. Option#2, we fix booth real early Friday am.

See you at IFEX Philippines 2008. We we will be at the Retail Section, Booth A10. You can't miss us, strategically at a corner. Sunshine as most times, partners with Raymond Rubia of Daily Dose Farm and Chef Bert. Our featured growers for this show will be Rumandan Farms of Batangas, and Sunshine Capon of Joey Rigor in Victoria Tarlac.

Tortilla Wraps

IFEX Philippines 2008 is coming up for May 16-18.

I have to discuss with Raymond Rubia of Daily Dose Farm and Chef Bert how we will be presenting our Sunshines, Veggies and Herbs.

Reading through the food blogs in my bookmarks, I went through Connie Veneracion's Pinoy Cook....a simple but really doable way got to me...."you can have tortilla wraps with pretty much anything in them"...
.....thank you to Rose :)

1st WOW Organic Festival Starts Today

I have to congratulate Desiree, Rhoda and Doc Raffy Barrozo for jobs well done in putting together the 1st WOW Organic Festival, April 18-20, AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood Center.

As early as 7am, there were people going around the booths. Cooking demonstration by Chef Bert attracted a lot of attention. He did a charbroiled chicken, adobo w/ herbs and his version of sinigang using Kaffir Lemon leaves. My show partner, Raymond Rubia of Daily Dose Farm, obliged the use of his organic herbs and vegetables.

GMA7 and Channel4 did interviews on the health benefits and taste of the Sunshines, after sampling the Chef's creations. Chef Bert was even referring to Sunshines as "native chickens" in his GMA7 interviews. I guess...because...LASANG NATIVE kasi.

Regular Day

Travelled 8hrs from Santiago to Manila.

Spruced up booth at AANI Herbal Garden for the 1st WOW Organic Festival that starts tomorrow. Actually, it was Raymond Rubia of Daily Dose Farm, Fer and the AANI Boys who did. I watched.

Prepared invoices for deliveries of chick vans tomorrow.

Scheduled 3rd batch of importation for Parent Stocks for our Sunshines.

Yes, it was a regular day for us :)

What's Up For Next Week?

1st WOW Organic Festival, April 18-20, AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood Center inside the Quezon Memorial Circle (use East Ave gate)

You can't miss us. We will be by the entrance (if you were entering through the gate by the Quezon Monument). Raymond Rubia of Daily Dose Farm will be with us, showing off his organically grown vegetables and herbs. AANI will offer fresh dressed Sunshines. You must have forgotten how fresh real chicken taste? :)

Your nose will lead you to us, as AANI will offer inihaw everyday and Chef Bert of Lipa Culinary Arts will do a cooking demonstration for Sunshine Chicken and produce of Daily Dose on Friday, April 18.

Our regular booth is nearby, so there will be chicks available and ready to slaughter.

Earthkeepers Garden In Tiaong, Quezon

We decided to tag along on this trip just to go to the South of Luzon, via the East road from Rizal.

Had a hearty breakfast of the freshest latexless Langka from Teresa Orchard, over muesli and fresh milk.

By 7am, we were off the pleasant drive to Tiaong, Quezon

Getting to the entrance of Earthkeepers, by the roadside, didn't prepare us for the day ahead.

Tere and Armand welcomed us and led us thru a short maze of gift shop, their abode, and the largest building marked "restaurant", all comforted by blankets of ornamental plants.

As you approach the restaurant, you think why the building (you see a wall with windows) is enclosed in net. You walk past the door of the screen and realize there is only one wall and the whole area is enclosed in net. No boundaries, open, great view. The washrooms are also integrated with the garden.


We were served breakfast, that we were treating as brunch. Remember, we already had a hearty, healthy one. Laid on our table: naturally raised pork refried adobo, hard boiled native chicken eggs, fried sinaing na tulingan, tinolang native manok, ensalada, real malagkit suman w/ latik and naturally grown rice with great aroma and fresh taste. We thought it was too much! Wehehehhehe, a second round of pork adobo came out...still wiped out! Perfectly washed down by brewed coffee. We were laughing about a before and after photos of the table.

We went to walk around the nursery of ornamental plants, all naturally grown, no pesticides, no chemicals.

They make much of their farm inputs. They veer away from using the term organic...they call it natural farming.

Then we went to the pig pens. Boy were they glad to see visitors as they knew they will be given leaves to eat...part of the tour, they were like part of the show :) Then nearby the native chickens that gave us eggs.

After talking about Sunshines, they will start raising for their naturally produced restaurant to serve the meat and the eggs.

Tere talks about walking around the premises of Earthkeepers early in the morning and picking from the trellis and vines her breakfast.

They give seminars to interested parties, actually Congressman Alcala sends his people to train there. Tere actually had sore throat that day. Armand is trying to figure out what the cause was..wehehhe and he says he will reproduce that to give her a bad voice when he needs it.

Armand and Tere are a joy to talk to as they are intelligent, open and simple as you can get. No snooty purists here! Pretensions are not in the dictionary they own.

Wait...we were served LUNCH! We were saying no way we can eat more, no space.... I remembered to take the before photo of the buffet. After photo? I was way too busy trying to figure out what went into the pako salad, kinilaw na tangigue, pandan juice, sinigang na balat ng tangigue, tinolang native manok, adobong pata ng naturally raised pork and puso ng saging.

We bade our goodbyes and shook hands. Got to the car and talked about the unexpected day. The great company, new back to basics knowledge, meeting a principled and decided family, gastronimic events twice held....hoping to meet them again real soon.

Raymond Rubia of Daily Dose Farm should have been here.

March Seminar

Yesterday was the Easter Sunday. Our scheduled seminars are every 4th Sunday of the month, and fell on Easter this year.

We were expecting two or three to attend....we got 9. A 10th found the venue way too late to join.

The best part about getting a small group at a time when you are supposed to be on vacation? You get an interested, serious and varied personas.

I myself was attentive during the seminar and forgot to take photos!

Days just flies by, like by units of breathes, when you are busy. Am now in Isabela, but will be there, there and further there in the next few days....whew...not yet counting the blocked off dates for the coming up trade shows.

We are excited about the Bonsai Show (we don't know exact name yet), May3-11, Araneta Coliseum parking area. This will incoporate agriculural, tourism, cultural themes and events. Of course, we are preparing for IFEX Philippines, May16-20, SMX beside Mall of Asia.

Exciting to work with dynamic teams.

1st WOW Organic Festival

April 16-20, 2008

Join us at AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood Center for the 1st WOW Organic Festival.

Our stall will be having cooked Sunshines, dressed and since we have a permanent booth there, live chicks and ready to slaughter sizes will be available.

We are collaborating with Daily Dose Farm for Raymond's herbs and veggies that will go perfect with great tasting and healthy Sunshines.

Inihaw Na Sunshine At AANI Herbal Garden And Livelihood Center

Remember the empty space beside the AANI office?

See how it looked today.


I got there this morning....I knew Gerry had done something good, basing from how my nose lead me to that spot (of course I knew what he was starting today, but I meant that "ang sarap ng amoy"). From where I was inside the AANI office, the folks seated at Cafe Amadeo were very visible. You can see happy faces. Looking at the plates infront of them, you could guess they had Inihaw na Sunshine!

Gerry offered me a piece of Inihaw. Declined...its business :) Bought three (3) pieces and I shared it with the AANI office staff and Raymond of Daily Dose Farm who was having a seminar on Vermicomposting in the next few minutes. Well, Raymond broke a piece into two. Held one on each hand, and alternately took a bite off the pieces. Parang ayaw ipahingi diba?

Observe how con gusto his seminar was, after the Inihaw...


Glad to see Bing (Bingbong of PCARRD forums)....she was there with her three (3) boys and dad. Lucky, still had some chicken for them.

To start off, I heard it will be a weekend and festival thing. Then add FTI, and hopefully move on.

The marinade, whatever it was, am sure was good. But also, the Sunshine itself was tasty.

Today Was Great

Raymond of Daily Dose Farm, Amy and Allan of Great View Farm and I met at about 10am at Cafe Amadeo, AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood Center. Btw, those are two blogs I enjoy for simple reading yet their style of writing drops you in the middle of Candelaria and Gen San.

Of course we talked about organic farming, books of Raymond, how one has to unlearn things to learn to go organic and Great View Farm's first Sunshines.

Pleasant to meet there because coffee is good, parking is everywhere, people know one another, quiet and informal.

Time flew and I just realized it was noon as the AANI office had their door closed for lunch....so we hied of to Kamameshi for our organic sashimi :)

Since we were discussing about EDSA Garden House, I drove Amy and Allan for a go-see. Good that Adela Ang, the owner, was there. They saw how hands-on she was in the business as she herself was harvesting the herbs for delivery to a client.

Since Allan was flying out tomorrow, I left them to visit family and just wished to see them again next time.

Tomorrow is a huge day ahead.... as I will be alone to meet up with the "technical" clients. I prefer the "know nothing" clients as our minds just free range together.

AANI & Solraya's Sunshine

Effective today, our outlets at AANI FTI and AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood Center will be managed and manned by the AANI Boys under Raymond Rubia of Daily Dose Farm.

AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood Center


AANI FTI Weekend Market


Note that our contact list now carries the AANI telephone numbers, so you may contact them directly. At times when Raymond is not around, please just say you want to speak about the Sunshines.

The AANI Boys had attended the seminar last week. Since we are around weekends, they will learn more.

Doc Rey and I will still be at the AANI booths on weekends, to entertain questions, meet up with you and explain things in person. AANI will provide logistics, personnel and accept bookings.

Best thing is you are now able to go visit AANI at Quezon Memorial Circle, EVERYDAY. AANI FTI is open Saturdays and Sundays. Stocks will be available. Pricing for Metro Manila will be followed.

Raymond wants to experiment. I have full trust on his creativity :)

I kept on nagging him to fix up the landscape....

We should drink to a glass of herb juice...its organic anyway.

A Sunny Gets His Daily Dose Of Worms

Pol Rubia of AANI got from our very first batch of Sunshines. That was soon followed by two to three more purchases.

His son Raymond, once bought a batch because his farm dog overplayed with some of the Sunshine chicks.

Raymond and I would have small talk about the growing chicks...about how he gives them worms daily. He tried photographing. Laughingly saying he can't, because by the time he clicks, the Sunshine has walked away having eaten the worm already.

Some two weeks in a row now, he purchases Sunshines, after he sells his organic vegetables in his booth at AANI. By now, he has developed a relationship with our chickens :) When we aren't around to explain the Sunshines at AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood Center, he does the talking and is open to accept bookings for orders.

I remember him saying to me recently that he finally got THREE photos. Glad I saw his first postings at the PCARRD forum, which led me to seeing a Sunny get his daily dose.