My Native Piggies' Photojourney

Let us share with you as we document our life with our new babies of the farm.  Walk with us in natural farming practices as we take you on that journey with us, through photos :)

We intend to fatten and breed the native pigs :)

My Native Piggies

We had been planning and talking about having pigs in our farm. All talk no do! We need to construct a pig pen, right? Well we never got around past talking about where to locate it.

Over the weekend Doc Rey asks the staff to source native piglets. He thought that it will force him to move and get his pig pen act together if he had piglets waiting to be transferred.

The staff were able to get three (3) native piglets! The natives ones in our area are black, big and low bellies.

We had a spare brooder for emergency space that is a cage of the bed of an Elf truck. It had been designed and tried against rats when we brood chicks, so this will be a good holding pen for the new babies of the farm.

It is set under trees and very close to where we eat our breakfast and seating area in the farm. Best guage for the "no smell pigs". The bedding is soil, topped with rice hull, sprayed with Indigenous Micro Organisms (IMO) that we make for the farm as we practice natural farming.

Initially when the piglets got to the farm, they were given Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) in their drinking water. They didn't want to touch the grains offered to them. Our caretaker thought that since they were native pigs, they were used to the indigenous diet in their area. She gave them chopped kangkong and Azolla :) They loved it.

Today was the first time we will see them. Drove past the gate, inspecting the fruit trees as we drove by. Talking about the flowering Duhat and Mango trees..but wanting to wring Doc Rey to drive faster to get to my black babies!

Parked by Pen#1 of the chickens and we had to walk through the other pens to check on them before getting to my breakfast area. Now I see them!!!!!

Cutest three (3) Little Black Pigs! I named them Annie, Jojie and Sandy hahahhaha

I sniffed sniffed around....no smell :) Thanks to the workings of the IMO, sunshine, air and shade around them. Same with chickens and humans....that is also what the piggies need.

Now they have started to eat grains, but still prefer their vegetable salad, with their FPJ in their drinking water.

Now, Doc Rey is busy making the pig pens. And talks are now about getting a hospicio for native pigs :)

Intro To White Pastured Chickens: Video

Why did we go from colored to white?  Here we are introducing you to white pastured chickens.

In partnership with Mag-Agri Tayo, we will do a series of instructional videos to guide you in pasturing chickens and natural farming.

Sunshine Chicken is our branding.  Any chicken we produce from our farm is called Sunshine Chicken.  It connotes clean and healthy chicken meat on your tables :)

Oriental Herbal Nutrients - OHN: The Video

Oriental Herbal Nutrients or OHN is our natural immune system booster and natural remedy for our farm animals and plants :)

Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ): The Video

Mag-Agri Tayo's feature on Fermented Plant Juices.  Read around this blog as we had written about this base in our natural farming practice....it is our growth promotant and vitamins for our chickens and vegetable plots :)

Azolla Videos

These were from the Mag-Agri Tayo episode of January 29.  Join us for more scheduled instructional over NBN Channel 4, every Saturday, 9am.

Oriental Herbal Nutrients - OHN

Oriental Herbal Nutrients (OHN) is made from plants with fungicidal and pesticidal properties.  Examples are: Garlic, Ginger, Onion, Siling Labuyo etc.  We ferment these plants in order to maintain their properties.

 1) Chop 5kgs of choice of herbs.  We use a combination of the above.  An easier way instead of chopping is pressing, hammering or bayo, them to break the fibers.

2) Place in a plastic container.

3) Add beer to the level of the ingredients.

4) Cover and keep in a dark, cool place.

5) After 12hrs, add 1liter of Molasses and cover with Manila Paper.

6) Keep in a cool, dark place.  Ferment for 7days.

7) Add Gin or Coconut Vinegar, equivalent to 3x the amount of Beer that was used on day1.

8) Cover again and keep in a dark, cool place.

9) After 10days, harvest on top, the same volume of Gin or Coconut Vinegar that was added.

You may repeat from step5 onwards for 3cycles.   The sludge may be fed to your animals.

OHN keeps our pastured chickens healthy.  We use it 2x a week to strengthen their immune system.  When the chickens are sick, they are given OHN for 3days straight.  Use 2 Tablespoons for every liter of fresh water.

Simple version that you may try:

1) Use 1/2kg Ginger and 1/2kg Garlic.

2) Soak in 2lts Gin.

3) Harvest after 3 days

OHN keeps the plants healthy.  Used from the vegetative stage and continues up to fruiting stage, once a week.

Humans will benefit from OHN too :)

I Like Them Wild....

...veggies, flowers... :)

One of the wild vegetables we have a lot in the farm is this miniature cucumbers.  They grow everywhere and love to hang and wrap around trees and these wire fence that protects some of our vegetables from our pastured chickens.

The time I took this photo, I got a handful and blew on them...just a psychological getting rid of dust...then popped them in my mouth.  The beauty of chemical free farming. 

Very refreshing, sweetish and juicy.  Great to have mixed in salads for that minute crunch :)

While I Was At The Market

Saturday is my Mercato Centrale@BGC, selling day.  That is the newest weekend organic market in Metro Manila, located beside Bonifacio High Street and Serendra.

I knew too that Mag Agri Tayo will show today, the 1st of the series of instructional segments we will assist Mag Agri Tayo with.  The market makes me forget...and I got surprised when we were bombarded with texts that really gave super positive feedbacks.  

Yesterday Mag Agri Tayo told me that what we shot was too long for one episode (which was supposed to cover Azolla, FPJ and OHN) but was too short for two.  So, on Monday, we shoot again to make up for the 2nd episode for February  5, Saturday, Channel 4, 9am.

That will still be a market day for me....so watch it ahead of me...before they send me my copy :)

Let us know what topics you want to listen to and watch :)

The Bugs Are Welcome Here

For some years, we were happy to have tons of Water Lily in our ponds as we saw the Sunshines eating them....til we were introduced to Azolla :)  Last week, we decided to clear two more ponds to make room for more Azolla propagation.

The cleared plants were laid on the edges of the ponds and it wasn't a nice sight to pass while going through the farm.  Why don't we lay them on the thickly weeded areas and around the fruit trees?  Spray IMO (Indigenous Micro Organisms) on them, let it be our green fertilizer!

As they were being forked to the adjacent grassy areas, clouds of insects were lifted!  It was like heaven on earth....dragon files, lady bugs, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders etc....  Then butterflies of several colors decided to dance with them :)

I am thankful we are not spraying chemicals.  My mind is very micro in thinking...it thinks small.  I know I have secured food on our own tables, with some to share with family and friends.  

Think about securing your own too.  Grow your own food.

After These, What Is Next?

Agri Plain Talk, Manila Bulletin, December 11 2010

Agri Plain Talk, Manila Bulletin, Jan 08 2011

Agriculture Magazine, Jan 2011, Page7

Panorama, Jan 02 2011, Page 20 and 21

In December 25 2010, Mag Agri Tayo, shown every Saturday at 9am over Channel 4 had featured the white pastured chickens too.  We are now partnering with them in given a school on the air and will be showing in several episodes our farming practices.  In early 2010 they did a 2part feature on us already, but they are now interested in the whites and the natural farming.  Watch out for the January 29 2011 episode.

Can you guess what the next stories of Mr. Zac Sarian will be focusing on? 

Making Things Lighter

We have always been on the look out for ways and means to make work load lighter for our workers.  The recipe for making Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) seems easy of you will read it at 2kgs plants and 1k Molasses.  With that, you will harvest about 2.5liters of FPJ.  That amount is OK if you have a backyard of vegetables to tend and spray.  But if you are doing commercial farming of pastured chickens, we ferment about 20kgs of plants almost every other day.

Preparing for an instructional video on making the different concoctions, made me see how our staff is making FPJ, OHN etc on a close up view.  

I took photographs recently on a very sad moment and after that I told Doc Rey that it pays to get a professional photographer in times of grief.  I experienced and saw the sadness of everyone as you frame them in your camera's lens and create a subject.

To cut on time, we had gotten a shredder/chopper for the preparation of the materials for FPJ.  But now that I was taking photos and video for the movie we will make, I saw how difficult it was to harvest  and press the sludge to extract the FPJ, OHN etc, manually.  The OHN was very hot to the touch...imagine all that garlic, onions, ginger, chili etc.  Doc Rey commented on it too, and he was just seeing the photos and the raw videos.  He wasn't present during the harvest.

You just have to ask others, as surely, they have encountered the same problems.  How do we extract and press the sludge, aside from manually?  One said go to a machine shop and have a presser made.  One said they used an old washing machine that only the spinner is left working.  Bright idea!

I told my staff right away and she said she had thought about that too and that she thought of using the plastic net bags to portion them well so not to heavy load for the spinner and no mess as the sludge will be in the net bags.  Yes, just as Jojie said...spinner and net bags :)

Doc Rey keeps old things well...after I called him, he came back with an old , working washing machine.  They set it up high so it will be easy to harvest and drain from the hose.

Ask...don't be shy!  Natural farmers are very generous with time, effort and knowledge :)

FPJ, Natural Growth Promotant

How do you choose what plants to use?  What is the proportion and recipe?

We use Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) for our chickens.

Try using them on your animals,  and plants :)

1/11/11

First harvest of the year, the first batch that fed on Azolla, first taste test....and I wasn't around!

Some things had to be done in Manila and so it was Doc Rey who went for a quick visit to the farm.  It just so happened that the harvest was scheduled today, for the Oct7 batch.

Verdict:  Very tasty and lean.  He had a Tinola done.  Soup was really good, even if there was hardly any fat rendered.  Tasted the way chickens should.

We Can't Have Too Much Of Azolla

Check out pictures on instant holding areas for Azolla, using inverted mosquito nets.

You don't need a deep fishpond to multiply Azolla.  Shallow ponds are doable and cheap for this project.  Line them with thick pond liners, or used billboard tarpaulins.  Prepare the pond with your IMO and beddings.

We can't have too much of Azolla as it may be fed to animals, used as green manure, and shared with others :)

Good Start, Pay Forward

January 2 2011, Panorama of the Manila Bulletin had a two page spread on our pasturing white chickens. January 7 2011, Mag Agri Tayo (Every Saturday, 9am, Channel 4) set an appointment for another shoot next week covering Azolla, fPJ and OHN....this was just after they featured us on white pastured chickens in their December 25 2010 episode.   January 8 2011, Agripage of Manila Bulletin played up the use of Azolla as an alternative feeds for animals.  By mid morning, Channel 5 did a chance interview on us at Mercato Centrale for the Sunshine Chicken and we had another chance to highlight Azolla.

Today, I was also asked how much would Azolla cost?  "It multiplies so fast that I think it is a sin to sell it...besides, we were taught and given time and Azolla, it has to be paid forward to others".

These were the two photos that were used by Mr. Zac Sarian's Agripage, Jan 8, 2011:

AZOLLA IS CHEAP CHICKEN FEED - If you want to economize on feeds for your free range chicken, you should try growing Azolla even if you have just a small fishpond.  Just like what Dr. Rey Itchon is doing in their farm in Santiago City, Isabela.  They raise Azolla in their Tilapia ponds and harvest the water plant for feeding their white chickens which are raised as free range chickens.  The Itchons say that the chickens just love to eat Azolla which is rich in protein.  They only feed their chickens once a day with commercial feeds that is without any antibiotics.  Instead, they enhance the health of their fowls by adding fermented plant juice, which they themselves make, in their drinking water.  Photo above shows the Itchons' pond full of Azolla while at the lower photo, the chickens are relishing the Azolla given them.

Close up of Azolla:

We are now harvesting 50kgs a day, that translates to savings of PHP1500 a day.  That is what we feed the Sunshines.  We haven't even counted our Pangasius and Tilapia that live on Azolla alone.  We did a sampling recently and the growth is comparable to commercial fishponds that are fed with commercial feeds.   

Setting up additional holding areas to bring up the harvest to 100kgs a day :)

Thankful For 2010....Looking Forward To 2011

These past days, I had been composing in my mind how to post for my year ending blog.  I  can just think of blessings.  Am sure I had my share of trials, but those are learning expeditions for future realizations.

For Sunshine Chicken, I can't ask for more.  Only on our 3rd year for the dressed chicken market, we got a lot of media mileage for 2010.  How many TV shows featured us?  At least six (6).  Mag Agri tayo featured us twice this year.  I have to look at their support and of course to Mr. Zac Sarian, Editor for Agriculture of Manila Bulletin, who is always documenting our moves in the pastured, free range chicken industry. Both of them had been covering our transition from colored to white.  The last segment we had in December 25 with Mag Agri tayo will be followed up soon by a TV shoot again next week.  That show got a lot of good reviews and feedback.  Mr. Sarian just wrote about us last week and will follow up in the January issues of Agriculture Magazine and Panorama.

As for our sales for dressed Sunshine Chicken?  Take it from the cue that we are always loading dayold chicks :)

Just as I was composing in my mind how to "Thank" 2010 and everyone...I got a call informing me that Bobby Inocencio passed away while vacationing in Dumaguete.  Bobby is the Father of Free Range Chicken industry in the Philippines.  He reintroduced and opened our eyes again to how chickens should be raised, not just for backyard, but for commercial too. Solraya Enterprises as that time was just into distributing of dayold chicks for Bobby's Teresa Farm.  I may not agree with his business styles, but after we stopped doing business, we maintained friendship.  Later on, when we started importing and selling chicks, roles were reversed and he bought our Sunshine chicks and sold them the the clients who trusted and just wanted to buy from Bobby :)  That is one thing that remained, and SASSO of France knows that...that triangle of work and respect remained between SASSO of France, Bobby of Teresa Farm and Solraya Enterprises.  I had to let France know right away about Bobby's passing away....even before I remembered to call Bobby's UP College barkada (we had common friends).

There will be no Sunshine Chicken if there was no Bobby Inocencio.  We have no unfinished business together and he knew we were friends even after the business deals were over.  Last contact was to greet each other for Christmas.

Thank you to all for the joys and blessings shared.  If we shared trials....that is it...just trials to see how we deal with all of these :)

Azolla

First we had a small microwaveable container with some Azolla, compliments of Edel.

We were so excited as we saw it multiply in a plastic pond.  Next we transferred to a small netted area in one of the ponds.  Oh boy, do they love the sun, the space and the indigenous microorganisms lurking around them.  You can't stop them from coughing themselves around...maybe by the second!

Azolla, as alternative feeds

We harvest a lot of Azolla to feed the three (3) batches of Sunshine Chicken we now have in the farm.  They are fed pails and pails of it daily....the pond just gets thicker with Azolla :)  You feel you have to harvest more to give more space to them to multiply.

All ages love Azolla, this batch was tested from almost day1 and the chicks were really excited every time it is offered to them

This batch is next in line for harvest.  While most opt to play outside, some prefer to wait for their meals in pen.

Very good as alternative feeds.  Now that we are so into natural farming, we threw some Azolla in our Pangasius and Tilapia ponds.  If only you can see the video, the ponds are in constant movement.  The fishes just love eating Azolla.  Now, can you understand why food on our tables taste good? :)

Now we need trolleys to transport the pails of Azolla to the different pens.  Cut down feeds, cut down manual labor...welcome problems to natural farming :)

We saw some floating in the water way on the road.  We had to get them even if we had a lot already.  Why?  We can't allow the farmer next to them spray it with herbicide!  It was a gift to us, so let us natural farmers take care of it.

Lessons Reiterated

Chickenful and lessons learned and re-echoed this weekend.

Saturday, Dec 18:

1) It was Doc Rey who was supposed to do the seminar on "Raising Pastured Chickens in the City" at Mercato Centrale, but after I was at the the newest weekend market for three (3) weekends now, the people there won't have the space nor the time to grow their own.  So, I was tasked to talk on the "Benefits of Eating Healthy Pastured Chicken".  Get to know your market.

2) As I was on the way to the talk tent, I saw Jhoey of Pinoy Organics speaking to a Chef who was going to do a cooking demo next day, Sunday.  As I went by them, I recognized Chef Rupert Carandang, son of one of my best friends Mary Massab (remember Miss Magnolia and Iskul Bukol?) and Nelson Carandang.  He said he was going to listen to me.   Support friends and family.

3) There was no space for the projector screen as we were going to make do

with the back of a used tarpaulin as screen.  Didn't work. The projector wasn't showing the images well as we were practically outdoors.  After Doc Rey said "the show must go on",  Jhoey of Pinoy Organics decided we do an interview type of presentation wherein she decided to ask me FAQs and I give the replies, addressed to the audience.  Worked perfect as FAQs are just it, the "frequently asked questions".  Be prepared for anything and make do with situations. 

4) After the talk, he decided he wanted to use Sunshine Chicken for his demo.  We  had good conversation about his preferences for cooking.  I later encouraged his parents to watch the demo.  Common denominators are set by friends and family.

5)  Right after Mercato Centrale, I hied of to catch up with a meeting.  Majority votes should be respected.

6) Christmas party....Important to walk up to new faces to make them feel welcome.

Sunday, Dec 19:

1) Chef Rupert asked me if I wanted to do selling and distribute my flyers during his cooking demo using Sunshine Chicken.  I said "Oh no"!  I didn't want to take away the moment from Chef Rupert.  Besides, the activity was a cooking demo and not product selling.  When you give something, there should be no expectations of returns. 

I appreciate the thought from Chef Rupert, but no thank you.

2) Chef Myke Sarthou was also a surprise cooking demonstrator too.  I am not normally there on Sundays so we weren't able to plan together.  He still managed to use my Liver Pate that he makes for Sunshine Chicken :)  Friends work great together.

3) The Mercato Centrale's comfortable surroundings are so conjusive to talking.  I went extra miles to learn more from others and needs to spread natural farming.  Plan through the eyes of others, as your needs have been met already and may not be applicable to the newbies :)

Red Combs

 From afar, they look like Cherries topping Vanilla Ice Cream.  Hmmmmm, I shouldn't blog when I am craving for sweets :)

The red combs are a sign of good health.   Be conscious about them as it tells you if they are sick.

But what are combs for really?

Gamefowls who's combs had been cut off look smart and handsome.  Notice how gamefowls pant after a few flights shuffles?  Maybe you think they are like Manny Pacquiao who can withstand 12rounds.  Yes, they can because they are loaded with boosters :)  But take a look at the clean chicken who hasn't been subjected to boosters, they tire easily after their combs had been cut off.

Chickens don't perspire and the combs act as their radiator and cooling system.  That plays a good role during summer.