Can we do ‘farming’ in cities?
In an urban municipality, do we notice the
polluted air that we breathe? Are we also aware that the death rates caused by
diabetes, kidney stones, and other health complications are higher in urban
places than in rural areas? And do we know that malnutrition and obesity are
very dominant in cities because people, particularly children - if not eating
nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables - are eating more meat and
processed foods?
After discerning all these, we come up with
a conclusion that these are the problems that have one solution – and that is “Urban
Farming.”
Where are we going to ‘farm’ in a big city
like ours? Is Urban Farming costly? Do we have to allot so much of our time to
do this?
In a seminar conducted in our school, Jose
P. Laurel Sr. High School, by Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte on July 2,
2015, we have learned that doing the farm work, or simply gardening, is
feasible in urban areas. According to the speaker, “The Most Outstanding Agriculturist
in Romblon”, Mrs. Analyn Martinez, Urban Farming is doable even in limited
spaces in our homes and in our schools.
It won’t cost us a lot of money. In fact,
the things that we need to start Urban Farming are already around us. We may
not see the value or the purpose of those things at once – but with a creative
mind, eventually we will realize that these things have other uses – that could
even change our lifestyle in the long run!
These are the things
or factors that we need to start Urban Farming:
1. Space
We have to allot space for gardening. In
our homes, we may have small backyards where we can start planting. And in our
schools, we may have small gardens and rooftops. But if we want to save space
and at the same time, decor our home exterior with plants, we can use our huge
window grills, patios or small balconies where we can put some pots. As long as
the place is exposed to the sunlight and air, it would be good for urban
farming. Vertical gardening is also a good idea to save more space. But we can
only plant veggies with shallow roots on vertical gardens.
2. Air and Water
The three non-mineral nutrients that are
very essential to the plant’s growth are found in the air and in the water.
These nutrients are hydrogen (H), oxygen (O) and carbon (C). In a process
called the photosynthesis, plants extract energy from the sunlight and use it
to change carbon dioxide (CO2 - carbon and oxygen) and water (H2O- hydrogen and
oxygen) into starch and sugar forms, which serve as their food. Sprinkling
water on it every morning is good for the plants!
3. Fertile Soil
We need soil to grow plants. It is a
mixture of sand, silt, clay, and organic matter. However, we cannot use pure sand,
clay, and small pebbles as an alternative for the soil, because only the soil
particles can hold water between them, allowing the plant’s roots to draw water
from it. Also, the 13 essential nutrients needed by a plant to grow are found
on the soil. These are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium
(Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), chloride
(Cl), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), and zinc (Zn).
4. Pots or
containers
We need pots or containers to hold the
plant on the soil in place. It also keeps the space for urban gardening neat
and orderly. But we can use plastic bottles and containers as alternatives.
6-liter bottles are good replacements for large pots; 1.5-liter bottles for
hanging pots or vertical garden containers; and egg trays for seedlings. We
just have to make sure that there are holes on the bottom, or on the side of
the plastic containers to enable the exchange of gases in the soil, and for
drainage.
5. Seeds or
Seedlings
There are fruits, veggies and herbs that
can be planted in our urban gardens. Some of them can be directly planted on
soil, but some requires transplantation. Another, they vary in sizes. We can
plant seeds or seedlings, depending on the space that we allotted for our urban
garden. If we have a huge backyard, we can plant tall-growing trees like the “Malunggay
trees” and the “Orange trees.” But if we prefer vertical gardening, we may
plant seedlings with shallow roots - such as Lettuce, Mustasa, Pechay, Kangkong
and Cabbage. There are seeds that can be planted directly on soil in our urban
gardens, like Spinach, Carrots, Cucumbers, Okra, and Ampalaya.
6. Fertilizer
Actually, we don’t have to buy fertilizers
– these may already contain chemicals that may harm the plants and the soil if
we put on too much. Let us make “organic fertilizers” as an alternative. A
mixture of biodegradable wastes such as rotten foods, leaves, and animal
manures will do. It may smell or look nasty, but we can use rubber gloves or a
long piece of wood to mix them. By using organic fertilizers instead of
chemical ones, we are already conserving our environment.
7. Pesticides
There are pests that may harm our urban
garden. That is why we need to have pesticides to repel or kill them. Instead
of using chemical pesticides that may also harm the plants too, use organic
pesticides. You just have to chop 15 pieces of “Siling Labuyo,” and a sachet of
laundry powdered soap. Then put all these inside a 1.5-liter bottle filled with
water. Afterwards, shake the bottle to
mix them.
Funded by the Vice Mayor’s Office, “The
Joy of Urban Farming” project aims to improve nutrition, promote organic and
eco-friendly surroundings, and at the same time, reduce poverty. But
personally, I see that there are many benefits that we can attain if each
family will start Urban Gardening in their homes. This can be our source of
livelihood, and our source of nutritious foods everyday. And aside from saving
more money, growing plants will also make the air fresh, oxygen-sufficient and
safe to inhale.
It would require us some time and a little
of our budget. But isn’t worth it to invest on something that eventually, will
benefit us for a lifetime? In fact, the local government is helping us. Our school
is one of the beneficiaries of this project. The representatives of the Office
of the Vice Mayor gave us seeds, seedlings, and sacks of soil to start Urban
Farming in our school rooftop.
Let us imagine the impact of Urban Farming
in resolving malnutrition and poverty in Quezon City: the estimated number of
households in 2012 was 706,564. If each family would have a “Fruit and
Vegetable Urban Garden” in their homes, 3.2 million people would benefit from
it. That would drop the malnutrition and poverty rate in Metro Manila by up to
25-percent. How much more if Urban Farming is implemented to all urban
municipalities in the Philippines? For sure, that would make a discernible
change to the ecological, nutritional, and economical aspects of the whole
country.
“In gardening, you realize that everything
in life is connected to the soil. You get a deeper understanding of life. You
get your hands dirty to create something beautiful and useful,” said Raul
Norbe, “The Joy of Urban Farming” program agriculturist. Let us keep this
thought in our minds – and in our hearts.
Sources/Bases (on facts):
·
http://www.quezoncity.gov.ph
·
http://www.google.com.ph
·
Joy of Urban Farming Facebook Page (l.facebook.com)
*I wrote this article on urban farming a year ago (2015). This was published on "The Laurel", the Official English School Publication of Jose P. Laurel Sr. HS (December 2015 issue).
