Vegetable Patches

Now, it is the importation of vegetables that is hugging the headlines and we can attest to the fact that in some outlets, the price of these are much lower than the locally produced variety. Thus, the homemaker who is on strict budget can not be faulted for her choice. We visited the Netafim model farm in Tagaytay recently and the head caretaker informed us that native production could not actually meet local demands, hence big establishments have to resort to foreign suppliers.

We have friends (a gracious couple) whose farm in Antipolo successfully raises a good variety of lettuce, herbs, eggplants, tomatoes and even okra and finger chilies. Visitors marvel at their generosity as they allow guests to pick and take home plastic bags full of their produce. In a rather small scale, they supply some commercial establishments. Another friend buys seeds, more specifically live herbs, which she raises in her backyard. So she is able to use fresh basil, tarragon, thyme and even the difficult-to-breed rosemary, whenever she needs them for the delicious meals she whips up for her family.

Most homeowners have idle and hopefully fertile spots in their gardens which can be converted into productive vegetable patches. Tomatoes are easy to grow. Even bell peppers do not need much care. Vines (squash etc.) would yield enough to meet a family’s needs. For those who want to raise their own herbs, tiangges in various places sell live plants and so does ShopWise in Muntinlupa at the Filinvest Mall.

We discovered a few new things during that recent visit to Netafim. This is a model farm located in Tagaytay, off the street that leads to the Dominican House of Prayers and the Buena Vista Village. Neta means drip and the suffix fim makes it a collective noun. The drip irrigation technology used originated from Israel and has been here for the last two years. Everything is controlled by computers. The company encourages those with idle lands (from 500 square meters and up) to get into this type of farming. For this size of lot, two trained staff are required. The farm is now the biggest supplier of Rustan’s and consumers are welcome to visit it, pick and buy whatever are harvested. The day we were there, we were lucky to get some capsicums at P120 a kilo (compared to P250 in commercial outlets) and the tomatoes, of course, at the same price. They also grow herbs and if you are lucky you can haggle a few sprigs of basil etc. It is advisable to call prior to going there, so you can catch their harvest time.

Residents of Pampanga have a few more days to meet the deadline for submitting recipes to the "Shellane Lutong Bahay Originals 2002". Entries will be received by Shellane dealers and distributors until Nov. 22 when contestants will be short listed for the semi-finals set for Nov. 30 Cash prizes are at stake. Judging from the early submission, we can very well say that there are some budding cooks from this province which had one of the richest cuisines in the country. Can you imagine a Leche Flan with Squash and Adobo Lasagna? Those are only two of the many creative recipes submitted to this contest which aims to resurrect heirloom recipes and be given a new twist by today’s aspiring kings and queens of the Filipino kitchen.

We recently got a phone call from a reader and he has a startling suggestion. With the rising cost of everything, he was wondering whether we could simply have two meals a day instead of the usual three. Obviously this will spell some savings, but would this be healthy? While I know some people who, by choice, only eats twice a day, we should probably consult our medical advisers before adopting this system. On hind sight, this is certainly a sign of the hard times at hand.

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Lydia D. Castillo’s e-mail address: [email protected]