When this covid-19 pandemic had first hit the world, last year, the whole Philippines were put into months of lockdown causing many Filipino to stop working. That means no source of income to buy the necessary things we need specially the food. There were food assistance given to us from the government but it was not enough for the whole family to consume.
By that time, we realized the things that only matters most. The food that we can put on the table so that each member of the family specially the children will not starve.
So we think of planting some vegetables in our backyard. I remember my husband planting a papaya, carrot, alugbati (malabar spinach), and kangkong (water spinach). We have only a small part in the back of our house, so our plants were only limited. We were able to harvest some of the vegetables after they have grown but some of them didn't really made it. Some plants were being attacked by pests that we don't know how to eliminate. Some grows very little that I thought it was having a malnutrition. Until it was all gone and only the papaya tree left unharmed and until now bearing more fruits.
My sister Jennisa was also making her backyard garden in our parents place. That was I guess 15 kilometers away from us. Until the lockdown was lift that we were able to visit them and surprisingly saw her garden with full of different kinds of vegetables. It's not so big yet they can harvest enough for their daily consumption.
At first it didn't occur in my mind to share its beauty here in hive. I visited her many times and there were that times that I was able to harvest some of them by my own hands. So finally, last week when the whole family visited them again, I took some photos of her plants so I can share it here with you.
The following pictures of plants were taken from her garden.
Eggplant or Talong
My children love this elongated, dark purple colored vegetable when made into an eggplant omelette (or “tortang talong”). I was happy that her first attempt of growing an eggplant was a success while ours was a bit failure. We only saw its flowers but no fruits had ever shown. I remember, my sister had only 10 pieces of potted eggplant in her garden. But she make sure that the soil she used was mixed with 50% cow manure.
Health Benefits:
Eggplant is a high-fiber, low-calorie food that is rich in nutrients and comes with many potential health benefits. From reducing the risk of heart disease to helping with blood sugar control and weight loss, eggplants are a simple and delicious addition to any healthy diet.
Tomatoes or Kamatis
I was enjoying just looking at the fruit of this plant. I remember my happiness when I was picking the ripe one. We used to eat it raw in salads or just dip in a salt or soy sauce with vinegar.
Health Benefits:
Tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, A, and K. They protect heart health, improve vision, boost digestive health, help with diabetes management, guard skin health, and protect against cancer.
Source: Health
Cucumber or Pipino
I tried feeding this with my kids and was surprised they had eaten it along with salt. I thought it was better to give this kind of food to them instead of making some stocks of junk foods that they can grab whenever they wanted something to chew. At first I made a smoothie out of it with milk and sugar, thinking they wouldn't eat a raw cucumber. I was happy they loved it and my youngest was asking for another glass of it.(When I was taking pictures, the cucumber had only its flowers since they had already harvested and eaten its fruit. )
Health Benefits:
They are low in calories but contain many important vitamins and minerals, as well as a high water content. Eating cucumbers may lead to many potential health benefits, including weight loss, balanced hydration, digestive regularity and lower blood sugar levels.
Malabar Spinach or Alugbati
This one is my favorite of all the leafy vegetables she have. Everytime we cook "tinolang isda" (fish stew), alugbati is always present and was eaten first after being cooked. My youngest prefer to eat this leaf instead of fish but my eldest don't like how it taste.
We also used its leaf (fresh picked) before during our childhood days, whenever we have a wound. We simply pound it lightly (careful not to tear it) and placed it on top of the wound. It gave a cold feeling upon applying and protects the wound from exposure of dirt and dust. But now, we just rely on ointment creams for wounds.
Health Benefits:
Malabar spinach is high in Vitamin A (100 grams contains roughly 8,000 units), Vitamin C, iron, and calcium. It has a high amount of protein for a plant and is also a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. Another good reason to eat malabar spinach is that it has a good amount of antioxidants, particularly beta carotene and lutein, those naturally occurring chemicals that help keep your cells from aging.
Lady Finger or Okra
Whenever I saw this plant, I only think of one way of cooking it and that is to put it on top of an almost cooked rice. When the rice cooked, so as the okra and pair it with soy sauce and vinegar. I did introduce it to my kids but they didn't like its taste.
Health benefits:
Okra is rich in fiber and other nutrients like vitamin A, B, and C with other minerals. It aids weight loss, lowers cholesterol, helps control blood sugar, helps in better digestion, builds immunity, improves anemic condition, betters eyesight and helps in hair health.
Watermelon or Pakwan
We are all excited as for this watermelon to get bigger and bigger each day. Aside from it is the favorite of all the members of the family, it is also our first time to have it planted in my parents backyard. For now, it is just as big as my fist but we are hoping to have our harvest of watermelon soon.
Healthy Benefits:
Watermelon helps us hydrated because of its 92% water content. It has low-calorie fruit high in some nutrients and contains compounds that may help prevent cancer. It may also improve heart health, lower inflammation and oxidative stress, may help prevent macular degeneration and relieve muscle soreness. It is also good for skin and hair and can improve digestion.
Papaya
We do love to devour its ripe fruit because of its delicious taste. Sometimes we also include it (the raw and green one) when cooking tinolang manok (Chicken stew).
Health Benefits:
Papaya is rich in valuable nutrients. Its powerful antioxidants like lycopene may reduce your risk of many diseases — especially ones that tend to come with age, such as heart disease and cancer.
It may also defend against the visible signs of aging, helping your skin remain smooth and youthful.
Source: Healthline
Spring Onion
Also known as "scallions", spring onions were mostly used to garnish any cooked food. We just simply cut its leafy tops to let new leaves grow.
Health Benefits:
Spring onions are rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin B2, thiamine, Vitamin A and Vitamin K. They make good sources of elements like copper, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium, chromium, manganese and fibre. Adding them on your daily diet can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and reduce cholesterol levels in the body. In fact, the sulfur compounds found in them also help reduce and control blood pressure levels. For people with diabetes, these amazing vegetable controls their blood sugar levels and improves glucose tolerance. It also hold anti-bacterial properties that helps fight against cold and flu as well as gives relief from digestive discomforts.
Pechay o Petsay
The first reason why my sister choose to plant pechay was for personal consumption for her pet. She feeds it along with carrots to her only one guinea pig. And we seldom used this vegetable plant when cooking.
Health Benefits:
Pechay, better known as Chinese cabbage or bok choy, is very low in calories and contains vitamin B that helps your body convert carbohydrates from food into energy your cells can use for fuel and vitamin K, a family of fat-soluble vitamins that play a crucial role in blood clotting., minerals and other beneficial plant compounds that helps keep you healthy. It is also a good calcium source and contains fiber.
Today, even our veges on the market doesn't seems very safe. That's because some farmers were using inorganic fertilizers to yield more harvest and to keep their plants free from pests. But in my sister's garden, all her plants are healthy and safe to eat since she only used organic fertilizer such as cow manure. Either she pulverized the dried manure and mixed it in the soil or just put the dried manure directly to the pot or bed of her vegetable plant. And watered it everyday in the morning and during sunset.
Edited: As I was writing this article yesterday, my two kids were just playing around. When I went to the CR and got back in a minute, I was confused that the whole thing was gone. I mean the editor displayed nothing, and just thought that maybe the internet wasn't stable again, as I always experienced that. But when I saw that the internet was working so well, and then there were notifications on my phone stating that blah blah voted your post, I was really shocked. My unfinished article was accidentally published! Details were still lacking, still working on the references and its information, no tags and even the last part where 'about the author' wasn't in there yet. I alerted @romeskie about what happened and she instructed me to edit it and add a note about what really happened. I ask my kids about it, and the youngest one said he just typed something a little and left. Well I can't really put all the blame to him, since he's just a 4-year old boy and I should secure it first. Well maybe the good thing about it was that it pushed me to finish it immediately since I was thinking to delay it for some time because of some reasons. Anyway I hoped you enjoy reading and somehow inspire others to have their backyard turned into a vegetable garden.
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