Page 67 - EMBRACE Book

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Victor, Philippines

“Even before ADRA EMBRACE came to work in our permaculture methods include various ways of
village, I was a big advocate of organic gardening and retaining the moisture in the soil that make it possible
farming. I took my organic training back in 2003 in a to continue to harvest an extra month or two into the
course that was offered by our local municipality. I dry season.
am also engaged in vermiculture. I use African
crawlers in my compost bins. The worms eat the For natural pesticides we plant marigolds around the
organic matter and their waste becomes some of the borders of the garden and we also teach them how to
best organic fertilizer you can get. make a mixture of natural plants soaked in water that
can be used as a spray that keep the pests away.
When ADRA came, they taught methods of
permaculture and design of kitchen gardens that are Actually, a funny story is that ADRA EMBRACE
quite a bit different than what I had learned. The actually put me out of business! I had a shop where I
organic method of gardening that I was doing used a sold cooked meals. But once everyone in my village
concoction of organic materials that come from the was growing their own fresh, organic vegetables, they
outside. ADRA’s permaculture methods are a more stopped coming around to my shop. They were just
natural method that uses local materials that are right cooking their own good meals. I have no hard feelings
at hand. about that. I am actually very happy that my
neighbours are able to cook their own healthy meals.
Permaculture comes from the two words, permanent
and agriculture. The idea is to get back to the I believe, based on my observation, that even after the
traditional methods of planting because that is the EMBRACE project is finished that the people will
safest way to grow food. So many people think that continue to plant their kitchen gardens. Now that they
the only way to have a good harvest is to use a lot of have learned how to grow and have tasted the results
chemical fertilizers and pesticides. But when you and seen the money that they can save for the family,
think about it, our ancestors never had these things and knowing how good it is for their children, I
and they were able to grow food just fine. We want to believe that they are going to continue doing this even
revive these old methods. after the project is finished.”

One of our methods is to teach the participants what
we call the ‘calendar method.’ This lets them know
what seeds will grow best at any given time of the
year according to the dry and rainy seasons. That way
we can extend the number of months that they will be
able to harvest fresh vegetables for their table. The

Photo: © 2019 ADRA | Frank Spangler