for the love of coffee

what more perfect way to wake up in the morning than with a cup (or two) of coffee, even better if it is not the instant coffee but kapeng barako.

being certified coffee addicts, we went to cuenca market just for this.

 

we bought both the beans and grounds.

i always love the kapeng barako here, 

much better than the ones sold in batangas city market and even bauan.

the beans are bigger and the roast is perfect.

the husband told me that it also has more oil than the other ones we bought at other markets.

their store smells absolutely wonderful because of this.

kapeng barako or liberica coffee was brought to the philippines during the spanish colonial era.

it was said that during the time, the philippines was the 4th largest coffee supplier in the world, and lipa,

the place where the first coffee tree was planted, flourished, when brazil, the main supplier of coffee in the world and from where the kapeng barako tree cutting came from, was seriously infected by coffee rust that destroyed brazil's crops.

sadly, the coffee production greatly declined and only a few true kapeng barako trees are remaining due to coffee rust that hit the country in the 1800s nearly wiping out almost all kapeng barako trees in the country.

it is also sad to know that the true kapeng barako's number did not recover as it is considered a high-maintenance crop and farmers diverted to planting vegetables instead of continuing to grow them.

luckily,  i have heard that there are certain groups who want to preserve the true kapeng barako and are looking for them in forests here in batangas and lipa.

ironically, we have a coffee tree in our farm which has been neglected.

it was just there when we bought the lot, but a part of our lot was donated  for road construction, so this tree is now located across the street.

i do not know if it is kapeng barako or the other kind, robusta, which is now more common here than the true kapeng barako, but i went ahead and picked some red berries.

i opened them up, collected the seeds, and planted them straight to the ground.

after a few months of waiting, here is what i got.
coffee seedlings ready to be planted beside our farm house.
did i mention that not only do the beans smell lovely but their flowers as well?
my father loves the heavenly scent of its flowers, so i am giving him these two seedlings.

fit for a queen

Lagerstroemia speciosa

Family: Lythraceae
Queens Crape Myrtle, Queens flower, Pride of India, Bungor Raya, Banaba

 

making its regal entrance

gracefully opening its petals

with color of royalty

a selfless step down from its throne

to make way for its descendant

a beauty truly fit for a queen

it's finished!

mom has been complaining and whining about not being able

to plant decent ornamental plants and vegetables.

she even has lots of seeds she cannot plant because of our free-roaming feathered-friends

eating anything they can get a hold of.

so, with my kuya to the rescue, he decided to make a separate space for them

where they can still do their thing while mom (and i) can enjoy gardening.

after a week, the turkey/chicken coop is finally finished!

it is made of bamboo, fishing net, coconut leaves for the roof,

and scrap mahogany tree skin for the fence.

it is pretty large occupying almost half of the back part of our lot.

it is divided in two spaces, this side is the covered area.

the nasty turkeys go on this side, the fenced and netted area.
we only got a few trees inside and pineapples here
so they can munch all those grasses and spiky plants to their heart's content!

the chickens will go here

a space for them to roam

nests inside those bamboo "rooms" to lays eggs and sleep

here's the roof for protection against harsh weather

some of our bunnies

we let them out to join the fun and party with our turkeys,

too bad, those notorious turkeys were afraid of these fluffy cuddly creatures.

here is  my nephew, "papo" enjoying his siesta

and the husband resting under the narra tree.

here's mom and jacob sharing the new hammock we put up.

 and what about me?? no hammock for me..how sad..

but i've got this nice straw hat..hmmm..i look like a farm girl wearing this hat.

weekend farm girl i would say :)

and guess what? we're all inside the turkeys' new house, who's trespassing now? hahaha!

where the grass is green and the sky is blue....

some of the things i love most from my hometown...

green fields

fresh air

blue skies

a humble abode

sweet sugar cane

waiting for a good harvest 

wild flowers and bushes

small things packed with pure delight

coexistence of people with animals

God is truly great, i am truly blessed.

sunday farmday: part two - super late post

warning:  this post is full of greens..you ready?

this is the view from our entrance gate with the fragrant champaca on the left side, golden coconut tree at the center and other trees in our "farm."

our pomelo tree

young tico berry tree

one of our mango trees

banana trees

banana leaves are used to wrap fish and other sweet delicacies like "suman."

overlapping branches of different trees (mango, rambutan, and sampaloc).

fence at the back of our farm overlooking our godfather's sugar cane plantation.

bamboo

for our chicken/turkey coop being made by my "kuya."

malunggay tree

termite hill

 this is the narra tree.

 it is our national tree.

we will be putting a hammock here next sunday.

i wish it will be sunny that day.

 these are two of our rabbits.  this one's "twinkle"

 and this is "troy."

these are our turkeys

 mahogany branches that will be used as firewood.

 mahogany lumber

that will be made into furniture. :)

a view outside our lot.  this is our godfather's lot.

 this is the view at the back of our lot, an open field behind our godfather's sugar cane plantation.
green pasture for cows and goats.

the view of mt. maculot at our terrace.

our neighbor's cow

 lantana on the side of the road outside our lot

 free roaming chickens

and goat feeding on grass

 neighbor's geese

 after our hearty lunch, we went to visit a neighbor,
but he was not home so we just enjoyed the view on our way back.  we saw wild plants

like this one.

here's a nearby creek

elephant's ear and bamboo.  did you know that bamboos are grass?

 sugar cane

i don't know the name of this plant but took some home.

i will be planting them beside our shishi odoshi.

it was a happy day feeding animals and being with the family.

nothing beats spending quality time with the ones you love.

i hope you enjoyed the tour of our little "farm."

can't wait for the next sunday :)