In the aftermath of the typhoon, we were left with fallen trees. Not much can be done with the mango, although Mang Eddie and Lisa say that they'll still bear fruit even if half of the roots were on the air.
The fallen banana trunks, on the other hand, are taking new form. I learned from the Costales organic farming seminar that old banana trunks can be turned into herb trays. It's quite an innovative thought. And worth trying, especially since the trunks are presenting themselves right there.
Banana trunks are mostly wet on the inside and would not need any watering for the soil to remain moist. This is perfect in the summer months. But since there were already a lot of banana trunks lying around, all that we needed to do was scoop out some of the trunk meat, put in vermicompost (that's worm poop) and put in stem cuttings of herbs.
Some turned out very well. The tarragon, talinum, basil, and dill flourished in their banana squares, while some simply did not make it through the transplant. I realized that rosemary prefers dry ground, so the move of putting them atop moist trunks wasn't too good of an idea after all. She ended up getting too soaked and drowned. Same thing happened with the mint.
That's all right. I'm learning a life lesson in farming: that you never really can tell when a plant will survive or not. It's a formula of doing what's right, doing what's best, and it's all up to God to make things work. And just like in a lot of things, even if I did all that I can or wished all I could, what I wanted to happen will not always happen. That's being organic. That's being real.
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