Today we built our first raise bed .
Typical Filipina homesteader—often called a Magsasaka—is someone deeply connected to the land, balancing traditional knowledge with a desire to modernize. In a Philippine setting, her goal of shifting to raised beds is a smart move to combat the archipelago’s heavy monsoon rains and acidic soil.
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By moving to raised beds, she’s not just farming; she’s climate-proofing her livelihood. It allows her to control the soil quality, reduce weed growth, and save her back from the constant bending required in traditional ground gardening.
Soil Engineering: She practices “Hugelkultur” or “Double Digging” by layering coconut husks (bunot) at the bottom for moisture retention, followed by carbonized rice hull (CRH), manure, and garden soil. This ensures her plants don’t “drown” during heavy rains.
Strategic Layout: She aligns her beds to maximize the tropical sun and installs a simple drip irrigation system using recycled plastic bottles to save time on watering during the dry “Dagrat” season.
Crop Rotation: She plans her beds using the “Bahay Kubo” philosophy—planting a mix of sitaw (long beans), bataw, and patani to naturally fix nitrogen in the soil, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.
9 Comments
Maayo man iya garden godjob
Very nice, Sunshine. As I have said in the past, you are lucky to have such a wonderful brother.
Its looking great Rose, its amazing how well they build it. I think you will enjoy planring more this way..It will be easier
First time I seen someone from the philippines use a level on a concrete block. That is the correct way to do it. The other crew from randy group I seen does use string which is okay. Just the concrete without labor is not cheap. It be worth it once you get your garden install. Not sure how much snow came down from the blizzard because I see spots of grass in yards and 2 foot drift in other. Just cold today. About 9F or minus 13C. I have heard people stranded on the highway. They had to abandon their vechile. That is the wrong thing to do through a blizzard. Always have food and water with you at all times to last a couple days. Never; Ever leave your vehicle through a blizzard.
Nice addition to the farm
Looking good rose!❤
You & the raised bed!!
Nice to have family!!❤
Good job Rose. Can't wait see it finished. From Belfast. 🙋🏡🌹
Wow Rose that looks amazing. Thank God your brother is helping and they’re doing great work. Can’t wait to see the vegetables growing in there. Great Vlog as usual thanks for sharing my friend 👍😉😊🪴
Soil being removed to lay concrete blocks looks good for growing things.