Chapter 10- Mother’s Flower and Vegetable Gardens

Our mother, Inday Ester had always a flower garden at home. She said, she is happy when she looked at her flowers in the garden. “My flowers are for my eyes only. I am happy when I see my flowers blooming.” She shared some of her flowers to friends.

Mother helped our family from the earnings of her flower gardens. Gardening was mother’s second love. Our house was surrounded with different flowers and vegetables. She maintained these even during dry season. Mother’s flower garden is always blooming with roses, daisies, spoinsetias, gumamelas, bougainvillas and other flowers.

On some occasions, in June when many young people got married, many decorators bought flowers from mother to decorate the church. On February 13, many young people visited our home to buy mother’s roses and other flowers for Valentine’s Day, February 14.

She earned year- round from her vegetable gardens. She planted pechay, string beans, mustards, alogbate and eggplants. After harvesting the vegetable, another variety of vegetable were immediately planted on the newly vacated gardens. She practiced crop rotation, but that time, she does not knew how it was called. My sisters helped water the plants and pull the weeds.

Mother practice organic farming. What we call today “organic farmng” were just ordinary gardening of our mother. She kept carabaos, goats and chickens manures together with home garbages: the leaves, stoves ashes and grasses were decomposed. She stored them in one side of the fence under the shade of a big tree near our home. She kept the compost for four months. She also brought home seaweeds from the seashores. She put seaweeds on her compost. When fully decompost, she spread the mixture on her vegetable and flower gardens. She told us: “These composts will make the vegetables and flowers grow fast, strong, vigorous and resistant to pests and diseases.”

Before 1972 there were no commercial fertilizers and poisonous pesticides sold in the market for rice and vegetable farming. Our rice fields were abundant with many living and edible fishes and snails. Different fish grew in the ricefield together with small crabs (kalampay), native snails and fresh water shells. We gathered gathered them, then clean, cook and ate them.

In our 2 1/2 hectares rice farm, we harvested about 150 sacks every October. After paying our loans and other expenses, father kept the palay in very big container called “tabungos”. Some 80 sacks were stored for our food from November until October the following year. That was how father made sure we have food year round.

The fishes, small crabs and snails disappeared after poisonous pesticides like Endrin and Malathion were sprayed in the farms after President Marcos declared Martial Law in September 1972.

I remember that day in May 1974, when President Marcos mobilized the Philippine National Bank (PNB) in Iloilo City whose officers went to all villages in Carles, providing loans to farmers to buy commerial fertilizers, weed killers and poisonous pesicides. The loan would be paid after the harvest of rice. That was the first time, I learned about Urea fertilizer, also 16-20 and Triple 14 in 50 kilos sacks.

A young Agriculture Technician employed by Department of Agriculture in Carles, was assigned to work with us in Barangay Cawayan. With our 2 ½ hectare farms, he taught us to kill grasses in the rice field by spraying weed killers. He taught us new way to plant rice seedlings with a distance of 1 foot per 5 plants. We were provided with 12 sacks of commercial fertilizers: 4 sacks of urea, 4 sacks 16-20 and 4 sack of Triple 14 for our rice farms. We were provided with pesticides , the deadly Endrin and Malathion. Endrin and Malathion killed and destroyed all the fish, small crabs, edible shells and snails in our rice fields.

Because of its deadly effect in the rice field Edrin and Malathion were banned after 3 years. But other brands of pesticides were sold continuously in the market, with little lesser power, but still killing mosl living things in the farms ..

Many of our neighbors came to buy vegetables from mother. Wives of fishermen came changing fish, crabs and shells with mother’s vegetables and father’s dried camote and cassava roots. Women came with lobsters, shrimps and crabs. They bartered these with vegetables and dried cassava roots from us. Although my parents have little cash, life was quite easier for us.

For continuous source of cash, mother also planted “buyo”. She went to Janiuay in Central Iloilo, about 200 kms. to buy stems of “buyo”. These were plants that climb bamboo polls. The leaves were used by old women for chewing, “mama”, together with other ingredients – tobacco, lime, bettle nuts and “buyo” leaves. The women chew the 4 ingredients mostly after meals, making it a social sharing among them.

After chewing the 4 ingredients, their saliva becomes red. Women do “mama”, mostly 3 times a day, morning, noon and evening. Their saliva becomes red. And they do these every day after meals. Women come to our house weekly to buy “buyo” They buy other ingredients for their “mama” from other nieghbors. The chewing act of most women was the reason why most of them have very good and strong teeth.

To earn additional income, mother reserved two rooms in our house as teachers’ lodging room. The teachers cook their own food. They paid each a certain amount monthly. Two teachers often stayed in a room. There were 4 teachers boarding with us at home. Only female teachers are accepted by mother.

Mother also planted tobacco in a 400 square meter area about a hundred meters from home. She had two areas of equal sizes, 400 square meters which she planted tobacco. If she planted tobacco this year in an area, the following year she planted tobacco in another area. She planted another crop in the vacated tobacco area. She said, this is one way to preserve the fertility of the soil. Mother practice crop rotation par excellence!

After 9 months, mother harvested her tobacco leaves. She had a bamboo stick, about one meter long. She pierced her bamboo stick on the hard part of the tobacco leaves and hang it inside her small nipa hut used for drying tobacco leaves. The small room was mother’s “air drying” area. After about 20 days of air-drying, the tobacco leaves were place one by one on the bamboo floor, covered with mats, one on top of the other. She filed about 500 leaves in two raws, one on top of the others. It was about half meter high. Here she allowed the fermentation of tobacco leaves for 12 months.

That was how meticioulous mothers's method was of fermenting tobacco leaves. She then, sold the leaves to people in town for old women in their "mama". Even if she’s busy, she did not leave the small store at home. She said, the store though small gave the family cash daily for family needs.

Mother’s tobacco were not for smoking. She said, smoking tobacco is not good for people’s health. The smoke they sip reaches the lungs and slowly destroy the lung. Smoking also destroys people’s teeth. But chewing tobacco is good for health. I don’t know how mother learned about this.

Often mother went to the seashore in the morning. She liked to buy fish for us. Mother like big fish for her family There were times when she arrived carrying a very big tanguige, one of the most sought after fish by the merchants. She would buy 20 or 30 kilos of tangigue and carried it on her shoulders. She walked about about 2 kilometers carrying the fish. When she was about 300 meters away from home, she put the heavy fish down and shouted. Anyone of us who heard her would ran to her and carried the big fish home.

My parents earned little income. With 9 of us in the family to feed, dress and send to elementary school, it was not easy for our parents. They softly challenged us, often through stories to study and get higher education. My mother discouraged my sisters to go dancing during their youths. Instead she challenged them to finish their studies in elementary and go to high school.

However, to get education in high school was very, very hard. And college education was much, much harder. Almost, next to impossible. Our parents pushed us a little harder. They challenged us to go and study as working students. Getting education was the way for the poor, to have a better life in the future. And 8 of us finished college as working students.

Some of our family values, were influenced by Baptist pastors and Baptist leaders that often visited our home. By this time, mother was worshiping in Cawayan Baptist Church. She involved herself in the life of the Baptist church. She became a hostess to many Baptist pastors and church leaders that visited Cawayan Baptist Church in Carles, Iloilo.

Many visitors from the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, Iloilo Kasapulanan of Baptist Churches, American Baptist Churches, USA. Lots of Baptists from foreign countries like the Baptist Union of Sweden (BUS), the Australian Baptist World Aid and Baptist World Alliance (BWA) who visited Iloilo City, often go to Carles and stayed at home for a day or two.

They stayed with us to speak at Cawayan Baptist Church or discuss with local and provincial leaders who came. Their presence while visiting us helped much in our spiritual life and social development.

I remembered the prominent Baptist leaders who stayed mostly for a few days at home:

Dr. Agustin Masa, Pastor of Capiz Evangelical Church, then Baptist Convention General Secretary and later, President of Filamer Christian University. Rev. Ralph George and Rev. James Long, missionaries from the American Baptist Churches, USA. . Dr. Joseph T. Howard, Dean of CPU College Theology.. Dr. Howard later became CPU President. Rev. Restituto Ortigas, In charge of the CPBC Stewardship program.

Rev. Leo Penacerada, Evangelist. Miss Carmelita Catedral, Iloilo Kasapulanan Minister. Pastor Angelina Cadiao of the Baptist Women fellowship, Rev Edwin Lopez, General Secretary of CPBC and later, Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, Asia Pacific. Rev. Penuelito Sacapano, CPBC General Secretary. Rev. Apolonio Francia, Field Secretry. Rev. Gigare, Rev Eduardo Calvo, Rev. Malvar Castillon, Pastor Proserfina Plasus, Pastor Fred Jacildo and Rev. Alfeo Tupas, Director of Stewardship of CPBC.

Rev. Geofrey Parish of Australia Baptist World Aid; Rev. Sven Lindstrom, General Secretary, Baptist Union of Sweden. Rev. Olof Lindstrom, Mr. Leo Liljengren, Baptist Union of Sweden, Mr Ake and Kikki Svalfors, President of Bromma Baptist Church in Sweden, Rev. Emelio Lapatha and Rev. Harold Blatt, Stewardship Specialists on Every Member Canvas of the Convention Baptist.

Rev. Ernesto Uncho, Evangelist, Rev.Elias Laprades, Field Secretary, Mrs. Feraz Baclagon Legita, Program Assistant for Relief & Development and later, Assistant Secretary for Asia Pacific Baptist Federation and President of the Convention of Phil. Baptist Churches and Ms. Henna Baclagon, Director of the Development Minisitry.

Our parents, Restituto Bernal, Sr. and Estrella Carvajal Bernal were good host\ and hostess to lot of Baptist pastors and church leaders.

I think, the presence of pastors at home helped me, together with my brothers and sisters to develop our keen sensitivity that came through conversations with pastors of God.

Ministers have kind bearing and attitudes. Their language and ways of speaking helped to develop good attitudes and sense of responsibility to help mold our lives, minds, and spirit toward a holistic life. We learned much from ministers of God who came and visited our church and stayed with us for a few days at home. There tapping of our shoulders and prayers have guided us and helped develop our ways, mold our values, our lives and our future. Their Godly influences last a lifetime!