The idea was conceived last
March, planned and acted upon last April, nurtured throughout May, and by June,
yes, we now have a rice field. Three-fourths of a hectare of land that was
parched and idle for more than 10 years is now well contoured and springing the
greenery of the grains of life.
I bow to my trusted farmer
R
ene for his efficient hands that coaxed such life back from the soil. Cliché
as it sounds; I couldn’t have done anything without him.
And he in turn, couldn’t
have done it without aid from a number of people – the tractor operator, the
carabao plowman, the snail (kuhol) pickers,
the planters (nagtatalok), and many
others, including some of my aunts and 
uncles and their helpers.
And I, in turn, couldn’t
have done it without money. Since this project started, I have spent over P21,000. I thank God for the relatively steady stream of sideline jobs that
made this possible.
Everything is just starting
– there are definitely bigger things to 
come. There’s an even bigger property
already in my name waiting to be developed – four and a half hectares of jungle
terrain planted with coconut trees which, according to Rene, would provide an
even more exciting income for us.
I wish I could have done
this sooner – but I was so immature then. Like anything in nature,
these land
projects need the right combination of time, resources, and yes, maturity, to
come to fruition.
