Bahay Kubo

A view from the inside of the Kubo with Cindy strumming the ukelele

One of the first structures I built on the farm was a small house made up of native materials. It was to be a house where I could stay while working in the farm especially on weekends. However, as time went by, I realized that there has to be a full time caretaker who had to water the plants everyday and be in charge of the entire place while I was away. So, in the end, the first structure I built became my caretaker's house.

However, by May of 2013, I decided to build another structure which I could use for myself and for my  guests. The structure was to be a kubo. A Kubo is a traditional native Filipino house usually made up of indigenous materials like bamboo and nipa. Instead of making just one Kubo, I made two. One was to be the main house and another smaller one, adjacent to it, was to face the lagoon and was designed like a gazebo.

Another view from inside the Kubo with Gina's silhouette

The design is not your typical Filipino Kubo. I have designed it  incorporating a number of modern elements from windows to furnitures. But despite the integration of these modern elements into the design, the kubo still had a native feel but with a twist. I wanted the view from the main kubo to be panoramic, so I installed large glass panels which allowed a clear view of the trees outside and the beautiful lagoon in front of it. The gazebo was plain and simple. It was situated right in front of the lagoon. Its stark simplicity and openness gives one a completely different feel from that of the main kubo. The gazebo seems to embrace the entire landscape, giving one a sense of space and serenity as only nature could give.

This is the gazebo with us relaxing together

After three and a half years, I finally have a structure where I could rest and find peace and serenity. The view from the Kubo is simply overwhelming. Nature really has its own simple beauty that can  be found nowhere even in some man-made marvels. Now that these structures are finished, I enjoy a beautiful scenery each time I stay in the kubo. The lake is particularly beautiful early each morning, at dusk when the sun is about to set, and most specially during the night particularly during a full moon when the moon's light scintillates beautifully across the entire lagoon.

Many times, I wonder how I could have built this beautiful place. Each time I spend my time in this farm, I just sit on the floor of the gazebo gazing outward into the placid lake. And as the day ends, the entire scenery can just turn mesmerizing, as the vibrant colors of sunset strike the lake. Realizing this wonderful gift given to me from above, I have said so many "thank you" to God when I sit by alone in front of the lake, thanking him for giving me this beautiful gift of the land I call "Sa Kabukiran."

Growing Plants Sa Kabukiran

See how the plants  have grown after all these years. 

When I started the farm in 2010, I practically started from scratch. After excavating a portion of the land to carve out a lagoon, I started planting. I bought some seedlings and began planting them according to the plan I made from my permaculture seminar. It wasn't easy in the beginning. The land at first was soggy. I guess, that's what happens when you build on land that comes from landfillings. And since practically the land was bare, there was nothing to protect it from the elements - rain, sun and wind.

I had no electricity yet that time. I had to water the young plants using a water pump that runs on gasoline. So you could imagine how expensive it was at the beginning to water everything with a pump that runs with gasoline.

Here is Gina with a salakot. See how trees and plants have grown!

I didn't have any electricity for the first two years of the farm. It was only after two years when I decided to buy a transformer from the electric company so I could have my own electricity. Beginning a farm from scratch is a great act of faith and hope. All what you have at the start is a vision of what it could be at some future time. Believing in that vision and keeping your determination, despite  seeing nothing really concrete, is indeed a great act of faith and hope. But seeing all the plants around now, after three and a half years, I could not help giving myself a pat at the back, for having persevered and for having kept that vision alive all these years. What a lesson nature gives us! Nature assures us of its bounty especially when we keep pace with its cycle and seasons. It doesn't rush things. There is a rich harvest and bountiful reward for those who are able to wait and patiently go through the seasons of time.

Creating the Farm

Sometime in January of 2010, I attended a one week seminar in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija  about Permaculture. Permaculture is a way of planning and creating spaces in nature where the elements are properly designed to create an eco-friendly environment. Well, after the seminar, I went immediately to work and started planning and developing my 2.4 hectare farm lot in Magalang, Pampanga, using the principles of Permaculture design. I've acquired the place sometime in 2006. This land has been left idle since that time. 

When I bought the land, it had quite a wide frontage that was right beside the barrio road in Turu, Magalang. The first few meters of the area apparently had a low elevation, as native kang kong plants grew abundantly. In Filipino, the word "kangkungan" (which means where kangkong grows) has a derogatory meaning as it connotes something that is basically a wasteland and is of no use except to grow kangkong. 

In Permaculture design, however, one makes use of whatever seems to be a negative aspect of the land and transform this into something valuable. The natural lay of the land tells the Permaculture designer how to design the land using its very properties. As it turns out, this "kangkungan" eventually became a beautiful pond where two beautiful islands now exist. Since the place was low and watery, I made use of the natural waterlogged land and excavated it to make way for a lagoon. The land that I excavated from the lagoon was used as additional fillings for the side of the lagoon. I  also used  this filling to create two small islands at the center of the lagoon. Then I planted some golden coconuts on one  island and some hawaiian palms on the smaller island. 

After three and a half years from the time I started excavating, the place has been transformed into a beautiful lagoon with two beautiful islands on it. See the picture below to see how beautiful it is. What used to be a "kangkungan" has now morphed into a beautiful landscape.

Here is a picture of my farm's lagoon with my three sisters on the foreground; from left, Gina, Ating Beth and Cindy. Beautiful skies, golden coconuts on the island bathed in golden sunshine!