Barangay Agsungot - the place I have spent my wonderful childhood and teenage years. The place where I grew up, my haven and ultimate source of peace. It is a remote place around 45 minutes from the hustle and bustle of Cebu City. My family owns about a hectare of a farm property where I have been used co-existing with our farm animals growing up. We have cattle's, carabao's, domestic pigs, and chickens. Living close to nature, fresh air, close to my family, are some of the many reasons why I love farm life.
My husband and I decided to have a small house built in my parents place and It used to be just a fleeting idea that we had. But such fleeting idea became real because of the need to save money for the property we bought in a subdivision. The completion of the house construction needs a huge amount so we thought that we can save up if we stop renting and right then and there we sealed the idea and decided to live in the farm. I guess I was the happiest with the whole shift in residence. It took roughly two months to complete our 2 bedroom house which to me is the most beautiful house of all because It was built by my own father whom is a carpenter and farmer and with the help of my three brothers. The house was built with so much love.
In the two months that our house was being constructed , my elder brother Enrico and I also started to realize one my plans , my then dream to have a small dragon fruit farm. Why dragon fruit farm? Agriculture has been part of my life growing up and although I do not possess a "green thumb" for it I've always had the vision everytime I look around our farm property. In my mind I imagine this picture of our farm being filled with so many ripe dragon fruits and so I firmly decided on it and talked it out with my brother and my parents. I also watched YouTube videos of how to grow dragon fruits to have a better understanding of the business I plan to engage in. It really helped and It inspired me more to pursue my plan. I learned that because dragon fruit is a cacti, it can withstand drought, typhoons and diseases in comparison to other fruit bearing trees like mangoes. So we started to procure the materials that are needed such as sacks of cement , sand ,bamboos and empty bottles of liquor and or soda. My brother as of this posting has erected a total of 130 bamboo post (4x4 in measurement and 6 feet tall) with concrete filling and attached are four dragon fruit cuttings in each post. Our target is to have a total of 200 post erected so we are still short of around 70 post. Each post will have a recycled rubber tire on top where the dragon fruit cuttings will be hanging when it grows which will also serve as a support especially when it starts to bear fruits . The empty battles are also used as fence in every post to prevent any stagnant water and possibility of soil erosion.
My heart is very happy as I witness my dream becoming a reality. I am very excited to see how eveything will unfold in six to eight months from now because by that time our dragon fruits will bear fruits already. Why did I want to share this? My reason is very simple and it is to inspire all the dreamers out there like myself. It doesn't matter if it is a huge farm or a small farm , or whatever dream venture you may have in mind what's important is doing something to turn our dreams to reality. I strongly believe that there is really no limit in what you can do for as long as you put your heart to it.
I will be writing a part two of this blog in the coming months. I will share how our dragon fruit farm has turned out by then . I will also share the business aspect of it especially when we start selling the fruits. Life is always beautiful in the farm.