a tour of Laguna

As we have been talking about going to find a site for Green Food Shop, I told Guio that we make our plans real, we have to check out the Pila property of two hectares. After lunch today at two o'clock in the afternoon, he swinged by the house which is very near their house also. We took a 15 minute drive and we were there in no time at all even if there were a lot of traveller's for its holy week and everybody wants to go out of town. I think this is good that there is high traffic in the area. Passing by was the garden shops and a few big restaurants e.g. Kamayan sa Palaisdaan and Samaral at Calauan. At Fiesta Laguna which they feature goat dishes as their specialty. But my favorite place to eat along the highway is the road side eatery, Ellen's Goto Batangas at Victoria, Laguna. Told Guio that I love the goto there.

I knew where the lot was but surprised for the property does look like a bit forgotten. Tall grasses and the place needs a bit of clearing but as we walked towards the gate , the property expansive. Very promising! It turned out to be a very big property with a 100 meter concrete wall of about five feet high and a green gate, being located by the National highway, the wall serves as to make the ambiance more private. Very promising! About a 250 meters deep there is an irrigation canal going to the end of the property and you'll be surprised that there is a very big rice field and its harvest season so these are golden filelds now. A month ago maybe it was a sea of green. I love green. You can smell the fresh palay drying in their stalks while waiting to be harvested and taken to the rice mill. This brings me back to my childhood when i went on vacations at my Auntie Mamang and the rest of Mameng's brothers and sisters living in the middle of the rice field. I love it! Aurora, Isabela is the province I always go vacationing every summer break from school.

Looking around there are a variety of fruit bearing trees. The Carabao mango trees are bearing fruit, the lansones are still out of season, banana stalks and Mulberry trees scattered around for the y tried to grow silkworms years before. Bordered by the small stream along the boundary of the lot are bamboo thickets which are ready to be used as building materials. Condition the tress to bear fruit again will definitely be a big plus for us. As Guio was telling me that the property was a layering chicken farm and a piggery before and it was like ten years of manure on the top soil which will make it very promising to plant in veggies. I'm so stoked by this time. I walked around and looked across the rice fields.. I told myself that people would like to experience this also. Very promising indeed.

After talking to the caretakers, we left with a big hope that we can materialize all these things that are plans for now. Heading home, we stopped by Ellen's Eatery so I can buy my favorite Goto Batangas and a few meters down a couple of bibingka as a food pair I always do. Yummy!
We saw that there are a lot of sweetcorn along side a stall so we got us a few to take home as well. Boil it with some salt until tender. Yummy with barbecue butter! I told Guio that i be his navigator so I directed him to the fork going to Calauan where he said that they have a warehouse full of recovered wood and tin roofing from their old house at Los Banos. This was a bigger property of 3.5 hectares with an old feed mill and abandoned piggery. But they kept the Carabao mangoes for they still are earning from them. Looking into the warehouse we saw the old wood and some other things that we can use for the Green Food Shop buildings or huts which I would like to design myself. Try out my ideas if it will work out and make some money also. The caretakers gave us green mangoes and I picked Kalamias to use for siningang soon. Can''t wait for these ideas of mine to materialize. Very promising.

Going home, I told Guio that we go back using the backroads of Calauan, a short cut to Los Banos passing along Hacienda Macalauan and some other dairy farms, more fields and a few turns we were at Jubilee Ville, Bay already, a few minutes from our house. It was a very nice road trip. Looking forward to the next one.