An Abundant Weekend
March 17, 2010 by PinoyOrganics
Filed under Food, Gardening
Overwhelmed. Overjoyed. Two words to describe how our team felt on our way home from our two-day seminar spearheaded by Reimon Gutierrez of The Institute for Steiner’s Ideas in Practice (ISIP) Philippines and Greg Kitma of Philippine Bio-Dynamic Agriculture Research Foundation (PhilBio).
Overwhelmed because of the new things we heard, saw and learned; overjoyed because the successful attendance and interest in organic farming by consumers, hobbyists, and farm owners as seen during this two-day event was a breakthrough in the Philippine organic community. Amazing!
The first day was a whole-day seminar and forum on the living ideas of bio-dynamic agriculture aptly entitled, “Managing Abundance”. It was held at ISIP office in Palma street in Makati. There were two lectures all in all. The morning lecture was “Beyond Organic: What is Bio-Dynamic Farming?” by Greg Kitma and the afternoon lecture was “Nutrition and Health: A Holistic Approach” by Dra. Marian Alonzo. Both lectures were followed by open discussions about farming from owners of bio-dynamic initiatives from Baguio, Bukidnon, Cavite, Pampanga and Cotabato. A special treat by Charisse Dumlao on piano with Fugue from Toccata in G major by Johann Sebastian Bach was welcomed by about a hundred participants from all over the country.
The second day was a farm tour and workshop entitled, “Practical Abundance”. This time, we travelled all the way to Reimon’s Prado Farms in Lubao, Pampanga, a two-hour trip (approximately 90km) from ISIP headquarters in Makati.
At Prado Farms, Greg toured us around and showed us bio-dynamic principles at work.
Despite the harsh heat under the sun, Greg demonstrated sheet and bio-dynamic composting, and integrated natural and bio-dynamic swine management.
As if the info-overload wasn’t enough, we also learned about the bio-dynamic preparations and the sowing calendar.
After two days of learning and seeing for ourselves how our local produce are grown, our view of food will never be the same again. If you wish to learn more about bio-dynamic farming, contact Sujata and/or Reimon at:
The Institute for Steiner’s Ideas in Practice (ISIP) Philippines+632 899 4677
+63920 983 1329
ISIP.philippines@yahoo.com
