The year that passed had been a very fortunate one indeed for the farm and quite a busy one for us as well! The farm had considerable developments especially in the areas of irrigation, electrification, crop production and concrete fence installation. That year also saw us segregate our makeshift nursery of native trees as we had formally allocated a proper space for this very important endeavor. Surrounded with nets and all and with a diverse stock of native seedlings, our nursery of native trees have lured fellow advocates, conservationists, farmers, hobbyists, scholars, researchers and students alike to visit despite the road, the mud and meter-high grasses. Our farm is not at all remarkable but I guess our native trees and the nursery we have painstakingly established worked all the magic! Such could be the case for the gracious husband and wife tandem, Drs. Lito and Cora Batoon, who came to visit last June.
I had quite a talk with Dr. Lito when I invited him for a walk around the farm erstwhile introducing him to the native trees we’ve grown trough the years; Val came ahead to slash the unruly Cogon as we trudge along. This I really like to do with our visitors; talking to them about native trees and listening on what they have to say - you can really tell who did their assignments. In the end, everyone else that came here seemed more knowledgeable than I am! That’s, actually, a good thing. We passed by a row of Anubing (Artocarpus ovatus) trees that I planted about 3 years ago and one tree is now showing flowers; it’s amazing how some species can mature so fast!
Dr. Lito gave us a hefty sales that day which all went to buying polybags for a new batch of seedlings that needed bagging; it’s all good! But he left something else for the farm; 5 Bani (Millettia pinnata) seedlings which if had been in sapling sizes already I would have asked them both to stay a few minutes more to do tree planting. Thank you Drs. Lito and Cora, we hope you can come back again to, at least, plant your Bani trees. (271)