A quick announcement for folks interested in organic farming in Cebu. Long-time readers of this blog know that I am a huge fan of Gil Carandang and the produce of Herbana Farms sold at the Salcedo market. I have been buying stuff that Gil has been growing for almost 14 years, and I am more than pleased to help publicize his efforts to turn more and more folks back onto organic farming methods. For more details of the Cebu seminar “Technological Trends in Organic Farming” on August 27-28, please check out this link. Good luck Gil! And thanks RT for informing me about this!
29 Responses
thumbs-up for this!
MM, thank you so much for your support for gil and his organic advocacy. i am in cebu now working out the seminar details for the august seminar. for those interested to attend, you can email me at rtgon@yahoo.com cebu is such a beautiful place, talking to cebuanos on how to start their own version of salcedo market.
RT, just e-mailed you regarding my interest to attend cebu seminar and be part in organizing the cebu version of salcedo market.
Commendable! :-)
How I wish I was there to attend that! COMPOSTING ROCKS!!! AND SO DOES WELL-AGED STEER MANURE!!!!!!…let’s not forget MANURE TEA >>.for the plants!
I have a neighbour who frowns at my compost bin at the backyard. I don’t see why when it is not at least bit stinky. Ha! when it turned to BLACK GOLD and I put it in my tomato planters, he asked me what I put in the soil for my tomatoes looks like they were on steroids!!! I offered compost from the bin to put on his SPINDLY vegetable plants!!!! It hasn’t rained that much lately but if did, I will be able to collect the water that accumulated around the bottom of the bin for COMPOST TEA!
Wishing the seminar a good turn out and success in reaching out to Cebu.
my papa has somehow started on organic farming in his own backyard back home…i will make sure he knows this! thanks for the heads up!
Hurrah to Bettty q and all the composting buddies out there! Our household waste that goes to the public dump has markedly been reduced and now I am just waiting for my black gold to materialize.
Wish I did not have to compete with the ground hog and the deer for my little vegetable patch.
Hey Connie C….I just checked my compost bin (made a new batch of compost) and there are GAZILLION WORMS!!!! Oh, I was sooooooo excited!…boys said…mom. it doesn’t take much to excite you!..of all things WORMS!!!…mwahahahaha
More power to Gil Carandang and his team at the Herbena Farms!
Even if you don’t have composting bins, you can support your garbage company. Sometimes they sell compost a lot cheaper than landscape supplies.
Terry, hope to hear from your dad. thanks.
Hi, Mr. RT Gonzales!
You and Mr. Carandang should look into doing that kind of seminar too in Davao City.:)
Btw, have you seen the June ’09 issue of YUMMY magazine? There’s a two-page spread there of Mr. Gil Carandang’s photo with short text.
Hi Enya, yes we have seen that June issue. We have plans of doing one in Davao by the year end. Perhaps you may know of someone who can act as our Davao secretariat. Thanks for the heads up.
Hello MM and everyone! First, I would like to thank MM for this blog. I am absolutely addicted. It is on top of my daily reads. I am a housewife trying to find her way at home and in the kitchen. I worked for ten years before I found myself with the kids and decided to focus on homemaking. It is such a challenge and having you MM and your followers like betty q, artisan and the rest makes it easier for me. Your blog stands out, MM.
Hi, RT Gonzales. For quite a time, I have pined for a slice of the Salcedo market here in Cebu. And that is why I am thrilled with the idea that we might get into something like that here. I am so interested with this seminar. I hope to join, thanks!
I am always happy to hear of efforts such as this, and thank you for posting this info, MM! I will definitely pass on the information to my friends in Cebu.
Hi, RT!
Lemme ask muna the people I met there if they can recommend somebody to help you out with the Davao seminar. Then I will send you an email with their contact numbers.
And daming fruit farms in Davao owned by the nicest people, but most of them still use commercial fertilizers and bug sprays. I really hope Mr. Carandang can help them out and teach them the organic way of farming.
The return of ORGANIC FARMING is again introduced worldwide and it is actually the best thing for human consumption. The modern farming is the culprit of many un explained deseases and sicness and even cancers..during the 80’s experimentations of many pesticides and fertilizers damages the ecological balance in food chains, there are now type of fish and shells who are instinct if not perished forever. The world says that they are coping with the food needs of the world or alleviating hunger worldwide not thinking of the devastation in sequence. alteration in food chain may help otherwise but implementing it without a proper exploration and research will lead to a human catastrophy. In INDIA, there is a very strong agency which is fighting for ORGANIC FARMING and they are indeed winning, they have a big support from the mass and they have a huge buyers for their produce all over the world! Psychologically,,,a person who is looking for his health is willing to go with the old way….There is simple explanation of Organic way,,,peace of mind,better taste and distinction, healthy and not thinking of mutation…lets live like a simple human being…..
Hi RT!
sana matuloy ang davao seminar at sana late december o early next year. in time sa aking pag-uwi para makadalo ako. : )
hi maia,
i met up with Artisan Chocolatier, a regular MManila friend in Cebu before flying back to manila. Like you, he is looking into how we could get a weekend market in cebu going. Having elaborated the numerous attempts in the past of promoting organic food, artisan believes the first goal is identifying the right location. next, inviting the food people with their mouth watering gourmet dishes as initial concessionaires. good food will bring in the right target market thereby expanding other vendors such as organic veggie groups to offer their produce.
we will coordinate with several organic farmers and growers to pipeline their output for this market, assuring a wider
variety and high quality produce. no easy feat, since production and marketing always subsist on dedication and determination both from the farmers group and concessionaires.
The organic farming seminar Gil will be conducting is our best chance to educate ourselves both in the production side or marketing side. Five years of selling experience in salcedo market have given us a finer market feel on organic consumer wants and needs.
we have a long way to go. our target timeline for this endeavor begins right after the cebu seminar and with market operations peaking for the Christmas season. Again, i am inviting all stakeholders in the cebu organic community to be at Gil’s seminar. Together, we will realize our passion for good, clean food not only for ourselves but for our family.
Gustavian Banilad, Cebu is starting a weekend market starting this weekend, I believe.
that great to know, perhaps we could hook up with them. artisan told me about it. thanks susie.
Hi, RT!
Will you be in Salcedo market this coming Saturday, July 26? If so, can we meet there? Would like to discuss with you re our recent trip to Davao.
You still have the same cellphone number, right?
Sorry MM for using your space.:/
Thanks po.:)
sayang i’ll miss this, will be out of the country :( I hope they will have another schedule….
Susie B and RT….Dropped by Gustavian’s Butcher Shop last Saturday morning around 10:30 and no vendor was around outside selling any of their products. It was a letdown considering that they had posters all over the place saying that the farmer’s market was from 9am to 2pm. Drove by again around noon and their were 2 vendors (Pino’s Lechon and ML Chicken). While I was there, some people also came by and were kinda disappointed. Considering that the whole “farmers market” is principally financed by one guy, his people could have done a better job.
I will check them out again next week, to see if they got their act together.
Anyway, I’m hoping that we can do a better job. We already have Marketman’s commitment to get a stall for his world famous lechon. A supplier for Tsokolate from Argao has also agreed to get a stall. I’m hoping that some homebakers will join so that we can incorporate a section ala Bakers Dozen of Rockwell Mall in Makati. Hopefully, The participants of Gil Carandang’s seminar will also be ready with their produce.
RT, I got the interest of a food columnist, in one of the major local papers, to do a write up about Gil’s seminar and advocacy. She should be contacting you anytime soon.
I’m hoping that more readers here will come up and offer to be part of the group to organize the farmers market. I need your help guys.
hi enya, yes i will be at salcedo market on the 25th being a saturday. if u want we can talk or meet earlier than that if ur available. email me off the list, with MM’s kindness. rtgon@yahoo.com
Artisan, sure great to hear from u. You are right, we need all the help we can just to get this off the ground. seems we are initially getting a fine list of prospective concessionaires. a farmers group have signified their intention to join Gil’s seminar in cebu. a vanilla bean grower, a roasted sea salt maker, a stevia extract vendor, an organic/natural soap retailer and another inquiry which i still have to find out what. hope the readers here in market manila could shout out Gil’s seminar to other folks interested to learn and streamline organic food into their lifestyle.
FOLLOWING THE ORGANIC SEMINAR TO BE HELD IN CEBU IS ALSO A TWO-DAY INTENSIVE HANDS-ON TRAINING ON TECHNOLOGICAL TRENDS IN ORGANIC FARMING ON SEPTEMBER 12 – SEPTEMBER 13 2009 TO BE HELD AT HERBANA FARMS (Km.59, Brgy. Burol, Calamba City) . For more information, you may send an email to maygelle@hotmail.com or gil_carandang@yahoo.com. You can also send a text message to these numbers:
0922-569-1282(maygelle);09292698602(gil):0921-6647027(monina)
Let me know if you plan to have a seminar on Organic framing in Manila soon.
Thanks.