What are you doing?
I'm a building administrator, blogger, father, writer and I'm an aspiring farmer.
My father was a lawyer.
A farmer, "magsasaka"?
Not really. Our family owns a small piece of land somewhere in Lipa, Batangas and as de facto President of the Family Corporation I decided that it's high time that it should live up to its name of "Agricultural Corporation".
I'm learning the ropes so to speak.
My plans have become broader, from free range chicken poultry, I decided that we should also start focusing on vermiculture and vermicomposting.
It's not easy, but it's a step forward for the company.
1. Free Range Chicken Farm
A. Construction of Brooding Area
I. Purchase and Inventory of Raw Materials
1. Bamboo to be used as frames for brooding area
2. 100 pcs Concrete Hollow Blocks and 1/2 Elf of Sand
3. My hands. I couldn't afford extra labor, so I pitched in and carriedabout 100 meters back and forth in soft, and wet soil. Now I can say that I built it with my bare hands.
II. Site Selection and Preparation
1. This is where it will all start. (Well, not really I'll explain later on)
2. Digging the Perimeter With Chiquito Mansion and Jason Mansion
3. Lesson Number 1: Never Dig Wet Loamy Soil (Picture of Borken Shovel - Dang! That shovel was just 2 years old and barely used - I purchased it at Wilcon Home Depot.... Must have been made in China...)
4. After digging the perimeter, we had to lay the bamboo frames.
5. Putting the hollow blocks on the perimeter and then cementing the floor.
6. Andak "Ka Roger" helping out. He's camera shy... I guess a lot of people in Brgy. Tangway would probably have lung cancer.
PROJECT STATUS AS OF OCT. 10, 2009 - INCOMPLETE / ABANDONED.
What a waste, one thing I learned in construction was that most of the time, a lot of planning can go awry. Really, really awry. I selected the site previously for its distance to the main areas of the farm. My criteria was to put the free ranging chickens far away from tourist oriented sectors.
All of these has come to waste because I ran out of funds sometime in between September and October. I lacked 1 bag of cement.
Furthermore, the distance of the location from the main house poses a concern as Andak was apt to show that he can come in and out of the resort/farm as he pleased. The rules of engagement in our farm has been subverted with the expulsion/abandonment of Lando Astrologio and family. Now I have to contend with all sorts of security concerns primarily stemming from the desperation of people for land to exploit.
In a sense, my plans for a guerilla business operation has failed and now I am thrust in the main battle.
How do you secure a luxury location with minimal funds? Moreover, how do you secure a luxury location surrounded by a hungry, 90% unemployed, armed and desperate population?
I had no choice but to let some people in to partake of some of the vegetables. Maybe it's PR, maybe it's a sign of weakness on my part, maybe it is benevolence, but in the long run it looks stupid.
Now that I started that, how do I change that policy to be able to start commercial operations. It won't be easy.
MOVING FORWARD
Labor, security, funding, and weather concerns aside. I managed to get the chicks on the ground. With nothing but sheer determination and patience, I have managed to bring 40 chicks and brood them to an alternate location. They are now on their second week and we are making preparations for their imminent ranging.
I had to let go of Chiquito for his ummm, personal and professional concerns.
I retained his rugby sniffing kid in the hopes that the kid would do well, so far he isn't doing well at all.
We lost 1 chick last week due to purported "colds". No evidence of the death occurred and I noticed evidence of drinking in the premises.
The puppy that was given by my mother-in-law also showed signs of parasitic infection in the form of blood in its faeces. Symptoms of a possible worm infestation in its body. Pot pot is its name.
Water consumption, reached 4420 and the bill arrived showing a 300% increase of our water bill from 500 a month to 1,700 pesos. Holy crap!
Electric consumption likewise increased by 50% from 1,000 pesos a month to 1,400 pesos a month.
Security Concerns
1. Kalakal
Because of the retention of Jason Mansion, our farm has been constantly visited by people to partake of the blessings of the land. This is what is called as kalakal. My original intention was to let people have a few vegetables here and there for their personal use only.
Because of unemployment, hunger and greed. Some people exploited this system and began harvesting with the collusion of the said employee for profit. They are giving my people a 50% share on the vegetables harvested in our farm to be sold to a vegetable dealer who owns a jeep.
2. Mr NA
This is the first time in my life when someone came up to me and boasted, "You know Danny - I have killed three people in my life because I went "baltik" (probably similar to "have gone ballistic") and you know what Danny - I haven't even stepped inside a jail because I know people up there.
The said person also pimped his own daughter to an acquaintance I know.
Mr. NA
Mr. NA is a well known personality in the area because he used to have the power to use our land for his personal benefit. For 7 years my father has let this corruption go unabated probably because the figures concerned were minimal relative to my father's earning capacity. Mr. NA let Martin, reside in our farm to be able to harvest the produce of the land. Mr. NA gets a percentage from this which he probably spends on his favorite pastime - cockfighting.
The influence of Mr. NA on Chiquito has also served as the reason why I let go of Mansion Sr.
I would see them whispering among themselves and then later on Mansion Sr. would "suggest" something to me to the extent of trying to influence me to go cockfighting too.
I find no use for such an endeavor and hence ignored it. Mansion Sr. has constantly lied to me and as such I had to terminate him subtly.
One day, as the replacement for Mansion Sr., and I were cleaning the verandah, Mr. NA showed up and said "Whoo!" I was surprised to see him knowing that the main gate was locked. He sat down without being invited to sit down and told me the following things:
1. He was a temperamental person
2. Someone was killed that day
3. That someone who got killed was our next door neighbor, didn't you hear the gunshots?
4. That someone who got killed was killed by his own father
5. That someone who got killed was killed with 6 shots using a carbine rifle.
6. He told me that the returns I got from the mahogany trees were substantial. (I already gave him his 10% commission)
7. He also told me that nobody would come inside the farm. (like he did)
This is my new life. From dannybuntu the geek wannabe content with sitting in front of the computer, to Danny the Chicken Farmer.
I am at a crossroad as my father had written. I now have to decide whether I should bring my wife and three daughters to that place.
I don't know, I honestly don't know.
I only know that I have to make that decision and pray for the best.
If you are a Christian please pray for me and my family that we make the right decision to live in Barangay Tangway, Lipa City, Batangas - a land where guns, goons and gold are king.
