A POPULAR Filipino folk song listing 18 vegetables around a tiny nipa hut, a bahay kubo for which it is titled, has been brought to life at the Bonuan Boquig Elementary School in Dagupan City.

A walk through the school’s vegetable garden, as the song goes, delightfully features “Singkamas at talong, sigarilyas at mani, sitaw, bataw, patani. Gondol, patola, upot’ kalabasa at saka mayron pa labanos, mustasa, sibuyas, kamatis, bawang at luya sa paligid-ligid ay puno ng liya”.

And more: ampalaya, okra, kamatis, talong, sili, pechay, and alugbati among others.

Pupils and teachers of a public elementary school here not only sing the children’s folk song “Bahay Kubo” but makes it into reality by setting up their Longest Garden,  with all the 18 vegetables mentioned in the song and more planted to it.

Dubbed by the school as the “Longest Garden” at 200 meters the area used to be a wild bush with banana plants.

When Manuel Ferrer took over as school principal last year, he initiated the development of the area with the Bahay Kubo as inspiration.

Ferrer said the project proved easy to get going with the full support from the pupils, teachers, parents and the barangay council.

5 STATIONS

The school spent about P20,000 for the structures and the plants were sourced from donations, solicitations, fundraising activities and the school’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses.

The garden has 5 different stations, with Station 1 devoted to mushroom culture.

Station 2 is aquaponics, a system in which the waste produced by farmed fish or other aquatic animals supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn purify the water. This section also has its hydroponics which is a subset of hydroculture and is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. It has a combination of plants with tilapia and red pacu culture raised.

Station 3 is the livestock area with native chickens while Station 4 is the vermiculture area for organic fertilizer and Station 5 is the Bahay Kubo Garden where all the vegetables mentioned in the song are planted.

THE FARMERS

Grades 5 and 6 pupils devote 40 minutes of their time under the EPP (Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan) class doing hands-on gardening.

Teachers and parents also join them in the task while barangay tanods give support by providing security 24/7 against thieves.

Even beneficiaries of the cash-transfer 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) have joined the endeavor.

The school fence has also been utilized as a production area, turning it into “The Great Wall of Mustasa” where empty plastic gallons of water are used to grow mustards.

Mayor Belen Fernandez was impressed by the project when she visited the school.

With the garden in full bloom now, Ferrer and his various teams are looking forward to the harvest by mid-March when the annual search for Gulayan sa Paaralan project of the mayor begins.

Bonuan Boquig has never been among the top contenders in the Gulayaan sa Paaralan.

For six years, Lucao Elementary School was a consistent number one until it was dislodged by Carael Elementary School for the past two years under the helm of Ferrer as school principal.

With his new assignment, Ferrer wanted Bonuan Boquig to excel as well although he admitted that the mission, at first, seemed impossible.

Part of the proceeds of the Longest Garden and the Bahay Kubo Garden will go to the 120-day supplemental feeding of the school for some selected severely-malnourished children.

“We develop teamwork, cooperation, bonding and most of all harmonious relationship and self-reliance,” Ferrer said.

“Juan Tamad (a symbol of laziness) is a no-no here,” he added.—Tita Roces

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