The semester is finally over and the vegetables from the garden at San Carlos Seminary College have been harvested. The state of the plants at harvest time was excellent despite the threat of El Niño. This was all because of the efforts put in by the seminary students who cared for the plants diligently. They watered the plants daily and collected fertile soil from their compost pit regularly which they added to the garden plots to ensure that the plants have proper nutrients. They have applied all they’ve learned from their lessons in Earth Science about soil erosion, water cycle, nutrient cycle, and sun energy to ensure a good harvest. PCAPI7 supported the students by providing the required gardening tools such as wheelbarrow, rakes, spades, dowels, bolo, water sprinklers and individual garden gloves. Gardening started in November 13, 2015 and officially ended in March 28, 2016 when the garden plots were graded by their teacher, Engr. Ivy Tariman of PCAPI7.
As culminating activity at the end of the semester, April 4 to be exact, five (5) families from Barangay Luz were invited to have lunch with the students. This was in response to Cardinal Tagle’s call in his Catechesis during the 51st International Eucharistic Congress to bring back the family meal. So instead of having a feeding activity solely for children, whole families were invited.
Alogbati was plentiful at harvest time, apparently the soil type fitted this plant best. Kangkong, eggplant, okra, kamunggay and tomatoes were among the vegetables harvested. These were turned into delicious dishes by the students themselves who did all the cooking. Alogbati was mixed in the pancit bami, kamunggay was used in tinolang manok, eggplants and tomatoes were turned into tortang talong with ground pork, and adobong kangkong completed the four viand meal. The students supplemented the dishes with lechon manok as a treat. Except for the salty tinola soup, the rest of the meal was superb. It was a fun time for all as the guests were treated with songs and dance by the students. To God be the glory!
What can you say about the gardening experience?
To experience gardening is awesome. Planting is like nurturing a toddler to become an adult. Plants have life and they grow like us, humans. Gardening made me love, enjoy life and the plants because making them grow is difficult just like raising a child.
– Seminarian Christy Prajes (2nd year)
