Sowing Seeds

_{okra sprouts at Day 7}

Our Baguio adventure was definitely one for the books. I've been there a few times before but in all those instances, it was just Red and me. Our stay in Baguio this time became more special because Sam was with us. She's always loved the cool weather in Tagaytay, and I knew she'd love Baguio's cooler climate more so. And I was right, she was so amazed at how the malls, the restaurants, and our rooms did not have any need for an AC. She loves everything about Baguio! It gave me so much happiness to see the delight on her face when Red and I showed her around the tourist spots. We had a grand time at Burnham Park, tasted ube-flavored taho for the first time, visited a shop that look as though it's straight out of a Studio Ghibli film, and had a wonderful stay at the place we booked. We were able to relax. It was definitely what a vacation should be, where we were able to recharge.

Now that we're back home in Bulacan, we are eager to work on our plans. I am now attending classes that will hopefully equip me in starting a small business. As for Red, he's learning new things like video editing and programming. He's also busy with our vegetable garden. As I've mentioned in my Ulog # 2 | A Simple Life, he was able to salvage some of our crops, and those are doing wonderful at the moment. As I've expected, we were able to harvest eggplants and have been enjoying them with bagoong.

What we really miss though are okra or ochro. It's been awhile since our last batch and so we thought of planting them again.

Okras are very easy to grow. Its seeds are some of the most resilient I've encountered. They don't need much in order to germinate and when they've grown into mature plants, they need very little. We use seedling trays in growing our crops because seeds in general are touchy. They are sensitive to light and water, and growing them in seedling trays makes it easier to control those factors. We can easily move them around to avoid exposing them to too much sunlight. The tray offers good drainage system thanks to the holes on them. This means there's less possibility of the seed rotting because of too much water.

First, we filled in the holes of the tray with planting soil. This is not the usual soil on the ground, and is what they call a potting mix. Its a medium used for planting in containers because pure soil is "too heavy". The ingredients of a potting mix can vary but the one we're using have sand, compost, and rice hulks (most of which are burned).

_{step 1: fill it up}

After filling each slot, Red then made a hole that's 1-inch deep using his finger.

_{step 2: make a hole with your finger}

It was then time to put the seeds into the wholes. Red usually puts 2-3 seeds per slot because there's no assurance that each of the seed will germinate.

_{step 3: plant the seeds}

We covered the seeds with soil so that we can keep them safe from birds and other animals that might eat them

_{step 4: cover it up}

We watered the seeds carefully. We used to spray it with water using the Mist setting. Our spray broke and since we have yet to buy a new one, Red uses his fingers to control the water

_{step 5: water it gently}

It takes 3-5 days for okra seeds to germinate. At Day 3, we started seeing holes on the soil. That was a sign that the seeds have germinated and at Day 5, the sprouts started to coming out of those holes.

_{okra sprouts at Day 5}

It won't be long until we enjoy fresh okra with our bagoong too. We'll start germinating tomatoes this week and soon we won't have to buy any of those to make our favorite Pinakbet and Sinigang. How about you? Do you grow vegetables in your yard?What do you grow?