Self introduction.....

[tom]

Hi,
Retired oil field,military pension from Vietnam.lived in Rp beginning mid 70's.20 plus years total.Very interested in sustainable farming,especially multi use techniques and grafting.Have a few acres in Leyte and Siquijor.Will live almost full time Leyte next year hopefully.Ride a VTX1300S in Oz for stress relief.Play golf poorly,same with gambling horses/dogs/fighting cocks....Tom

[Frank Woolf]

Hi Tom,

Welcome to this little site.

Are you doing any sustainable farming or still at the planning stage?


Nice bike. My last bike was a CB1300 that I think uses the same engine.

[tom]

Frank, you probably have found out already,one has to be right there if one wants any chance of success.I have found that ingrained bad habits will persist without constant supervision and actual presence, while actual examples of success must be shown over and over again.It does eventually sink in?!.Whilst living permanently in Leyte I was very successful in small scale of organic growing,(almost permaculture).I had good success grafting tomatoes onto wild eggplant rootstock also(this prevented soil wilt affecting the crop)although it took quite a while longer to produce a crop.
Growing fences also intrigue me,especially guavas.You plant many guavas,for( eg) in pots and intertwine the branches almost horizontal.They quickly grow into each other and share a whole circulating system of sap and nutrient uptake.Just plant the whole system in a row as a fence and as it grows continue to intertwine the growing branches(use cloth to tie them together in the beginning).The end result will be a very dense fence that will be almost impenetrable,it becomes on living thing!.Plus the fruit! I have only done this in a very small scale here in Oz but it works!.If I get time I'll try it with large eucalypt trees.I forgot the term for this procedure?
I have a few other things that i feel will work well....Rabbits growing over worm beds that feed fish and sustain a floating hydroponic vegetable patch.?:)
Regards, Tom

[Frank Woolf]

Great ideas thanks. I have lots of small guava growing wild on the house lot. The fruit is very small but edible. I will try your suggestion for sure. Do cuttings work with guava?

I have tilapia ponds planned and want rabbits but hadn't thought about using the rabbits for the worm beds.

A big part of the interest for me is the ideas and ways of combining plants, animals, etc to work together.

[tom]

Frank, I think seedlings would be the way to go with guava although most probably one could graft different varieties together.The method of spoke of is called pleaching and was common in medieval times I think.I reckon if I had the patience I would be able to grow almost any furniture I need by pleaching and selective pruning. Tom:)

[Frank Woolf]

Looks like I need to start collecting seeds from the trees and maybe transplanting some of the existing seedlings.

That's a clever idea to grow furniture. It would probably sell at a high price.

[Guzzinuts]

Hi Tom - from John & Bing too!
Nice to know where your from originally Tom ... Auzzy? Anyway - just a quick "Hi" to a fellow biker! And yes - "stress-relief" is definitely ONE of the reasons why Bing & I want to keep our beloved Guzzi Cali EV1100 & bring it out to the Phil's - one day! However, as we talked about previously with Frank, actually getting it there from the UK is an "on-going" story. Although we hope, a not too long a story!?
Very interested about your ideas on "living fences" & also sustainable farming etc & although we are not yet there full time, we will surely be keeping an eye on both yours & Franks conversations in these matters over the coming weeks/months. Cheers & good luck - especially with your golfing handicap etc!? :D