Gardening At Its Best: Food On The Table by @sarimanok

The best of what we can utilize from our garden can be sustainable for consumption without spending money to buy in the market is the greatest edge anyone can have from the working class.

Hello my dear Steemians! There is joy in my heart whenever I visit my garden every day. I guess you feel the same, right? There is something in it that moves ones inner soul, an attachment between man and nature itself.
Practically, there are no rules set in gardening. You just plant according to the space you have at home and make the most of it. It’s just a matter of common sense and what makes you happy. More often than not, we love to see flowers in front of our house. Ornamental plants give beauty to our surroundings but the way to a man’s is through his stomach as the saying goes and that is by means of backyard gardening which is the easier pathway to success and more economical! There, that’s a good hint for those who are still in doubt.

Others like to plant vegetables even in their front yard maybe because of a limited space. In a debate, pros and cons are set for the sake of argument and I hope that you are with me my dear Steemians. Let me show you my beautiful garden at its best.

I personally cultivated the back portion of our house for the very reason that we are far from the wet market and with the soaring prices of commodities, you would think on how to meet both ends without sacrificing the welfare of the family.

As a mother of five, I have learned the hard way and that is proper discipline and good nutrition for the kids. Charge to experience, I have learned a lot from my mother-in-law on the ways of vegetable gardening. Honestly, I used to be a carnivorous person (smile) but I gradually changed my habit to serve as a living example to my kids.

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BACKYARD GARDENING

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Whenever I have the chance, I see to it that I have squash planted in our backyard. Kids just love its yummy taste since they were small. Now that they’re on their own, they still craved for it. I posted one of my squash photos on FB which sent memorable comments. As my daughter said, “It brings back childhood memories”.
Seeing a squash jam in a bottle sends a soft spot in their hearts. It’s sort of a magic string that binds us together where we parents play a very important role.
Let me show you how I made our favorite Squash Jam. You have three options to choose from. Please feel free to read my blog entitled “Yummy Squash Jam – From our Backyard to Our Table” The instructions are there.
Anyway, how to make one is quite simple and very affordable. You only need

Procedures:

1 medium sized squash,
2 cans of condensed milk and
2 cans of Nestle All-Purpose Cream.
(insert chunks, and cooking pan)
Cut the squash into chunks then set aside.
In a pan, boil the condensed milk until sticky enough.
Add the cream and stir for a while.
Slowly dip the squash chunks and stir until done. Refrigerate.

Actually, it all depends on the situation and location you are in. You can simply make a “latik” from brown sugar and add the squash chunks to make a sweetened squash jam. If you’re in the province with lots of coconuts around, so much the better! It’s just like making our favorite “malagkit”. Instead of sticky rice, you use the squash chunks as substitute.
In addition to the 3 options, you may also try the baked one to make it more solid. The good thing is that you can spread your squash with a slice of bread or your favorite crackers over your favorite coffee or juice anytime you want.

Squash jam can be served after meal course too. The little ones would love to partake on a slice or a big lump of it especially if you would ‘bribe’ them that squash are rich in vitamin A and that it would make their eyes beautiful making good eyesight for good squash eaters. That’s a fact of course.

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Upo

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Raising ‘Upo’ is just like squash. The difference is that you can just let the squash crawl freely on the ground, whereas you let the Upo crawl above the fence, railings or on branches.
There are many uses in raising this plant. It can be used for veggie soup over chicken meat, pork or mixed with ground beef. It is likewise best for Misua noodles and sardines if you want to economize. Don’t underestimate it guys, that’s very special in the farm and mind you, there are real chickens at the back!
Upo is good for preserves too. It is dried and coated with sugar to serve as candies for ‘pasalubong’ especially among tourists.

We call it ‘Balagay’ in Ilonggo. I like this kind of veggie but it’s seldom found in the market because it’s seasonal so I made sure that I got one in my garden too. It can be used for veggie soup or guisado too.
I like to slice this veggie in thin vertical circles and mix it with Filipino delicacy called

uyap/uyabang/hipon

How to do it:

1. Slice the balagay into thin strips
2. Prepare clove of garlic and onion bulb, cut into small cubes
3. Pepper bell or ‘espada’ thinly sliced to add flavor
   Chili/labuyo
   1 cup coconut milk (dalisay na gata)
   Uyap/Hipon
   Meat sliced into cubes as desired
   Cooking oil and seasoning

Instructions:

Wash the balagay thoroughly before slicing. Saute garlic and onion then pour uyap. You may add meat cubes as desired. Stir until a bit crispy. Add the sliced balagay and stir. Add pepper bell or espada. Do not overcook. Lastly, pour ‘dalisay na gata’. You need to stir it until it’s almost dry then add chili and seasoning to taste. Believe me guys you will eat more than your usual cup of rice!

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Chayote

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This kind of veggie fruit is very useful in our daily menu. It can be added in your veggie soup, veggie guisado, pansit guisado or in Chop Suey recipe. It is a good option for making pickles instead of papaya. I specially planted more of this since it is low in maintenance yet it’s expensive in the market.

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Okra

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Okra has many benefits too. It grows easily in the corner or in a pot where I can pluck it and just let it cook atop my newly-cooked rice and eat with gusto over thinly sliced fried eggplant and vinegar as my ‘sawsawan’.
Sometimes I cook guisado out of okra, squash, chayote/upo and balagay. See, I only need seasoning to taste. The rest are all from my garden!

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Patani

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This kind of legume is seasonal so I just let it grow and climb over branches and fence until it bear seed pods. I love its unique taste and the best in mixed vegetable guinataan or just plain veggie soup the Pinoy way.
This is a favorite in Cebuano and Visayan areas. I too love it especially during rainy season. I prepare guinataang Patani with Chayote, Okra, Squash and Malonggay (horse raddish) or Alugbati (another variety of spinach) with ginger and sweet grass (tanglad). It’s so delicioso! All I need to buy is fish or bulad (dried fish) to complete the menu.

Beside is my veggie guinataan which I specially made for my kids added with TLC.

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Alugbati

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Yes, I too, have Alugbati in my backyard. I see to it that it grows on the fence to make sure that it’s clean. Well, we buy in the market without knowing where it came from! I love to eat this veggie mixed with mongo.

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CAMOTE (SWEET POTATO)

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I like to make an Ensalada (salad) out of the Camote tops in my garden. You just pick the young tops, blanch it and mix it onion and tomato, salt and vinegar. It’s good for people with low blood pressure like me.

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Gabi (Tuber)

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Gabi is best in guinataan veggies as well as in Sinigang recipes. As for me, I add kamyas or Iba as natural flavor since we also have it in our backyard.

As you can see, I don’t have to buy my vegetables since I already have them in our backyard. I have saved a big amount in my budget and they’re fresh from my garden. Not only that, they’re all organic plants, free from synthetic fertilizers!

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My Ornamental Plants

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I hope I’ll be able to catch up with the time of submission but I’ll try to show some of my favorite flowers since am running out of time.
Nevertheless, I will show you my favorite Begonia flowers in varied shades of red, pink, tangerine, white, the small ones have combinations of white and pink. The others haven’t shown their beauties yet.

Begonias bear flowers abundantly and just hanging freely that they looked like a bunch of candies. Some grow about one foot while the other varieties grow taller like a shrub.

There. Now that you’ve seen my garden, I hope you enjoyed guys. They are not what you call flowers of the rich and famous but I took care of them with tender loving care and that is the most important thing of all. Value yourself as you value the friendship of others.

Before I close my gate, allow me to say that I am very happy to have been a part of the SPPH family. I love my first claim and hopefully to gain more momentum with your help. Take care and God bless us all.

@sarimanok

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