By Reynaldo E. Andres
Contributor
People may now roll back part of their lawns and renew the
age-old tradition of surrounding their homes with productive landscape similar
to the project that the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) currently promotes.
Called edible landscaping
(EL), this art of gardening which is now being established at the front yard of
the Crops Research Laboratory (CRL) building by researcher Aleta Dumaoal of the
Research Directorate, is a unique way of growing vegetables, herbs, spices, and
medicinal plants in attractive and harmonious groupings.
This EL demonstration
project, which has a total budget allocation of P117,500, will surely entice
other people to plant what they want to eat, while aesthetically producing a
wholesome environment that provides the daily food requirement of their
families.
EL, which is sometimes called
“foodscaping”, is a type of landscaping without the use of dangerous chemicals
and is established in front yards or small portions of a lawn and are planted
with various edible crops which are used as food and medicine.
It is considered as a hybrid
style of planting that combines farming and landscaping in the sense of having
an encompassing way of growing a garden and making it look pretty, while
feeding you with nutritious food.
In EL, grass and shrubberies
are replaced with plants that yield fruits and vegetables which can defray
expenses for marketing. In contrast to having a backyard garden for flowers, EL
is more extensive because of the implementation of edible plants into the
landscape.
To some landscape gardeners,
lawns sometimes waste pesticides, fertilizers and fuel for mowers that they use
to maintain them. However, from all these inputs, they only receive visual
gratification of a green yard, rather than a kitchen full of fresh ingredients.
“This edible landscape is a
new approach that merges science and creativity to form a revolutionary crop
production technology,” Ms. Dumaoal said adding that this aesthetic gardening
gives a twist in the conventional crop production where the basic style of
landscaping becomes a guiding principle.
The EL at CRL is now starting
to create an attractive environment that showcases herbal plants, spices and
some species of vegetables such as spinach, sweet potato and some species of
amaranth, which are arranged in various manners which consider the height of
each plant. Spices include black pepper, mint and dill, among others, which are
neatly planted near the medicinal plants.
At the limited surroundings,
edible bonsai plants such as tsaang
gubat among other tiny plants were added to enhance the beauty of the
landscape that was elevated in some corners to emphasize the layered crops.
To sustain the EL, a mini
nursery is simultaneously being established in one of the portions of the CRL
where varieties of herbal plants, decorative vegetables, and spices are
propagated and multiplied through stem cuttings.
“Vegetable seeds are sown in
plastic bags filled with a mixture of 1:1 ratio of soil and carbonized rice
hull,” Ms. Dumaoal said.
For those who may want to copy
the EL, Ms. Dumaoal suggests an area which has a good soil to support the
growth of the plants. She encourages the use of compost as fertilizer and soil
conditioner. Compost can be applied directly to the soil or it can be extracted
to produce a compost tea. But in front yards that are deficient of nutrients,
it can be corrected by incorporating organic matters such as processed chicken
manure or any decomposed animal manure and farm debris.
Chemical pesticides are not
encouraged in the EL, according to Ms. Dumaoal. Instead, onion, garlic,
marigold or any aromatic herb will soon be intercropped to repel some types of plant
pests. Red pepper, soap solutions, and botanical pesticides are used to control
insect infestation throughout all pest management activities.
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