Super Ready for Coconuts – Excited to See Rain
Three Weeks Without Rain, and One Very Happy Farmer
There is one thing you learn very quickly when working on a farm in Bukidnon: you can make a plan, but Mother Nature gets the final vote. The rain stayed away even it is wet season.
Even our Main Road is dusty and dry. —>
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Main Road through our Farm to Barangay,
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At Jessie’s Sunshine Farm, we had a plan.
We had 126 coconut seedlings ready to go into the ground.
- We had people to organize,
- tools to prepare,
- fertilizer to arrange, and
- different sections of the farm waiting for their new residents.
Everything was ready. Except for one small problem, rain.
- It didn’t rain.
- Not for a day.
- Not for two days.
- Not even for a reasonable amount of time.
We waited through three weeks of dry weather while the soil became harder and harder. The coconut seedlings were ready, the people were ready, and I was ready.
The ground, however, basically said:
“Not today, Boss.” So we waited.
That is one of the lessons farming teaches you. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is nothing. At least until the conditions are right.
Then Finally, the Rain Came
And suddenly the farm became alive again.
The soil became soft and workable. The ground was ready to accept the young coconut trees, and we knew we had our opportunity.
Time to plant!
The 126-Coconut Operation
Now, 126 coconut trees may not sound like a huge number. But try organizing 126 trees, people, tools, fertilizer, digging, transportation and planting locations, and suddenly 126 becomes a very large number.
- First, we have to decide where each section will receive its trees.
- Then we need people in the right places.
- Someone has to dig.
- Someone has to carry.
- Someone has to prepare fertilizer.
- Someone has to make sure the seedlings arrive without being treated like sacks of potatoes.
- And, of course, somebody has to supervise.
- That last job is very important. At least, that’s what the supervisor tells everyone.
The goal is not simply to put 126 coconut seedlings into the ground. We want to establish them properly so that we can monitor their growth and care for them as they develop.
That means good organization today can save us a lot of headaches tomorrow.
The Rain Changed Everything
Those three weeks without rain were frustrating, but they also reminded me that farming is about timing.
We could have planted earlier, but planting young coconut trees into extremely dry, hard soil would not have been ideal.
Now the rain has softened the soil.
This is the window we were waiting for.
The coconut trees can go into the ground with moisture already available, giving their roots a better start.
And that is what makes farming exciting. You prepare for something long before you know exactly when the opportunity will arrive. Then, when the opportunity finally appears, you have to be ready. Another Step in the Farm’s Story.
These 126 Coconuts are More than just 126 Trees.
We have already been learning about planting, fertilizing, pruning, harvesting, monitoring tree health, and bringing farm products into the market. Now we are adding the final group of young coconut trees to that growing system.
They are another step in the long-term development of Jessie’s Sunshine Farm. Every coconut trees produces a small amount of income.
Coconut is not a crop where you plant today and celebrate a big harvest tomorrow.
- It takes patience.
- A lot of patience.
- You plant the tree.
- You care for it.
- You fertilize it.
- You check it.
- You wait.
- Then you check it again.
Our 126 Seedlings
And eventually, years later, you look up and realize that the little seedling you planted has become a mature coconut tree. That is the part of farming I appreciate most. You are always working for a future you cannot see yet.
One Tree at a Time
Will everything go perfectly?
- Probably not.
- Some trees will grow faster.
- Some will need extra attention.
- Some may get sick.
- And somebody will probably lose a shovel.
- But that’s farming.
- We learn.
- And let’s get to work.
Our Upper Access Road, East Gate,
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One coconut tree at a time, we are building the future of Jessie’s Sunshine Farm. And if anyone asks when we’re finished planting all 126 trees, I already know the answer:
“When the shovel comes back.”
