You would be forgiven if you had mistakenly thought I left the Philippines to hit a fantastic western market resulting in this loot of organic broccolini, baby swiss chard, microgreens, and grass-fed beef. But the better news is that this is all locally grown, and now available at the Salcedo Market on Saturdays and Mercato Centrale on Sundays. Myra P sent me a heads up weeks ago that this wonderful farm in Bukidnon would soon be at the Salcedo market and she was sure I would like what they had to offer. Well, that was an understatement. If I didn’t restrain myself this morning at 8am, I would have purchased nearly everything they had on display (excluding the mesclun, of which they had a lot)!
We didn’t have any plans to entertain this weekend, but following visits to three markets this morning, we hastily called on some friends to join us for a “market menu” this evening… Such calls, are thankfully, always received with eagerness and healthy appetites. But back to “downtoearth vegetables,” the produce line of Earth Flora, Inc. which operates a farm in Bukidnon and which supports neighboring small scale producers and farmers. The produce you see here contains no chemical sprays or fertilizers. I purchased two bunches of baby carrots, at PHP100 a bunch with 500 grams. At PHP200 a kilo, these carrots are pricey, but you can rinse them quickly and eat the entire carrot in two bites. Sweet and delicious.
I also bought a small container of “bull’s blood beet” microgreens because they have a nice flavor and superb color when garnishing dishes. At PHP70, for probably less than 50 grams, these were about the going price for microgreens, and a little goes a really long way. I am so happy that micro, mini and baby greens are becoming much more readily available in Manila, a great sign for avid cooks and chefs.
Their “mesclun” is pretty nice with a wide selection of greens (lollo roasa, romaine, mizuna, tatsoi, baby arugula, etc.), but most of the leaves a little bigger than what “mesclun” is really originally meant to include (small, baby, tiny, fresh leaves). The term has been a bit abused, but despite that slight quibble, it was a nice mixture of salad greens and for 100 grams, PHP100.
I was extremely excited to find broccolini, which after my recent delivery of rapini or broccoli rabe from Gejo at Kitchen Herbs farm, which is a great veggie to blanch, saute with garlic and chillies and a final spritz of lemon. We will be having these for dinner this evening. PHP70 for 350 grams or roughly PHP200 per kilo. I have written about broccolini in an earlier post.
Next up, SPECTACULAR chard. Not the really huge, overgrown almost tough examples that sometimes make it to weekend markets, but younger, softer, vibrant chard perfect for soups of stir fries. Beautiful. PHP70 for this bunch.
Not only did they have the wonderful chard, they had baby swiss chard as well. Great for salads, garnishes, etc. The veggies speak for themselves, don’t they look amazing?
I also got some Italian parsley for PHP70 a bunch, more than I normally pay for the herb, but they were particularly fresh looking. And finally, I went a little crazy with the grass-fed beef, wanting to try several cuts of meat. I had actually gone to see this vendor hoping to find some organic pasture raised pork, but they didn’t have much available, most of it already made into bacon or other smoked pork products.
Their grass-fed beef consist of several types of native cattle. Specifically, their write-ups identify “the native Bali or Banteng and Chinese Yellow Cattle cross-bred with Nellore or Ongole and American Brahman cattle”. The cattle thrive in Mindanao, and in this case, are pasture raised and grass-fed. They warn that the meat is lean and could be tougher than say those overbred for melt-in-your-mouth softness Western meats, but they have character. We shall see in the days ahead.
One thing I must mention, however, is the use of staples to close their paper bags filled with produce. A serious NO-NO in my book. The staples can easily find their way into your greens and cause all manner of problems. I wish they would stop the use of staple wires. But what a great find otherwise. Such wonderful produce. Such interesting folks to talk to. So earnest, so local, so right. Okay, off to the kitchen to use all the terrific finds today… :)
P.S. I noticed in their website that they might actually have frisee, that wonderful lettuce that I have been searching for locally for years. If it is true, I will be in lettuce heaven for a day or two…
downtoearth vegetables
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904 Arnaiz Avenue,
Makati, 1223
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36 Responses
Wow!!! Amazing!!!
Can’t wait to see what you cooked with these. Can’t get better than this!
So nice that Metro Manila has access to the organic produce. Hope the volume of produce and better availability to consumers mitigate the carbon imprint left from the long travel from Bukidnon.
I consider myself lucky in Puerto Princesa where uphill from me at the Aloha Farm I can readily get fresh organic produce, greens, herbs fresh from the garden and poultry and occasional pork and dairy. Just my footprints on the ground and nary a carbon imprint……. unless I drive up the hill.
Today I start my romaines and basil in my container garden on my deck.
BettyQ, I have plenty of black gold from my last year’s composting pile to mix with the dirt. Glad you are posting again.
oh gosh, MM! colorful organic produce like these just kill me! and i remember you tell me here once that you love chard. it is spectacular isn’t it. i looove farmers’ markets. may i share the last one i went to that sold spiced cheeses in jars, soap, homemade wool etc. https://www.teacupmoments.com/2011/02/stewards-of-land.html
ConnieC, You ignored in your calculation the carbon expended in transporting yourself from the American East Coast to Puerto Princesa which as I see it, is the major part of the journey. Otherwise, I agree with you, let us all be conscious of the carbon footprint we leave in our wake but did you notice how everything has been geared towards making rich consumers ever more fastidious while allowing the poor (in America) get obese on high-fructose corn syrup and fast junk food?
I like the way MM deployed the vegies on the tray. Where I grew up, we made distinctions as to shapes of bamboo baskets, round flat are bilao, round tall are kalya and tall four-cornered bottoms are bakol. This one here is not perfectly square but looks more like a type of superellipse. What is it called? Where is it from?
Hi Connie. I will be going to Puerto Princesa next week.Is the Aloha Farm near the city? I’ve been wanting to visit that farm. Would it be possible to ask for directions?
The book on Sustainable Agriculture written by Aloha’s leader Keith Mikkelson is a must-read for those who want to learn about organic farming.
Footloose, you are absolutely right ( again). Unfortunately I have to leave some carbon
imprint to afford organic and pesticide free produce that folks who make an average income here in the US find beyond their food budget to get grass fed buffalo meat, free range organic chicken, eggs, and veggies. Even regular sea salt is more expensive than the processed or iodized salt. Still, it is good to know considering everything else which produce (avoiding the dirty dozen for example) to get that are organic and pesticide free.
The Dirty Dozen (even after USDA high-power pressure water system wash): Celery Peaches Strawberries Apples Domestic blueberries Nectarines
Sweet bell peppers Spinach, kale and collard greens, Cherries Potatoes Imported grapes Lettuce
The Clean 15: Onions Avocados Sweet corn Pineapples Mango sweet peas Asparagus
Kiwi fruit Cabbage Eggplant Cantaloupe Watermelon Grapefruit Sweet potatoes
Sweet onions
MM’s beautiful bamboo baskets must come from Cebu and there are similar ones from southern Palawan where bamboo generally, is abundant in the island.
Gej, Aloha Farm is behind the Aloha orphanage just before Baker’s Hill, same side, uphill on Mitra Road, about 8 km from city center. Come close to 8 AM or just before 4 PM as they pick produce twice daily around those times.
I usually go there before a flight and take my greens to Manila.
Footloose, among your varied interests, I have noticed an interest in baskets from previous comments. My mother was a huge collector of baskets, and every province she went to (she managed to visit many more than I have), she picked up several baskets that were then displayed in her home in specially designed shelves or hooks. I never paid much attention to them, but in retrospect, I realize she had a wonderful representation of baskets from all over the country. Basket weaving is a skill that is dying off rather quickly, a sad sad fact of modern life…
The basket in the photos up top is bamboo, I think, and from Bontoc or Sagada, purchased probably more than 20+ years ago… My first trip to Bontoc and Sagada was in the late 1970’s, and I recall carting back 2-3 baskets as a present for my mother. My classmates thought I was a bit mental at age 13 or 14, bargaining with locals not for the flashy, newly made, “touristy” baskets they had on offer, but for the old worn classic baskets that they actually had in use. I purchased 2-3 wonderful old baskets with a patina you cannot create on demand. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had done the right thing, and the antique, authentic, beautiful baskets from the area would go on to become much sought after collectors items that would fetch many thousands of pesos. Today, it is EXTREMELY difficult to find old baskets from the area. My mother later added to her collection by purchasing baskets through antique dealers in Baguio. These are the types of baskets that have become a personal favorite. They are sturdy, bold, practical and aesthetically pleasing. I like the color palate, and they are devoid of ornamentation for the sake of ornamentation.
In the past 10-20 years, I have purchased several Igorot baskets that are new but smoked to appear older than they are. This is one of them. We have several other shapes as well. I think I managed to keep only one of my mom’s antique igorot baskets, the rest were poorly stored in vast closets and damaged in her later years. I have in-laws with terrific examples of baskets from the area, displayed like artwork in their modern flat.
As I was preparing to respond to your comment, I did a quick google and spent a good 15 minutes reading this fascinating link, to part of a book written by Albert Ernest Jenks, a foreigner who spent time with the Igorots around 1903, to record their way of life, and he has a short section on their baskets. It is a fascinating piece… and I only wish it had the accompanying photos. It also mentions that they used to grow millet in the area, a fascinating food tidbit that I was not aware of…
The round basket in the bottom photo has a tight weave, and is Balinese, purchased in the mountain town of Ubud 15+ years ago.
Hold on to your baskets. Forty or so years ago I started keeping an eye on Chinese antique furniture at auction but when I was swept aside by the dot com millionaires, I thought Japanese baskets would be rather crafty objects to know and collect. Little did I know that Lloyd Cotsen, the CEO of Neutrogena during its period of rapid expansion, has predated my interest by a long shot. He amassed the largest accumulation of the finest antique Japanese baskets in the world and in 2001 donated around 800 pieces of them to the Asian Art Museum in Seattle where you can see them whenever you find yourself in the North-West coast. Incidentally, they also have a great collection of Ming hardwood furniture, perhaps second only in importance to those in the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City and the Metropolitan in NYC.
Fascinating link indeed. Reminds me of Otley Beyer, an American anthropologist from around the same time or maybe a bit later, who took an Igorota for wife.
So happy that there are more organic veggies available in the market now :) Thank you for sharing this, MM!
MM, you’re really getting good at taking pitures! It’s nice to know that there are locally grown here in our country.
Came back from Mercato two hours ago and there was only one bunch of broccolini left that I swooped in. ;) One of the proprietors of the stall and I had a nice chat about the his produce. Nice guy!
I’ve noticed that beetroot has become popular, but what do vendors do with the leaves? I once tried to prepare beets in college, the beetroot was a horrible bland mess, but the leaves albeit not washed properly were tasty! (Although that may have been the dirt I neglected to thoroughly wash off.)
Hey Footloose, if you’re still around, mind if I pick your brain? So, I remember a magazine article (possibly Mother Jones, a housemate subscribed to a lot of political/current issues magazine) that had an expose on the “carbon footprint fallacy.” It said that only 5% of the energy consumed by agriculture came from transportation while 95% came from production. I didn’t read further, but I’m assuming the basis of this 95/5 ratio is from industrialized farming in the States/developed countries where heavy machinery, industrial pesticides and fertilizers, etc are used. It also gave the example that buying Kenyan tulips in Holland was better carbon-footprint-wise than buying Dutch tulips in Holland itself. Then I think the article goes on how developed countries using the food miles issue, are yet again exploiting (inadvertently?) developing countries with agriculture-based economies by influencing demand against their exports. What’s your say? (And I ask this only to be provocative, in the best sense of the word.)
MM,
that produce looks amazing! i know that the philippines doesn’t allow GMOs and i am sure it is easy to get organic produce, both of which i am excited about as an american about to move to manila. my question is about being able to eat the produce. i understand i can’t drink the water so i assume i shouldn’t eat fresh produce but i could be wrong. do you have any information on this?
thanks and i love your blog.
laura, actually, a lot of produce in provincial markets is organic, for the sole reason that farmers can’t afford the fertilizers, etc. However, a lot of produce commercially grown for sale in large cities is sprayed with all manner of questionable stuff… There is no official certification process for organic produce, so be careful not to overpay for your vegetables that aren’t truly organic. But let me back up, your question is more complicated than it seems…
1. Westerner moving to third world country. Your stomach, no matter how strong, will have some adjusting to do when you hit the Philippines, coming from the U.S., particularly if you have not lived in a similar third world country before. There are all kinds of different bacterias, etc. in the food and your tummy will need to adjust to. This is just a part of the move. My wife and I have lived in several countries, western and not, and we also had similar adjustment periods, and not to freak you out, it gets fine once you have experienced some of the local bugs as it were… :(
2. Local tap water is generally not considered to be potable, as again, it can carry some forms of unsavory little critters, and the piping laid underground (while recently MUCH BETTER) can mix soil and water together. Local tap water is best boiled first, or as many local and foreign folks do, they buy bottled water which is conveniently delivered to your home in 5 gallon jugs. However, I do brush my teeth with tap water, cook with tap water, bath in the tap water, etc. Another aspect of the tap water, I suspect, is that it is not as treated as say American city water, lacking perhaps the chlorine, flouride or whatever they add to the water. Many locals, by the way, DO drink the tap water.
3. Tap water issues and produce issues differ. The concern about eating say lettuce or other greens or produce where you consume the peel comes from unsanitary forms of fertilizer or when rawish fertilizers manage to get lodged on the leaves (nightsoil, manure, etc. that hasn’t been properly pre-treated can send a fleck up onto your lettuce rather easily). These therefor have to be washed really well, and some foreigners we know use a special soap or cleansing agent in their water to achieve this. Personally, I don’t do this and simply wash well with tap water. I have a very sensitive stomach and in the past 15 years in Manila, I have only gotten a bum stomach a few times from food, mostly after eating shellfish, not greens or fruit.
4. The best thing is to know your suppliers or vendors. Further, a lot of the produce that is labelled organic is actually greenhouse grown, or hydroponic, so it is less prone to the whole yucky fertilizer situation.
5. You may also be surprised that most foreigners might take on household staff when they move here, to help with meal preparation, laundry and cleaning. This is another area of concern. If you do take staff, make sure they get a health clearance for say tuberculosis, intestinal parasites, etc. I don’t mean to scare you, but we do this in our own home. And in 15 years, have come across 1 member of the staff with tuberculosis who was treated and is fine now. Intestinal parasites can be passed from person to person by handling glasses, plates and eating utensils… You would be surprised by the percentage of the population with living pets in their intestinal tracts, but one can easily get rid of them. And in many cases they don’t really bother the host. I used to work in Indonesia and had a team of say 15-20 westerners under my purview and as a sort of semi-joke, I once gave all of them “worm pills” to purge themselves of local critters and while they laughed, I think every single one of them took the pills, and the next morning, at least 20% confirmed they were needed, enough said. :)
I once did a seminar for members of the Australian and New Zealand community and/or diplomatic core in Manila about the vegetables available in the Philippines and I was amazed that so many of them didn’t realize that there was an abundance of stuff in local markets, oftentimes many proxies for veggies they missed from home, and that could be prepared in dishes they could relate to.
I hope that helped. It’s a slow Sunday afternoon so maybe I have given you more information than you were hoping for. Good luck on your move and email me when you get here if you are looking for particular sources of food. The availability of ingredients in Manila has vastly improved in the past 10-15 years, but I suspect you will still have things from home that you will miss.
Ditto on your observation re the hazard of staples to close packages . . .
@Tracy, my banter with ConnieC may have given the impression that I am a campaigning locav(b)ore. I am not, although I prefer to buy local food in season but that’s because they are better quality and cheaper. Politically, I concluded a long time ago that there is a white man’s empire that is built on the labor and resources of colored people, black, brown and yellow and most of these women.
OOps, a faux pas, MM. I shouldn’t preempt the owner ( on the basket source). Sorry.
And… definitely agree with Footloose (again) re #15.
wow this is indeed a great find! ;)
MM, you snuck up on the proprietor, as per your usual style haha. He thought you were going to wipe him out so early in the morning :0
For whatever it’s worth to other readers, I trust this source 100% and confidently consume their produce with only a light wash to remove debris.
As for the carbon footprint angle, I think some may not realize that for a farmer to commercially raise animals free from medicines, the livestock has to be pastured VERY FAR away from other animal farms. When they first started, the animals got sick from a nearby far and they had to start over in an area much further into the forest. The only places close enough to Manila to possibly raise animals so far from other farms is North Luzon, which may be nearer but I’m guessing that accessibility is a big problem. There is never a perfect solution, but I think the way the produce/livestock is raised naturally and biodynamically has it’s own positive impact to consider.
Oh, and in case he failed to mention it to you, they have “trained” the pigs to eat grass like cows. Imagine that, vegetarian pigs :D
@Laura, I suggest you bring a bottle or two of good Probiotics from the States when you come here as a source of support for your digestive system for the first few months or so. It would definitely soften the impact of adjusting to the ‘new bugs’ your gut is not used to.
All these wonderful greens! I knew i should have dragged my better half out of bed when i had waken up early. Great finds mm! I only used to find mizuna at santi’s.
thank you MM for that very detailed response! i will certainly be emailing you sometime this summer when i arrive. and thanks, jake, for the additional tip.
We went thru Buda , that’s the border between Bukidnon and Davao, a few weeks ago. Roadside stalls were selling baby carrots at 5 pesos per kilo. Lettuce went for 30 per kilo.Organic and freshly harvested, they were a great bargain.
Thanks Connie C.! I’ll be bringing the whole family to Aloha Farm next week. Hopefully before 8AM, if the kids are up to it.
Hi marketman, tanong ko lang po kung saan pwede gamitin ang leaves ng fresh carrots? there is a weekly Farmer’s Market here in Dubai just near the Burj Khalifa. it truly is a bit pricey but really worth it when it comes to freshness. I was just wondering what to do with some produce that I find there like the fresh carrots with leaves and even white radish with leaves too. sabi po nila pwedeng substitute sa spinach ang leaves ng radish. hope you can help me. ayoko lang po kasi na may matapon sa mga nabibili kong gulay lalo na may kamahalan sila. thanks for your time. More power!
best regards,
arlene
wonderful post MM!! :) let’s support local farmers! loving down to earth’s grassfed beef! :)
Wow, simply wow. Listening to my body, I’ve been eating just salads during lunch for the past weeks, and I feel really good. Thanks for the lovely post and photos!
Laura, like the other commenter, I suggest you bring with you several bottles of probiotics. You will discover that there’s only a handful of choices available here and most of which are significantly more expensive than what you would pay for in the US, or are out of stock half of the time. Start taking these the week before your move and continue taking them for a few months or so. You can always ship extra bottles with your other stuff thru the door-to-door balikbayan boxes. Happy relocating!
Top pic easily must be one of the most beautiful you’ve ever posted.
Not the pointy baby carrots out front but the stubby bunch right behind it. A crazy man with four of those carrots stuffed into his ears and nostrils nasally besought the doctor what’s wrong with him and the doctor replied without missing a beat, “you’re not eating properly.”
The vibrance of such ingredients invites even the most sceptical of palates! It seems that there is some improvement in the education of the very young these days as I’m seeing an increase in their intake of the lovable veggies… have a niece who’s around 6 of age but eats veggies like an adult may it be ampalaya, radishes or carrots, you name it! Which is NOT what I can say for myself when I was of the same age, Haven’t even gotten over ampalaya yet! Do you still have any veggies that you can’t take MM? :)
Thank you for your exquisite take on our produce. We were so happy to indulge you (though we thought you were going to wipe out our produce so early in the day!) But it was truly an inspiring moment, seeing how people like you have responded to the products we have grown and brought in from Bukidnon. We have been so excited about the possibilities of growing the specialty vegetables and finally making available grass-fed beef/pork. Most of the vegetables we are now growing were not readily available and so in the past, they had to be imported from Australia or China. We’re so happy to play a part in reducing everyone’s carbon footprint, and having people know where their food comes from. And the beef and pork! Everyday we’re learning more and more about the health benefits of grass-fed meat. We’re too excited about these too. We haven’t been eating (well trying not to) meat and pork for some time now, and then finally we could do so without so much guilt.
And yes, the staples were a big no-no! We didn’t know the lady we had manning the booth was doing that, but she did, and it was clearly our mistake. Thank you for pointing it out, and of course, it will never happen again.
We’re growing Frisee and it should be available soon. The lettuce is seasonal though and so we do not have these on a regular basis. Right now, what we have is Green Frillice, a Batavia type lettuce which looks like a Frisee because of its frilled leaves.
Thank you again for the inspiring post and we hope we won’t let you down. All our best.
Hi, MM! Was very happy that you also like Down to Earth! Have been a happy suki until today. Just a word of advice when you buy from them — buy from their stall and don’t rely on their delivery. Very very disappointed. They asked me to pay in advance for my order + a delivery fee. I happily obliged and we agreed on the date of delivery. On the agreed date, received an sms that there would be a 1 day delay due to a delay in loading. The following day, no word at all from them. When I called, it was then I found out that there was still a delay in the flight. No apologies at all from them. Was very frustrated because I ordered it as a “gift” to my father-in-law. He cancelled all his meetings for the day just to wait for the meat, but no advise at all from them. Sorry for the long rant. Just want to warn you about their unreliable delivery. Products are good, but I will definitely go to another supplier if one was available.
MM…how about growing your own lettuce in containers…would make such a colorful arrangement. I know it is scorching hot there now and therefore lettuce being a spring vegetable and likes cool weather will not thrive there now. But you do have an airconditioned house and your container will most likely thrive indoors this time of the year. I do agree that the mesculin mix is a bit large. I would therefore call it …something blend ….like maybe green blend or red blend.
Swiss Chard!! Wow! I have been trying to grow them for a while to no avail, must be in the seeds…
I always wash my salads 3 times, and in the first wash I add some vinegar to the water….
Nacho, …if I am not mistaken, Swiss Chard is a spring or cool weather vegetable just like pechay and gai lan…planted in the spring. Am not sure when the cool weather starts there maybe Oct. or Nov…you might have luck starting the seeds and direct sowing it. I have tomato seeds that I saved back in 2008 and still viable. Howver, I stored them in the freezer though…it could be your seeds you bought are wayy past their prime or viability. The Neon or Bright lights variety is a stunner. Send me your e-mail address and I could mail some seeds for you but I do not know how many days the Pinoy Pony Express would take. If you cannot use all the seeds, best to store them in the freezer.
The Broccolini shown in the picture seems to be different from the broccolini we have in North America, which is also known as Rapini.. Or is this a totally different plant from the Rapini ?