Comments on: It’s just been one of THOSE days…

By: cebuana101

cebuana101 — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 01:52:50 +0000

:( one tree down…well, time to grow another one market man!!! btw, me and a couple of friends had a wonderful time at Zubuchon Mango, we all pledged to bring our other friends their. as expected, the lechon is excellent, we all loved the dinuguan and the kamias shake.:)

By: Connie C

Connie C — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:02:07 +0000

Greetings from Maputo, Mozambique on a two day rest after a 3 day safari at the Kruger National Park, ZA before we fly back to Jo burg and Capetown.

Sorry about the falling of your kapok tree. We have had two occasions in our property in Maryland where several old growth trees , trunks as large or larger than the embrace of two long armed men were felled by storms. It really makes me sad as these trees can no longer be replaced in my lifetime.

At the Kruger National Park, countless trees are constantly being felled, twisted and broken, stripped of their barks by the 17,000 elephants who roam in this 2 million hectare reserve that is their home. It is a big conservation management problem as one just can t kill elephants. Good thing an elephant only produces 4 in its lifetime. I also wondered about their termite problem as there are termite mounds everywhere, but then they have lots of broken and felled trees to feed on, one of nature s wonderful ways of managing its waste.

By: weng

weng — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:37:22 +0000

Marketman, I know this is off-topic but I just saw this article and thought it might cheer you up a bit. Your website got a mention on Saveur.com as one of the must-read sites in the international food blogging community. Here’s the link:

https://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/SAVEURs-Favorite-Global-Food-Blogs?cmpid=fb

By: susie b

susie b — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:02:52 +0000

It was nice to run into you yesterday….it took me 10 hours from the moment I got to the airport in Manila to the time I got home to Bauhinia Drive. I had to feel for the PAL volunteers manning the check-in counters…incredibly thankless job to have to face a totally p.o.’ed public! Thank goodness for the stash of books sister dear insisted I bring home with me!

By: quiapo

quiapo — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:45:10 +0000

Termites are a big problem in Australia, particularly as the most effective chemical treatments are now banned. You need to find the main source and destroy it as your whole premises are in danger. In a previous residence I found the top 2 shelves of one of the book cases had been completely hollowed out, leaving the spines intact, as well as one leg of a camphor chest. We could not find the main nest, it was probably on another property. I moved house.

By: Mart

Mart — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:04:45 +0000

So sad to hear about the kapok. Good to hear it’ll be helping as kindling for the lechons and chicharons. Kinda reminds me of the giving tree. Or the Lion King’s circle of life. But with delicious lechon!

By: Gej

Gej — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 05:23:40 +0000

Joel, that’s really the sad plight of most of our farmers. Those who extend credit in the form of funds or seeds to these farmers are able to get produce from them at ridiculously low prices – in effect they extend their credit at usurious rates. Yet if the crops are destroyed by storms,the debt of the farmer remains, creating a downward credit spiral. Small Filipino farmers practically take on all risk in agriculture – weather, gluts, credit, increasing costs of inputs even as they get a continually decreasing share of the final price of farm goods, etc.

In the Philippines you have the farmer at the center of agriculture, taking on a small share of agriculture revenues, but the bulk of the sweat. Then you have all these other entities around him – traders, chemical companies, retailers, processors, consolidators, supermarkets etc who are the ones who earn. And yet without the initial back-breaking work of the farmer, nothing happens.

That is why it is possible to see a situation here where, for example, the coconut industry is said to be one of the most promising areas in Philippine agriculture, but where coconut farmers are the poorest in the country.

By: Joel

Joel — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 02:40:36 +0000

This is the second sad story I read today. First one involved the farmers in Pampanga whose lives were made miserable by Pedring. Some of them were weeping while trying to harvest what’s left of their palay flattened by the strong winds. They wept not just because they won’t be earning anything for this period but also because the loans they used to plant came from pawning their land.

By: Betchay

Betchay — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 00:57:14 +0000

Where ever there’s wood— termites are not far behind! They are the silent destroyer of our homes. One part of a friend’s home wall was totally eaten by termites with them clueless until one of them accidentally pressed on the wall and it totally gave way! A long time ago,in the old house we grew in, the big mango tree beside our house just suddenly fell down hitting our roof—-culprit: termites!
Presently we’re living in an area infested by termites too. On our 2nd year, we were horrified to discover termites eating their way in at the kitchen pantry and helper’s quarters.We had it treated with the usual anti termite chemicals but I was told for it to be effective there should be at least a schedule of 6months apart treatment. Fearful of the bad effects of chemicals to our health, I frantically searched online for a safer method and that’s where I discovered Sentricon. Yeah it is a bit expensive but it does the job. We’re at peace knowing that our house and the precious books my hubby collects are safe. I am in no way connected with the company but I just wanted to share what works for us.
On a side note, did you know that garden termites(bigger ones) most often just stays in the garden while the house termites( small white ones) are the ones that eat their way into our homes? Gladly welcome ants in your homes as apparently they deter termites—-they are enemies! :)

By: Topster

Topster — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:25:16 +0000

Hi MM, glad you’re back home. Sayang, too bad for the old kapok tree. It has been a prominent fixture and we’ve seen it as background in the various activities shared in this blog. Anyway, as you said one has to look at the bright side of things. :)