I took a two-week vacation back home to the Philippines in June with one goal in mind: to be there for Papa’s cataract surgery. Thankfully, the surgery went well, and my father recovered faster than we anticipated. During my stay, I took the opportunity to check on a 1,600 sq meter piece of land Lovsy and I bought back in 2018.
Originally a rice field, the land had been converted into residential property. COVID-19 derailed all the plans to develop the land. only last year when we decided to start developing the land. We had it filled with soil and enclosed with a concrete fence by the summer of last year, but it had remained unused for about a year. To my surprise, when I visited, the land had been taken over by Aratilis trees, wild grasses, and bushy plants, making it look like a mini forest!
I realized the land wasn’t being used to its full potential, so I decided it was time to do something about it. The first order of business? A clear-up. As much as I was awed by the height of the Aratilis trees, I couldn’t imagine these trees had grown up by themselves. It was as if they were planted by intention after all, they provided a pretty good shade but many people expressed their opinion they had been scattered only by birds, and that they weren’t the ideal tree for the land. Through the help of friends, we found people who could clear the land.
I gave the good-hearted neighbors a week to make progress, and when I visited again after a couple of days, the transformation was incredible. The land was fully cleared, and I could finally see just how vast the space was. That’s when I decided to maximize the land by turning it into a mini calamansi orchard. I have informed Lovsy about my plan which she has fully supported.
After a quick planning, I dedicated one-third of the land to this calamansi orchard project. The idea was to convert the land with six plant beds with 9 calamansi seedlings each plant bed- for a total of 54 calamansi seedlings. Luckily, the neighbors who helped clear the land graciously volunteered to be the keepers of the orchard. With their help, we ordered two truckloads of garden soil and started distributing the garden soil. We also the services of our local tubero and checked the water source, and installed a poso.
I flew back to Doha by the end of June with the feeling that I shouldn’t stop with what I started. By July 5th, the first batch of calamansi seedlings arrived. After preparing the plant beds, we officially planted the first batch. A week later, we added more garden soil to complete the plant bed for the second batch. By mid-July, the second batch was successfully planted.
As I look back at this journey, it feels amazing to see how far we’ve come. It is still a long way to go but still happy to see that what once was an overgrown, unused plot of land has now become a flourishing mini calamansi orchard. This transformation isn’t just about the land—it’s about realizing the potential of what you have and making the most of it. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our little orchard.
