Health & Home (March - April 2021)

ISSN 0115-0839

GREEN THUMB Sec. William D. Dar: The Youth's Future in Agriculture

CONTENTS

REGULARS

4

MARCH–APRIL 2021

iContact Michelle Anne P. Diamante

6

Plant Wonders

Finance Ellen G. White

Wealth an Entrusted Talent

10

Home Gardening

Saul L. Roylo

Tomato

About the Cover The Seed of the Future. Almost all 110 million Filipinos subsist on little seeds harvested from this lowly grass—rice. The hope of the future, therefore, is not just in the youth but in how they engage in our country’s agriculture (p. 28).

Cover photo by shutterstock/Han-Lin Photos and illustrations in this issue are from shutterstock.com unless credited otherwise.

COLUMNS

5

Here and the Hereafter

Pr. Leonardo C. Heyasa, Jr.

13

On Anxiety

21

Dear Doctor

27

Consult Your Lawyer

31

Food for the Family

33

Standpoint

38

Learner’s Lab

16

Education

20

Modern Homemaking

32

Arts & Crafts

34

People & Places

36

Children's Corner

41

Word for the World

Meriam Q. Arreza

Ask and It Will Be Given

Remedios T. Aguillon

Michael

Dr. Sheryl Ann M. Castillo

Ecclesiastes A. Gasmen

Unclogging Clogs

Dr. Linda L. Varona

Hypertension and Lifestyle

Atty. Silvino L. Sumagaysay, Jr.

Nonregistrability of Forest Land

Dr. Miriam R. Estrada

Blue: It's Your Time to Shine!

Nathanlie M. Baldoza

So Much Ado About Dead Fish

Mary Grace L. De Guzman

How Are Moths Different From Butterflies?

Grace in the Act

Green Thumb Personal Answers

14

Harold Bryan L. Namoca

Toothpick Cactus

John Holbrook

Hot Pursuit

Luz L. Barayuga

Carlos and His Cleanup Brigade

Jecsoon O. Mariñas

Tend Planet Earth

COMING UP. . . In the Pink • Happy, Healthy Menopause• CENOMAR for Annulment? • The Problem with Porn •

Journey to Conception • Tribute to Mom • Women in the Bible • Papaya Lumpia

44

46

Light From the House Healing Wonders of Herbs (Millennium Edition)

Julián Melgosa and Michelson Borges

47

The Power of Hope Series The World Is a Battlefield

47

#AThousandWords Swedy E. Gonzaga

#GreenThumb

Notes From the Frontlines Jennes L. Estuche

No, Yes

FEATURES

8

What's on Your List?

Proven Productivity Tips

Venus A. Sinay

Make the most of your day with a few minutes

18

The Garden of the Child's Heart

Anonymous

Tending the most important of all

28

Agriculture Is the Future

Leonardo C. Heyasa, Jr. and Janet R. Tolete

One-on-one with the Agriculture czar

22

Kind Acts Parents Can Do for Their Children

Karen Holford

It may just be the best home decor

40

Winning by Wasting Nothing

Royce Bellaire G. de Luna

Zero-waste living

24

Don Bustamante’s Rooftop Gardening: Sowing for Good Health and Happy Families

Janet R. Tolete

The gardener that bears fruit

42

The Unseen Threat of Indoor Pollution Michelle Anne P. Diamante

Stay at home, stay healthy? Maybe.

Home Gardening

By Saul L. Roylo

Tomato F

or its variety as a culinary ingredient, tomato is an essential plant. Demand for it is all year round. Fresh tomatoes can be served raw, baked, stewed, sautéed, or processed into catsup, sauce, paste, or puree.

Rich in vitamins and minerals, tomato is also known for its nutritional benefits. Most interesting of these is lycopene, a plant chemical that improves heart health and fights cancer.

Seed varieties There are two general classifications for tomato varieties: determinate and indeterminate.

Determinate varieties need staking to help hold up the tomato plant, so there should be enough spacing between plants (12–24 inches apart). This kind of variety has a limited life span of usually 4–5 months only, good for one harvest season. Determinate tomatoes grow better in containers, but they produce a limited harvest.

Indeterminate varieties can grow continuously, producing tomatoes for several growing seasons. These are usually bigger and not ideal for container gardening. They tend to spread out on the ground or climb

Health & Home ︱ 10 ︱March–April 2021

a trellis if there is one. Allow 24–36 inches spacing between indeterminate tomato plants.

Planting Tomato requires a relatively dry and cool climate. It produces good yield in fertile and welldrained soil rich in organic matter, particularly in sandy loam and clay loam soils.

During the wet season, choose a slightly elevated area with good drainage to avoid water congestion. For dry season planting, make a catchment canal to drain excess water after irrigation.

There are two methods of raising seedlings: the seedbed method and the use of seedling trays or potlets.

Education

l e a ch i M M

By Remedios T. Aguillon

ichael was a bully. He tormented his schoolmates almost every day and picked fights with students whom he thought threatened him. He even cheated at exams.

When his teachers reprimanded him, he raised a ruckus in the classroom, screaming and kicking chairs and tables.

At such times, he was taken to my office, cursing and howling with all his might.

His teachers got fed up talking sense to him and wanted to drop him from the roll. But he was only in first year, too young to be out of school, so I asked them to be more patient with him.

Michael moved up to second year, not because he deserved to get promoted but because his teachers wanted to get rid of him.

Michael’s being brought to my office became more frequent. And though he was suspended, he would often show up in class anyway, with a temper more menacing, more violent than ever.

A brilliant plan

Health & Home ︱ 16 ︱March–April 2021

models not subjects of article; photos/Harold Bryan L. Namoca

One day Miss Lorilla, the Math teacher, had a brilliant plan, which we immediately implemented. We told Michael’s father to bring his son to the doctor for medical checkup, that he was too sick to finish the year, and that he needed a long rest.

Michael’s father said it must be true since his son was epileptic. He might really need a rest. So, he brought his son home. For three consecutive days there was peace in school. What rejoicing we had! But it was short-lived.

Early the following Monday, Michael’s father came to school—with his son in complete uniform!

L

books to make themselves a name, or perhaps money.

“So there’s nothing to be done about it except to wait for the garden to make itself. Anyway, we think our garden will be just as good as the neighbors’ gardens if we don’t do anything about it.”

Do you know what kind of garden that man and woman will get?

Oh, there may be some good plants that by chance spring up here and there, where a bird has dropped a seed, perhaps, or even where the man and the woman themselves have planted something.

There may be here a bean plant, and there a tomato vine, and over yonder a stalk of corn with two or three ears upon it.

But for the most part that garden will consist of makahiya, amorseko, talahib, cogon, and every evil weed.

Health & Home ︱ 18 ︱March–April 2021

models not subjects of article

isten to a modern parable.

A certain man and woman had a garden plot on which they might raise a beautiful and bountiful crop. When the sowing time came, this man and this woman came out upon their back porch and surveyed the debris that was last year’s garden. They sat down, folded their arms, and said: “Oh, we do hope we shall have a good garden this year. We want some radishes, and some lettuce, and some peas and beans and corn and tomatoes and okra and cabbages. We hope that this garden will bring them forth abundantly.

“But as for us doing anything to bring this about—not we! We’re too busy. We have to make a living, and in our leisure time we have to have some recreation and some fun. It takes work and it takes sweat to make a garden. You get your hands dirty, and it is toilsome work.

“Besides, we don’t know much about making gardens, and we don’t believe anyone else knows much either. Some people will come around and tell you how delightful it is to make a garden, especially those who never did make one; but they don’t really know anything about it.

Some have written

Don Bustamante’s Rooftop Gardening Sowing for Good Health and Happy Families

By JANET R. TOLETE

F

rom a full-time professional photographer working for a university in Manila, Donnie “Don” Bustamante is now a full-time gardening mentor, advocate, and vlogger.

With more than 200,000 subscribers on Youtube and some videos being watched over a million times, Don Bustamante’s Rooftop Gardening channel has created quite a following among Filipinos interested in home gardening.

Prior to the pandemic, however, Don has been actively traveling to

various localities in the country to conduct gardening lectures to communities, families of cancer patients, children in nursery and kindergarten, and just about anyone who wanted to listen to him talk about simple and organic ways of growing food.

What caused the major shift of priorities, passion, and profession? Kuya Don shares with Health & Home his journey into becoming a hardcore plantito (slang, “an adult male who is into plants”).

I don’t believe in “green thumb” if it means being good at gardening. We are all capable of growing and nurturing good plants if we can give them what they need.

Different plants require different kinds of care. They have different light and water requirements. For example, pechay and tomato have different needs, and we should study them.

When the results are not great, it only means that we have done or are doing something wrong, and not because our hands are warm or cold.

“Green thumb” originally focused on diligence rather than skill. King Edward I of England awarded gardeners in his green pea plantation who had the greenest thumbs because they spent a lot of time splitting peas.

photos/Don Bustamante

Health & Home ︱ 24 ︱March–April 2021

Your plants look very healthy. Can you say that you have a “green thumb”?

Agriculture Is the

FUTURE AN INTERVIEW WITH SEC. WILLIAM D. DAR

By LEONARDO C. HEYASA, JR. and JANET R. TOLETE

C

urrently at the helm of the government agency tasked to modernize and improve Philippine agriculture so the country could produce sufficient food for all 110 million Filipinos is Dr. William Dollente Dar, a multi-awarded horticulturist and civil servant.

President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Dr. William Dar, then 66, as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA) last August 5, 2019.1 When the Commission on Appointments confirmed him months later, senators agreed that he was just what the DA needed.2

Rich experience Sec. Dar draws upon decades of experience in agricultural research here and abroad. He was Director General of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India for 15 years and is the only Filipino to have led a global agricultural research institute.3 Being in-charge of probably one of the biggest agencies with several bureaus, attached agencies, attached corporations, and regional offices, the Honorable Secretary has the formidable job of “providing the policy framework, public investments, and support services” for agricultural enterprises to thrive.4 What is more interesting, however, is his peoplecentered vision for the DA during his term: “a food-secure Philippines with prosperous farmers and fishers.” The DA battle cry in Filipino is something even ordinary people can relate with: “Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita!”

The son of a poor family in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, young “Willie” was exposed early to a life of farming.

“I know the ABCs of planting rice, planting vegetables, planting tobacco, planting sugarcane. I know all of those and can Health & Home ︱ 28 ︱March–April 2021

photo/Harold Bryan L. Namoca

Farmer roots

Learner's Lab

By Mary Grace L. De Guzman

How Are

MOTHS Different From

Butterflies?

D

ainty and graceful, butterflies and moths are fun to watch.

Both are insects from the order Lepidoptera. Both have big, shiny wings. Both start from eggs, become caterpillars, cover themselves as pupa, and finally transform into an adult.1 So how can we tell which is which?

More similarities It’s not always easy to distinguish between a butterfly and a moth. Some butterflies look like moths, and some moths look like butterflies.

Most butterflies are more colorful than moths, but some moths also have vibrant wings. There are also a few butterflies that have dull colors.

But most of the time, you can tell the difference by their antennae, wings, covering during the pupal stage, and the time of the day.2

Main differences Butterflies have long, slender antennae that are rounded or hooked at the tips. Moths have antennae that look like a comb or a feather.

When butterflies rest, their wings stand up together like the pages of a book. On the other hand, moths spread their wings wide and flat or fold them like a paper fan when they rest.

The covering of a butterfly pupa (chrysalis) is solid and hard. The home of a moth during metamorphosis (cocoon) is made up of silk strands.

Lastly, most butterflies are diurnal (active during the day), while moths are usually nocturnal (active at night). Butterflies pollinate flowers that bloom in daytime. Moths pollinate flowers that open at night.

Night life Many moths have earth tone colors that allow them to adapt to and mimic their surroundings to protect themselves from other animals.3 Caterpillar moths have simple eyes (oceli) to distinguish dark from light. As they get older, moths develop compound eyes that allow them to see things even in very low light.4 To find their way in the dark, moths use light from the moon and stars. When the sky is really dark, moths rely on the earth’s magnetic field.5 Health & Home ︱ 38 ︱March–April 2021

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