What came first the rice, or the rice straw

Growing Our Soil

At the Philippine Organic Garden Project we like to think our garden is a response to the world around us. From the soil up we base our decisons on our climate, our geography and our community. 

For most of the year we experience scorching sun, broken into steamy intervals by the pouring rain. For the rest of the year its scorching sun, broken only by the arrival of night. Hot wet and hot dry, this is the tropics. 

Under our feet is the heaviest clay soil, sculpting a landscape of rice terraces throughout our floodplain geography. We see our earth crack in the sun and melt in the rain. As a people we consume an average of 129kg of rice per person per year.  That’s breakfast, lunch and dinner. This climate, this landscape, this culture, begs to grow rice. Rice undoubtedly was going to mark our garden. As we mentioned, our garden is a response to our world.

During rice harvest the floodplain landscape is dotted with hills of rice straw. Perceived to be a waste product, the rice straw is often burnt to the ground, and the conversion of this valuable nutrient resource into a suffocating cloud of smoke is a common sight. So, the race on...with keen eyes and fast hands, and as every contributor to the Philippine Organic Garden Project knows, we must get that straw before it is left to smolder. Like the rice feeds us, the straw will feed our soil.

Layering rice hull, rice straw, rice ash, grasses and manure we intend to create our own soil on the surface of what is there at present. Over time these materials will decompose forming a rich layer of biologically active compost in which we will plant our first season crops. As roots penetrate through the layers we will see the old mix together with the new, slowly repairing the structure and therefore the life of the soil.

With 600m^2 of no dig garden beds created with our very own rice waste recipe, our site will actively demonstrate the use and the importance of rice straw as a mulch and highlight the importance of soil conservation.

We hope the principals of recycling and the use of local materials advertised within our garden will be adopted more widely within our own community. 

We hope to see the continued progression of farmers feeding their soil as well as their community, because as the saying goes, “it’s only a snack without rice”.