FARMERS, especially those who plant rice, welcome the ten-day rain without letup. Plants grow tremendously with daily rainwater that carries some trace elements that plants need. Water also tends to gather into low farms and form shallow ponds for in-land fish varieties and some snails. This is the type of rain that benefits us.
This is the kind of rain that truly ushered in the wet season.
Except for flooding residential and built-up areas, the recent floods in low-lying areas causing misery to residents, farmers and gardeners usually rejoice in the rainy days.
We were preparing to shred weeds before the typhoon came. Piles of twigs and leaves have arrived from the local general services crewmen who trimmed park trees of branches. A mechanical problem stopped us from shredding and the rains did not allow us to operate the shredder in the open field.
After 12 days, the sun barely showed up. The leaves for shredding have started to rot and in no time these will turn into invaluable compost. No need to shred. Nature has done us a big favor.
Composting both green and dry leaves will give our sandy soil additional dissolved organic matter that plants need. I did not realize it could be fun during the rainy season until now.
All we have to do now is gather the rotting leaves in small shallow pits around the planting sites. Covered with sand and a little clay and rice hull or coco dust, these pits can host a number of seeds in a few weeks. We used to bury kitchen wastes, and dig them after four to six weeks. Composted materials were then carried to the planting sites for use . Now we just dig several shallow pits right where we want to plant vegetables or fruit trees. It saves us a lot of garden labor.
We used to sprinkle water daily over the composting pits. The 10-day rains saved us a lot of effort carrying pails of water. Nature works to our advantage. Some pray for the rains to stop. We pray with them,for the rains to just come daily and in moderation. Everyone needs the sunshine too.
The shredder? It can wait until the weather permits. In the meantime, we will always enjoy working on the piling composts that the rains have helped process and prepare.
Enjoy the rains, keep dry and warm, everyone!
