A whole Saturday at the Orchard

We decided to spend the whole Saturday (August 29th) at Maambal Orchard to take deliveries of concrete hollow blocks, the basic building material for the structures we will soon put up. Our simple lunch was pork-chicken adobo, with rice and hard-boiled eggs wrapped in banana leaves, eaten kamayan style.

We brought with us our two mixed-breed Shih Tzus - Magnus and Vanta - so they can start to be familiarized with things at the orchard. The two puppies were delirious with excitement when they saw the ducks and chickens at the place.

Note - please click the photos to enlarge.

Magnus (left) and Vanta (right) enjoy their portable pen which was set up in a grassy area under the shade of a mango tree.

In this visit, I brought with me my Sony RX10 IV, plus a tripod and ball head, so I can capture photos that are a bit better than my earlier ones taken with a phone camera. Too bad, the skies were overcast, resulting into flat colors. Also, there was a strong breeze blowing, and that scared me enough not to fly the Mavic 2 Pro drone. Oh well, there will be a lot of photo opportunities in the coming days, when the sun is shining through clearer skies.

It is not fruiting season for most of the trees, but here are a few ones that managed to yield some.

 

The most numerous fruit trees in the orchard are guavas.

More guavas.

A very young jackfruit.

Pomelo.

Papayas up close.

A couple of papayas laden with fruits.

Atis (sugar apple).

A sprawling acacia tree dominates the rear portion of the orchard.

Betel nuts, coconuts, atis, mangoes, Bankok santol, guavas, mabolo trees, chico and other plants populate the central portion of the orchard.

This bahay kubo beside the soon-to-be ornamental plant garden provided us some protection when intermittent rains arrived.

 

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With a wide area of lush grassland available just for itself, a pregnant nanny goat takes a rest after eating its fill.

 

Maambal Orchard - a brief description

The property is located at Brgy. Maambal, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan. It is about about 7.5 km  from the town proper of Pozorrubio, and roughly 10.5 km from the TPLEX exit in the same town. Maambal is Pozorrubio's westernmost barangay, bordering the town of San Jacinto, whose town proper is just a little over 5 km away. 

The paved (but damaged in some portions) Pozorrubio - San Jacinto Road is at least 6 m wide and can accommodate the largest street-legal vehicles. From this main road, a 5-m wide unpaved barangay road provides access to the orchard, which is about 350 meters away.

The property has a frontage of over 120 meters to an 8-meter wide barangay road lot ( with a 5 m wide carriageway)

With an area of 16,000 plus square meters, all fully covered with trees or green grass, Maambal Orchard is an impressive eye candy when viewed from the air. Dotting the undulating terrain, the well-planned, orderly rows of fruit trees contrast with the randomly located mango and acacia trees. Some photogenic buri palm trees serve as icing to the landscape cake.

 

Fruits of one of the many atis trees (sugar apple) found in the orchard are almost ready to be picked.

 

A close look at a couple of fire ants loitering around the nearly ripe atis fruit.

 

A panoramic view of the middle of the orchard, with the camera pointed eastward (click image to enlarge).

 

The long CHB wall in front is plastered on both sides, topped with a 1.2 meter high cyclone wire, then capped with spiralling razor wire. Vertical bamboo slats attached to the cyclone wire provide privacy from onlookers. This type of fence system was built along the two longest sides of the property (east and south borders). For the rest of the boundaries, a 1.8 meter high barbed wire fence topped with razor wire in strategic places was used. 

 

The 6-meter wide main gate is made of steel plate on GI pipe framing, supported by tension cables on two massive columns.

 

 

A herd of young goats feast on spots of over-grown grass before these are cut clean to the ground.

 

 

Another aerial view - the camera was above the property's western boundary and pointed eastward.

A first look at this amazing property

Thanks to the dedication and tireless effort of Mr. Henry P. over the last decade, this slice of land in the heart of Pangasinan has blossomed into an amazing orchard. Over 20 species of fruit-bearing and other trees are thriving in the rolling terrain of the farm. Between the trees, a carpet of well-trimmed carabao grass blankets the property.

An aerial view of the orchard photographed on August 15, 2020

 Initial list of trees/plants found in the orchard:

1. Mango (carabao variety)

2. Dwarf Coconut

3. Bangkok Santol (cotton fruit)

4. Bangkok Tamarind

5. Native Tamarind

6. Mabolo/Kamagong (velvet apple)

7. Atis (sugar apple)

8. Cacao

9. Davao Pomelo

10. Dragon Fruit

11. Acacia

12. Buri Palm

13. Betel palm

14. Mahogany

15. Sineguelas (spanish plum)

16. Banaba

17. Native Guava

18. Gmelina

19. Guayabano (soursop)

20. Alatires or Mansanita (Singapore cherry)

21. Bamboo

22. Chico (sapodilla)

23. Papaya

24. Chesa (canistel)

25. Langka (jackfruit)

26. Duhat (Java plum)

 

Hundreds of  9-year old mahogany trees are lined up along one side of the property, serving as windbreakers that protect the other trees nearby.

 

The farm sits on a hill that is about 40 meters above the ricefields of Pozorrubio. It is roughly half a kilometer away from the nearest main road, and the only sounds one can hear in the area are the soft whistling of the wind caressing the leaves of the numerous trees, the chirping of insects, and the call of many bird species. No motor vehicle roar, no human voices, no machinery noise.... just pure, unadulterated sounds of nature.

Long lines of dragon fruit plants are found in the middle of the farm.

 

The 1.6 hectare orchard as seen from the air, with its boundaries superimposed.

 

For a nature photographer like me, the orchard is a piece of heaven on earth. On my first visit to the place, I saw a pied fantail, a white-throated kingfisher, numerous white-breasted woodswallows, some blue-tailed bee-eaters, a quail species, a common emerald dove, and many zebra doves. And I was not even there to watch the birds! My birding gear was not with me, so all I could do was ogle at the avian creatures with my naked, color-blind eyes.

 

A bahay kubo was built in the central area of the orchard, inviting guests to come in, take a seat and enjoy the cool breeze.