Construction Update - First week of February 2022

 Here's a photo update of the construction work at the Orchard as of February 5, 2022.

 

OUTDOOR KITCHEN. Roof installation is finished and plastering work is done, ready for painting. The grilling counter at right will be painted in terracotta color to simulate the color of clay bricks. Partly hidden at the left side is the laundry counter. There will be a long dining table in place of the temporary table in the open area, and a new bahay kubo will be installed under the mango tree in front of the outdoor kitchen.

POCKET GARDEN. We planted blue grass at the pocket garden in front of the porch last week. This was done early so the grass will be green and grown by the time the main stairs will be finished. A walkway with stepping stones made of cast-in-place concrete will connect the landing of the main stairs to the gravel driveway. The stepping stones will be locked in place by the surrounding garden soil and blue grass. The outdoor kitchen is visible at left, while the 3-car garage/storehouse is seen at right in the distance.

FUTURE GARDEN. Past the main gate, to its left, will be the future ornamental plants garden. A 7-meter wide gravel driveway will run from the main gate to the front of the farmhouse, also giving access to the rear portion of the orchard. The tent frame by the side of the farmhouse temporarily supports several solar lights. This will be removed later to make way for more gravel-lined parking area.

 

 

 

GARAGE AND STOREHOUSE. Turning right after the main gate is another gravel driveway that leads to the three-car garage and storehouse. A bahay kubo that serves as a construction office sits beside the garage, in the shade of a line of mahogany trees. A toilet and bathroom, a power room and two store rooms (that can be used as temporary bedrooms) are housed in the garage building.

BACK OF THE FARMHOUSE. Clearing of construction debris at the back of the farmhouse is nearly finished. The ground surface in this area will be scraped later to channel rainwater runoff towards the right, away from the farmhouse. Guava, cacao, atis and Bangkok santol trees populate this part of the orchard. The catchment basins along the perimeter slab will gather rainwater from the roof and direct this to the main collection pipe of the rainwater harvesting system. To the right of the water tower, not visible in this photo, is the deep well. The rain water harvesting system has the flexibility to store rainwater in the deep well which has a capacity of over 12,000 liters.

DRIVEWAY BETWEEN STRUCTURES. A 3-meter wide driveway, soon to be lined with gravel, separates the outdoor kitchen from the farmhouse. Below the back stairs landing is a small storage space for LPG tanks and garden tools. Cooking gas will be fed from this storage space to the main kitchen of the farmhouse through a long flexible hose that snakes through a 1-inch PVC pipe embedded in the concrete, no need to carry the heavy LPG tank up the kitchen stairs.

GENTLY ROLLING TERRAIN. Beyond the farmhouse and the outdoor kitchen is the gently rolling terrain of the Orchard. Mango, mabolo, chico, atis, guava, star apple, duhat, langka, sineguelas, gmelina, mahogany, acacia, narra, buri palm and various trees abound in this large portion of the property. Distance from the outdoor kitchen to the rear boundary of the property is in excess of 150 meters, and the average width of the orchard in this section is about 70 meters.