The Orchard One Year After

    The Orchard was turned over to us on August 24, 2020 (a little over a year ago) pretty much already developed - numerous mango and other trees abound, the property is fenced all around and a caretaker is already in place. Two old bahay kubos are also found in strategic portions of the Orchard.

    What the Orchard lacks then (for our intended use) are a stable water supply system, a garage, an all-weather driveway, and of course, a farmhouse where we can stay in. Building these new facilities is taking more time than anticipated because of the current pandemic - supply of construction materials is erratic, and the movement of construction personnel (including us) is restricted.

    Despite the challenges, we managed to accomplish a few critical tasks and finish several facilities in one year of slow-paced development. 

 

THE ORCHARD BEFORE TURN-OVER. The aerial photo above was taken on August 15, 2020, or 9 days before turn-over. Ground elevation at the front gate (right) is around 60 meters ASL, and at the rear portion of the property, 50 meters ASL. This represents an elevation change of 10 meters over a 205 meter distance, with an average slope of less than 3 degrees. In our opinion, flat land is not ideal as far as orchards are concerned, as it is tough to manage water flow with the aid of gravity. This property's gently sloping terrain is perfect for easy water flow management.

 

 

 

    The small building near the gate is a storehouse that also served as a caretaker's quarters. No all-weather driveway was built inside the property. Electricity is already available, albeit the drop wire is smallish and needs to be upgraded later. 

    Water is supplied by a shallow well that goes dry during summer, as well as by a local water utility (water flows one or two days a week and even then the pressure is too low because of the higher elevation of the area).

     To start the development process, we needed to demolish the old storehouse and clear areas for the garage and the farmhouse. But first, we had to build a new caretaker's quarters. Also, we had to dig a new deep well and build an elevated water tank high enough to supply water throughout the Orchard with decent pressure.

 

ONE YEAR LATER. This photo was taken on August 26, 2021, about a year after turn-over. Five  major structures are visible - the caretaker's quarters (upper right corner), the three-car garage with storage rooms (long rectangular building with a terracotta roof by the road), the farmhouse (under construction, to the left of the garage), the elevated water tank (by the farmhouse) and the gravel covered driveway from the gate to the garage.

 

 

 

    The Orchard development plan consists of a 20-point program:

    1. Build a new caretaker's quarters so the old storage house can be demolished. (Done!)

    2. Dig a new deep well and an elevated water tank for a more reliable water supply. (Done!)

TALLEST STRUCTURE AT THE ORCHARD. The elevated water tank, its top reaching almost 10 meters above the ground, is the tallest man-made structure in the Orchard. It draws water from a 10-meter deep well to its right (with bright square housing). With the camera facing westward in this photo, the rear portion of the Orchard is also visible.

 
 

    3. Build a new toilet for the construction crew. (Done!)

    4. Demolish the old storage house (and the chicken coop to the left of it) to make room for the farmhouse. (Done!)

    5. Build a gravel-lined driveway to protect the soil from rainwater erosion and tire damage from delivery vehicles. We purposely didn't use concrete because of this material's high cost, unappealing aesthetics that don't suit an orchard environment well, and less flexibility for re-purposing the driveway area. (Done!)

    6. Build the three-car garage. (Done!)

THREE-CAR GARAGE. With two storage rooms (that can be used as guest rooms) and a toilet/bathroom, this will also house the genset room. Meantime, it serves as a storage area for delicate materials that will be used in the construction of the farmhouse.

 

    7. Build a three-bedroom farmhouse. (Construction ongoing, about half-way done.)

U-SHAPED FARMHOUSE. Made mostly of concrete and steel, the farmhouse incorporates a guest room, kitchen, dining/living areas, a common toilet and bath, a long porch, and two master's bedrooms (legs of the U-shape), each with a balcony facing the garden. The area between the two MBRs will be  a Bermuda grass patch through which the walkway to the front stairs and porch will pass.

A 4k footage of the farmhouse filmed on August 26, 2021:

 

    8. Build a second kitchen complete with laundry and grilling facilities  to the left of the farmhouse. (Programmed.)

    9. Add a new bahay kubo beside the second kitchen. (Programmed.)

    10. Build a dog house and play pen for our four pets. (Programmed.)

    11. Install solar lighting around the perimeter. (Programmed.)

    12. Develop the main garden at the lower right corner of the Orchard. (Programmed.)

    13. Build a mini-fountain at the side of the farmhouse adjoining the gravel driveway.  (Programmed.)

    14. Construct a storage building with a small garage for the mini excavator. This also will house a workshop for DIY projects involving concrete, wood and metal. Likewise, it will store the farm tools/supplies, DIY equipment, and other voluminous items not suited in the garage's store rooms. (Programmed.)

    15. Plant more fruit trees and ornamental plants. (Ongoing.)

    16. Install a CCTV system.  (Programmed.)

    17. Install a fiber internet access. (Programmed.)

    18. Install a genset for backup power. (Programmed.)

    19. Reinforce the barbed wire fence in some portions of the perimeter with cyclone wire. This will prevent stray animals from entering the Orchard, as well as keep our four dogs safe within the property. (Programmed.)

    20. And last but not the least, build a solar power system that can supply most of the Orchard's energy needs during daytime, and provide back up power using a high-capacity battery bank when the grid goes off. (Dreamed of!)

     

EASTWARD VIEW FROM THE ORCHARD'S CENTER. The distant Caraballo Mountains provide a photogenic background to the farmhouse. To the farmhouse's left is the water tower and the garage (partly visible). Beyond the farmhouse is the gray-colored main gate. Leading to the lower right  corner is a row of Bangkok Santol trees.

 

    Should things go according to plan, we look forward to spending this coming Christmas at the farmhouse. For the rest of the development program, assuming the world as we know it will survive the current pandemic, we aim at completing these by the end of next year.

The Orchard in Golden Light

It is not very often in rainy August that the golden light of the sun shines through the clouds in the late afternoon. 

While we continue to assemble the roof framing system of the farmhouse, I took some time off the construction work to send the Mavic 2 Pro in the air. 

The Orchard and its surrounding farms, now green with young rice plants, are quite photogenic during this time of the year, especially if the skies are just very slightly overcast. The thin clouds filter some of the harshness off the late afternoon sunlight. 

Music - "Hurts So Good Blues" by Unicorn Heads.

 

 

The roof framing of the farmhouse nears completion

In this 4K footage filmed on August 24, 2021, the roof framing system of the farmhouse at Maambal Orchard nears completion. 

The truss-rafter combination is built up from 2" x 6" x 1.5 mm thick galvanized steel tubes, with 2" x 4" x 1.2 mm thick tubes as minor members. Three coats of epoxy primer were applied before assembly to protect the framing system from corrosion. The galvanized steel C-purlins are 2" x 3" x 1.2 mm thick, spaced at 0.60 meters on center. Rib-type pre-painted GI sheets at 0.60 mm thick will be used as roof covering.

 

Maambal Orchard One Year After

One year after turn-over of the Orchard, much work is yet to be done. We have built the garage and the caretaker's quarters, secured the water supply through a deep well, but the farmhouse is still halfway to completion.

 

 

Pug let loose at the Orchard

Six month old Burrito (a male pug) normally spends most of his time inside an enclosure at his hooman's home. 

When let loose in a mango orchard, he goes crazy and runs around like there's no tomorrow.

 

 

Farmhouse is now fully walled

In this July 8, 2021 update on the progress of building the farmhouse at Maambal Orchard, we dug the foundation of the landing outside the kitchen door using T-Rex, our 1-tonner mini-excavator. We also started scraping earth in front of the house to control the water runoff along the sloping terrain. 

A hearty lunch of pork adobo, hard-boiled egg and rice wrapped in banana leaves somehow made the job easier.

 

 

Giant Catimon Mango at Maambal Orchard

There are two Giant Catimon mango trees at the Orchard, and both bore a lot of fruits this season. The fruit of this mango variety is very large, about three times the size of manggang kalabaw. We particularly like its sweetish taste when it's just about to ripen (manibalang). When fully ripe, it still tastes good, but if forced to choose only one, we'd still opt for the ripe manggang kalabaw.

This season, we saw for the first time the fruits of each individual mango tree in the Orchard, allowing us to ascertain which variety each tree belongs to.

Among the over two dozen mango trees in the Orchard, we counted six different varieties. The vast majority are manggang kalabaw, our preferred variety because of its unbelievable sweetness when ripe, and various stages of sourness when unripe. The rest are two types of piko (not good tasting when ripe), manggang supsupin, Giant Catimon and Indian mangoes.

An unpicked Giant Catimon mango fruit - with no familiarly sized object in the photo, the huge dimensions are not readily discernable.

The huge size of the fruit becomes apparent when we include a ruler in the photograph - the total length is over 7 inches!

This particular fruit tips the scales at 969 grams, and this is not yet the largest one we have harvested. Some of the even larger ones easily exceed 1 kg. 

This last photo shows the relative size of the Giant Catimon and a large specimen (for its variety) of manggang kalabaw from Zambales. It usually takes three pieces of manggang kalabaw to make 1 kg. We traditionally name something after kalabaw (carabao, or Philippine water buffalo) because of that thing's large size. But if manggang kalabaw is dwarfed by the Giant Catimon, which animal would fit the latter - manggang elepante? Or manggang balyena?

New Bahay Kubo at the Orchard

We have cleared the triangular area between the garage and the gate of construction materials and scrap items, then overlaid it with some gravel. This area is shaded by a row of mahogany trees and grass wont grow well in such a condition. The gravel overlay will protect the soil from erosion and keep the patch a nice place to walk on (mud-free) during the rainy season. 

A new bahay kubo was placed in the centroid of the triangular area to serve as our field office as we supervise the construction of the farmhouse.

 

 

Burrito The Pug visits Maambal Orchard

Burrito, our male pug puppy, recently visited the Orchard. He is about 14 weeks old and he now weighs around 3.80 kg. He weighed just 1.50 kg when he arrived about 5 weeks ago. 

The wide, open spaces of the Orchard is a treat to Burrito. He enjoyed running around like crazy, even under the high heat index prevailing in northern Luzon.

 

Sineguelas season at Maambal Orchard

There are six matured sineguelas trees at the Orchard and this is the first season when we are able to taste the small, oblong fruits. 

Sineguelas (aka Spanish Plum, Spondias purpurea) is a deciduous tree introduced from tropical America by the Spaniards. It grows to a height of 5 meters and bears smooth-skinned, oblong fruits that are about an inch long. When ripe, the fleshy skin and pulp of the fruit is eaten, leaving behind a large, stony seed.

Thanks to the Orchard's previous owner who selected and planted the seedlings years ago, the fruits turned out to be good tasting. The pulp is thick and sweetish, with a hint of sourness and that unique sineguelas  taste. The fleshy part easily separates from the seed, making it probably among the best sineguelas varieties I ever come across.

The fleshy part easily separates from the seed, making it probably the best sineguelas variety I ever tasted.

 

 

A cluster of low hanging green fruits - it will take about a week more before these ripen.

 

When ripe, the small fruits turn dark.