Farm and Treehouse, Bugallon

My treehouse is now 11 years old. Two-storey, all wood except the roof, perched on a big and live  mahogany tree. The trunk on the ground  and 2nd floor gets bigger and fatter while the roof is rising, every year.

The trees around the treehouse are getting bigger and taller too, some have been harvested already and younger trees beside them grow bigger and taller. Photos taken last January 24, 2015, by my sis in law, Baby.

Our youngest visitor from Manila, few months old Yoshi, a cousin of  Elle and Bien.

With Ate Elle and his Mama Jonjee.



They walked at a nearby creek, still within the farm.
And the mahogany area.

Yoshi seems to be enjoying his small, wild discoveries in the water.

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See also:
Trees in our Farm, Bugallon, Pangasinan, September 07, 2012

Trees in Our Farm, Part 2, February 16, 2013

My Treehouse, Versions 2002 vs. 2014, April 25, 2014

Terraces in the Farm, December 08, 2014

Terraces in the Farm

Building new stone terraces or expanding the existing ones is my hobby when I go to the farm in Bugallon, Pangasinan. It's called the Millora farm, an agro-forestry project. Below, terraces near my treehouse, photos taken March 2014.

Below, photos taken last July 2014. This area is also near my treehouse.

Here, photos taken in August 2014.

Below, photos taken last October. Before and after clearing the grasses, raising the height of the terrace.

Another before and after shots, taken only last month.

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See also:

Trees in our Farm, Bugallon, Pangasinan, September 07, 2012

Trees in Our Farm, Part 2, February 16, 2013

My Treehouse in the Farm, Bugallon, Pangasinan, April 11, 2014

http://sustaindevelopment.blogspot.com/

Trees in Our Farm, Part 2

I went back to the Millora Farm in Bugallon, Pangasinan, last Sunday, more photos here. These are mahogany trees near my treehouse. I like visiting the farm and walk in this area. This used to be a marginal and cogonal area with no big trees.

We planted these trees sometime in 1993-94 I think, so they are about 20 years old now. We -- together with the farm caretaker, Nong Endring Paragas, plus his boys now grown up Danny and Junjun -- actually  started planting in 1992, just a few hundreds of seedlings that year.

It's a hilly area so soil quality is not really good as topsoil can easily get eroded during heavy rains. But the trees have managed to thrive. The stone terraces we constructed greatly helped in stabilizing the soil and keeping some of the rich topsoil.

In the mid-90s, we grew our own seedlings and we were able to plant several thousands of young mahogany seedlings then. And only from June to August or even September, where there are lots of rains. We planted at an average distance of 2-3 meters apart.