La Granja De Reyna: The Farm of the Queen

We made our way back to Tacloban City after our first farm tour (click HERE for the link). It took us another 4 hours transit just to reach La Granja De Reyna. It is located in Maharlika Highway, Barangay 93 and about 7 kilometers away from the city. The farm is being managed by Mrs. Martina "Tina" Reyna, a 50 something woman who seem no signs of slowing down.




She was undeniably energetic and jolly while sharing to us a brief background of her 51 hectares farm. She worked in the government for years, particularly in Bureau of Soils and Water Management, then decided to switch career to farming. She really inspired me when she said: "You farmers, fill the stomach of your people and progress will follow." Taray diba?





The farm mainly produced high-quality crops that they supply to nearby restaurants and municipalities. Just like other organic farms I visited, their livestock doesn't smell at all. According to Tina, their lettuce is their main source of income because of its high demand. Thus they produce lettuces daily.





Tina's humor is contagious. She dropped several bomb jokes that sometimes made us puzzled but still made us laugh out loud. Like this one scenario where she asked us what the national fruit is. Our common response is Mango, but she denied it and said it's "balimbing". It took me a long time before I realized what she meant but I still laugh my ass out. What the..





All crops grown in La Granja are organically grown with fertilizers and bio-organics pesticides made from vermiculture and concoctions from the farm.







After the tour, we attended Tina's birthday celebration. The ginoo at ginang of OMRO, ATI, and Governor Leopoldo Dominico "Mic" Petilla were also present at the gathering.



Their scrumptious organic buffet is everything! I'll probably not gonna feel this healthy back in Manila. If you're going to visit La Granja try to harvest your own lettuce. It can relieve stress trust me. By the way, they do have a Facebook page so go check it out!



To be continued... click HERE