Columban missionary Fr Oliver McCrossan and his colleague Virgie Vidad write about the latest developments at the organic farm he set up to help struggling tricycle workers in the Philippines.
In 2019, the Pedalling Eco farm became a community garden for the tricycle drivers. The aim was to create an organic diversified integrated farm managed by the pedalling families to serve as a showcase for the drivers but also for farmers, those with disabilities and for urban settlers.
On the farm, organic vegetables such as kangkong, radish, lettuce, kale, beans, pachoi, herbs, fruit trees, ornamental, eggplant are grown. A portion of the farm is utilised for aquaponic, in which waste from fish is used to fertilise the vegetables.
During the pandemic, this sustainability programme of the Pedalling Eco farm demonstrated that growing vegetables, even in a small area, helped families. Wives of the tricycle drivers are involved in the management of the farm and it is run as a profit-sharing venture.
Recently, people have begun coming to the farm for training in organic vegetable production, organic fertiliser production and growing vegetables using aquaponic.
Seeing the needs of the people, we tried to extend our expertise so as to help them with income generation but also to teach them about care for the earth and protecting the environment by avoiding chemicals when growing their vegetables.
On the farm, we use compact designs such as raised beds, container gardening, and a vertical garden using bamboo and organic materials. We also produce organic fertilisers and concoctions using fruits, plants, seaweeds, fish amino and indigenous microorganism (IMO).
Our previous training programmes were run using a small cottage as our venue or sometimes they were held under a banyan tree.
Now there are more people coming who want to learn our technology and with this there is a need for us to improve our training centre in order to accommodate a greater number of people and to improve the structure of our farm.
With the help of Fr Oliver McCrossan and his supporters we were able to start the construction.
The Pedalling to Live programme is grateful to those people who gave financial support to start construction. It made our dream come true to be able to help so many poor families.
If you would like to support Fr Oliver McCrossan’s work and the Pedalling to Live programme, please send your donations to the Far East Office, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath C15 AY2Y. Mark it for Fr Oliver McCrossan. Alternatively, you can donate online at www.columbans.ie or call 00353 46 909 8275.