And our 3rd stop for our Organic Agriculture tour: Jaya Secret Garden. This is another inspiration for those who are planning to create or put up a backyard farm. Imagine, their mini farm is just located at the back of their house growing different kind of crops. Amazing!
Do not underestimate this small and humble farm because Jaya Secret Garden may be small, but you will learn a lot from it especially from the owners, Junah Bayag and Hazel Bayag, and their very witty daughter, Jayashree Harsha A. Bayag, to whom the farm was named after.(Photo of the Bayag family below)
And just to mention this, Jaya Bayag, even at a young age is very hands on with the farm. She even invited to several Agricultural conferences and conventions to speak and share her knowledge and experiences about their farm and their advocacy.
It’s just amazing how this family managed to grow Jaya Secret Garden which started from passion and advocacy, and eventually turned into-income generating organic farm.
So we arrived at Jaya Secret Garden around past luchtime. And we were welcomed with this lunch feast. Burp… Solved! Happy and healthy tummy. That’s what I like about organic farm tours. We get to eat “organic” meals freshly picked and catched from the farm.
Maybe you are curious on why the rice is color blue. Well, it’s because of this flower, the Blue Ternate. So if you are looking for a blue natural food coloring, you’ve got to look for this flower or better yet plant it in your backyard. 🙂
After our sumptuous lunch, Jaya, with the assistance of her dad toured us around their farm.
This farm may be small compared to the other farms I previously visited, but It’s pretty cool that they got to grow different crops and raise some organic livestocks, fishes, etc. which they actually serve to their guests/visitors or sell it. Plus, I really love the owners’ improvisation on the landscaping of the farm by using recycable materials such as bottles, used tires, etc. The farm lot was really maximized.
Aside from the high-value crops, the farm also grows herbs and spices. and Mr. Juna showed us 2 of 5 variety of their chili peper plant. One is the Chocolate Chili Pepper, and the othe one was Carolina Reaper Chili Pepper which is the hottest Chili variety in the world. Be careful with the last one because it is not just an ordinary chili, it will give you a very terrible burning sensation if not handled properly. Even just touching the inner part.
Jaya Secret Garden practices INTEGRATED DIVERSIFIED ORGANIC FARMING SYSTEM which is one of the solutions in preventing global warming and promotes sustainability for the community and the whole ecosystem. Zero-waste management is also being implemented in the farm.
In relevance to that, they also create their own organic compost to nourish their crops and does not use chemical fertilizer which is harmful not only to humans but also to the environment.
I really did learn a lot from our Organic farm tour in Jaya Secret Garden. Thank you so much for accommodating us. By the way, entrance fee is ONLY P40 pesos. That’s really affordable considering the experience and knowledge that you will be acquiring. 🙂
Visit and learn at Jaya Secret Garden which is located at Comisio St., Brgy. 1, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon Philippines. For tour schedule and updates you may contact Hazel Fe A. Bayag(Garden Business Manager) at:
Mobile number: 0917-7933309/0917-7954449
Email: jayasecretgarden33@gmail.com
Facebook: Jaya Secret Garden
You might be interested with my other Mindanao Organic Farm Tour blogs:
