And for our 2nd to the last stop before we conclude our Eastern Visayas (Region 8) Organic farm tour… La Granja De Reyna.
La Granja De Reyna came from the Spanish word “Granja” which means “farm”, and “Reyna” came from the owner’s surname Reyna. The said organic farm is located in Maharlika Highway, Barangay 93 in Tacloban which is about 7 kilometers away from the city proper.
La Granja is being managed and owned by the very energetic Mrs. Martina “Tina” Reyna, a retired agricultural engineer who really has passion for farming ever since. She is also married to a lawyer, Atty. Antonio Reyna, and a mother to her three children.
The farm started from 15.8 hectares in 1935 and was later on expanded to 51 hectares which houses different organically-grown crops, fruit-bearing trees such as Marang, Durian, Jackfruit, Lanzones just to name a few and livestocks as well.
La Granja de Reyna is a certified Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) farm that implements multi-cropping and diversification of crops. It is also DTI-registered since year 1994 and also a member of the Worldwide Organization of Organic Farmers (WOOF). According to Ms. Tina, even foreign nationalities go to her farm to learn and get trained on proper organic farming practices.
The farm’s main crop is more on high-valued crops like the salad-type vegetables such as lettuce. The farm is usually harvesting about P2,000 worth of lettuce everyday and deliver these organic produce to different restaurants, municipalities and cities nearby.
| Filipino/Tagalog Name | English Name | Scientific Name |
| Singkamas | Mexican turnip | Pachyrhizus erosus |
| Talong | Eggplant | Solanum melongena |
| Sigarilyas | Winged beans | Psophocarpus tetragonolobus |
| Mani | Peanuts | Arachis hypogaea |
| Sitaw | String beans | Phaseolus vulgaris |
| Bataw | Hyacinth bean | Lablab purpureus |
| Patani | Lima beans | Phaseolus lunatus |
| Kundol | Winter melon | Benincasa hispida |
| Patola | Sponge gourd, vegetable gourd | Cucunis acutangulus |
| Upo | Bottle gourd | Lagenaria siceraria |
| Kalabasa | Squash | Cucurbita maxima |
| Labanos | White radish | Raphanus sativus |
| Mustasa | Mustard | Brassica integrifolia |
| Sibuyas | Onion | Allium cepa |
| Kamatis | Tomato | Solanum lycopersicum |
| Bawang | Garlic | Allium sativum |
| Luya | Ginger | Zingiber officinale |
| Linga | Sesame | Sesamum indicum |
La Granja de Reyna also grows other organic vegetables like cauliflower, celery, Kangkong and all of the vegetables in the song “Bahay Kubo”. If you are not familiar with those vegetables kindly read the list above.
According to Ms. Tina, the farm uses molasses with water as fertilizer to nourish their crops. The farm also propagates Vermiculture and produces organic fertilizer concoctions for income-generation which they supply to one of the agricultural stores in Tacloban, delivering 500 bags per week.
Awww… These pigs are so cute. La Granja de Reyna’s piggery does not smell at all just like in other organic farms that I have been to. The farm also raises carabao, horses and chickens as well which are organically fed.
On the other hand, I really admire Ms. Tina’s big heart to help other organic and non-organic farmers in the region. She even opened her farm to them for trainings so that she can impart her learnings for those who wanted to learn and shift to organic farming. Even though she is already successful and established, her humility is very inspiring. She in fact hosted Organikong Magsasaka ng Rehiyon Otso (OMRO) Value for Money: Investment for Health program on her birthday to show her support to the Region 8 Farmers.
The beauty of La Granja de Reyna Organic Farm… This is the view from one of the farm’s bahay kubo. You can actually see the big portion of the farm plus the breathtaking view of San Juanico Strait and San Juanico Bridge which are just a few kilometers away from the farm.
Department of Agriculture www.da.gov.ph
