The Backyard Revolution: A Master Class in Self-Sufficient Gardening

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

Gardening is not merely a hobby; it is an act of creation, a strategy for resilience, and a direct path to better nutrition. It is the art of turning sunlight, water, and soil into life. Whether you have a sprawling backyard or a few square feet of concrete, the principles of successful cultivation remain the same.

Drawing from expert technical guides on seedling production and container gardening, this comprehensive guide breaks down the science of the harvest into a battle plan for success.

I. The Blueprint: Strategy Before Action

Before a single seed touches the earth, a master gardener drafts a plan. The difference between a struggling patch and a bountiful harvest is strategy.

Know Your Terrain: Assess your "Available Area." Are you planting in open beds or restricted containers?

The Calendar is King: Successful gardening requires strictly adhering to a planting calendar (Jan-Dec). You must select crops that fit the season.

The Rule of Selection: Do not overcomplicate. Start with a choice of 5–8 core crops that are suitable for your specific area and needed by your family.

Site Layout: Your garden must have logic. It requires a dedicated water source, a seedling nursery, fences for protection, and properly oriented beds for maximum light exposure.

II. Soil Alchemy: The "1-1-1" Formula

The soil is the engine of your garden. If the engine is dirty or broken, the car won't run. To create the perfect "substrate" (growth medium), you must become an alchemist.

The Golden Ratio: To create a nutrient-dense, well-draining mix, combine equal parts:

1 Part Soil (from a "clean" area)

1 Part Well-Decomposed Manure (for nutrition)

1 Part Burnt Rice Husk or Sand (for aeration)

Trial by Fire (Sterilization): Soil often harbors invisible enemies—pathogens and weed seeds. You must purge them before planting.

The Heat Method: "Fry" your soil mix in a pan for 10 minutes.

The Sun Method (Solarization): Place the moist substrate in a black plastic bag and leave it in the full sun for a minimum of 4 hours. The steam produced inside kills the bad bacteria while keeping the soil rich.

III. The Cradle of Life: Seedling Production

Fragile life requires a protected start. Do not throw seeds into the ground and hope for the best. Raise them in a nursery first.

1. The Sowing Ritual

No Soaking Required: If using high-quality seeds, sow them directly.

The Depth Rule: Sow the seed at a depth equal to twice the size of the seed.

One Seed, One Home: Use one seed per hole in your tray or pot.

2. The Vessel of Choice You don't need expensive plastic. Nature provides. You can fashion leaf pots using rolled banana or mango leaves. These are biodegradable, easy to transport, and free.

3. The Hardening Phase A seedling raised in the shade will burn in the sun. You must "harden" them.

Timing: 2–3 days before transplanting.

The Method: Expose them to less water and more sun. This thickens the plant's cell walls, preparing it for the harsh reality of the field.

4. Timing the Move

Cucurbits (Bitter gourd, cucumber): Transplant 8–10 days after sowing.

Solanaceous (Tomato, eggplant): Transplant 21–28 days after sowing.

Pro Tip: To boost root development, you can drench seedling trays with a calcium nitrate solution (10-15g dissolved in 10 liters of water) as needed 10 days after emergence.

IV. The Architecture of Growth: Container Gardening

If you lack land, you must build upward. Container gardening is the solution for the urban farmer.

The Container Revolution

Recycle and Reclaim: Old tires, plastic bottles, and unused timber can be transformed into vertical gardens.

Vertical Integration: Use A-frames or wall-mounted racks to multiply your growing area by growing up, not just out.

The Law of Depth Not all containers are created equal. You must match the soil depth to the crop's root system:

30 cm (Minimum): Required for deep-rooted plants like Tomato, Eggplant, and Bitter Gourd.

20 cm (Minimum): Sufficient for shallow-rooted plants like Leafy Vegetables.

The Transplant When moving your hardened seedling to its final container, handle with care. Water the seedling lightly in the morning so the soil plug holds together. Transplant in the late afternoon to avoid sun stress. Water immediately after transplanting to seal the roots into their new home.

V. The Defense: Protecting the Harvest

Your garden is a sanctuary, but it is under constant threat from pests and diseases. You must employ "Integrated Pest Management."

1. Biological Warfare (The Good Guys) Not all bugs are bad. Encourage beneficial insects (like ladybugs) by planting flowering plants near your crops. They will hunt the pests for you.

2. The Magic Potions (Bio-Extracts) Before reaching for harsh chemicals, use nature's repellents. Sprays made from Neem, Garlic, and Chili are highly effective at deterring invaders without poisoning your food.

3. Mechanical Barriers

Netting: Cover seed trays with fine nets to stop sucking insects.

Traps: Use yellow sticky traps or sweet traps to catch airborne pests.

4. The Strategic Rotation Never plant the same family of crops in the same spot twice in a row. This is called Crop Rotation.

Why? Pests that love tomatoes will wait in the soil for the next tomato plant.

The Fix: Follow a cycle (e.g., Legumes → Leafy Greens → Fruit Crops) to break the pest life cycle and restore soil fertility.

VI. The Harvest

By following these technical guides—preparing the soil with heat, timing your transplants, utilizing vertical space, and defending with biological means—you do more than grow food. You secure a source of improved nutrition and gain invaluable knowledge of production.

The garden is waiting. The plan is drawn. It is time to plant.

Art for All: Unlocking Creativity with Coffee - The "Brewing Joy" Exhibit by Coffee Artists PH

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

Presented by Robinsons Land ARTablado and Summit Hotel Greenhills

November 2025…..Robinsons Land ARTablado and Summit Hotel Greenhills present “Brewing Joy – A Holiday Coffee Art Exhibit,” featuring the unique and captivating works of Coffee Artists PH (CAPH). This festive exhibition at the hotel’s Red Gallery highlights the artistic versatility of coffee and reinforces the idea that innovative art can emerge from accessible, everyday materials.

Barun Jolly, Senior Vice President and Business Unit General Manager of Robinsons Hotels & Resorts (RHR), shared his enthusiasm: "Robinsons Hotels & Resorts is dedicated to championing the immense creativity of Filipino artists. We believe that by showcasing these unique works, especially through dynamic partnerships like this one with Coffee Artists PH, we not only support local talent but also enrich the aesthetic experience of our guests. This 'Brewing Joy' exhibit is a wonderful example of how art enhances the joy and warmth of our hospitality."

The exhibit is a compelling display where 37 participating artists explore the rich potential of ordinary coffee as an extraordinary painting medium. Showcasing over 60 art pieces created in 2025 and most being shown to the public for the first time—the collection depicts diverse subjects including landscapes, portraits, still life, and Christmas scenes that specifically reflect what brings the artist joy during the holiday season.

Coffee Artists PH (CAPH) was founded in March 2024 by its current president, Anwylen Fua-Gaño, and a small core group of pioneering artists. The group’s impactful advocacy is to “unlock artistic potential with coffee: an affordable, accessible medium.” Their message quickly resonated, leading the community to grow into a thriving collective of over 200 member artists.

"Coffee stands strong as an alternative medium alongside traditional paints," says Fua-Gaño. "Its rich, earthy tones can be as expressive and versatile as watercolors or oils, and coffee artworks last just as long, proving its merit as a serious artistic discipline."

The "Brewing Joy" exhibit also serves as the launch platform for the Traveling Coffee Artists Project, a new collaboration with the Traveling Pastel Project. This initiative aims to educate remote communities about coffee as an art medium. By utilizing local or generic coffee, the project promotes the community’s product while emphasizing coffee’s convenience and affordability as a creative tool.

Adding a layer of meaning to the exhibition, several art pieces are up for auction. All proceeds from this special auction will be donated to Summit Hotel Greenhills’ partner beneficiaries, Anawim Lay Missions—an organization dedicated to providing a loving home for the elderly--and Bahay Aruga—a halfway house for children with cancer.

All other artworks in the collection are available for sale, with interested parties encouraged to contact the artists directly. The artists featured in “Brewing Joy – A Holiday Coffee Art Exhibit” are Andrei Solmirano, Anne Labesores, Annie Foronda, Anwylen Fua-Gaño, Argentina Morata, Cici Drake, Chester Ocampo, Cristina Alfonso, Crisanto Antonio, Czarina Sheela Alcasid, Dale Francisco, Ella Gardens, Gerlie Urbano, Glena Plan, Imelda Tagudar, John dela Cruz, Jennifer Lee Bonto, Jhen Agbay, Jhen Dungo, Jones Flores, Joy Labaguis, Lito Biñas, Marie Claire, Melodee Millare, Melanie Reyes Tuquet, Nancy Palma – Cruz, Nelsie Geografo, Peachy Alcaraz, Rei Rob, Romina Dayanghirang, Rommel M Fabian, Salve Frilles, Sheila Quisumbing Bondoc, Susan A. Mendoza, Teddy " Ulap " Santos, Vanessa Bautista, Ysmael Fontanilla, and Yeye Calderon.

Robinsons Land ARTablado is a dedicated platform (a blend of "art" and "entablado" or "stage") for celebrating Filipino ingenuity and creativity. It serves as a vital stage for emerging artists, enabling them to freely express themselves through art and gain recognition for their talent and dedication. 

“Brewing Joy – A Holiday Coffee Art Exhibit” will run until February 1, 2026 at Summit Hotel Greenhills, located at 13 Annapolis Street, Greenhills, San Juan. 

          

The Ultimatum: Youth Deliver a Radical Blueprint to Save a Multilateral System in Crisis

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

The world stands at a precipice. We are navigating a time of profound global uncertainty, geopolitical realignment, and a deepening crisis of international cooperation. The multilateral system—the very machinery designed to keep our world functioning—is facing unprecedented challenges, plagued by widening trust deficits and growing inequalities.

In the midst of this chaos, a unified voice has emerged, not with a plea, but with a plan. The Global Youth Declaration on the Environment 2025 is not merely a statement of intent; it is a collective call for urgent, ambitious, and inclusive action presented to the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) and Member States.

Representing over 2,000 organizations and 12,000 members worldwide, the Children and Youth Major Group (CYMG) has drawn a line in the sand. Their message is clear: The window for action is closing, and if UNEA is to remain relevant to the world it serves, it must recognize young people not just as future stakeholders, but as present-day partners.

I. The Diagnosis: A System on the Brink

The Declaration arrives at a moment when the world is "off track on nearly all global goals". The triple planetary crisis—climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution—is accelerating, fueled by a global economic architecture that traps the Global South in debt cycles and denies them the fiscal space to act.

The youth point to specific failures that have deepened this crisis of trust:

Negotiation Collapses: The recent collapse of the IMO shipping levy and the faltering INC-5.2 plastics treaty negotiations have starkly exposed the weaknesses in global environmental governance.

fragmentation: The current system is disjointed. Over the past six sessions, UNEA has adopted 105 resolutions that are often too specific or disconnected, stretching limited resources thin.

The Implementation Gap: Trillions pledged for climate and biodiversity finance remain undelivered, leaving vulnerable nations defenseless against environmental shocks.

"This broader crisis of international cooperation is starkly reflected in the environmental domain." 

II. The Mobilization: A Global Roar

This Declaration was not written in a vacuum. It is the culmination of an unprecedented mobilization of youth across every corner of the globe since UNEA-6.

In Africa: Youth convened in Nairobi to address climate resilience and environmental justice alongside AMCEN-20.

In the Asia-Pacific: Meeting in Fiji, young leaders pushed for a high-ambition plastics treaty and highlighted Pacific climate leadership.

In the Caribbean: The first in-person youth conference in Jamaica tackled the intersection of ocean conservation and human rights.

In West Asia: The Arab Youth Environment Forum focused on the critical nexus of conflict, peacebuilding, and environmental justice.

From the "Mottainai Youth Declaration" in Osaka to the halls of the UN Summit of the Future , the youth have proven they are already leading the response to the planetary crisis through innovation and advocacy.

III. The Blueprint: Five Interconnected Transformations

To restore faith in global cooperation and tackle the crisis, the youth demand five interconnected transformations.

1. Reform Environmental Governance

The current fragmentation must end. The youth call for the establishment of a high-level task force to identify synergies between Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). They demand that science be embedded at the core of decision-making, institutionalizing scientific input directly into UNEA negotiations to ensure resolutions are grounded in reality, not just politics.

2. Rewrite the Economic Rulebook

The Declaration identifies the "linear, extractive economic model" as a root driver of the crisis.

End the Fossil Age: A demand for a rapid, just phase-out of fossil fuel expansion.

Cap Resource Use: Advanced economies must set legally binding targets for absolute resource reduction.

Fix the Money: The International Financial Architecture (IFA) is unjust and structurally biased. The youth call for debt sustainability reviews, scaling up concessional finance, and implementing innovative levies on carbon, fossil fuels, aviation, and shipping.

3. Confront the Pollution Nightmare

Pollution now causes one in six deaths globally. The youth demand a legally binding plastics treaty that caps virgin plastic production and eliminates toxic additives. They insist on a "polluter pays" framework where those responsible for contamination bear the full costs of remediation and community care.

Toxic Bans: A call to expand the list of "forever chemicals" (PFAS) for a global phase-out.

4. Protect Nature & Build Resilience

We must move from promises to local action. The Declaration calls for a "Protect-Manage-Restore" hierarchy that prioritizes conserving intact ecosystems above all else. Crucially, it demands that Indigenous Peoples and local communities be legally empowered as co-managers of ecosystems, ensuring their Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is central to the solution.

5. Embed Intergenerational Equity

Youth participation can no longer be tokenistic. The Declaration demands the institutionalization of youth in decision-making through dedicated mechanisms and sustained resourcing. This includes upholding the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a legally enforceable human right.

IV. The Future is Now

The Global Youth Declaration serves as a reminder that while the multilateral system faces a crisis of legitimacy, change is still possible. But that change requires UNEA-7 to rise to the scale of the challenge.

The youth have laid out the roadmap. They have done the work, mobilizing across borders and thematic divides. Now, the burden shifts to the Member States.

The question remains: Will UNEA remain a venue for slow deliberation, or will it become the platform for the bold, systemic transformation the world desperately needs?

"If UNEA is to remain relevant to the world it seeks to serve, it must recognise young people not just as future stakeholders but as present-day partners in decision-making and implementation." 

The youth are watching.