Philippine Tree of the Month: Katmon

A small yet handsome native is in flower now just outside our kitchen; it is called Katmón (Dillenia philippinensis), another endemic tree, naturally occuring nowhere else in the world but our archipelago. It's awesome to know that our islands host a staggeringly-diverse and unique ecosystem, beginning with trees that so effortlessly grow in our part of the world. These, including the Katmon, play its part in maintaining the balance so important to keep our lives in equilibrium.

In the wild, it is most often seen near rivers and can grow with only partial sun. So it perfectly thrives where we planted it: just by the kitchen under the roof's edge where it gets plenty of rainwater.

Its fruit also happens to be not only edible but delicious! I have yet to photograph it though as it's always eaten by the time I get to the farm. Lucky for me though that this weekend, it has plenty of flowers: white and showy, as big as saucers.

Lumpiang Ubod

We've had a steady supply of fresh úbod in the last weeks and is a good excuse for May to perfect our own home-made wrappers. It's a waste to make lumpiâ with the freshest, healthiest coconut piths and prepare it with store-bought, tasteless, parchment-like wrappers.

Ours is made from batter using native farm eggs, some flour, some milk, and a pinch of salt. She cooks it in a big, flat pan just like cooking crepes. It's quite daunting though, to take it out whole and roll the lumpia without tearing it.

 

Another Bench

We recently bought another garden bench, complementing the older one with the back and armrests, though we did not necessarily lay them out side-by-side.  It's made of exactly the same wood, apparently Dungon (Tarrietia sylvatica), a hardwood that resists rotting so it is suited perfectly for outdoor use. The wood is very tasty though to a particular wood-eating grub (right) that is responsible for the random yet artistic surface design once you cut the old wood up into planks.

Philippine Tree of the Month: Anubing

In the middle of the fern garden, amidst a grove of mango trees, is a lone Anubing (Artocarpus ovatus), another endemic tree, which means it only naturally occurs in our islands. Being an Artocarpus, it is closely related to the Antipolo (which I have yet to feature), the Rimas, the Langka (Jackfruit), and the Kamansi. I was absolutely ignorant about its significance when we began here; it's a good thing the locals empathically suggested we keep this as we cleared the overgrowth in the would-be garden. At that time, it was still small (just twice my height, I reckon) and was rather puny since it was in the shaded midst of mature mango trees. But now, it is a towering specimen with a perfectly straight and upright trunk and a full crown of leaves.

And speaking of leaves, one of the Anubing's unique characteristics is its leaf's underside sticks to clothes like Velcro (right)! Apparently, it fruits too but is quite insignificant as it isn't edible. It's also a hardy tree and would thrive in rather difficult circumstances (i.e. lowland thickets, shaded areas), making it a good tree for reforestation.

Being in the middle of the fern garden, we transplanted Pyrossia on its trunk (below) and it has nicely thrived and blended amidst the fernscape.

More Bromeliads

For some weekends now, I have been sorting bromeliads into rows on steel racks I ordered from a neighborhood shop. I didn't realize that we have so much variety already, from Neoregelias (above) to Tillandsias, Cryptanthuses to Ananas (below left).

Some are so prolific in producing suckers; we have one mother plant must have generously given us two dozen! There are some though that baffle me since they only produce one in their lifetime.