Kalamatlog

Kalamatlog is title of a series of photographs I took during the Lent season. It was derived from kalamansi at itlog (cum quats and eggs). Cum quats they're called here in Oz and are considered decorative plants. Most Asiatic people, including Filipinos, make cordial out of them. I prefer it to lemon juice. Many Filipino cuisine have flavours enhanced by the sweet/tangy taste of kalamansi.

I grow a single, robust tree that fruit year round. Aphids are controlled by spraying garlic juice and water. Newly-laid chicken eggs are delicious and not a chemical taste of anti-biotics or hormones. Family feed the chooks with wheat and kitchen organics like left-over rice and fish parts. Ten eggs gathered daily prods my partner to Google search for more egg recipe:)

Ahh, Easter break was refreshing. Gardens were tended and children had a brief respite from school homeworks. Looking at some photos I noticed that freshness is revealed by crisp colours. Our eyes can always detect a healthy sheen even without Kirlian photography. I thank God.. and make it a habit to take pictures of the bounty of my small backyard garden (even if only a handful).

Tropical plants do have a hard time surviving the extreme Australian weather but one can always take advantage of Spring and Summer months. To protect seedlings from heatwave and hailstorms I've constructed a number of greenhouses made of light wood and nylon mesh. Filipino poet and writer Krip Yuson, I found out, is also a gardener. He visited me once and saw my little garden. However at that time it was winter-- bitterly cold and dry, plants have wilted and bulbs just anxiously awaiting Spring.

Round fruit and ova are healthier than Macka. Small backyard farming is fun.

Eggs flourished thru the hard work of a native Talisain rooster; kalamansi tree yielded citrus like cirrus in a green sky.

I also grow Thai chilli and they really taste like the Philippine labuyo (a species of chilli which also means a jungle fowl) Photo shows chilli in various stage of ripeness. I grew them from seeds.


Australia is drying up! Our Murray Darling Basin is boiling dry its remaining water and farmers here are suffering and need help from the government which now is consulting irrigation and drainage engineers to divert water from still brimming river systems.

It's scary. To maintain a small backyard garden is hard enough, what more of a vast country?