Tondo soccer field turns into veggies farm

While the feat is still a far cry of the biblical vision of turning swords into plowshares --which evokes peace and abundance -- Tondo residents came a bit close by transforming its idle soccer field into a vegetable farm. And look, the harvest is aplenty.

Photos by Danny Pata

St. John Bosco Parish in Manila's Tondo district had allowed its soccer field to be converted into an over-a-hectare vegetable farm; and on Sunday, 3 January 2021, it began harvesting several sorts of leafy vegetables.

By rough estimate, a standard soccer field is 125 meters by 85 meters, or 10, 625 square meters, or over a hectare vegetable farm planted with saluyot, calabasa, pechay, spinach, Chinese kangkong, among others.

Spearheaded by the local government of Manila, the "Buhay sa Gulay" project, hosted by the St. John Bosco Parish, is now ready to feed hundreds of residents with fresh vegetables, which they themselves planted.

With the help of the Department of Agrarian Reform and the St. John Bosco Parish Church, the harvest on Sunday has become a shining success in urban gardening.

The farming process --from land preparation, planting, and tending the plants -- was done by residents of the 17 Barangays in the area.

Buhay sa Gulay is a rural-urban development project that aims to help poor communities in urban areas put fresh and healthy vegetables on their tables. —Danny Pata/LBG, GMA News