Saturday, March 15, 2014

ME AND AGRICULTURE

Im Charisse Candelaria Mendoza 17 years old. A student of Cavite State University taking up Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.


Why do I take this course?

It is not my first choice , my first impression in this course is ill be "only" a farmer for the rest of my life.
All I want is to be a chef someday, cooking is my hobby.This course is not totally easy. (may ibang colleges kase na minamaliit ang agriculture)

As the year passes by , I learned to love it. I realize that my parents are also a farmer. Madaming experience na dadaan sayo habang nag aaral ka ng agriculture.By the aspiring stories of our professor's I realize that I will   like that someday. There is no impossible if you will study hard and don't always think negatively.Because if you are a positive thinker you will pull you down. I learned on my self that learn to love your self before them. Love your course so that it is so easy to you to pursue and to finish what you have started.

We have a farm at Bicol our mother land, It is coconut Farm it is not so popular (hindi  sya ganun kaasendo)
I believe that I have a lot of  idea that I can apply to help the farm .


Charisse BSA 2-2

Graham Balls

Graham Balls -Perfect Recipe for Kids



ingredients:

1-2 packs of Graham Crackers
1 Pack of any powdered milk
1 can of condensed milk
1 pack of M&M's or any chocolate like that

These are the easy to follow steps in making graham balls.

First crush all the graham crackers ,make sure there are no large bits .I use blender to do that so every pieces is so fine.Next is to add the M&M's or any chocolate you prefer and also put some condensed milk and mix it well.Remember the sweetness depends on your taste so you can decide how much condensed milk will you put .After mixing it well ,here comes the fun part , it time to shape it into balls .When you are done shaping it ,roll it with powdered milk and freeze it for 30 minutes and after that its time to EAT :)

Marketing Plan

Mixed Greens Salad Gardens' marketing budget is limited so the strategy will be simple.  Developing visibility and brand equity is key.  To do so, Mixed Greens Salad Gardens will advertise in both the Register Guard as well as Eugene Weekly.  Advertisements will be for MG individually, as well as some co-branded ads with the Farmer's Market.
In addition to the advertisements which will be used to drive consumer sales, MG will leverage a networking campaign among the local restauranteurs to drive commercial sales.

Mission

Mixed Greens Salad Gardens' mission is to provide the highest-quality salad greens.  We exist to attract and maintain customers.  When we adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place.  Our services will exceed the expectations of our customers. 

Marketing Objectives

  1. Maintain positive, steady growth each month.
  2. Experience an increase in new customers who are turned into long-term customers.
  3. Generate brand equity at the Farmer's Market as well as within the commercial restaurant industry market.

Financial Objectives

  1. Realize a 3% increase in gross profit margins through efficiency gains every year.
  2. Reduce the transportation costs associated with product delivery by 10% by the end of the first year.

Target Markets

MG has two distinct customers:
  1. Individual consumers. This group of people buy mesclun greens because they have a more sophisticated pallette.  Average Americans have been raised on iceberg lettuce and this is their green of choice. These people are typically unsophisticated or unadventurous in terms of culinary habits.  These are NOT the people MG serves.  MG is going after people that appreciate healthier, tastier alternatives to the standby of iceberg lettuce.  This group of consumers is more likely to make their own meals instead of going out, appreciate fine dining, and generally are from a higher socio/economic class. The individuals have access to Mixed Greens Salad Gardens' salad greens at a booth that they set up at the Farmer's Market.
  2. Restaurants. Not all restaurants use mesclun mixes, generally it is a restaurant of fine dining that serves the finer greens.  To be even more specific, it is typically an adventurous American, or nouveau cuisine restaurant as opposed to a French or German restaurant that appreciates the Mesclun mix. The restaurants are a year round customer which is helpful to balance the seasonal demand of the consumers.  Another advantage of having restaurants as a customer is that even though they get a better price, MG has a long-term contract with them which helps in terms of stability.
MG's target market segment strategy is fairly easy. 
Individuals
These customers will be buying MG products from the different farmer markets located in Eugene, Ore.  The main one is "The Farmer's Market" held downtown twice a week in the Spring and the Summer.  This market gets quite a bit of traffic because there is a nice selection of different farmers and products and it is in a central location.  Additionally, there are several other smaller farmer markets that exist in outlining communities.  By setting up a booth in these markets, there is already a steady flow of interested customers.  There obviously is a fee to set up a stand, but what you get for the fee is all of your marketing taken care of and a line of customers.  In addition to individuals frequenting the farmer's market, restaurants will go there as well.  This occurs when a restaurant needs ingredients but did not have the time to order in advance.
Restaurants
MG will target these customers by introducing MG and their products to the restaurants through meetings with the buyers at each restaurant.  There are about 25-30 different restaurants in Eugene that use field greens in their salad and MG intends to approach these to form a long-term relationship.   

Positioning

Mixed Greens Salad Gardens will position itself as:
  • Flexible.
  • High-quality producer.
  • Professional.
  • Reliable.

Strategies

The single objective is to position Mixed Greens Salad Gardens as THE finest producer of salad greens in the Willamette River Valley, commanding a majority of the market share within five years. The marketing strategy will seek to first create customer awareness regarding services offered, develop the customer base, and work toward building customer loyalty.
Mixed Greens Salad Gardens seeks to communicate the message that they are the finest grower of high-end salad greens.  This message will be communicated through a variety of methods.  The first method will be advertisements.  Some of the advertisements will be co-branding with the Farmer's Market.  Other advertisements will be solely MG advertisements.  The ads will be placed in both the local newspaper as well as the local art/entertainment paper. 
The message will also be communicated to the different restaurants through networking with owners and managers. Not only is there an Eugene-based restaurant association which is a formal group of restauranteurs, but because Eugene is a a fairly intimate community, MG will communicate their message through informal gatherings and networking with restaurant owners.

Marketing Mix

Mixed Greens Salad Gardens' marketing mix is comprised of the following approaches to price, distribution, advertising and promotion, and customer service.
  • Pricing: MG's pricing scheme is a per pound charge for salad greens.  Consumers may purchase any amount of greens, restaurants must purchase in three pound quantities.
  • Distribution: Consumers are able to purchase the greens from MG's stand at the local Farmer's Market.  Restaurants will have their produce delivered.
  • Advertising and promotion: A mixture of advertisements and networking will be used to increase visibility for Mixed Greens Salad Gardens.
  • Customer service: Obsessive customer service is the mantra.  MG's philosophy is whatever needs to be done to make the customer happy must occur, even at the expense of short-term profits.  In the long term, this investment will pay off with a fiercly loyal customer.

Marketing Research

During the initial phase of the marketing plan development, several focus groups were held to gain insight into prospective customers.  These focus groups provided helpful insight into the decision making processes.
An additional source of dynamic market research is a feedback mechanism based on a suggestion card system.  The suggestion card has several statements that customers are asked to rate in terms of a given scale.  There are also several open ended questions that allow the customer to freely offer constructive criticism or praise.  Mixed Greens Salad Gardens will work hard to implement reasonable suggestions in order to improve their service offerings, as well as show its commitment to the customer that their suggestions are valued. 
The last source of market research is competitive analysis. Mixed Greens Salad Gardens will send people to local competitors to gain information about their product offerings.
http://www.mplans.com/agriculture_produce_farm_marketing_plan/marketing_strategy_fc.php

Love of my Life

There are two things in life which I can consider as the happiest thing we could ever give and receive, to love and to be loved. Ang sarap sa pakiramdam na ang taong tinitignan mo lang, nilalagpas-lagpasan mo lang noon ay ang taong mamahalin mo pala sa buhay mo ngayon.Fairy tales does not really exist but Happy Ever After does we often times find them to the person na hindi natin expected na makakasama natin or madalas pa nga wrong time and place pa.

I wanna share this feeling na alam ko kahit sino naman nararamdaman to pag nagmamahal at minamahal.
This is our love story. First met, rainy season first impression ko sa kanya mabait,medyo mayabang and medyo bad boy. And I admit he is not the kind of guy na magugustuhan ko o natitipuhan ko. Nakilala ko siya because of my friend na laging sinasabing may ipapakilala at may irereto daw sakin. He is a good man, maalaga,mapagmahal,mabait at  alam ko iba sya sa ibang lalaki. Where not officially in a relationship pero lagi nyang pinaparamdam sakin na hindi ako nag iisa. I fall inlove na din kase pinaramdam naman nya sakin na love nya din ako thankful ako na sa kanya ko napunta. As the days,weeks and months passed andun na yung point na away lage dumating pa sa point na break up .

Despite of her attitude I never give up kase umaasa ako na magbabago sya kase alam ko naman na mahal nya ko . . I give everything, lahat ng oras nasakanya na , lahat ng idea I mean lahat nang surprises   monthsary birthday kahit ano pa ginagawa ko sa kanya ewan ko kung kung sya yung swerte saken o ako yung swerte sa kanya.

I don't want to end this relationship without any valid reason. Till they take my heart away , sond namin para sa relationship namin kase kahit sino pa yung pumigil ng relasyon namin hinding hindi nila kami mapaghihiwalay.

Thanks for reading :)


Saturday, March 1, 2014

HOW TO PLANT A PECHAY


Pechay is one of my favorite vegetables that I wanted to be in the menu always. Bok Choy, as others may call it, can be eaten raw or cooked. Both preparations are great if you wanted to savor the taste of this simple yet loaded with essential nutrients such as Vitamin A, C, Calcium, protein and more. Pak Choy is also a good source of dietary fiber that strengthens our colon and help sound bowel movement.


Things to consider before planting Pechay Garden Location and Soil Preparation
  1. Water Source
  2. Surrounding Livestock and wild animals
  3. Seed Bed Preparation, Location and Soil

How to Sow the pechay seeds
  • Garden Location and Land Preparation:  The garden must be in a location where there is at least 5 hours of direct sunlight. This is to ensure that your Bok Choy will not rot and will become a compost early before the expected date of harvest. As usual, your garden must be free from all types of weed and leaf eating bugs.

In preparing the soil, be sure that it is well pulverized and is rich with organic matter such as animal manure and vermi-casts. Pulverizing the soil of your garden is needed in order to provide proper water drainage when this soil is already formed into a raised plot (which we will discuss later in a different sub-topic).

Bok Choy the Pechay

  • Water Source: Pechay / Bok Choy Plant, need plenty of water to compensate its rapid growth. During hot days, you need to water this plant twice a day (early morning and late afternoon).
  •   Surrounding Livestock and Wild Animals: Pechay is very sensitive to trampling, once pressed by a certain weight then expect that this plant is considered dead. Also, most of the wild animals love eating this vegetable hence, make it sure that you will not grant them access to your BokChoy Garden.
  •  Seed Bed Preparation, Location and Soil: Although Pak Choi seeds can be sown directly into your plot but I don’t recommend doing this simply for the following reasons, *The Pak Choy seeds are very small and their color is like that of our soil. Putting Pak Choy seeds directly to your plot entails a lot of attention and time consuming. *We are absolutely not certain that all seeds will grow thus, sowing them directly will give us either an uneven distribution of the plant’s seed or over sowing.

Before making a seed bed, consider determining the number of pechay seeds that you intend to grow. As a guide, 100 Pechay seeds need 1 square foot of seed bed. Once you have already determined the number of seeds then proceed doing the following:
4.      Seed Bed Location: Be sure that your seed bed is situated on an area where there is enough hours of sunlight.
  •      Soil/Medium: You can buy it from your local agricultural/gardening stores or make your own. To make your own medium, follow my recommended ratio: 1:2 1 kilo of Vermicasts Per 2 kilos of Soil. Sprinkle it with ample amount of water, then allow the mixture to settle for an hour and then start sowing your seeds.

·         Cover your seed bed with either a cellophane or a plastic mesh / net. Be sure that your cover is not touching the seed bed, there must be a gap of at least 4 inches between them.

How to Sow Pechay Seeds: Using a popsicle stick, make a horizontal line in your seed bed. The depth of the line must not be more than 3cm, going deeper than this then you are risking the germination potential of your pechay seeds. To maintain the depth, just take a ruler and make a 3 cm mark to your popsicle stick –that line will be your depth reference.

After creating the lines with the necessary depth in your seed bed, start sowing the Bok Choy seeds. Make it sure that seeds will fall exactly in the middle of the line that you have created. Do NOT cover the seeds yet,continue sowing until all lines are filled with the pechay seeds. Once the seeds are all set, grab a handful of seed bed soil and sprinkle it over the lines until completely covered. Then using a garden spray bottle, spray the entire seed bed till moist and cover it.

Pechay: 7 Days After Sowing (DAS)
Note: Pechay Seeds will start germinating 48 hours after sowing. Spray the seed bed with water once a day – do NOT soak it.


REFERENCES:
http://www.eco-philippines.com/how-to-plant-pechay-pak-choi-pak-choy-bok-choy/ http://www.eco-philippines.com/how-to-plant-pechay-pak-choi-pak-choy-bok-choy-part-2/ http://davaoagribiz.da.gov.ph/tipsdl/vegetables/pechay_production.pdf