Guava

The guava tree is a small which may reach a height of about 8 meters. It has four-angled branches. The leaves are opposite, somewhat hairy, oblong to elliptic and usually pointed at both ends. The flowers are white and borne in panicles with one to three flowers.
The guava fruit is rounded, about 4 to 5 centimeters long, the introduced guavas, such as the Brazilian guava, the Florida Guava and the Java guava are much bigger than the native varieties. They are much more fleshy and have lesser seeds. The fruit when unripe is green, when fully ripe, it is yellow. The ripe fruit has pink or white pulp.
One variety, with smaller fruits but recommended for backyard planting is the purple guava. It is a sort of a novelty because of its color. The ripe fruit is sweet and delicious;
Economic and Nutritive Values of Guava Fruits
• Guava fruits are eaten ripe or unripe. The ripe guava fruits are sweet and are made into jellies which preserved in bottle.
• Ripe guavas are used in the preparation of a certain dish.
• Vitamin C content of guava fruits.
Medicinal Value
• The leaves are boiled in water and the solution is used for stomach ache and for expelling intestinal worms.
• The bark and leaves are used in childbirth to expel the placenta.
• The pounded leaves are applied to ease rheumatic pains.
• Juice extracted from roots and leaves are rubbed on the spine children having convulsions.

Guava are propagated in a number of ways. Seed planting is most common way. Guavas, however, may be planted asexually, by marcotting, stem cutting, grafting and budding.

Mango

The ripe mango fruit is usually eaten as a dessert. It can be preserve into jelly, jam, chutney, marmalate and vinegar. The green fruit may be eaten as is with bago-ong(bagong) or salt. It is also made into pickles.

Children suffer from scurvy due to lack of Vitamin C or for not taking fruit juices that are rich in Vitamin C. Daily requirements of Vitamin C is 40 miligrams. Eating one mango a day will give all the Vitamin C one needs daily. In addition, one also gets the Vitamins needed daily.

Tea can be made from the leaves of mango tree. This beverage counteracts the inflammation of the nose and mucus membranes during a cough and other diseases of the bronchial tube. The ripe mango fruit is a laxative. The seed which is bitter can be prepared as deworming agent.

Mango tree may be propagated by seed, bondding, grafting or inarching. The plants are set in the field from 10 to 14 meters apart.

Pineapple

The pineapple is a wonder fruit. It is not grown from seeds. The plant is grown from slips near the base of the fruit, from suckers that grow lower down on the stem of the plant, or from the crown that issues from the top of the pineapple.

When fully grown, the vegetative plant is the appearance of a "red bud" in the growing center by the plant where the new leaves have been forming. It is about the size of a big calamansi and red in color. It is actually a miniature pineapple containing approximately 150 individual flowers, a number equal to the " eye" of the ripe pineapple, for parts of each flower are eventually to become an eye.

The ripe pineapple fruit is eaten as a dessert. Sugar syrup is made from pineapple fruit. Pineapples are canned and exported. The forms of canned pineapples are slices, chunks, tidbits and "crisp cut". Fiber from pineapple leaves is made into pina cloth.

The juice extracted from the pineapple leaves is used as a purgative also to expel intestinal worms. The unripe fruit when eaten aids in disposing excess water in the body through increasing the amount of urine produced which is then disposed through urination.

Garlic

Garlic is a shallow-rooted plant with the bulbs forming close to the soils surface. The plant responds favorably to short-day lights,particularly during the growing stage. Growing stops when long day lights any high temperature set in followed by the rapid maturity of the bulbs.

Medicinal Value of Garlic

* It lowers the blood pressure.

* It can reduce fever.

* It rids the stomach and intestines of intestinal worms and parasites.

* It eliminates gas formed in alimentary canal.

* It eliminates excess mucus.

* It eliminates excess water in the body flow of urine.

* A preparation of garlic cloves cures backaches.

Economic and Nutritive Value of Garlic

* It is the most popular and often used of all the species.

* It is used for flavoring many kinds of dishes.

* It contains all the major vitamins except Vitamin D.

* It is high in potassium and phosphorus.

Before planting, garlic cloves are prepared with extra care so as not to injure or damage them. Cloves are prepared in the afternoon before the day of planting and are so asked in a solution of Malathion ( 3 table spoon for every 5 gallons of water) for 2 minutes to kill the microscopic mites that cause " Tangle Top." Plant garlic at the end of the rainy season, from October to November. If you plant on time, you will be able to harvest more and bigger bulbs.

Eggplant

The eggplant is one of the most popular vegetable crops in the Philippines. It is grown in almost all backyards and school gardens in the country.

The native eggplants bear small, round or elongated fruits. Among the widely grown native varieties are Negros Purple. Pampanga Purple and Simmeda. Among the foreign varieties are Black Beauty and Golden Gate. They bear longer and more fleshy fruits.

The fruits are fairly good sources of calcium,phosphorus and iron. The fruits are also a good source of vitamin B.

The leaves are employed to cure piles. The ashes of the fruit are prescribed for use in a dry, hot poultice on hemonorrhoids.

Malunggay

The malunggay is a small vegetable tree which grows to height of about 8 meters, more or less. The leaves which are pinnate in form, the white flowers and the long pendulous young pods and seeds are edible.

Nutrient Contents of Malunggay:

Just 1/3 cup of cooked malunggay leaves gives children their daily requirements for:

Iron - to build maintain the blood supply and prevent anemia;

Calcium - for healthy bones and teeth;

Vitamin A - to give good vision, healthy skin,proper growth and resistance to infections;

Vitamin B - to stimulate growth and appetite; to prevent skin troubles, beri-beri and anemia;

Vitamin C - to help develop health tissues, teeth and gums.

Malunggay tree may be propagated by stem cuttings or by seeds. Propagation by mature stem cuttings is preferable to propagation by seeds because the planted stems grow much faster.

Duhat

The duhat fruit is small, oval or elliptic in shape. It is about two centimeters long, dark purple or nearly black in color. Duhat tree is grown for its edible fruits.

The fruit is often made into jelly. The beverage made from duhat juice offers commercial possibilities. The trunk yield a soft timber of good quality which is used for interior decoction. The leaves are pounded and heated and applied on skin irritations.

Varieties of Duhat

There are only two known varieties of duhat grown in the country. They are the seeded “Kinalabao” and the seedless type. Kinalabao is commonly grown in most parts of the country, while the seedless type is rarely grown because it produces small fruits.

Propagation and Harvesting

Duhat can be propagated sexually by seeds and asexually by budding, grafting, inarching and marcotting.

Duhat fruits can be harvested seven to eight years from planting time. Its fruiting season is from April to June. The fruit is fully ripe when the purplish-red color changes to dark purple or black