AFTER 30 YEARS, A FARMER NOW OWNS THREE GARDENS AND PROVIDES JOBS AMID CRISIS

THERE’S NOTHING MORE SATISFYING than seeing the fruit of your hard work, especially after long years of failing and learning.

Mary Ann Cogollo, 57, faced a lot of hurdles before she successfully developed her flower farm that has multiplied into three separate sites. Out of a love for plants and flowers, Cogollo established a farm and named it Dafalongs Flower Farm. The name “Dafalongs” was coined by her priest friends, and means “dapa ilong” or flat nose in Hiligaynon.

From being an educator, she now runs her three gardens full time. Cogollo took a rest from teaching due to an ectopic pregnancy and used the time to develop the property that her parents gave her.

“They were actually worried if we will stay at this place because at that time, it’s just the house and cogon grasses all over. No electric current, no water source, and few motorbikes are passing by our area,” said the farmer. When Cogollo saw the lot, she knew that there could be more to it than just cogon grass. “From the moment I saw the place, I remembered I smiled; there’s an instant connection,” she added.

Her late parents were both farmers. At 12, she helped in the farm and worked as a ‘kabo,’ a person who helps people in the sugarcane and rice fields. Her mother used to collect orchids as well, which is what influenced her love for plants, particularly for flowers.

during the early days of the garden was R5000 per week, which eventually increased through the support of other gardeners and farmers from different regions.

A FLOWER ENTHUSIAST

Some of her first flowers were orchids, roses, petunias, and hydrangeas. Cogollo used to ask for orchids from her mother so she had something to put in her garden and fast forward to now, she’s the one giving and selling flowers and plants to others as her garden blossoms with thousands of them.

Cogollo loves growing Neoregelia bromeliads on her farm as these are not difficult to grow and thrive well in indirect light or moderate shade. According to her, sunlight helps in enhancing their colors. Most of her Neoregelia bromeliads are for her personal collection, but she also sells some to fellow collectors and enthusiasts. Prices range from R500 to R20,000 depending on the variety and size.

They also offer landscaping services, which is why they grow plants aside from selling them individually. Cogollo said, “I’m more into tropical plants that can thrive here in Iloilo weather.” Some of them are palm trees such as washingtonia palm ( washingtonia robusta) and foxtails palm ( wodyetia), Philodendrons, Norfolk Island pine, ( Araucaria heterophylla), and many more.

They also have few endemic and rare e plants like jade vine ( Strongylodon Macrobotrys), botrys), scarlet jade vine ( Mucuna bennettii), ,

Fraser Island creeper ( Tecomanthe hillii), illii), Philodendron Caramel Marble, rare species of Neoregelias bromeliads, Mapu Paradise palm ( Licuala mattanensis

Mapu), lotus ( Nelumbo nucifera), and nd Monstera - Thai Constellation.

To date, Cogollo mainly grows flowers on her farm, but she hasn’t forgotten the importance of growing fresh vegetables.

“My husband is a vegetarian. He can cook delicious food from vegetables. We have our food garden and my husband also started another vegetable garden in our Flower Farm for our staff where they can pick and cook fresh greens every day,” she said. They grow corn, lemongrass, batuan or batwan fruits (a souring ingredient used by Ilonggos), chilies, saluyot, kangkong, malabar spinach, squash, eggplants, okra, pigeon peas, jackfruit, basil, tarragons, dill, assorted beans, and more.

In managing the three gardens, Cogollo works hand in hand with her workers in planting, propagating, and for the overall maintenance of the gardens. Her husband and son manage their sugar cane, corn, and rice fields, while her eldest daughter helps in managing the flower farm and is assigned in marketing and overseeing their farm staff.

AN EXTENDED FARM-ILY

Along with those 30 years of gardening are loyal farmers who have become a family for Cogollo. Many of them are from the family who have worked for her parents. There are a total of 26 people in the flower farm and most of them are wives of the farmhands who are working in the family’s sugar cane and rice fields. It is one of their objectiv objectives to provide employment for their workers so they can send their kids to school. Cogollo and her husband encourage them to le let their children attend school so they can finish educati education and get their dream jobs. They also motivate an and reward some children whenever they exc excel in class. Some children even visit th the couple to show off their medals a and awards. She said, “I’m proud o of my staff, some of their children alr already have bachelor’s degrees and some are already supervisors of resta restaurants.”

As per Cogollo, “It’s difficult to find the best team, but I thank God every night for the people who worked for us.” Her father taught her to treat the farmworkers with dignity, respect, and most importantly, with kindness. She added, “I value my team and the hard work they put in. We’d bask in the heat and storms together. We’d share meals whenever I’m around. They’re not just working for me. For our family, they are the Dafalongs.”

She expresses gratitude to her staff, most of whom are mothers like her. “Women who nurture, women who mother and protect. Yung essence na yun, nadadala sa gardening (the essence of being a mother is carried in gardening),” said the farmer.

TRIALS BEHIND THE TRIUMPHS

At the back of her success is an unsteady, challenging voyage that she had to endure. “It’s 30 years in the making and looking back to what I’ve been through and endured, my heart is full,” said Cogollo.

Growing up, Camille, her eldest daughter, saw how she fell and got up many times. She says, “I witnessed how she carried the pails from our wells to water her plants, pull the weeds every day, carried potted plants to hide them because of the heavy storms, how she failed and endured everything, how she learned from her experiences, and how she managed to be a farmer, a gardener, and a mother to us.”

Before the birth of the gardens, Cogollo had been gardening alone for 10 years. She did the propagation, watering, and application of fertilizers. It was a challenge for this gardener to find suppliers and to travel the plants from the city to their place, but the hardest to deal with is the weather. “Typhoons and extreme summer are two of the most difficult situations to handle as well as dealing with plant diseases and pests. I failed a lot, some of my plants weren’t a success, but I learned from them,” Cogollo added.

BLOOMING PROFITS

The price for the plants in the flower farm ranges from R25 to R10,000 and up. On normal days, they get to sell hundreds of plants every month that differ based on the demand. Most of it is purchased by co-gardeners too.

Cogollo said that this season has the highest sales so far, to the point they've had to bring some plants to the other garden to fill the demand. When they opened last month, they were able to sell 3000 to 5000 pots, which allowed them to generate a minimum of 50k per day from all the gardens.

A MOTHER, FARMER, AND BUSINESSWOMAN

As a mother of two, she lets her children participate in farmwork and immerse themselves in nature at a young age. As per Camille, Cogollo taught her how to plant when she was four and let her have her mini garden at home. Their youngest has also been helping raise livestock since he was in grade six. “They let us oversee the farm the same way that my lolo did before. She’s taught me how to plant and to marcot, how to fertilize and water correctly, and educated me what plants can grow from cuttings and what plants need to be in full sun or in shade,” Camille added.

Despite the crisis, Cogollo added that God still made a way to provide for her family and their farm workers. She finds herself staring at the sky and thanking God for not leaving her family and the families working for them after two months of farm closure.

When many people began growing plants to improve their lifestyle amid the crisis, her children told her, “Nay your dream is coming true, farming and gardening are taking its shape, gakatabo na nay (it’s finally happening).” Cogollo only hopes for the public to continue appreciating nature and to start growing plants.

Farming has been her life ever since. The life she chose is the same life lived by her parents and grandparents and according to her, to be able to help others while pursuing your passion is a blessing.

CURRENT SITUATION

As the government implemented enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to halt the spread of COVID-19, they had to close their gardens for two months. Since they only allow walk-ins and do not offer delivery services, they had no income from the garden.

For Cogollo, those two months were the hardest; there were no landscaping projects but they had to give salaries to the employees every weekend. They thought of stopping their daily farm operations, but their musings brought them back to their primary goal, which is to provide the workers’ livelihood. They hired five more people who lost their jobs during those two months and didn’t stop propagating and maintaining the gardens.

Living on a farm is an advantage because it’s Covid-free and their staff live nearby so they carry on with their daily work in the gardens and farm. Fortunately, after two months, a sudden increase in demand for plants began. The crisis has become as she calls it, “a ‘plantdemic’ for Ilonggos.” Their gardens re-opened for visitors when Iloilo was placed under GCQ (general community quarantine).

From then on, the farm was amplified by different networks through social media and word of mouth. Despite their location, they were shocked that people kept visiting or asking about their gardens’ location. At some point, they were afraid due to the increasing numbers of visitors and of the risks it can entail that might harm their community. However, it was all worth it because according to Cogollo, “We know our dream is coming true. Farming/Gardening is taking shape.”

They were also supposed to put up a garden café and park last May but due to these circumstances, things didn’t go as planned. In the future, they see the garden as a haven where people can stroll and appreciate and realize the beauty of nature, especially if we take care of them.

Photos from Dafalongs Flower Farm.