Sayote causes High Blood :p

Why? Is it because of its composition? Nah. Here’s why.

A husband comes home in the evening after working all day in the garden. Tired and hungry, he asks his wife what’s for dinner.

Husband: Wife, what’s for dinner?
Wife: Sayote.
Husband: What? Sayote again? Sayote in the morning, sayote for lunch and now sayote for dinner?! (in an angry voice).

So that’s why. :D

It’s just a joke of course, common to sayote farmers. But though it’s just a joke, it’s not far from being a reality (or to some, it has already become a reality hehehe).

Note that when you’re a farmer, it’s basically what you plant is what you eat hehehe. so if you plant sayote, you eat sayote. :D Add to it the fact that its market value is not that high. Believe it or not, the price can go for less than P1 per kilo in our place. Now, this is no joke. I remember logging our sayote sales when I was in 2nd year high school. At some point, it went for as low as P0.25 per kilo. Deduct from that the jeepney fare, fertilizers, labor (if you hired someone to clean your garden). And the harvest is not that much too. How much is left? Do the Math. I can’t imagine how we survived those days hehehe. Of course it has its golden days too where prices shoot up. But these days are RARE. Wehehe.

But I still love sayote. I can survive with sayote alone for viand – plain sayote at that – no add-ons, only sauted in oil, with a dash of salt. That’s usually the way we cook it. Because of its low market value, we can’t afford to buy meat to add to it wahaha.

Sayote will always be a part of me. It’s what has been putting food on the table for my family, until now. Take that literally and figuratively. Simply, it’s the source of living for us. And if my stint in the corporate world fails, I would still gladly go back to sayote planting. :)

Sayote Cultivation: From Planting to Harvesting

Yan po ang aking topic nung Presentation Skills Workshop namin last August. At gusto ko lang ishare dito. Kaya naman yan ang napili ko, ayaw ko kasing magresearch pa para lang sa workshop so pinili ko na lang yung kabisado ko na at kaya kong ikwento kahit nakapikit ako wahahaha. Di nyo po naitatanong pero bago kasi ako humarap sa computers, sayote na ang pinagkakaabalahan ng pamilya ko sa Baguio. Ito ang bumubuhay sa amin. Biruin mo naman, mula pagkabata, yan na ang trabahong nakagisnan ko. So para mas mapadali ang buhay ko nung workshop, yan na lang di ba? Less work sa akin. Pagkuha ng mga larawan at pag-ayos na lang ang presentation ang kailangan. Yung contents, kinulit ko mga kapatid ko para tulungan ako hehe. Nakakatawa pala nung ginagawa namin yung contents, lahat kami di alam kung anong translation ng mga sayote related terms sa English. Buti na lang, nandon ang hilaw na forester kong kapatid at sya ang nagbigay ng tamang terms. At may mga natutunan akong bago ha, sa tinagal-tagal ng exposure ko sa sayote.

Anyway, ito na yung presentation ko:

During presentation, sa akin may pinakamaraming tanong. Naks! Naging interesado ata sila magtanim ng sayote. (Naku dadami na kakompetensya namin sa market :p) At dahil sa presentation ko, nagcrave ng tinola ang buntis naming trainer! O di ba astig? Hehe. Tapos nabalitaan ko rin sa mga friends from other teams na nabanggit daw ung presentation ko nung PWS naman nila. Wahaha. O di ba mas sumikat pa ang sayote. Pero ang nagustuhan daw nya don ay ang frst lines ko na ganito: “For the next few minutes, let’s leave the corporate world, leave all your favorite gadgets behind and travel with me to a remote place up north and let's go plant sayote.” O di ba astig? Hehehe. Travalogue daw ang tawag sa ganyang presentation. Ayos! Wala pang lectures, may na-apply na ako! Wuhooo! Hehe.