A neighborhood for farming

A neighborhood for farming

By MAAN D’ASIS PAMARAN

April 27, 2011, 10:25am

Kim Atienza at La Huerta Farms and Residences in Calamba, Laguna.

MANILA, Philippines -- Many new real estate projects are offering amenities designed to attract those who want to get active outdoors. The mandatory list includes swimming pools, jogging paths, and even family groves for picnics under the sun. But there’s an innovative property on the market that allows homeowners to sweat it out and reap the fruits of all that hard work. The La Huerta Farms and Residences, a 50-hectare Sta. Lucia Land property located in Calamba, Laguna, offers homeowners the opportunity to cultivate crops in their own backyard.

Farmville addicts who used to crow about their virtual harvests online can now actually physically share their produce with their friends and neighbors. People obsessed with Plants vs. Zombies can plant as many sunflowers and peashooters as they want for real to keep those zombies at bay.

There are four different garden communities to choose from: El Sol, a cluster enriched with medicinal plants; El Cielo, which is for organic veggies and herb gardens; La Luna, which has aromatic coffee and cacao plants, along with Bignay, whose fruit that can be used for wine and herbal teas, and La Lluvia, which is bedecked with palms trees and flowering plants. A greenhouse is also in the works, and it will be home to rows of vegetables that are found in the song "Bahay Kubo," with segments divided into the Pinakbet Garden, Sinigang Garden, and the Chopsuey Garden. The clubhouse will have a training center, where UP Los Baños experts and in-house horticulturists are on hand for seminars.  

Growing green things is a must in this community, as houses are required to occupy only 20 percent of the land, which can range from 750 up to 3,000 square meters. Livestock is welcome too, says Exequiel D. Robles, Sta. Lucia Land Inc president. So horses, cows, carabaos, and chickens can live here, but they do draw the line at pigs.

Speaking of animals, La Huerta will also be home to a flock of ostriches on a corral located in the El Cielo sector. Homeowners can purchase and raise their own herd of these big birds in this corral, with the help of the experts that will be based there.

La Huerta spokesperson, Kuya Kim Atienza says that the climate at this location is also perfect for his snakes and tortoises, which he will house in the plot that he chose at the top of the hill.