Costales Nature Farm - Agrotourism Packages

Duration: 3 days, 2 nights
Check-in time: 1:00 PM
Check-out time: 12:00 NN

Overview
Our “Wellness Tour” includes three (3) days and two (2) nights of full rural relaxation and farm life experience.   “Glamping” or camping with glamour has been a worldwide trend today and we offer this in our farm where tourists can live in our native huts at the heart of the nature farm complete with accommodation facilities, prepare their own food (optional), dip in the healing spring water of Mt. Banahaw, farm activities (fishing, picking/harvesting), visit one of the oldest churches in the Philippines and tour to the miraculous “Hands of Jesus” religious site.
Shopping of handcrafted foot wears and Spa services are also “must” experience.  Ideal for foreign tourists who would like to experience the warmth of Filipino hospitality.  Also for family bonding/vacation and meditating.
Rates

Number of Visitors	Per Pax
1   to   4	P 3,200
5   to 10	P 3,100
11 to 20	P 3,000
More than 20 pax	P 2,800

NOTE: Children below 2 yr old are free-of-charge. Rates are subject to change without prior notice.

Itinerary
1st day

•  
• Arrival
• Registration
• Welcome drinks
• Billeting
• Organic Farming Orientation
• Guided Farm Tour
• Afternoon Snacks
• (Rest)
• Fishing or Rest
• Dinner (6:00 PM)
• Massage (optional)

2nd day

• Harvesting of organic vegetables (upon wake-up)
• Breakfast (inclusive of harvested veg)
• Personal Activity (30min – 1hr)
• Trip to/Swimming in  Majayjay Falls (with packed lunch)
• Shower/Afternoon snacks (inside the farm)
• Footwear (Tsinelas) shopping – Liliw, Laguna
• Egg harvesting
• Personal activity/Relaxation/Commune with nature/Fishing/Rest
• Dinner (6pm-7pm)
• Videoke Night (note: 7pm to 10pm)

3rd Day

• Optional: wake-up 6am to feed the animals/feed the fish
• Breakfast
• Fixed self
• Trip to Religious Sites (packed snacks)
• Majayjay church(3rd oldest church in the Philippines)
• Hands of Jesus (Kamay ni Hesus), Lucban Quezon
• Shopping of farm souvenirs
• Departure

Amenities

• Free Wifi Access
• 100% Certified Organic Vegetables, Herbs, Meat and Poultry produce
• Unlimited organic lettuce salad
• Accommodation: Individual Native type huts, Nature controlled air-conditioning, with private restroom
• Souvenir shop

Duration: 2 days, 1 night
Check-in time: 1:00 PM
Check-out time: 12:00 NN

Overview
Our “Life at the Farm Tour” includes two (2) days and one (1) night of full rural relaxation and farm life experience.   “Glamping” or camping with glamour has been a worldwide trend today and we offer this in our farm where tourists can live in our native huts at the heart of the nature farm complete with accommodation facilities, prepare their own food (optional), dip in the healing spring water of Mt. Banahaw and farm activities like fishing, picking/harvesting of organic vegetables.  Ideal for family bonding, group reunions, meditating and farmer’s study tour.
Rates

Number of Visitors	Per Pax
1   to   4	P 1,750
5   to 10	P 1,650
11 to 20	P 1,550
More than 20 pax	P 1,450

NOTE: Children below 2 yr old are free-of-charge. Rates are subject to change without prior notice.

Itinerary
1st day

• Arrival
• Registration
• Welcome drinks
• Billeting
• Organic Farming Orientation
• Guided Farm Tour
• Afternoon Snacks
• (Rest)
• Fishing or Rest
• Dinner (6:00 PM)
• Massage (optional)

2nd day

• Harvesting of organic vegetables (upon wake-up)
• Breakfast (inclusive of harvested veg)
• Personal Activity (30min – 1hr)
• Trip to/Swimming in  Majayjay Falls
• Shopping of farm souvenirs
• Departure

Amenities

• Free Wifi Access
• 100% Certified Organic Vegetables, Herbs, Meat and Poultry produce
• Unlimited organic lettuce salad
• Accommodation: Individual Native type huts, Nature controlled air-conditioning, with private restroom
• Souvenir shop

Duration: 1 (whole) day
Check-in time: 9:00 AM
Check-out time: 5:00 PM

Overview
Our “Green Living Tour” is a whole day pure relaxation, eco-tour and a farm life experience in a healthy and natural environment.  Ideal for family bonding, company outing, excursions and farmer’s study tour.
Rates

Number of Visitors	Per Pax
1   to   4	P900
5   to 10	P850
11 to 20	P800
More than 20 pax	P750

NOTE: Children below 2 yr old are free-of-charge. Rates are subject to change without prior notice.
Itinerary

•  
• Arrival
• Registration
• Welcome drinks
• Organic Farming Orientation
• Guided Farm Tour
• Lunch
• Trip to Majayjay falls (swimming)
• Afternoon snacks
• Fishing
• Shopping of farm souvenirs
• Departure

Amenities

• Free Wifi Access
• 100% Certified Organic Vegetables, Herbs, Meat and Poultry produce
• Unlimited organic lettuce salad
• Souvenir shop

Duration: half day
Start Time: 9:00 AM
End Time: 12:00 NN

Overview
Our “Green Salad Tour” is a half day relaxation and a farm life experience of picking and subsequently eating personally picked veggies in a healthy and natural environment.  Ideal for wellness advocates, family bonding, group tours, culinary schools, excursions, farmer’s and student’s study tour.
Rates

Number of Visitors	Per Pax
1   to   4	P 400
5   to 10	P 350
11 to 20	P 300
More than 20 pax	P 250

NOTE: Children below 2 yr old are free-of-charge. Rates are subject to change without prior notice.

Itinerary

•  
• Arrival
• Registration
• Organic Farming Orientation
• Vegetable Picking Demonstration
• Guided farm tour with vegetable picking (pick and pay)
• Green salad preparation
• Snacks of vegetable salad
• Departure

Amenities

• Free Wifi Access
• 100% Certified Organic Vegetables, Herbs, Meat and Poultry produce
• Souvenir shop

Duration: 2 hours

Overview
Our “Lakbay-aral Tour” is especially designed for students and farmers whom we dedicate our efforts to spread healthy farming to encourage future generations of progressive and nature loving food producers.
Rates

Flat rate of P200/pax

(Rates are subject to changes)

NOTE: Children below 2 yr old are free-of-charge. Rates are subject to change without prior notice.

Itinerary

• Arrival
• Registration
• Organic Farming Orientation
• Vegetable Picking Demonstration
• Guided farm tour with vegetable picking (pick and pay)
• Green salad preparation
• Snacks of vegetable salad
• Departure

Amenities

• Free Wifi Access
• 100% Certified Organic Vegetables, Herbs, Meat and Poultry produce
• Souvenir shop

For your retirement and other real estate needs, please visit http://www.gregmelep.com.

Make it simple and doable

by Zac Sarian
March 21, 2014

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What we admire about the way Pat Acosta goes about his organic farming is that he makes his techniques of growing healthy vegetables very simple and very doable.

Pat Acosta is the Gawad Saka Organic Farmer of 2010 who operates a very profitable sloping farm of just 3,000 square meters in La Trinidad, Benguet. As a result of his simple techniques, his cost of production is very minimal.

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SIMPLE COMPOSTING TECHNIQUE — Pat Acosta produces all the organic fertilizers that he uses in his farm. He shreds grasses that are gathered around his farm, mix 10 percent seaweeds in volume to reinforce the nutrients from the grass materials. He makes his own IMO or indigenous microorganism concoction to hasten the decomposition of his composting material. He sprays his IMO to his dried composting material, let the same stay uncovered under a roof for two weeks. After that the compost which is not totally decomposed is incorporated in the planting bed. Some are also used as mulch.

In fact, he says that the only things he spends for, except the labor of his two assistants (he calls them his partners), are the seeds and plastic trays that he uses in germinating the seedlings.

Pat produces organic salad vegetables that include different varieties of lettuce, arugula, cherry tomato, cherry radish, sugar snap peas, Japanese cucumber and culinary herbs.

What is also admirable about him is that he does not keep secrets in growing his healthy vegetables. He teaches other growers his very simple techniques.

One technique that is very simple and doable is his way of preparing his own concoction of IMO or indigenous microorganisms that he uses in decomposing his organic fertilizer and in spraying his seedlings. Other people have a complicated way of preparing their own IMOs. Some put cooked rice in the forest to catch the molds and then multiply them using milk, molasses and other processes.

In the case of Pat, he simply gets a tablespoon of forest soil, add to it a tablespoon of brown sugar and then put the same in a liter of water in an open container. He then lets this stand under the roof for three days. After three days, he mixes 250 ml (one-fourth liter) of his concoction with 16 liters of water and sprays this on the shredded dried grasses that he converts into organic fertilizer.

His composting materials are thoroughly sprayed with the mixture and allowed to stand without any cover in a roofed place. After two weeks, he can already use his compost in his garden plots. He explains that he does not use fully decomposed compost. Why? Because if he does, the nutrients in the fully decomposed compost will be absorbed by the plants very fast and he would be obliged to apply some more during the growing cycle.

When his not-so-well decomposed organic fertilizer is incorporated in the soil, the nutrients will be made available for a longer period. It is just like a slow-release fertilizer. He points out that in the forest, there are well decomposed leaves and there are just decomposing leaves. That’s how he justifies his practice.

Sometimes, he uses his undecomposed compost as mulch for his crops. Eventually, the decomposing mulch will become food for his plants.

He admits that the compost from the grasses that he gathers around his farm does not contain complete nutrients for the proper growth of his crops. He has a very simple solution for this. He incorporates seaweeds at the rate of 10 percent in volume to his composting materials.

He has also a very simple way of marketing his harvests that he developed through the years. He has a distributor in Manila that pays him the same price for his products throughout the whole year. No price fluctuations. That way, he has a steady cash flow.

He sends to his buyer 50 to 60 kilos of veggies, mostly lettuce plus smaller amounts of cherry radish, Japanese cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sugar beet and arugula twice a week. Pat makes at least P10,000 to P12,000 a week from his deliveries. That’s more than enough to keep body and soul practically problem-free. After all, he only has two workers whom he calls his partners and they are paid well. They receive more than the basic pay set by the law and they also get a bonus whenever they have attained their target sales for the month.