I have told you before that 1 hectare of land in the Philippines can feed a family of 4 for the entire year! This hectare will produce more than enough fruit, vegetables, dairy products and meat for your family. You will even have a surplus to sell in the market or for storing. It is up to you or you can be generous and give some of the produce away to needy families in the Philippines, as there are many.
An expat once confronted me and said he did not retire to the Philippines to be a farmer. Good for you, buddy! I did! I guess he thought I am personally working in the fields everyday while taking care of the farm but he is far from right. My wife and I have 3.1 hectares of prime farmland, which is 7.6 acres, comprising 2 separate farms, and we have a farm manager. My wife and I have never lifted one finger in doing any farm work or manual labor concerning the farms! We have created jobs for local agricultural workers, so this also adds to our enjoyment of retiring to the Philippines. Helping others!
I know a few expats whose goal is to be self sufficient in the Philippines and it is still a work in progress. They have land and they are using every square meter of it! They built their home on the land, they are growing their own fruit and vegetables and they are raising their own livestock. A great idea! This will tremendously cut down on their actual cost of living in the Philippines.
Will Seeds From the USA Produce in the Philippines?
When we first moved to the Philippines in 2009, my brother in Florida sent us a number of local SE USA seeds for planting on our farm. Since we were moving from China to the Philippines back then, we also brought a number of local seeds from there for planting. Did they produce? Not all of the seeds produced but some did. Overall, the experiment of planting foreign seeds in the Philippines proved that they do not produce well. The Clemson Spineless Okra from Florida grew like wildfire! The Brandywine Heirloom Tomatoes produced for a short season and then fizzled out. None of the butternut and crook neck squash seeds produced one bit! The Creole Mustard Greens took off and produced very well.
I highly recommend that you buy local seeds in the Philippines for planting on your farm or in your family garden. East-West Seeds have the best track record for us personally and they are produced in the Philippines for the Philippines. Makes sense doesn’t it? I recommend two other seed companies that have a good track record for us in Negros Occidental. Harbest Seeds and Ramgo Seeds. All 3 seed companies produce hybrid vegetable and fruit seeds that should flourish in your area of the islands.
Gardening As a Hobby
In my last article, I related as to what expats can do with their time once they have retired to the Philippines. Personally, I think gardening is a great hobby because you can not only see the results but you can eat the results! Fruit and vegetables! Now, who does not like eating those?
Great news! If you are retiring to one of the gated subdivisions in the Philippines, you can still have a home garden! My wife, our son and I spend most of our time in our home in Bacolod City and not at our home down at the farm. Our city home is located in a gated subdivision and yes, we have a family garden, even though we do not have an actual yard. Say what? Believe me, you do not need a piece of land or a yard to have a garden or to even grow orchids! Is this not great news or what?
My wife grows beautiful orchids on driftwood mounts! In the city. She also grows beautiful orchids in clay pots that are mounted on the security wall of our compound. Where there is a will, there is always a way! The beautiful orchids planted on driftwood mounts can be sold for as much as P5,000 but my wife is not interested in selling them at this time.
We had a large planter box built outside our house in the city. It is built on concrete but we added compost and planting or potting soil. Does it work? You betcha! We have enjoyed large delicious tomatoes the past 3 months! We just planted Jalapeno Peppers and White Lisbon Onion within the last 2 weeks and they are coming up nicely.
Due to the climate of the Philippines, you do not have to be concerned about frost or a cold snap! Insects will be your # 1 enemy when planting in the Philippines but there is organic insecticide available to fight them off.
My wife and I have a garden for hobby growing and we also grow rice commercially. We still have 1/2 hectare, which is a little more than 1 acre, that we are still deciding what to do with. I am leaning more toward planting cash crops and seeing how that goes but first, I must hook up with a supplier who will buy the entire harvest. Django Peppers, Galaxy Ampalaya and Diamante Tomatoes are 3 good choices. This is all part of the fun and adventure of living in the Philippines! Never a dull moment and there is plenty you can do here.
Whether you wish to plant commercially and farm the land or if you want to just have a family garden, I can’t think of a better place in the world to do these things than in the Philippines! Happy planting!
I’m still slugging it out here in the US but surely like most of your website lovers, I’m going to retire in your paradise, Gary. Period! Bacolod it is, that’s for sure. The mayor of your adopted city should give you the ceremonial key to the place – you’ve made the city popular and attractive to future expats like me. I’m 59 now, so it won’t be a long wait. You’ve merged urban and rural lifestyles so seamlessly you made me green with envy. I would love to see your wife’s beautiful orchids – I heard that some of the most beautiful varieties are found in the Philippines.
My son’s wife is from Ilocos Norte. Her family owns a garlic farm in Batac. She said that if ever she returns to her native country, she’d choose one of the Visayan cities. Ilocos must be too hot and too laid back for her. I told her to visit your website and read your posts, especially this one. Who knows – my son and her might someday choose to live next to me in Bacolod. Regards to your family and those who will have the time of their lives in your Imay get-together – oh, my, I’m now turning as green as your farm’s choicest okra there.
Thank you very much, Mel, for your wonderful and very interesting comments. It is great that you have decided to retire to Bacolod and we will see you around, for sure!
The Western Visayas is very popular among expats and more are joining us all the time here, as we feel that it is the best area of the Philippines to retire, live, do business and to even raise children!
That would be great if your son and his wife join you in Bacolod one day.
My wife seems to have a green thumb. She planted and successfully raised all those tomatoes from seeds and not from tomato plants! Amazing! The purple and white orchids are the most attractive to me but my wife likes them all.
Thank you for promoting Retiring to the Philippines to others you know and who are interested in the Philippines. It is greatly appreciated.
Have a fabulous day, Mel!
Gary
I had planned on retiring with my future filipina wife, but do to my health i have had a change in plans.i have moved my plan up from 7 or 8 years to hope fully this year if all goes well. I have a sory sory stor, and a cold filtered water dispener as a buisness so far plan on a coffee machine in the near future. We own 200 meters of land in the foothills above Balamban, Cebu. The store is doing well because its on the main road to a beach resort. Another plan is to grow vegitables to sell fresh in the sory sory. I fell in love with my new future home , everything from the very busy town to the top of the mountains.
My wife and I are just a couple of years away from reaching Bacolod, though our retirement property is in a gated subdivision in Talisay (you can guess where). I plan to pursue some sort of retirement cooking business there, which will include growing our own veggies etc, on my wife’s cousins’ place down in Murcia. I’m getting my feet wet (or hands dirty) here with a small garden now in Berkeley and hope to raise ducks, chickens, and some produce there.
Our subdivision has rules about animals (no caribou, ducks, barnyard type) but will do what we can and put most of the growth in the Murcia farm. Raising orchids, huh?
It sounds like a great plan you and your wife have. We have several friends who live in a famous subdivision in Talisay.
I personally know 4 expats who operate restaurants in Bacolod and I have met another 4 or 5 expats who have restaurants in the city. They are all still open and doing business.
I wish you all the best!
Gary
Gary, your family life on the Negros Island isn’t too good to be true–it is TRUE, real and enviable and your contentment there is palpable, reflected in your blogs and articles. You’re Bacolod’s mouthpiece, and a very effective one to be sure. Do you have a rough estimate as to how many American, European, Australian, Korean, and Japanese expats are now making the Philippines their retirement haven? Is the number growing under Aquino’s administration?
Hi Carrie,
Thank you very much for your compliments, as they are much appreciated.
I do not know the total number of all expats who have retired to the Philippines at this point in 2014, however, according to the US State Department, there are more than 300,000 US Citizens living in the Philippines. There is an American VA clinic in Manila, VA Representatives and Social Security Representatives in the US Embassy in Manila. They, together with US Embassy Consular Officers, do outreaches every year and visit cities such as Bacolod, Iloilo and Cebu; probably others. This saves the Americans a trip all the way to Manila to take care of personal businesses involving the US Embassy, VA and Social Security. Now, that is fabulous for us here!
For sure, the Bacolod full time expat community has grown tremendously since 2010!
Take care,
Gary
It’s wonderful to come across your page. It just re in forced positivity in my decision to move back to the Philippines after migrating to New Zealand in 1988. My Kiwi husband and I are going to Bohol to live off the land. We are not lifestyle blockers in NZ, he was working in retail management and I am a Psychiatric Nurse. We are moving to Bohol and planned on doing farming starting mid august which is in 3 weeks time. I love gardening and preserving my produce from my backyard garden in NZ. . I am full of enthusiasmthat we will be okay but at the same time a bit apprehensive. So thank you for easing my anxiety a bit. I will keep reading your page for more insight. Regards. Elsie
Thank you, Elsie. I am happy you like RTTP.
The Philippines is a great place for homesteading. Just 1 hectare can get you started but the more, the better.
I worked with a number of Psychiatric Nurses and Psychiatrists from the Philippines for over 20 years in both Alabama and Florida. I was a Mental Health Technologist and later a Counselor and a Unit Supervisor during my career.
I wish you all the best in your new lives in Bohol. Take care.
~ Gary ~
Hi everyone,
I’m Val, Bacolod City is my place. My wife and I, most of the time were out of the country working and we returned to this beautiful city mid last year. Upon our return, we were able to acquire a small mountain lot outside the city (45 min drive) in which we are planning to have some vegetable garden.
I started preparing the lot however I’m very new to this idea, no experience at all so…..It will be much appreciated if somebody can suggest to me where to buy vegetable seeds in Bacolod (tomatoes, dwarf papaya, pepper, etc) for planting.
Some advice is great too.
Thank you.
Val Baguios Jr.
A lot of folks who gardened successfully in their home country are quite surprised to find that seeds from that country do not produce well in the Philippines. I grew Jalapeno peppers and tomatoes in the US and usually my plants would be so overloaded with fruit I would have to stake them up. Here in the Philippines its an entirely different story. Some tomato varieties, well known heirloom varieties, grew massive vines, yet yielded zero fruit. I had highest hope for my Jalapeno seeds, however my crop consisted of one pepper per plant grown, hardly worth the effort. To my knowledge, no one has solved the mystery yet as to what or why perfectly prolific seeds do not produce. It may be a combination of different factors for different plants. Too hot in daytime, too hot in night time, too much humidity, not enough germination help (insects), the list of combinations of potential factors is long. Meanwhile, a lot of US seeds do grow extremely well here. I have found that herb plants and green onion grow exceptionally well. One last note about seeds for consideration. Most of the available for purchase seeds are designed to produce hybrid plants. These are the very same seeds which farmers select to grow produce to sell in the public markets (mercados). Seeds from mercado produce will have little chance of successful reproduction. If you wish to plant a Philippine vegetable garden, purchasing and using locally, freshly packaged seeds offer you your highest chances of success. Happy gardening.
I am living in Bacolod and love it. I’m building a house on our rice farm and am hoping to be able to produce some good vegetables. The tomatoes here are horrible so I hope to produce some like the ones I grew in TN.
You mentioned having friends who have opened restaurants in Bacolod. I’d love to try them out. Finding good Western food is difficult.
Thank you.
loved your article
I have two hectares of land planted already with 16 – 70-year-old mango trees and will plant 150 dwarf coconut trees. I’m looking for watermelon seeds I can plant in between the coconut trees. What else do you suggest to plant in my land? My land is typical clay type, rich in nickel, reddish color in Zambales.
where can I buy watermelon seeds in the Philippines?