About ten years ago when I was still working in a semiconductor tooling company, I was really fascinated on tilapia farming and wish that I could have a fish pen on a lake (e.g. Laguna bay) so I could produce my own tilapia. The only thing that hinders me is the capital needed and since I was employed then I know I could not handle that business if I will still work and engage in tilapia farming. I know that it will cost much and the reason why I knew that is, just last year my wife’s friend is selling a portion of their tilapia fish pen on Laguna lake which I think cost 300k pesos.
During the time (again, ten years ago) I was thinking of a best way to grow tilapia without fish pen. I’ve seen on some television program, probably the Ating Alamin by Gerry Geronimo, that can grow and produce tilapia using plastic drums. I never got the chance to see the filtration and aeration system if it has any. Tank culture of tilapia is not much different of setting up an aquarium for tropical fishes. Any kinds of fish need to eat and breathes oxygen so the water must have a good amount of oxygen. A good filtration is also needed to minimize water pollution caused by waste products coming from the fish and the fish food that settled on the bottom of the tank. Using plastic drums can be the cheapest and practical way of tank culture of tilapia. You only need to ad another drum if you wish to expand it.
If you love to eat salad, specially salads where there are lots of lettuce, then I think you will be interested in planting and harvesting your own lettuce. Searching for a variety of lettuce to plant seems not very hard because there is one popular choice, and that is, the romaine lettuce. The obvious reasons are fast growing, easy to harvest and forms a loose head. It also don’t require a large space and your backyard can be suitable if you have one. I’m no expert gardener and not a gardener at all and I just got the information from the internet. The purpose of this post is just to give you an idea on what sideline or business you want to have specially this summer. Anyway, romaine lettuce loves cool weather and will thrive well on regions with a cool climate like in Baguio and Davao. But if we don’t live in a cooler regions of this country, then I think it is wise to choose cooler months like December to February and improvising a shade to protect the plants from the scorching heat of the sun.
Locally, toddy is commonly called “tuba”. It is usually bottled and made into coconut wine, mixed with cinnamon bark to prevent fermentation which turns it into vinegar. Palm toddy is another kind of sap but not from coconut tree, it is from palm trees. Below are some technologies and procedures to convert the coconut sap into other value added products aside from wine.