FOR AUGUST 13, 2023
The “Potager” and “Sibojing” connection
Please meet my co-dreamer Pinky. She and
her husband have just transfered to “Corella
uroy” from “Anda uroy”. Pinky is a nurse
retired from her work in the USA. She and her
husband Dick Mcmichael, want something
rustic, so they decided to stay in “Corella
uroy”.
Pinky is an artist and she can do wonders with
her hands. I marvel at the piece of driftwood
from her “Anda uroy” home which she turned
into a beautiful piece of art in her “Corella
uroy” abode. Naa gyud siyay mahimo nga
maanindot sa mga butang nga alang
kanako angay na isugnod. Take for instance
the pieces of furniture she produced out of the
anod gikan sa baybayon. Ug ako pa ang
gipasagdan adto, masugnod na gyud sa
abuhan.
For my dear Pinky, everything is useful even if
the thing is in the state of uselessness. For
her. everything could be recycled and could
be turned into a creation of art. For her,
nothing should be left to waste.
We have been to her “Anda uroy” place and
it’s a place of wonder. Now, her “Corella uroy”
site is an amazing work in progress.
It was thru Pinky that I heard the word
“potager”. Upon hearing her articulate the
word, we, the dreamers, immediately became
curious. Personally, I thought it was sexually
connotative. Pardon me and my thoughts. I
held on to this connotation until one day, I
couldn’t resist the curiosity any longer and
blurted out the question: Unsa may buot
ipasabot ug “potager”? He he e! Ga-una
lang gyud akong hunahuna. “Potager”
according to Pinky is a garden around the
kitchen where one could plant herbs for
culinary purposes. These are the herbs that
we often use in the kitchen – almost every
day.
And I suddenly remember my Lola Danday
who planted luy-a, sibuyas, tanglad, sili
kolikot ug atsal in broken pots and old
kitchen pans with holes. So, I realized that we
already had our version of the “potager” in
our house before. I thought, honestly, that the
“potager” was that good-looking girl in the
bar, who could dance all night and who could .
. . so forth, and so on. Pardon me and my
“fertile” mind!
And what about the “sibojing” connection?
We resided in Tacloban for almost twenty
years and the Waraynons could always
identify the Bolanons in the Waray area and
those in Southern Leyte. How? Well, ug ang
balay gani, adunay “potager” ug mga
tanum sa banggera sama sa sibuyas,
tanglad, luy-a nga gitisok sa bu-ak nga
mga kaldero, kon (pot) ug kaha, kanang
balaya, gipanag-iya gyud na ug Bol-anon.
And where is the “sibojing? connection
here? Sa sinuginlan sa mga Waray, ang
sibuyas dahonan gitawag na ug “sibojing”.
The sibuyas dahonan that we mostly have in
the market now are the big sibuyas with large
leaves and white slim trunks. Hybrid na ni
sila. But in the olden days the sibuyas we
used to have had rounded and pink trunks
and was a bit smaller than the Bombay
Tagalog. We still have this kind of sibuyas
from Pamilacan. This is exactly the “sibojing”
referred to by the Warays as the Boholano
connection. Anywhere you go to Leyte and
Samar, may ada gid Bolanon. May ada gid
potager. May ada gid sibojing. And mind
you, they are prosperous!
So, let’s have the “potager” and the
“sibojing” in our bangueras and we will truly
have the Boholano connection as we breathe
in the aroma of hospitable people in this part
of the globe.
Happy cooking everyone!
These are the items crafted by Pinky from the
trees he cut from their Corella uroy.
This is part of the “potager” of Pinky’s
“Corella uroy” home.
The green house at our Blue Apartelle area in
Taguihon, Baclayon, Bohol
A closer look at this composite of twigs will
allow you to find a bird, a bug, and a lady’s
hand – a real work of art by Pinky.
An egret made from a piece of vine, some
slabs and twigs – another creation of Pinky.
Pinky and Dick Mcmichael – the duo behind
the “Anda uroy” and the “Corella uroy”.