They’re growing grapes at Santa Barbara
On my trip to Santa Barbara, I wouldn’t want to miss the grape orchard at Barangay Lanag. To tell you honestly, I haven’t seen grapes being grown here at our tropics and it was a surprise to me that here in Iloilo there’s a grape orchard. (I thought before that growing grapes in our country is at Ilocos region only.)
From the town proper, on our way to the Sta. Barbara Dam, we pulled over at Bgy Lanag and asked directions where Denila Farm is. Denila Farm is a three hectare grape orchard where tourists before can experience picking grapes and even taste them. The cool breeze blowing from the mountains and the warm and dry climate in Santa Barbara provide an ideal place to grow grapes. The variety of grapes grown are the green ones, as the common red to purple variety are more suited in the Temperate zone.
We were guided by one of the residents in a rough road and through nipa houses. When we arrived at Denila Farm, I cannot help but marvel on the crops grown there – papayas, guavas, and others. But I wonder where are the grapes?
Grapes at Denila Farm before the Typhoon Frank (Courtesy of Iloilo Provincial Government)
At the farm house, we were met by the owner of the orchard. It was dismay that the grape vines were destroyed when the province was hit by typhoon Frank in 2008; so the farm is now prioritizing in growing other crops. Being an agriculturist, the owner told us that growing grapes is a meticulous but rewarding work. Today, the farm is working with few seedlings he brought from Ilocos and slowly but surely Denila Farm will have again grapes for us to pick and taste.
Denila Farm House
How to get there: Bgy Lanag is along the New Lucena – Sta Barbara Road. From the town proper one may ride jeepneys or ride tricycle. Travel time is about 10-15 minutes. A landmark nearest the farm is the bridge across the irrigation system.
Tags: Metro Iloilo - Guimaras, Sta. Barbara
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H!there ive just discover a new haven paradise in iloilo’s little baguio the “PINERIDGE BUCARI” i hope u can go there, its simply a perfect view that looks like tagaytay,marvel the landscapes of benguet and feel the climate of baguio.. relly nice, relly good, relly fun while relaxing under the pines… just visit the website casafiammetta.com or see my pic s at facebook (jb bravo).. hope u can see it yourself! tnx
gud day! ive just discover a new haven paradise in iloilo’s little baguio the “PINERIDGE BUCARI” i hope u can go there, its simply a perfect view that looks like tagaytay,marvel the landscapes of benguet and feel the climate of baguio.. relly nice, relly good, relly fun while relaxing under the pines… just visit the website casafiammetta.com or see my pic s at facebook (jb bravo).. hope u can see it yourself! tnx
thanks JB! yeah, i plan on visiting Bucari anytime in the future. hopefully this summer. I haven’t seen our little baguio yet, but based from you said, I believe it has lots of tourism potential. I also planned going to casa fiametta for months now, but sadly i can’t reconcile it with my present job. nevertheless i shall feature them all here for the world to see how beautiful our province is!
nice one.. is there any more grape varieties can be grown there? here in balbalasang, kalinga.. were growing grapes also but dont know yet what was the variety, but the fruit color is light violet..
i believe we can only grow the same as those in ilocos, because of the climate. the farm is still recovering from the floods three years ago.
how about in kalinga? do you have other varieties?
if grapes will be grow in Iloilo hope it will decrease the price into 40 per kilo.