Enriching the Soil As My Ancestors Did

The old folks of the town of Bontoc in Mountain Province had no formal schooling in agriculture.  Still, the agricultural practices that they did, made sense.  For example, the native sun flower plant which is abundant in the community was used as green fertilizer.  Sunflower stalks and leaves were cut and brought to the rice fields. To prepare the rice fields for planting, they would spread the leaves, stalks of the sunflower on the field (already flooded with water) and trample this with their feet. This will ensure  that the leaves, stalks are mixed well into the muck. The old folks also do these on their sweet potato plots.  Sun flower leaves and stalks decompose and enrich and condition the soil.  The hard clay loamy soil in our garden benefits from this practice.  After gathering our lettuce, the garden plots are again prepared for the next planting.  Yes, sunflower leaves and stalks are plowed in into the soil.