RICE FARMING IN THE PHILIPPINES | (The Traditional Method)

Pea takes viewers on a hands-on field trip to a rice farm in the Philippine provinces, personally riding a carabao and wading into the paddies to demonstrate the entire traditional rice production process from plowing to milling. The video doubles as a love letter to rural provincial life, with Pea narrating each step while visibly enjoying the mud, the animals, and the childhood memories the setting evokes.

What's Covered ​

• The setting: rural provincial Philippines

  • Pea and Jen trek down a narrow path to reach the rice paddies
  • Pea remarks on the beautiful green scenery and says it reminds her of childhood memories — "it's very similar" to where she grew up
  • They encounter Jen's son and a shy female cow along the way

• Provincial water source and daily life

  • Water flows out from under rocks through a bamboo pipe
  • Locals use this single water source for drinking (unboiled, straight from the flow), laundry (detergent wrappers visible nearby), and bathing ("Filipino style — bucket style under a big acoustic tree")
  • No running water infrastructure — everything happens at this one natural spring

• The carabao (water buffalo) — "the star of the video"

  • Called water buffalo by foreigners, carabao by Filipinos
  • Described as the "main workhorse of rice production" — ubiquitous across the entire country
  • The one featured is a four-year-old female, described as "very docile"
  • Pea rides one carabao to reach the working carabao that does the plowing
  • She hooks up the plow herself (noting it's heavy) and rides the carabao through the paddy

• Step 1: Plowing the rice paddy

  • Each section must be plowed thoroughly using the carabao-pulled plow
  • The goal is to turn the soil into a "mushy paste" — that's the indicator the field is ready for planting

• Step 2: Preparing rice seedlings

  • Soak rice grains for two nights and two days until sprouts emerge
  • Plant the sprouted grains in a designated section of a rice paddy
  • Wait for seedlings to grow to transplanting size

• Step 3: Transplanting seedlings by hand

  • Pull the grown seedlings from the nursery section
  • Plant them in the flooded rice paddy — the water must sustain the rice stock
  • Each seedling goes 2-4 inches deep and 6 inches apart to allow growing room
  • Must be planted in straight lines to make harvesting easier
  • All done entirely by hand while standing in the water
  • Pea does this herself, noting she's simultaneously getting "a mud bath, sun tan, and hair spa day"

• Step 4: Waiting

  • At least three months until harvest-ready

• Step 5: Harvesting

  • Rice turns golden yellow when ready
  • Cut manually using a scythe (called "galab" in Visayan)
  • Done by hand across the entire field
  • Workers are barefoot — "no boots or gloves, this is how it is"

• Step 6: Drying the rice grains

  • Rice grains are separated from the stalks
  • Laid out to dry under the sun
  • The leftover rice stalk detritus is kept to feed the carabaos — nothing goes to waste

• Step 7: Milling

  • Once fully dried, grains are collected into sacks
  • Delivered to a milling station where the rice husk is removed
  • The finished product is the white rice grain sold in supermarkets
  • Pea notes it's "very difficult to peel the rice husk manually"

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