Transplanting roots

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Sep 2, 2006 | by Sasha Vasilyuk, STAFF WRITER

Even though the rooms in her house have some orchids, Bugawan cannot grow many of them outside as the climate is not as hot and humid as on the islands. However, other plants such as tree ferns, cacti, Birds of Paradise, and calamansi lime -- a fruit tree with miniature limes popular in the Philippines -- seem to find her Castro Valley garden a suitable environment.

Bugawan uses calamansi in cooking, but misses the time when getting all the necessary vegetables and fruits required a quick visit to the backyard instead of a long trek to the Asian food stores in Fremont or San Leandro.

"Almost all houses there have a garden," she explains. "If you need a banana, you go outside and pick the banana. There are so many different fruits that you don't get here. I don't even remember all their names."

Bugawan looks at the photograph of a colorful fruit stand from the Philippines. She smiles and says, "I want to go back and eat all that fruit."

Write Sasha Vasilyuk at

svasilyuk@angnewspapers.com.