Stabilizing Food Supply

When Apo Isko's group returned.

The other group who collected herbs and spices was already waiting for them.

They gathered different kinds of pepper, cloves of garlic, whole onion with leaves, lemon grass, oregano leaves, ginger. Some carried different leaves such as basil, rosemary, bay leaf, lemon balm, cilantro, chives, thyme and mint.

Some of them gathered wild vegetables, and the other people gathered fruits.

According to the talking book, the leaf spices and some pepper needs to be dried and crushed to get the best flavor. It can be stored in dry and sealed storage so it won't get bad.

Ginger, Garlic and Onion were the fastest to deteriorate but it will not become a waste as you can plant it again if there's already a shoot growing on it.

Apo Isko explained how to use these ingredients and which meat is suitable for the ingredients.

He also showed them different cooking methods using pots and bamboo.

He also explained the importance of grains such as rice, wheat, and corn. He explained the efficiency of the high yielding crops and grains. They were shocked on how easy to prepare it, just boil these grains, they can cook rice and corn. Just add more water and salt to make a gruel or soup.

Once again, these Tribesmen were enlightened by Apo Isko by using the knowledge from the talking book. He himself couldn't believe their rapid development.

The food prepared by using the ingredients they gathered became the first proper cooked food that they've eaten. There's so much flavor in it and tasting it for the first time, you can expect what reactions and facial expressions they'll make. As if it was some gourmet or a delicacy prepared by 'Cooking Master Boy' or the 'Totsuki Culinary Students', they almost take-off all their clothes due to how good the food was.

Take note, it was only the vegetables and grains that they cooked. The meat is not yet served!

The young-adult's group including the 10 capable men of the tribe is not present during this meal time.

They were all hunting in the forest and will return this afternoon.

After Apo Isko's explanations, everyone present in their village helped in processing the herbs and spices. They need to make a warehouse or a silo for the grains and their other food and ingredients.

A field of a kilometer and a half long and a kilometer wide became a farm.

Basic farming knowledge bestowed by the Talking Book to Apo Isko became the daily work of the teens and parents group.

Poultry and Livestock farming of wild animals became the tasks of the young adults of the pacific tribe.

With this, the food supply became stable and everything went well.

There were also development on crafting and cooking talents of the whole tribe.

Apo Tasyo together with Inang Mabailan became advanced craftsman/ craftswoman compared to all the tribesmen.

But Apo Isko is still in a dilemma, the summer season will soon end.

They already have enough stock of food for 2 whole season, but he's more concerned about the mating season. Before the summer end, there will be an annual summer-end meeting with the other 5 neighbor tribes.

There will be barter-trading event that only happens twice a year. It happens every summer-end and summer-start, there will be declaration of ownership of an island or territory but if there's a conflict or there were 2 tribes that wants to own an island or a territory, they will settle it with a duel.

There's also a tradition between these tribes. They can't marry anyone from the same tribe, so a man from a tribe needs to find a woman from another tribe.

They need to show-off during these kind of events, a woman needs to show her beauty so men from different tribes will compete to win her heart. The parents of a woman usually choose a man for their daughter based on his capabilities and wealth. The parents usually demands a whole live cow or wild boar or any other practical items that a man can offer.

If there were 2 or more suitor for their daughter, the parents can accept all of the gifts from those men and let them compete. Whoever won, will get their approval and their daughter will be happily married to that capable man.

It's not by the looks but it was their talent and capabilities that will allow them to get a woman.

The tribe with many capable men will make their tribe prosper.

The more offspring they can, the bigger their population would become.

The bigger the population, the bigger the work-force, the fighting-force, and their territory will also grow bigger.

This practice will also make the 6 Tribes to become familiar with the other tribes. There's a hidden bond or alliance due to this tradition.

The event will take place after a month and a half, it will be during the last days of summer.

The event usually takes 3-5 days. It will depend on the first rain or the entrance of the rainy season which signals as the end of the event.

There's an island in the middle of the 6 allied Tribes, it was called 'Clam of The Orient Sea' due to its shape. There are 2 fan shaped island connected to each other that looks like an opened clam.

This Island where the event will be held was separated by 5 big rivers from the territories of the 6 tribes, so the distance is symmetrical to each tribe.

It was neither near or far and and it was perfectly located at the center.