Tags: Entrepreneurship, Handicrafts, OFWs
By Alexander Villafania
SAN PABLO CITY, LAGUNA – Love of things that grow was the very reason why this couple from Laguna went into wood art and herbal medicine.
Architect and interior designer Myrna Katigbak-Frago and husband Joel, a former overseas Filipino worker, own and run Forest Wood Garden.
Forest Wood Garden is essentially a combination of four different companies: a landscape design contractor, wood art maker, ornamental plant farm, and manufacturer of herbal products.
Many of the couple’s landscaping skills were put to use in the homes of affluent Filipinos. An added feature in their service is using their self-designed rustic wood art, as well as using their own ornamental plants for their designs.
Their unique service is actually consistent with Myrna’s idea of utilizing nature as basis for both artistic and practical use.
She used her formal training in architecture and interior design and her passion for horticulture. Meanwhile, her husband, a graduate of nursing and a former seaman, utilized his artistic talents to build sculptures using stone and wood.
Myrna, in her website, says Forest Wood Garden started out as a hobby in 1990 and was established as a business in 1998 with only P5,000 in capital. The couple started out the business as a nursery for seedling ornamental plants, eventually going into wood art and landscaping.
With the success of their garden business, they ventured into bath and medicinal herbal products.
One of their products is the Forest Amazing Soap which uses the plant aloe vera that they also grow in their garden. Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis), locally known as “sabila,” is already popular for its medicinal and cosmetic compounds and is mixed to become a variety of skin and hair creams and even drinks.
In particular, it has anti-fungal properties, which is why it is used for soaps and shampoos. The Forest Amazing Soap claims to have anti-dandruff and anti-skin allergy properties.
Aside from the soap, the Fragos also recently introduced an herbal oil extracted from various plants that they sell as skin-applied muscle relaxant. This product is simply called Amazing Herbal Oil.
The Fragos are actually on the right track with their herbal medicine business especially as the Philippine government is aiming ton build the Philippines’ reputation as a global source for herbal medicine. But for now, they remain focused on their love for landscaping and growing plants.
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