I've always been interested in farming. Traveling around countries on buses, trains, cars, and bicycles wondering what plants those are and how do they grow and so on. I never really had a garden before. Mostly because in most of my adult life I never had a space for a garden and when I did my time there was temporary. Rolling stones gather no moss so to speak. These days in Phuket town, I am fairly stable in my residence and even if I do go rolling my neighbor can water the plants. When you live in the tropics almost everything grows as well with minimum effort.
A good friend of mine @justinparke gave me seeds a couple of years ago. Check out his and the family posts. @kidsisters and /@sreypov. Living the way most people just dream of... So back to the seeds. For such a long time I was just waiting for the perfect place and time and always thought of a garden as a big commitment to staying in once place indefinitely. Then I realized it doesn't matter. In the end, I planted the local seeds to see what would grow and just recently planted the seeds from Justin on another project.
I've always been interested in farming
A few years ago, I met an interesting woman through Couchsurfing in northeast Thailand. Actually, I stayed in her family house with her mother during Songkran (Thai New Year) which was quite interesting and a real saving grace as that is no time to be cycling around Thailand. During my stay, the daughter and I would go around to different areas and pick fruit from the trees including the land next to the house. The mother had planted the fruit trees in various location around 20 years ago and now we we able to eat fresh organic fruit for free with just a bit of labor. That's when it dawned on me that gardens don't have to be about me or on land I own... They can be for anyone that's interested. So even if I decide to go around the world, my neighbors can water and take care of the garden and most importantly eat the fruits and vegetables.
If you want something done right, do it yourself
Why create a garden?
The question could easily be, "Why not?" Especially if you have some arable land nearby. Free organic veggies and fruits that give you a real sense of accomplishment and confidence. I was thinking today how proud organic farmers must be when they see someone enjoying their produce. Of course there are deeper reasons such as self sufficiency, knowing exactly what you are eating, cost, exercise, and being in touch with the Earth. We were all farmers to some extent in the not so distant past. Here in Thailand I don't have much faith in the "organic" labels truthfully. I'd rather buy from the local woman that grows things in the backyard and tells me she doesn't use chemicals. But as the saying goes - if you want something done right, do it yourself. There are so many more reasons and feel free to comment on your feelings.
Where is the garden?
Luckily I'm living in a bit of a green oasis in the center of Phuket town. By center I really mean center. A good friend of mine has a hotel nearby and we go on the roof from time to time and the view includes the little green area where I stay surrounded by development. Between the buildings here are a few green spaces. My neighbor and I decided to try to grow a garden in one space. Actually, he dug the garden and then I took it from there. Sometimes we need neighborly motivation to get things going ;) The landlord is quite supportive of the idea and I'll expand to some other areas nearby. Recently, I planted a new garden on some land he has just down the street.
What is growing there?
At this point we have papaya, watermelon, Thai arugula, ginger, mango, kale, pineapple and other plants I'm not actually sure of the name. As the space is rather small and the sun isn't consistent the process has been a trial and error to see what will grow. As the papaya has grown together just today I transplanted a few of the seedlings. Let's see if they survive.
Just think if everyone planted seeds
A topic for another day. For now the rainy season is almost upon us and that should be an optimum time for getting these fruits and veggies going full force. I'll be sure to keep you updated with this garden and the ones that are in the process. This is small scale gardening but greatly rewarding all the same. Stay tuned...
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Thanks for stopping by @pennsif and even more for your selection! Stay tuned for more posts as my garden is growing quickly with the rainy season upon us here. Your project looks quite interesting.
Nice!!!!!!!!
And yes, starting gardens and planting edible trees is the good work, even if the ones that started it dont even eat the food in the end! I have started over 5 gardens and eaten only from one 🤣
Yes very true @movingman. Sorry for the delayed reply. At the end of the day it doesn't matter who eats the produce as long as someone enjoys and benefits. Creating gardens is such a huge satisfaction in itself. I was thinking how nice it would be if we all planted all the seeds we took out of fruit. Seems there would be free fruit everywhere haha. Thanks for the comments!
So cool to know those seeds are being put to use. If I remember correctly, there was some wild stuff like black tomatoes and purple okra. Good post @chrisinphuket, keep it up! The second time around is a charm, hope you keep up the blogging.
Don't forget you've got Steem and SCOT tokens on Steem-Engine from your old Steemit account. Make sure to do somewith that. Start powering down now, it'll take 13 weeks to get it all. I think you had like $25 or so over there.
Yeah better late than never. We'll see if those seeds will sprout. I planted what looked like it'd grow in this climate.
CHRIS!! 😍 LOL.... nice to see you here in @naturalmedicine. 😍 Thai people are intuitive and natural gardeners, no? You're so right about not needing to own the land - rooftops, pots, containers and unused edges and bits of land other people aren't using work just fine.
If you use #POSH as a tag on your post, adn then share to twitter (also use the #PSOH tag there) you will get noticed and supported much more. On twitter oyu cna also hashtag with #hive #hiveblogshare and #hivetrending - there are some big accounts randomly supporting and sharing and curating content who help to grow hive through twitter, reddit and linkedIn. The tags help them find you.
Check out @simplymike and his #gardenjournal - make sure to get one done for May!
Hoping things get easier in Phuket soon.
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@artemislives Thanks for the message and the helpful tips and links. I'll check them out for sure. Oh yes Thai people are incredibly resourceful gardeners without limitations of land ownership concerns haha. The landlord here is quite generous and encourages the tenants to grow gardens. Things are so bad here. My favorite tea shop is open again so just waiting for beaches to open next. Hope all is well in Chiang Mai. I lived there in 2002 for a bit actually.
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I would give anything to be in your shoes. Growing things is so satisfying just to see plants unfold and give beauty and also nourishment. I never went to Phuket in winter when we were in Thailand but came close, finally opting for Krabi. I miss lush vegetation.
I'm borrowing a patch of the backyard where I'm staying and will be trying my first garden as well when it stops being cold, Good luck growing and enjoy!
Thanks for the message @carolynstahl. Krabi is quite nice as well. Bit more quiet than Phuket for sure... Yes any space is good enough for a garden. I reckon you can get some plants going early indoors if you have some sunny areas. Tropics are great because you can grow year round. Yes its super rewarding to watch plants grow and see what works where...
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