See Hes

Been there, done it.

I tried about any corn, bean and squash variety where I could get hands on.

The three sisters group in our head cinema is:
Almost maintenence free bountyful yield of 3 crops from a neat looking formation.
There are beans climbing into the corn and squash crawl humble between them..

The outcome of my trials was:
A brutal massacre between 3 plants competing for food and sunlight.
Beans flattened the corn and the squash took the chance to climb on top of them and shaded lots of green.
A few squash, a meal of beans and corn, nothing special to call the neighbors in.

Lesson learned:
We found here in Thailand (and from a supplier in Taiwan) no corn which can support climbing beans.
3 sisters is a good method to whitness how merciless nature claims its territory.
Small scale like one single guild and for teaching purposes it can be fun

Good luck with your trials

Hi Folks,

I am supporting various groups with infos and my participation.

One Group is about reporting sightings of Snakes and another is about sightings of rare speciments and biodiversity.
Both are tight connected to scientists and institutions, who are happily collecting these infos for their statistics.

Especially by snakes are often pictures posted, that show the snake has been killed before taking a picture and ask for the breed.

This is a clear proof, that the lobby created is based on Hollywood horror movies and people who introduce wildlife by including lots and lots of "drama" built on the common fear people have..

Steve Irvin was for me one of the most hated "actors". because neither a spider nor a snake is "grumpy" or purposely attack humans.
In all his shows he did the best to steer up these animals so far, that they turn on their defense mode because nobody likes to be pulled around, and hectic approaches are for these animals clear attacks.

The result of his series has sure killed, some people who (maybe on a beer) try to show off like Steve Irvin did and got poisoned, bitten or strangled and others have seen too much horror movies and so they freak out just by looking at a spider shown on a poster..

Ergo: These good Predators became the worst enemies in a misinformed and miseducated lobby...

I also created a lobby which actually is of a small number but well informed. Here my measurements I take:

1.  Our farm helpers know that anyone who kills a snake, venomous or not, will be sacked immediately

2.  I educate using the food chain.
BUT Not "snake eats mouse makes human food safe" philosophy.
I start my lessons with for example:
Rabies spreads also on humans and is deadly for us.
Tics and Mossies are NOT the Vector transmitting rabies.
The Virus spreads via the host itself which means.
Less snakes means a higher risk a Rat gobbled in the night some salvia on one of your kitchen plates, which you use for your breakfast. That's all your death needs.

3. Live shows counterproductive to Steve Irvins (and other actors who are riding on this wave)
If our workers announce a Cobra I go there and stop at approx 6 meter (18-20 Ft) from the animal.
That's the sweet spot the Cobra flares her Neck or turns for a look towards you, but still moves her way if you are not getting closer.
If you are standing still she use the chance for an escape.
Defenders who coil up for a strike (Like Vipers), getting removed to a safe spot by using a soft flat sling on a 5 meter bamboo pole.

No need to hop around such animals like you have the underpants full of fire ants and tell people how piss3d off she gets (actually became due to your hasty movements)
All good predators with a bad predator lobby deserve nothing else than a "respectful ignorance" and give way, when they are crossing your path.

Steve Lewis wrote:

Alder Burns wrote:A....mosquito fish are the default). ....

Hi Alder, thanks for the input. What kind of fish do you mean by "mosquito fish". Ideally, I want to use fish with the less maintenance as possible and highly resistant to hot temperatures. The pond is something I will add to my plan and will use geotextile and floating plants.

I mistakenly got you are from Canada but fish for hot climates like in Thailand we use Guppys, Mollies and the "one shoe fits all"  Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) which is a no brainer for just any small water body and deko pot.
Can survive 1 - 40 degrees celsius ( 33-104F) and are nonstop eaters. One single fish can hunt 200 (plus) Mossie larvaes per day.

Here in the countryside of Thailand, people who rely on rainwater stored in huge clay tanks have usually a few of them swimming in the storage tanks.
To eliminate the mossies and if the fishes have died it means the water has turned bad or even poisonous.

Steve Lewis wrote:

Hugo Morvan wrote:Swallows and bats eat their weight in mosquito's. Encourage them to come by making a pond which will attract a lot of mosquito's. Sounds counter productive. But before i had a pond i had a net on my bed. Now i have swallows and bats and sleep with the windows open in summer.

That's very interesting. The bat house was on my list, but the pound idea is worth trying!

Not forget mother nature.

The bats will get only so much offsprings as the bellies they can fill each night and so do all other animals that have Mossies on the menu.
This guarantees a continious and sustainable co existence.

This means that they will not care how much human blood is spilled and people getting annoyed (and blistered) they care about balance and food security.  

Hence let me have a joke on this.
A clear sign of success of any measurement taken will be that mossies are gone or avoiding your place...
as confirmation you realize that you have naturally reduced the amount of predators in one sweep.

Then the foreseeable day comes and the thunderstorm of the year cleans your roof, drowns your repellent and the mossies find a virgin breeding place all around.
...after zillions of more blisters than last season you see the first predators returning
... and after a few weeks and zillions of (see above) the natural balance is restored..

To your topic.
Have a seat and identify the hunters, check if you provide them enough homes and know the full demand which could be a rockpile, rotten leafes, the bat and nest boxes,  a pond and even the food demands for the offsprings comes handy to know, to create the shortest response time, when things getting naturally out of control..  

The plants prevent more or less but don't work at all if you offer these Mossies a kindof paradise..

Look around for stagnant water bodies.
It will not be a pond or trench but some unexpected places like an old bucket, pot or tin,
some spot that is a permanent puddle and even the pre filled watering can could be the breeding grounds.
(here in Thailand are aircos ofther making such permanent puddles)

Lights in and around the coop.
Some places yellow lights and in other places red lights keep mosquitoes avoiding such places.

It is possible to keep mossies away.
Disneyland in Florida is surrounded by swamps and they have no mossies in the park.
I believe they use some humidifier or mister with garlic and citronella oil so much diluted that humand cannot smell it.

Just start is a high risk, hence I would read above posts "keep on doing what you do and tip toe in"

We started this year while I still go offshore working to build the farm further and having some backup.

The nursery was actually already 2000 in our mind.
We watched the "gold rushes" in Thailand,
Durians became expensive and all bought Durian Trees
Guavas and Coconuts were the next..
...and when all came, the market was saturated, no orchard comes, Fruits harvested go to the landfill or got sold at a loss.

Instead of following the stream of gold and do what all do, we travelled around.
Not really keen in plant markets, but if a private collector and garden enthusiast became known, we would travel 500 miless for one tree...

It is THE tree that you are 100% sure you can sell it in 4-5 years,,,   Do not get overwhelmed "This is a tree nobody has" means not that everybody wants it.

These trees are the mothers of all cuttings/seedlings
low investment and long time waiting

Sorry Folks

It's really time for an update but somehow the farm is such a change of life quality and enjoyment that I am continously working on things.

First of all:
I could tell you that I claim to see every change.
A new leaf, first flowers a new plant sent by nature what the stingless bees are on about and so on and on. The path around the lake and Zones is 750 meters and I catch myself sometimes to walk it the tenth time on the same day.

BUT what nobody realizes is how much is really done and changed.
So the first picture is put together as a 3 years time lapse.

and the 2nd good news is that after we burned through one contractor we had a break during laast rain season and a new contractor came in January.
Since we agreed on "pay by milestone reached" which is very common in big projects we went out clear matching the budget set.

The house has 130 sqm (1507 sqft), 1 Bedroom, 2 bathrooms, big office, bedroom and 40 sqm (430,5 sqft) living kitchen...
The Mud Brick walls are double walls with a 10cm space, all together 60cm (2 ft)

Outside 33-36 degree Celsius (91-97 F) in full sun and inside 27 celsius at highest (80 F)

Happy days ahead...

Some might not agree with the colour.
When every room has a different colour set up it creates hidden stress (LOL)
but mainly because we wanted to give it a nostalgic flair and made by hand appearance and after it was done we really fell for it..

(which certainly will not make us wearing middle age clothers made from scratchy wool and linen...)

Kye Goods wrote:Most of the tree bark I'm dealing with is coming from conifer. So I'm a little cautious about using it around deciduous trees or any of my garden.. but I do have a lot of pine trees in the desert that get a little too hot and need good mulch so I kind of just layer them around the base of the tree as a mulch that provides shade and collects condensation that keeps t the soil moist

Its an old lasting myth that conifer are poisonous to other plants.
It alters the PH level very little and the only thing is that it decomposes slower, hence it releases less fertilizer in the same time like other mulch would do.

The Blueberry farms in Germany prefer conifer/pine mulch so the soil stays within the PH ranges as it has been prepared for blueberries.

Working since 24 years in the wind power sector these little home WTG's are more a homeowner's toy if you don't touch money.

Suitable and steady winds are up above any goodwill of your next neighbor or city council.

BIG aerator pumps are useful when your pond is deep enough (not the other way around) and not really maintenance free
I was scrolling for a suitable system with compressor and even wanted to combine solar power with wind power.
The systems that would work is 3200 CND
Solar and a WTG from China plus hardware another 3500 USD here in Thailand.
the outcome would be a "dirty" (unsteady) energy supply if you dont spent another pocket full coins on Backup Batteries.

I also wanted to build some no fancy 12V light supplies around our 8.5 acres made of car generators.
Rotor directly attached to the belt wheel in bicycle wheels as multy blade Rotor but also here is the wind speed the killer..

If the pond is not too deep a set of solar powered paddle aerators might help

bruce Fine wrote:Ive got a giant pile of tree bark and need to find a good way to use it. the pile has been getting higher and higher as I split my firewood to be stacked up for next winter. a lot of it is from red and chestnut oak and up to an inch thick by 14 to 18 inches long. by the time I get all 9 ICB totes filled and the woodshed filled with split stacked firewood im guessing there will be close to a cord of bark that has fallen off or I removed from logs.

That are decent pieces we use as mulch cover around our trees in the chicken paddocks.
If you have a problem with your chicks cleaning the mulch around trees then pile the bark two layers around your trees and use sticks rammed in the soil to hold the pieces in place.
We have beside Brahmas (upto 10lbs) and Plymouth Barred Rocks (upto 8 lbs) also some fighting cocks* from our worker who easy dig the roots of a young tree bare.

* We are not into chicken fights but surrounded by rice farms
Kukris Snakes, Rat Snakes, Coperhead racers, Vipers and Cobras are a common sight but all learned the hard way that a snake is no match for a fighting cock which goes fully aggro.  

Here is bark mixed with old branches 2 month in place and not scratched away.
Beside a good slow release fertilizer it also protects the root area from the heat here in Thailand.