Undone in Udon - A journey into the unknown, by the unknowing...

It's hot. Bloody hot.

Every day my phone warns me not to spend too long outside lest I get fried by high levels of ultraviolet light, then after 2 or 3 hours pouring sweat, my body reminds me I'm a fat old git and if I don't climb into the sweet embrace of a cool shower and sip a cold drink, I'm likely to melt into the undergrowth.

We had some new guests come to stay in the chicken coup; 30 more RI Reds. They're almost the same size as our current flock, so will hopefully start laying in days rather than months. That should make a combined population of 57 in there. We're hoping that's enough to both keep with the local demand for eggs as well as (somehow) make their food more affordable due to the egg money covering the entire cost of food.

We have a handful of ducks to cull and put in the freezer before the next batch hopefully hatch. We will then move the 2 of the 3 mature hens and the ruffian drake to a new pen, as to allow the chicks to grow in peace.

Apart from everything growing too fast, that's the current state of play.

Some not so good news from our duck pen today.

Three ducks have died in the last 12 hours. It looks like its due to heat stroke. The ducks do have a private pool, but I guess when the water in the pool is pretty warm, it's not going to cool them down much. We will be using frozen bottles of water (changed twice a day) to hopefully lower the temperature of the pool for them.

They already have a fully shaded pen, but the ambient air temps are in the mid 30s, and there's not much of a breeze.

We only had 6 adult ducks left, and 3 of them should've been in the freezer already, but the manner of their deaths is upsetting. The chicks that hatched a week ago will hopefully be OK due to their smaller mass, they should handle the heat a little better.

Helpful are Fans with a solar panel so they only operate when the sun comes up...

Beside the mechanical way there is a more sophisticated natural way of cooling:

Planting Bananas around gives a great cooling effect because Bananas are growing fast and with their large leaves they evaporate and cool the air significantly.

I have some (50) Rainbow gum trees. (they grow fast and up to 250 ft high and wide)
Put two into the pen and let them grow through the roof.
If you walk through an Eucalyptus forest you will feel why.
Rainbow gum needs huge amounts of nitrogen and the bottom of the pen is probably covered with it.

To close the work of nature, connect a hose and use a toilet syphon to refill constantly the water body which should be "duck dive" deep and full to the brim so they can easily spill it out.
(The pipe from the pump should be underground)
The spilled water will be thankfully taken by the Rainbow Gum Trees...

Its all a circle of life (and living ducks)

If you want some rainbow gum trees:  My wife will sign for the land in a week and drive to Chiang Yuen.

One of the duck chicks was looking a bit wobbly, so the missus bought it inside out of the rain. I'm particularly fascinated by her LED 'heat lamp'. Bear in mind its about 35°C in our kitchen, its probably a good choice! 😄

See Hes wrote:Helpful are Fans with a solar panel so they only operate when the sun comes up...

Beside the mechanical way there is a more sophisticated natural way of cooling:

Planting Bananas around gives a great cooling effect because Bananas are growing fast and with their large leaves they evaporate and cool the air significantly.

I have some (50) Rainbow gum trees. (they grow fast and up to 250 ft high and wide)
Put two into the pen and let them grow through the roof.
If you walk through an Eucalyptus forest you will feel why.
Rainbow gum needs huge amounts of nitrogen and the bottom of the pen is probably covered with it.

To close the work of nature, connect a hose and use a toilet syphon to refill constantly the water body which should be "duck dive" deep and full to the brim so they can easily spill it out.
(The pipe from the pump should be underground)
The spilled water will be thankfully taken by the Rainbow Gum Trees...

Its all a circle of life (and living ducks)

If you want some rainbow gum trees:  My wife will sign for the land in a week and drive to Chiang Yuen.

Hi Will. The pen is only 2m high, so I think the bananas will want to push through the roof. we top up their paddling pond twice a day, don't need anything automated.

As I said, the ducks were due for the chop anyway, and should have been in the freezer a month ago - I just feel like I've let them down by letting them perish in the heat.

It's has provided us with more experience & knowledge, so we will hopefully prevent it moving forward. We are moving the duck pen to a more 'jungle' type environment which should be a better environment for them.

I will ask the missus if she wants more bananas though, and we'd love to meet your better half, if she has time.

I took a bunch of photos today of the small plot where we live, and I found it incredible how green everything has got over the last year. I'm going to try and post before and after photos, but will undoubtedly make a mess of it, so I apologise in advance for the forthcoming confusion...

First up is the square area that has the coconut palms on it. When we added this small piece to our existing land, we raised by about a metre so it was the same height. It also meant we buried all the good soil under a load or crap red clay stuff, so this was one area we really dried to add organic matter to.

3 years ago:
Pic 1 shows the land before we buried a felled coconut trunk along with the good soil.
Pic 2 shows the land soon after we raised it. That bloody stump in the foreground took ages to remove. I think the digger driver eventually got it all out.

2 years ago:
Pic 3 shows the first lot of straw to go down in an effort to add some organic matter to the land and encourage some sort of soil life.

1 year ago (probably):
Pic 4 shows a few tiny fruit trees, baby moringa around the edges and some bananas, along with the three coconut trees.
Pic 5 shows the beginnings of a hugelkulture mound. I still haven't buried it, but it's still breaking down nicely and adding to the area. There are other bits of wood that will eventually decompose, including one of the coconut trees that we chopped as we were worried about it falling.
Pic 6 shows a big improvement over the previous year and we thought we could get away with planting corn. The corn harvest was very poor as the soil is only about an inch thick until you hit the clay. It's all useful though.

Today:
Pic 7 was taken today and shows a massive improvement. The low growing weeds reminds me so much of home in the local woodlands. This area is primarily for fruit trees, so we're maybe a year or two away from being able to eat any of it.
Pic 8 is a panoramic shot showing this general area again (to the right), along with the newly cut path that will eventually cover itself with grass, like the rest of the area has. We haven't planted any grass here, only cut what seeds were already in the soil of have been blown across from other areas.

When we first got a couple of chickens and ducks, I though it would be a good idea to put them smack bang in the middle of the plot. After managing to grow another brain cell, I moved them to a narrow piece of our land down in the bottom corner. It's now more incorporated as we have bought adjacent land to it, but it's about a metre higher than the new piece, so is still 'an island'. The rain washes the nutrients down into the new piece, which I will show later - everything is growing mad there, including the bougainvillea hedge which is getting out of control - that's job for the coming week.

2 years ago:
Pic CS 01 - Again, the soil was terrible, so we put a load of straw down.

1 year ago:
Pic CS 02 - This is the path leading away from the chickens, with the shaded vege area to the left.

Today:
Pic CS 03 - This is the pathway leading to the chickens & ducks. The shaded vege area is on the right which I will highlight in another post.

Not much to say about this area, but the shaded vege patch was a struggle to get going. We've had mulberries in for a couple of years and they produce fruit. I've no idea how/when/why to prune them, so they get a chop when they get out of hand after fruiting, which is about now.

The angles I took the photos at are about 80 degrees apart, but the second photo shows how lush things are in there now.

The main area behind the house has changed a lot in the last 3 years and has had a lot of stress with diggers and more crappy clay soil dumped on it in places. It is now healing quite nicely and beginning to turn into something quite nice (this is a residence as well as a 'test farm').

3 years ago:
MA 01 - This is looking towards what would eventually be home for the chickens and ducks (along the white wall at the bottom). My new house will be just out of shot on the far left, and the coconut area showcased above is kinda to my right and behind me. You can see the DEAD red clay quite clearly.

MA 02 - I waded through the 'clover' and turned around to face the gate, which is hidden by that shrub with the big leaves. The first white house is now owned by us, but today is obscured by the black house that I am taking an age to build. The small shrub to the right of the photo is now a rather lovely tree beside a newly dug path. Unfortunately, many of the tall skinny trees at the back had to go.

2 Years ago:
MA 03 - This is when I had the bright idea to but the birds in the middle of the plot. You can see the frame of the black house begin to emerge. The 3 bananas are now a shield wall!

Today:
MA 04 - The newly dug path that will grass itself in time and allow water to drain down the land, as it slopes down a bit. The tree at the end of the path was the little shrub highlighted in MA 02.

MA 05 - I took a nice panoramic shot. The cobblestone floor that I am standing on should actually bow outwards - it's very confusing! The shield wall of bananas are in the centre of the photos and the new path on the right, along with the coconut area. This will be my view from the small pool (once I've evicted the frogs) that I shall enjoy after a hard day watching my wife do most of the work. I cannot believe how nice my lawn is considering it's all weeds.


This is the last of my 'comparison' features, and will now move on to posting close ups of flowers that I can't identify, herbs that I can and some wild animals!

I took quite a few photos today (sorry), so will split them up over 2 or 3 posts.

Many of them, I have no idea of names, some I do. I'll add descriptions to the photos.

Here are the rest of today's photos.

Great update mate.

I am counting my days here on the job in Taiwan,
91 to go and the rest of today...

The clover is still an eye catcher, a complete nitrogen fixing carpet.

Arachis pintoi, (Brasilian Peanut) how does it perform in Isaan. I guess it loves the shade and stunned growth in the sun.
I am asking because the shops don't throw the seeds for free out. The Brasilian Peanut can stand heavy grazing, is also a nitrogen fixer and its very good to suppress weeds..

Your pigs, what breed you are going for?
My mate offered me five *secret Breed* weaner as a free starter pack, but I fear they are Bulldozers on my turf and the ones I see on your pictures have a snout more suitable to slightly scrape the surface.

As soon you get the first chop on your BBQ tell me about the marbling and taste please.
If it tastes good and the fat is nicely spread through the whole meat I am in.
Leave me a boar incl. its bollocks..
That one will later sire the *secret Breed* sows and the outcome will be high class (hopefully) which is not going berserk in the food forest (hopefully)

Lets beat the overrated Iberico ham.
I had a real Iberico Bellota chop here in Taiwan in a posh restaurant.
Cost me 65 USD incl. baked spud and some veggie mix.

Well, yes it tasted good, bit like the real farm pigs in my village where I grew up,
but this chop was priced based on its story and heritage and if they wouldn't have shown on the menu what breed it was I reckon I wouldn't taste a difference to a free range pig raised in the east Frisian moorlands chewing its entire life heather and bog herbs.

Cheers

Will

See Hes wrote:Great update mate.

I am counting my days here on the job in Taiwan,
91 to go and the rest of today...

The clover is still an eye catcher, a complete nitrogen fixing carpet.

Arachis pintoi, (Brasilian Peanut) how does it perform in Isaan. I guess it loves the shade and stunned growth in the sun.
I am asking because the shops don't throw the seeds for free out. The Brasilian Peanut can stand heavy grazing, is also a nitrogen fixer and its very good to suppress weeds..

Your pigs, what breed you are going for?
My mate offered me five *secret Breed* weaner as a free starter pack, but I fear they are Bulldozers on my turf and the ones I see on your pictures have a snout more suitable to slightly scrape the surface.

As soon you get the first chop on your BBQ tell me about the marbling and taste please.
If it tastes good and the fat is nicely spread through the whole meat I am in.
Leave me a boar incl. its bollocks..
That one will later sire the *secret Breed* sows and the outcome will be high class (hopefully) which is not going berserk in the food forest (hopefully)

Lets beat the overrated Iberico ham.
I had a real Iberico Bellota chop here in Taiwan in a posh restaurant.
Cost me 65 USD incl. baked spud and some veggie mix.

Well, yes it tasted good, bit like the real farm pigs in my village where I grew up,
but this chop was priced based on its story and heritage and if they wouldn't have shown on the menu what breed it was I reckon I wouldn't taste a difference to a free range pig raised in the east Frisian moorlands chewing its entire life heather and bog herbs.

Cheers

Will

Hi Will,

Those 3 months will draaaaaaaag maaaaaaaan....😄

The Brazillian peanut failed miserably when I just threw all over the shitty red clay, but the missus did it properly and it seems quite happy now.

I've no idea what breed the pigs are - little brown ones. They're getting the chop at the end of September, so you won't be here in time to empty the boar's nutsack. We will get a couple more for next year though. They're sourced locally. My main worry is the butchery & processing. I have someone who should be able to help, as these pigs deserve to be turned into some top-notch tucker.

J

Soooo.... the wife has decided to use the white house we bought at the beginning for the year as a restaurant. What was a small renovation to the front of the house (adding a new porch) has not turned into a full scale assault with everything being attacked in one way of another. The plan is to open in the New Year sometime which should give us enough time to finish the build, sell one of the cars to pay for it, find a chef, fine-tune the menu, check into the Betty Ford Clinic, install a hydroponic system to grow 'leaves', plant more flowers in the garden for visitors to enjoy, etc, etc...

It would be nice to grow all out own meat, but I don't think that's particularly viable. Some will be grown here (duck, a bit of pork, eggs), but most will have to be bought in. Aside from salad leaves, we'll have a go at growing tomatoes and potatoes. My expectations for the place are that we make enough money to make it worthwhile and due to us being 30 minutes out of town, the food needs to be a cut above most other places, while having that warm 'pubby' atmosphere which will be provided by my wife's radiant personality. I shall play the miserable bar-tender role perfectly.

After I finished work last Christmas, I realised that it would be good to do a bit of this and a bit of that to keep some money coming in, I have picked up some design work for a previous client/colleague which brings in a couple of $k a month, and I also have a fledgling motorcycle T-shirt business which brings in a few hundred dollars a month. The restaurant will add to this, all being well, to make our finances more stable and enable us to leave the savings alone to allow them to do their thing should I need an emergency vacation in Northern Italy at some point in the future.

I've attached a few photos and any advice or feedback would be very much welcomes, as this is yet another venture we're running headlong into with eyes firmly closed!

As Restaurant in Thailand, the dream of every Farang. MY ALARM BELLS ARE RINGING MATE!

Growing potatoes? Let me help with above 10 years of trial in Thailand:
They grow best in Carrefour, Big C and Tescos

For the most heat resistant potato we have paid a fortune to get them imported from India (the Kufri Lima)
Very optimistic that will grow in father in law's garden near Chiang Yuen.
They made huge plants and we found pearl size spuds.
Then we compared the areas where they grow
(Gujarat till East Uttar Pradesh) and so also we did our research how hot is it there in the winter (their potato season)
Much colder than in Udon, so sorry, no spuds in the own garden.

Hydroponic, don't forget to build a greenhouse including cooling otherwise your salads mix will not stand off the crowd.

Restaurant in general.
Thailand's first rule:
Every Farang thinks he is the best restaurant owner which has created over time the average and as average you barely survive.

Special guests.
From Rats, Roaches to Garbage Collectors, as clean you work, they will come.
In case you have seen already now some around your farm you are not clean enough for a restaurant be sure the infestation will be there in weeks.
(No offense, rats are part of a daily life for everyone, but with a restaurant they find or make every gap to the storage and kitchen.)

Bar Tender: One day the cop from outside will be there and as for at least a year of profit after he shows you pictures of you as bar tender..

My Restaurant for two years, similar size you plan:

The main income:
Tuesday Schnitzel day
Thursday Chicken from the Spit
Saturday German Pork Leg from the Grill

Goulash Soup was a runner...

....living 90% from local Farangs and fully booked to capacity on above days the turnover was around 25000 and after ALL was paid, the profit was 2500 per day.

This profit I could only archive with brutally hard labor:
Morning shopping, lunch time preparing and from 17:00 - 24:00 opening and be part with your customers (become a pisshead if you are not very strict)

Staff. Employ 3 chefs.
Pay the first in month one
Then pay the second in month number two because the first goes for a Poker round.
When number two joins the poker round pay number three
In the forth month you re employ chef number one meanwhile broke.

To achieve the profit above mentioned and have a top clean restaurant you burn out yourself, your wife, have 2 -3 staff and ever day customers who tell you the beer at the stone table beside 7eleven is 7 baht cheaper....

Not much time left to farm potatoes, Salads and Tomatoes Jase... Good luck mate.

I do not want to talk things bad and It's just my opinion. You might be the one that can do it (but don't forget only about 3 out of 100 survive longer than 2 years)....

Loving my wife to bits, never wanted to leave her again, I returned offshore because in 2 days I make what I made in 1 month in my restaurant. Way more easy and within a regular lifestyle..

Hi Will. Yes, I understand you posting what you did, but for every tale of doom there are positive outcomes too.

I know farmers near me who have successfully grown potatoes on a large scale (I am not saying its easy though).

As I'm married, I have a legal right to help/work in my wife's business in Thailand.

I know many successful restaurant businesses here. A good friend of mine pockets at least 300k each month and is only open 3 days a week. Another has built up and sold 4 restaurant businesses in the last 20 years in Udon. And there are more.

We have a clear idea of what we want from this venture and how we think we will achieve it. It won't be easy, but the best things aren't. It's better than sitting in front of the telly watching other people 'doing it'.

On a less 'defensive' note, I had my new friend (and Permies lurker) Fred Linden come over to visit today with his missus and some kid they found on the street (joking - I believe it was a nephew). I always find that I either run out of time to regurgitate the noodles in my head or simply forget half of what I wanted to talk about. But that's OK, we can pick up when we visit them next.
I hope they had a good afternoon and learned a little about how not to do things!

Have you considered using sweet potatoes instead of potatoes?
At least they can make delicious french fries and are much better adapted to to the tropical climate.

Thomas Schendel wrote:Have you considered using sweet potatoes instead of potatoes?
At least they can make delicious french fries and are much better adapted to to the tropical climate.

Sweet potatoes love any kind of heat of Thailand.
In Rayong I have bought 3 rai neat Tapong-Ban Phe and we have grown just for fun different tubers.
They do very well and sure they taste good.

But to roast pork with gravy and sauerkraut (with Beer of course) I want my real spuds and there is no way around.
Better than sweet potatoes are even real Yam roots (Dioscorea genus) and they taste way closer to potatoes than sweet potatoes.

@Jase,
end October till mid November I'll fly home and this winter I promise to come around.
My wife flies end of the week to Taiwan and stays till winter break, which lets me stipulate we can each bring 3 Kg seeds free into Thailand.
That's a lot of 5 grams bags, I might need to kick some of her panties out of her suitcase, LOL.

56 Kilometers from here in Kaohsiung is a company called KnownYou Seeds.
I bought a Gogoro, Taiwan's famous electric Scooter which battery exchange stations at almost every 7/eleven and I will make a big haul heat resistant veggies to share for us.
If you see something on their product list, please let me know.
(ever seen non GMO water melons that yield 20 Kilo per piece?)  

At your place we need to sneak on the field and snatch some potatoes if the farmer won't sell me some.

Thomas Schendel wrote:Have you considered using sweet potatoes instead of potatoes?
At least they can make delicious french fries and are much better adapted to to the tropical climate.

I do like sweet potato fries, but they're not good enough to go on our menu. We'll stick with triple cooked chips, home/country fries and potato salad, depending on the dish.

See Hes wrote:@Jase,
end October till mid November I'll fly home and this winter I promise to come around.
My wife flies end of the week to Taiwan and stays till winter break, which lets me stipulate we can each bring 3 Kg seeds free into Thailand.
That's a lot of 5 grams bags, I might need to kick some of her panties out of her suitcase, LOL.

56 Kilometers from here in Kaohsiung is a company called KnownYou Seeds.
I bought a Gogoro, Taiwan's famous electric Scooter which battery exchange stations at almost every 7/eleven and I will make a big haul heat resistant veggies to share for us.
If you see something on their product list, please let me know.
(ever seen non GMO water melons that yield 20 Kilo per piece?)  

At your place we need to sneak on the field and snatch some potatoes if the farmer won't sell me some.

Promises, promises...

I'd be interested in acquiring some tomato seeds. They appear to do 9 varieties, so they will do. I have tried looking for other stuff, but their website is painfully slow here, so it's not been a very fruitful experience. I'm happy to give most things a go, but more towards the European end of things.

I do need to set up a hydroponic system to grow my leaves, as I don't want to rely on suppliers for these. We will also plant chives, garlic and onions in and around the potatoes. We might give celery & carrots a go too...

I agreed with our management to have a day a week off as long I am here on this project.
Sure a huge gap in the wallet but appreciated by my wife who googles where to go and get what.

For our ponds:
Yelian (wild Lotus from Meinong) is found 3 weeks ago and the propagation seems easy.
According to my better half a "must have" for a kind of Som Tam which deserves a revival.
But in Thailand Yelian has been extinct or all eaten.
I am eating these crunchy strings regularly here and they are top of the notch.

European veggies and tomatoes that take a punch of heat will be on the list and I will get seeds for you too.

Regarding Tomatoes especially.
Her Aunt has got about 70 different breeds I brought myself from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and ordered from colleagues in South America over the last 5 years.
Field trials in Isaan are ongoing since then and some results are more than are promising... ;-)

Today was 'interesting'. It was time to get the pigs slaughtered. We have a local guy who does it. He takes the pigs away and returns them as two sides with a big bag of blood and a bigger bag of offal. We gave some of the offal to our builders along with the head (sans ears - the dog have dibs on them).

The boar was done today - the sow decided she wasn't going anywhere. I butchered one half and Bee did the other half. Our table is designed to be sat at, not stood over, so my back was killing me. As its a small breed, there weren't loads of chops & joints, but we did get some ribs, fillets and a few other choice cuts. Most of him will end up as Italian sausage along with some Cumberlands. Bee has already rendered a load of fat down (the kitchen stinks) and boiled the blood for the dogs.

I found the experience easier than I had expected. I mean, it wasn't nice, but I got stuck in and found backache to be the worst part. Bee also did a great job, but the experience didn't sit so well with her. It's not easy nurturing beautiful animals and then slaughtering them, especially ones so intelligent and who have distinct personalities, so we talked about the reluctant sow and decided to keep her. So, that's the end of the great pig farming experiment! We have the room to continue to give her a happy life, so she will continue to till her orchard until she gets old and leaves us naturally. I was also talking to a pig farmer friend who I had just reconnected with. He had grown tired with the pain of slaughtering his animals, so sells them live for other to raise.

We do have other plans... The restaurant will be a simpler pizza & pasta joint, the few remaining ducks after the next cull will be moved into the pen next to the pig (along with some turkeys, I think) and the whole 50m long chicken shed will also be moved to a more accessible area, as one half will continue to contain egg layers, but the ducks will be replaced with a variety of different chickens to entertain guests who come to the restaurant and gardens. When that will happen, I am not sure. The builders will finish the current list of works in a couple of weeks and then they will stand down for a couple of months so I can rebuild some funds, before they then tackle bathrooms & drainage, tiling of the entire place and ceilings - that will probably come to around 3 or 4 thousand dollars.

I do have a photo of the pig in the back of the truck, but I don't feel like posting it. Here's a happier one instead.

Now you have an eater more in the family and all because you didn't stick to an important farmer's rule:

"Never give your food a Name"   LOL!

The Chanotes are signed yesterday over to my wife and I am in it as payer.

Reading the pig story remembers me at my childhood.
I couldn't afford a Horse, neither my parents would had tied one to the Christmas Tree.
So I trained Grandpa's sow to be a Horse, a Guard dog and a War Pig...

As Grandpa returned with an empty trailer and a trunk full of sausage and Chops I was in bits.
Took me weeks till I could enter the stall again without getting tears looking in the empty box...
 
I will start first with chickens and slaughter the ranks up...  
Father in Law bough already a 74 cm tall fighting cock, so when his day comes he has at least a fair chance defending himself.

Not much to report, other than "we're still here".

The restaurant build is continuing (slowly), the garden is being filled with more plants along with a hedge to block off visitors from the black house. It's now the dry season, so we are watering every day.

It also looks like we will soon be overpaying for a piece of adjacent land that will connect our plot to the nearby lake. This will give visitors direct access to the garden area and give us much more parking. It's being sold by our sister who needs the funds to escape her junkie husband, so the purchase price includes a worthwhile premium.

We have also got nearly all the ducks & failed chickens into the freezer, and moved the remaining birds over to the pig's area. The current site of the massive poultry shed will be turned into a number of nicely intimate garden areas for visitors. They are elevated there, so will get a commanding view of the lower garden over to the 'petting zoo'. I have hopefully found a local source for pygmy goats, so will be adding a couple of them to the menagerie.

I'll sign off with a wish that all Permies have a fulfilling 2023!

Sounds good the idea with a pet zoo combined with the restaurant.

Pigmy goats I have seen once in a cattle market in Khon Kaen. At least they were small.

I have a colleague from Louisiana who moved, after he lost all to Hurricane Katharina to Tenessee.
I have asked him if he could source a reliable farmer who ships myotonic goats (fainting goats).

Since my wife has noticed that these really exist, she is battering me with her wish to get her a few.
I have noticed that they have a superior meat quality and will research more...
(actually my wife is always the one thinking food before entertainment, but here it's the opposite.
I like goats more Greek style with Tzatziki and Salad in a Kebab Bread along with a Leo...)
 
There are some hilarious videos on YouTube about these fainting goats..  
(You might have some customers sneaking out without paying when their kid petted a goat and it flipped over for no reason)

I am since End of November in Ban Mak Ya and also full in action.
Lake, Creek, and planting planting planting...
Not the right time now in the dry season but a water well is drilled and so we take the burden, water a lot and pray for rain LOL.

The link:
https://permies.com/t/205283/permaculture-projects/long-dream-Thailand-Part shows how we ransacked 14 rai rice fields.

Good luck with the restaurant...

Give us a shout when the opening is, I still have to come around to see the potatoes they grow in your area.
Nobody knows them here in Chiang Yuen.

Cheers

Will

Cheers Will. You're welcome any time.

Hi Jase,

looks you are as busy as we are  

the full 3 month was covered in dirt and planting near Chiang Yuen on our site.

I was surprised how fast you become well known as the farang (foreigner) who creates a new beautiful landmark with a complete different approach of classic farming.
Even about 20 kilometers away my wife got questions like: Are you the Mia Farang who builds this beautiful landscape in Ban Mak Ya?

This has one sour taste when you are known, even you helped an old couple who lost all their property to greedy family members in an heritage case.

I wanted 1000 bales straw and of course our housemaid and also the old couple asked to avoid Farang pricing and we chose to buy in the harvest season where straw is available in abundance.

They shouted out 70 Baht for one bale which is in my opinion way overpriced...

We bought about 25000 Vetiver Grass slips and will use it as mulch when grown up.

I also tried Pinto peanuts as nitrogen fixer and proper ground cover, sold for 6800 baht/kilo.
But the germination rate is poor and we have to try again in the rain season..
They seem to outgrow a lot of weeds...

Still the straw bales are on our bucket list but I am not willing to pay more than 25 baht a go.
How are the prices in Udon Thani? 120 Kilometer from me seem to be still within reach if the price fits.

Another year has flown past, so I thought I would post an update.

The restaurant opened on February 1st. I'm deliberately letting it grow organically to allow my wife and staff grow steadily and avoid being overwhelmed. The menu has been boiled down to focus on Pizza & Pasta, with a couple of non-Italian favourites thrown in for added spice.

Gang photos

See Hes wrote:I wanted 1000 bales straw and of course our housemaid and also the old couple asked to avoid Farang pricing and we chose to buy in the harvest season where straw is available in abundance.

They shouted out 70 Baht for one bale which is in my opinion way overpriced...

We bought about 25000 Vetiver Grass slips and will use it as mulch when grown up.

I also tried Pinto peanuts as nitrogen fixer and proper ground cover, sold for 6800 baht/kilo.
But the germination rate is poor and we have to try again in the rain season..
They seem to outgrow a lot of weeds...

Still the straw bales are on our bucket list but I am not willing to pay more than 25 baht a go.
How are the prices in Udon Thani? 120 Kilometer from me seem to be still within reach if the price fits.

What my wife does is just pay for the baler to go to a friend's field and bale up the loose straw. I can't remember exactly how much this is, but it's somewhere around 20b a bale. So many people around here have a few rai that they use to grow rice on, it's easy to find someone willing to let us do this.

What my wife does is just pay for the baler to go to a friend's field and bale up the loose straw. I can't remember exactly how much this is, but it's somewhere around 20b a bale. So many people around here have a few rai that they use to grow rice on, it's easy to find someone willing to let us do this.

we harvested around 300 Bales from our own rice fields.
The baler owner charged us 15 per bale, fair enough.
Next year again...