Dedicated to all the volunteers I worked with this spring.
Great work everybody! Happy travels to you all XO
Showing posts with label Organic Farming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Organic Farming. Show all posts
Vounteering on a Thai Farm: Projects!
Cook! Using all fresh and organic and even wild plants! Our staple ingredients are things like ginger, chilies, soy sauce, mustard flowers, wild sweet potatoes, papaya, and mizuna!
Build!
Waterproofing the roof.
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| My partners in crime and me in the kitchen- Cookin up a meal for up to 20 people at time!   |
Waterproofing the roof.
Making finishing touches.
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Making more mud bricks!
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Gardening; Planting, Fertilizing, Weeding, Harvesting
Volunteering on a Thai Farm: Breakfast & The 5 Contemplations
When I was in Canada looking for an opportunity to do something meaningful in Thailand, I naturally started to pursue agriculturally-driven projects. But I didn't want to go to just any farm- I wanted to learn as much as possible- about farming, meditation, how to build a mud-house. I had a bucket-list going on. I started looking for farming opportunities where I could build a mudhouse, and within a community living in a meditation sangha-style. 
Eventually, when I found this farm, which is organic and is a place of meditation. I wrote an email immediately and received a response within a few days telling me that there was an opportunity to learn about earthen building and the offer was there. They said to come out to and work on the farm in exchange for learning about building earthern homes, meditation, and Thai cooking, so I did. Something I really like is that each morning the volunteers and the farmer all gather outside after walking meditation, for a modest but fulfilling breakfast, sitting at a few makeshift tables among the bales of straw and bamboo. He reads "The Five Contemplations" every morning before eating. 1.This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings and much hard work.
2. May we eat with mindfulness & gratitude so as to be worthy to receive it.
3. May we encourage & transform our unwholesome mental formations,especially our greed and learn to eat with moderation.
4. May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that we reduce the suffering of living beings, preserve our planet & reverse the process of global warming.
5. We accept this food, so that we may nurture our sisterhood & brotherhood, strengthen our sangha and nourish our ideal of serving all beings.
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| Pumpkin Soup |
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| Our Thai Porridge; Rice with coconut milk, honey, banana and papaya |
ISNT THAT YOD YIAM?!
(awesome)
This is Pang Term, Thailand
frommynotebook;
"I look at the travel alarm clock and see that it is Thursday.
It is 3:58 p.m, the temperature is 30.5 degrees Celcius.
I am laying in my tent, under a large jungle hut made of clay and straw.
The roof is made from bamboo and large dried leaves.
A large red and black ant crawls across my screen door.
Beyond it I can see a mountain, and beyond that only a
forest of tropical greenery. Out the door of the tent,
and a few steps away is a path lined with well-spaced mudhuts.
The path leads down to the meditation platform overlooking the valley.
A few steps later are the squat toilets, then the outdoor
kitchen and dining area, and then the farm fields, which stretch down
towards the river. This is where I am organically farming.
After you cross this river you will find the small village of Pang Term.~
I look up. I see the leaf roof that towers above me- it has seen better days.
The clear blazing blue sky is peaking through,
but I am mostly sheltered in the shade.
I am listening to Silver Jet by The Tragically Hip.
It is pulsing from my laptop, which I have used today for the first time in
awhile, since there is little to no internet access here.
A laptop sometimes feels like an old friend here.
It can bring all sorts of comforting luxuries, like music,
or reminders of home but its deemed quite useless here most of the time
in the rural mountains of Thailand. Still I am grateful to have it now
so that I canlisten to Canadian music- its been so long!~
From time to time I hear thrashing in the forest,
and sometimes mysterious footstep sounds. I hear it now.
I try not to think about it too much, I will admit I am nervous
to think about what this creature could be. Ignorance is bliss.
I also hear an array of birds which I am beginning to recognize since
they have replaced my conventional wake-up alarm.
One of the birds sounds like it is constantly saying "Pa-pa, Pa-pa".~
I feel the warm wind shift , flowing over my tent
and causing my misquito net to ripple in the breeze.
I feel at home here.~
I smell only nature around me and the Thai short-bread
that I am eating. A new volunteer has brought some from
the nearest village, Samoeng.~
I taste sweetness and black sesame seeds! Yum..
Now some cool ginger water to wash it all down.
This is Pang Term, Thailand. "
"I look at the travel alarm clock and see that it is Thursday.
It is 3:58 p.m, the temperature is 30.5 degrees Celcius.
I am laying in my tent, under a large jungle hut made of clay and straw.
The roof is made from bamboo and large dried leaves.
A large red and black ant crawls across my screen door.
Beyond it I can see a mountain, and beyond that only a
forest of tropical greenery. Out the door of the tent,
and a few steps away is a path lined with well-spaced mudhuts.
The path leads down to the meditation platform overlooking the valley.
A few steps later are the squat toilets, then the outdoor
kitchen and dining area, and then the farm fields, which stretch down
towards the river. This is where I am organically farming.
After you cross this river you will find the small village of Pang Term.~
I look up. I see the leaf roof that towers above me- it has seen better days.
The clear blazing blue sky is peaking through,
but I am mostly sheltered in the shade.
I am listening to Silver Jet by The Tragically Hip.
It is pulsing from my laptop, which I have used today for the first time in
awhile, since there is little to no internet access here.
A laptop sometimes feels like an old friend here.
It can bring all sorts of comforting luxuries, like music,
or reminders of home but its deemed quite useless here most of the time
in the rural mountains of Thailand. Still I am grateful to have it now
so that I canlisten to Canadian music- its been so long!~
From time to time I hear thrashing in the forest,
and sometimes mysterious footstep sounds. I hear it now.
I try not to think about it too much, I will admit I am nervous
to think about what this creature could be. Ignorance is bliss.
I also hear an array of birds which I am beginning to recognize since
they have replaced my conventional wake-up alarm.
One of the birds sounds like it is constantly saying "Pa-pa, Pa-pa".~
I feel the warm wind shift , flowing over my tent
and causing my misquito net to ripple in the breeze.
I feel at home here.~
I smell only nature around me and the Thai short-bread
that I am eating. A new volunteer has brought some from
the nearest village, Samoeng.~
I taste sweetness and black sesame seeds! Yum..
Now some cool ginger water to wash it all down.
This is Pang Term, Thailand. "
Volunteering on a Thai Farm
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| Representin the Graviti |
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| Wakin up! Layered like no tomorrow, it gets cold in the mountains at night!
The farm is 100% organic.
The farm produces lettuces, mizuna, mustard, onions, tomatoes, kale, coriander, sweet potatoes, bananas, cabbage, peanuts and more. The irrigation water is supplied from a well with a pump and is hooked up to manual sprinklers. The rest of the crops are hand-watered with well-water and a mixture of liquid compost made from cabbage, water and sugar. Thai-whisky diluted with water is the farmers #1 organic pesticide option. He suggests that 1 cup whisky, 20 Liters of water will do the trick.
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| Scott in front of the (outdoor) kitchen
After pouring ourselves some fresh ginger tea into our bamboo cups, we all walk down the dirt road towards a hill facing the sunrise. We practice walking meditation, and sometimes meditate on the hill. When we return back to the farm we make breakfast together before starting work. Then we split up into different jobs, like building mud bricks, cooking, building bamboo huts, farming, hunting for food, etc.
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| Walking Meditation and Stretches |
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| Sitting around the table @ Breakfast, under the PawPaw tree! From left to right: Me (Canada), Natalie (Germany), Daniello (Holland), Jim (Sweden) |
Edible Weeds for Dinner
frommynotebook:
"Today we put our shoes on and went searching for an unmarked yellow Song teaw in a sea of unmarked yellow Song teaws in China Town of Chiang Mai city. Somehow amidst the chaos, we found our way and began our 3 hour-drive wayyyy up into the mountains of Chiang Mai, past Samoeng to a village called Pang Term. (Pronounced Pong-term)
It is very rural here.
We are at a farm (organic) with lots of mudhuts! We ate an edible weed called 'Nok-sai' for dinner, among other things. Guided by the Thai farmer, we picked the entire plant with the root, and cooked the upper portion by leaving out the roots and cotyledons and soaking the rest of the plant in boiled water. Afterwards we drained it, and then stirfyed it with soy sauce, and peanuts ground in a mortar and pestle. It was pretty delicious! We also had some wild sweet potatoes freshly pulled up from the ground. They are purple on the outside and white on the inside and and incredibly sweet like candy. There is a girl here from Switzerland and she made a ginger glaze for them. O ya! Made my day after a long trip!"
"Today we put our shoes on and went searching for an unmarked yellow Song teaw in a sea of unmarked yellow Song teaws in China Town of Chiang Mai city. Somehow amidst the chaos, we found our way and began our 3 hour-drive wayyyy up into the mountains of Chiang Mai, past Samoeng to a village called Pang Term. (Pronounced Pong-term)
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| On the ride up into the mountains |
It is very rural here.
We are at a farm (organic) with lots of mudhuts! We ate an edible weed called 'Nok-sai' for dinner, among other things. Guided by the Thai farmer, we picked the entire plant with the root, and cooked the upper portion by leaving out the roots and cotyledons and soaking the rest of the plant in boiled water. Afterwards we drained it, and then stirfyed it with soy sauce, and peanuts ground in a mortar and pestle. It was pretty delicious! We also had some wild sweet potatoes freshly pulled up from the ground. They are purple on the outside and white on the inside and and incredibly sweet like candy. There is a girl here from Switzerland and she made a ginger glaze for them. O ya! Made my day after a long trip!"
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| Arriving at the farm in Pang Term |
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| Using the clay oven |
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| Nok-sai |
A Good Laugh
I recently received this picture from a friend back home.
Thanks Jill, love you!!! It was such a good laugh,
I thought I should share it with you all.
Hahaha, enjoy!
Thanks Jill, love you!!! It was such a good laugh,
I thought I should share it with you all.
Hahaha, enjoy!
Islander
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| Leaving the shore of Vancouver, heading to Van Island! Beautiful pic eh??! |
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| Arriving to our new job/ cabin at the farm, taking some pics! Here is the path back to the greenhouse |
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| Walkin through Nanoose Bay in the Springtime |
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| Overlooking the flower and herb beds |
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| Our cabin in front of the pond |
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| Weeding the spinach |
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| An eagle flew so close over my head I felt the air move around me- They are everywhereeeee. And sea lions too! |
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| May 2-4 @ The Harbour in Nanaimo, Van Island |
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| Working in Comox Valley, Van Island. We did it all- Built these irrigation lines, grew the seedlings, planted the currants,.. Livin on the river all summer! |
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| Over in Vancouver for the day |
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| @ a party in Nanaimo |
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| Me, working with honey bees!<3 Its SO COOL |
"Life Can Be Easy"
Earthoria is a website I came across while looking for sustainable farming projects in Thailand. It is an excellent resource for travellers, or inquisitive minds alike, and is self-described as a travel and lifestyle blog. Here is an short excerpt from Earthoria's
"ABOUT" page:
"We originally set up Earthoria in Thailand, where we met and where we both lived for years. During this time, Tina managed an HIV/AIDS campaign (Aidscarewatch.org), and Thomas initially volunteered with a Burma-related Human Rights group on the Burmese border.. Following some prompting from friends, we thought we’d set up the website to share some of our experiences with others."
(from www.earthoria.com )
In addition to interesting travel articles, they have a ton of podcasts on all sorts of subjects all over the world. They have a lot of information on Europe, Central America, and particularly Thailand. I really enjoyed the podcast about Pun Pun, the sustainable organic farm in Northern Thailand.
Pun Pun, aka the
"Pun Pun Center for Self Reliance" believes that
life can be easy.
It can be easy if we become be self-sustaining by learning how to provide ourselves with the basic necesseties of life such as; shelter, medicine, and food. Then we could depend on ourselves and build thriving communities. Their main focus is organic farming and seed-saving, however they also focus on making medicine making,as well as earthern house-building. To learn about workshops, or volunteer/intern opportunities go to: http://www.punpunthailand.org/
"ABOUT" page:
"We originally set up Earthoria in Thailand, where we met and where we both lived for years. During this time, Tina managed an HIV/AIDS campaign (Aidscarewatch.org), and Thomas initially volunteered with a Burma-related Human Rights group on the Burmese border.. Following some prompting from friends, we thought we’d set up the website to share some of our experiences with others."
(from www.earthoria.com )
In addition to interesting travel articles, they have a ton of podcasts on all sorts of subjects all over the world. They have a lot of information on Europe, Central America, and particularly Thailand. I really enjoyed the podcast about Pun Pun, the sustainable organic farm in Northern Thailand.
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| @Pun Pun |
Pun Pun, aka the
"Pun Pun Center for Self Reliance" believes that
life can be easy.
It can be easy if we become be self-sustaining by learning how to provide ourselves with the basic necesseties of life such as; shelter, medicine, and food. Then we could depend on ourselves and build thriving communities. Their main focus is organic farming and seed-saving, however they also focus on making medicine making,as well as earthern house-building. To learn about workshops, or volunteer/intern opportunities go to: http://www.punpunthailand.org/
 |
Click here to go to this article, or hear the Pod cast and learn more about |
- seed saving vs. corporations
- how globalization and corporations are affecting our natural seed supply and our CHOICE
- composting techniques
- earthern buildings
- Pun Pun organic restaurant and farm
- self-reliance and sustainability.
@Leftys
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| @ Leftys Restaurant on Vancouver Island, B.C. If you ever go here, don't miss out of the best veggie burger ever!! Sunflower seeds?! Yum.. |
ON to Tha Franch Day 1-3
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| Scott and I getting our caffeine! |
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| Enjoying some samosas and curry dishes...except Bri. Shes just faking. :) Notice how the rice is the only thing eaten off her plate? |
Day 1: Canadian Greenhouse Conference in Niagara Falls for the day, Fine Indian Cuisine by night, St Catharines!
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| Little House on the Prairie revisited? |
We found this mini Trading Post (pictures below) posing as an artistic depiction of an old Saloon town, complete with "Big Liz'z Boarding House", an "Ambulance", Barber shop, an Indian village, a cemetary and even an "Under Takers". From the road, we actually thought it was real!
It was somewhere off of Highway 41, just South of Pembroke.
Inside, you will find a real store, selling your usual native goods such as; mocassins, dream catchers, deer antlers etc.
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| View of the Ottawa River from Sarahs front door! |
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| Bonfire @ Sarahs, beautiful night. Sarahs Cousin playing a travel guitar...!  |
Day 3: Day at Sarahs Organic Vegetable Farm in Chapeau Quebec, then an hour drive to camp in Gatineau Provincial Park!
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| I LOVE this pic :) |
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| Sarah harvesting |
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| Fresh organics by Sarah |
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| Some black aphids on corn. |
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| Just arriving at Provincial Park du Gatineau, Secteur Lac La Peche |
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After 3 days of driving, conferencing, exploring, and a night partying in Cheapeau, QB, we are over tired, and giddy with our second wind when we realize we have reached our destination!
We packed the canoe, equipped with whatever we needed for the trip and started making way to our paddle-in only campsite across Lac La Peche. It was an extremely warm day for October, about 26 degrees Celsius! And as we arrived, the sun was on its way down...:)
I was pleasantly surprised to find a completely isolated campsite on a peninsula awaiting us. It was the cleanest campsite I think Ive ever seen. It was very well-treed, no gravel (ew),had immediate access to the water, and was well stocked with fire wood and even had its own outhouse, which was also the cleanest Ive seen. Ever. My experience at Lac La Peche was awesome, and I when I left I wished I could just stay a liiiiittle bit longer. I would definitely recommend this campground. It is phenomenol. Check it out! Map of Gatineau Park, Secteur: Lac La Peche
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| Sundown @ Lac La Peche |
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| Thats one tall tent! |
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