Volunteering on a Thai Farm

Representin the Graviti

Our first night on the farm, there were so many volunteers that all of the accomodations were taken, so we opted to pitch our new Graviti tent (weighs only 1.3 kg!) in the garden. Its a temporary solution..the garden that is. The upside being that it is a flat area with a clear path, the downsides being that its a little far from things and its in the direct sunlight, plus there are suspicious snake-hole looking things around the tent that make me a little nervous, especially since we were told stories abour snakes roaming through the garden on our first night! But really what can you expect right? Its Thailand. So mai pen rai..

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.

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.

Walking Meditation and Stretches

Sitting around the table @ Breakfast, under the PawPaw tree!
 From left to right: Me (Canada), Natalie (Germany), Daniello (Holland), Jim (Sweden)

Baan Din

One of the main things we are going to do in Thailand is learn about

sustainable construction: how to build earthen buildings/homes, "Baan Din" in Thai. I have been doing a lot of reading on the internet and I found this great video of the step- by-step construction of an Adobe building, which is the most common form of earthern home being built today in Thailand.

"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

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.