Karen Village

As part of our mountain trip we spent some time in a Karen village. Walking around, tasting coffee and buying some green coffee beans for our new coffee roasting business.

 

Underneath each of the houses there was a pig tethered. Ready to be fattened up for the table.

 

This mother and child caught my eye because of their matching hats.

 

Pots filled with fresh potting soil to start new coffee seedlings

 

I don't know what this plant was. The fruit and leaves were both eaten. The fruit came neatly packaged right off the tree.

 

Doi Inthanon

We recently visited the botanical gardens in the mountain of Doi Inthanon in northern Thailand. Doi Inthanon is the tallest mountain in Thailand and is actually the first peak of the Himalaya mountain range.
On the way up the mountain we saw the ubiquitous rice fields ready for harvest. The golden yellows of the fields are glowing at this time of the year.

 

This mossy roof seems to do well in the damp environment at the top of the mountain.

 

The miles of plastic hoop houses are where the cut flowers are grown.Complete hillsides were covered with plastic.At this time they seem to be growing mostly chrysanthemums.

I love the yellow of this bamboo.

 

It is very striking grown in scattered clumps around the garden.

There were 100's of rainbow chard grown on the slopes in the botanical gardens. I want to go back in a month or so when it has grown up a bit.It will be stunning. And you can eat it too.

 

There was of course a lot of coffee trees. Looking very decorative as the berries start to ripen. The harvest will be in December.

 

On the way to the waterfalls it was a surprise to see hillsides clothed in tree ferns (or pongas if you are from NZ)

Huge waterfalls high up in the hills, with dozens of smaller waterfalls meandering down the hill side. Lots of bamboo bridges spanning these streams.

 

An unfurling frond from the tree fern.

 

Yet another waterfall. The volume of water coming off the mountain is tremendous.

 

A friendly bird of paradise to end the day.

Flower market

I love to visit the flower market in Chiang Mai. It has several acres of plants, pots, decorative bricks and paving stones. Parts are set up like a small village , and there are a lot of ideas to be had from these setups.
This entry I like a lot.

In some of the buildings there are artists living like the one below. What a great place to live.

 

Another flower stall in the market.

 

An eye catching pebble mosaic path.

Another entrance into one of the stalls that would look great going into any garden space.

Bodge and Ya's garden

A few days ago we spent an afternoon visiting our friends Bodge and Ya. They have an amazing place. Surrounded by rice fields, they have taken about 8 acres, and turned it into a permaculture paradise. There are fish ponds, worm farms, fruit trees, vege patches, mushrooms, chickens and ducks and a growing number of picturesque buildings that comprise of their thatched roofed house, rice barns, and other outbuildings. To drive down their driveway is like approaching a small village set up in the surrounding rice fields.

Here Bodge is explaining what's going on at the moment.

 

A still life scene with the cart/motorbike trailer and stone wall.

 

They grow many varieties of rice from the traditional Jasmine rice, mountain rice, sticky rice, red rice and a red sticky rice that is a striking red coloured plant (see it in the background of the first picture).

 

The ducks patrol the rice field for the giant snails and their eggs. As well they provide lots of eggs for the kitchen.

A stunning red dragonfly in the rice paddy.

These pomellos are like a giant grapefruit with dryer sweeter flesh.

 

In the vege patch there are young gourds

 

Thai basil in flower.

 

Okra with their hibiscus type flowers.

 

Perennial chili bushes. These will ripen to a bright red colour.

 

This new compost heap has the pipe down the middle to help with the air flow. The pipe was very hot to touch as the pile heats up.

 

Here is a heap that was formed 3 months ago. Full of worms and ready to go on the garden beds.

I can't remember the name of this plant. I thought the fruit were very striking looking. The young leaves are eaten and are very tasty.

 

Lots of papaya on the trees.

 

And lots of coconuts on the palms.

Here is a close up of the red sticky rice.Looks like it is going to be a good crop.

Flower market

Here in Thailand my garden consists of a few dozen pot plants at the entrance to our town house. So I look forward to visiting the flower markets regularly.

Always interesting to see what is in season

 

And fun to come home with a BIG bunch of flowers for the house.

I love these white orchids against the white walls.

A few more flowers

It is always hard to leave a garden to its own devices. There is always something new happening, and to go away for a while is to miss it.
Here are a few more views of odd corners that have come into their own.
The pear blossom looks like snow. I'm thinking it looks like a good summer for pears.

The viburnum is really looking good against the red robin hedgings new growth.

 

I love the two colours of the abutilon mingling together on the edge of the vege garden.

 

The intensity of the colour of these iris is especially striking with the sun shining on them and a dark shadow behind.

 

Good bye garden. See you in a few months.

 

 

Planting out

I am off in a few days, so ready or not the seedlings that I started over the last 6 weeks have to be planted out. My poor babies...Will they survive or will the birds scratch them up and the slugs devour them. Some will survive and some won't. It is always interesting to come back and see how it is.
Some of the seedlings have become quite a good size. Some barely have their true leaves.
I have brocolli, cabbages, pak choi and beets on the go.
Here is a lettuce that is sizing up quite well. I have started batches a week or so apart. If it is cool for the next 2 months, the ones started 6 weeks ago may still be in good shape when I get back here in December. If we have a hot next two months then the ones I started the last week may be the ones ready to eat when we return.

 

The beans that I planted out 2 weeks ago are doing well. The sugar snap and sno peas are just starting to germinate. These ones have grown a few inches. Others are just breaking through the ground.

 

The squash and cucumbers at least seem to be growing fast. Lets hope they out grow the slug damage.

 

The basil and chili peppers are very tiny, and probably won't start to grow much until we have some really warm weather. But they are on a raised bed on the north side of a concrete building, so they may survive.

The tomato plants are a little bigger, but even they look tiny in their wire cages.

 

I planted this clematis years ago. It got lost in a grape vine, and I wasn't aware of it surviving. So I was quite excited to discover these flowers.

Today I walked past the maderin tree in full blossom. The fragrance that wafted over me was just devine. I'm looking forward to the fruit next autumn.

So my wish for the next two months is a nice balance of rain and warm weather. With a little luck I will come back to a garden bursting with veges ready to harvest.