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Farming and other cool stuff outside the Bar world.


stoolpusher

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13 hours ago, stoolpusher said:

   I thought the same when I moved here but completely the opposite and you will find the same Annat with your girls family . 

I said from the start I am not a rich man and have never been asked to help the family with out getting the money back in a specified time , everyone needs a hand out now and then  In my case I have got it back in full .

    It will be a culture shock at first but it will work out in the long run , its way different living full time than staying a couple of weeks

      

Yes agree nearly did it 5 years ago but when I looked at what I would save in rent here in UK, council tax, electric water gas  car tax petrol etc. it looked a good deal as I had already done house and bought car - sadly when i looked into the cost of my pills and potions plus my health insurance and the loss of my business it became more expensive to go to Thailand

Also I am lousy at languages, hate the heat above 32degrees and totally hate snakes

so I was born in the UK and will no doubt die in the UK

though I have been coming to Thailand for 47 years

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  • 1 month later...

Well its that time of year again when we start making salt , we had already started scraping the salty soil in to a pile and today we made the bath tub like beds to wash the salt out of the soil. Doa got up extra early still in her sleeping outfit to help me cart water to wash the salt.

     [ A recap from last year ]The water will take up to 48 hours to seep through the soil ( topping up a few times ) then it will be boiled over a BBQ type set up to evaporate the water and the salt is left to dry and bag up for selling .    

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Thank's SP for sharing all that you are working on and developing up at your Home, it's great watching your progress and seeing all the effort that is involved getting to the final products.  Cheers  :drinks: Tel

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3 hours ago, stoolpusher said:

We have started boiling the water to produce the salt

Great pics SP  :drinks: it's like looking back in time seeing the process that is being used here simply to boil the water.

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The soil is just that soil , there would be contaminants floating around in the air and in rain drops that fall on the soil sure. The tin tray is NOT galvanised and cleaned and fresh water is boiled on it before the first bach of salty water is produced just to get that oily film and other contaminants that you would find on the tin tray.  I would say it is more pure than the salt you buy from your store back home .

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  • 4 weeks later...
1 hour ago, stoolpusher said:

Well the out of season rice crop is finally finished,  it was harvested today and got a decent yield from the 6 rai . All up the crop produced 4,000 kg at 6.20 baht per kg .

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Geez mate. Well done!.

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3 hours ago, stoolpusher said:

All up the crop produced 4,000 kg at 6.20 baht per kg .

Great result S P :drinks:  It is great to see the rewards flow through after all the hard work by You & your family .

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Thanks guys it was good to do and to see the results at the finish. It was getting a bit close to running out of water and then the rains came so all good. 

  

  The other farm is nearly ready for the usual planting,  a little more work to do then wait for the big rains and we will start.

 

  The John deere tractor I bought is getting plenty of use and the list is growing of farmers wanting work done , so I have given the job to Dao's dad, my Visa dosen't permit me to  earn money in the Kingdom. 

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35 minutes ago, stoolpusher said:

The John deere tractor I bought is getting plenty of use and the list is growing of farmers wanting work done , so I have given the job to Dao's dad, my Visa dosen't permit me to  earn money in the Kingdom. 

This is a very good outcome, giving Dao's Dad a way of earning a nice steady income and thereby independance to further the Family .  :drinks:

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Just now, bumblebee said:

Looks like things are going well SP, great to see you are making a success of it all. :good:

Thanks BB , I am finding it all very interesting and all the locals are keen to show me new things and a different way of doing things with the tools and equipment they have used for probably hundreds of years 

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8 minutes ago, bumblebee said:

Looks like things are going well SP, great to see you are making a success of it all. :good:

I just have to point out that he is under my guidance and instruction, so he should succeed!!.:biggrin:

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  • 2 months later...

Well its rice planting season again across Thailand,  some provinces are well under way. We started preparing land in early May after getting rid of the old sugar cane stubble.  Much more planting to go , all up we should have 15 Rai to havest around November 

  ( photos from 15th may until now ) 

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  • 2 months later...

  We are about 6 weeks or so away from the start of rice harvest time and I have decided not to buy a harvester this year because right across Thailand this year will not be a bumper crop like last year. I don't know if it's the rainy season or lack of in parts of the country,  I have spoken to many of the locals here and the all say every 3 years or so the crops aren't as good and of course the price will go down as well because of the quality .

     I do feel sorry for all farmers in Thailand,  they do it tough in a good year so hopefully they will survive. It's just a hobby for me .  when starting the farm I was happy to cover cost and have done so far and having my savings from Australia ( and other investments) the pressure is off me but unfortunately the locals only have the farm income and a bit of cash from their kids working in the cities.  It sure has been an eye opener for me but I am glad to have made the move and will continue to farm . :hi:

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5 hours ago, stoolpusher said:

 I do feel sorry for all farmers in Thailand,  they do it tough in a good year so hopefully they will survive. It's just a hobby for me .  when starting the farm I was happy to cover cost and have done so far and having my savings from Australia ( and other investments) the pressure is off me but unfortunately the locals only have the farm income and a bit of cash from their kids working in the cities. 

I am learning more than just rice farming when I follow your thread SP and I am very much enjoying the process.  :drinks:

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A bit of a follow up on Pdoggg's thread  about mango trees.

   Here in my little community we all have a small bit of land around the house and most homes I pass during the day are the same so they are all growing something to eat. 

  In our garden we have 4 types of chilly ( some you have to pick with gloves on ) , papaya,  lemon grass ,galangal ( Ginger family) banana, mango there are two common types from the same tree , green mango is eaten with  chilly and yellow is eaten as is and very sweet , Jack and passion fruit, mint , lemon ,basil and sweet basil , small eggplant ( about snooker ball size ) onion,  garlic and of course bamboo. Most Thai dishes have 80% of these types of vegetables in them , some you can eat and some are only for flavour . All are eaten with home grown rice and any meat source they can find : pork , chicken, fish , frog , rat , bird and snake.

 Here are a few pics of some of the products..

In photo order. Banana, galangal, papaya , basil , lemon grass , eggplant  , chilly , sweet basil. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has started offering loans this month to plant cannabis for community enterprises and agricultural cooperatives after parts of the plant were taken off the narcotics list.

The bank's senior executive vice-president Somkiat Kimawaha said the move supports farmers who want to plant cannabis as an alternative to rice, cassava or rubber trees.

However, Mr Somkiat said successful plantation of cannabis for medical or industrial use requires large investment, extensive care and vast knowledge, even more so than growing durian.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2187455/baac-sparks-up-cannabis-farming-loan-scheme

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  • 5 weeks later...
On 9/4/2021 at 11:21 AM, stoolpusher said:

A bit of a follow up on Pdoggg's thread  about mango trees.

   Here in my little community we all have a small bit of land around the house and most homes I pass during the day are the same so they are all growing something to eat. 

  In our garden we have 4 types of chilly ( some you have to pick with gloves on ) , papaya,  lemon grass ,galangal ( Ginger family) banana, mango there are two common types from the same tree , green mango is eaten with  chilly and yellow is eaten as is and very sweet , Jack and passion fruit, mint , lemon ,basil and sweet basil , small eggplant ( about snooker ball size ) onion,  garlic and of course bamboo. Most Thai dishes have 80% of these types of vegetables in them , some you can eat and some are only for flavour . All are eaten with home grown rice and any meat source they can find : pork , chicken, fish , frog , rat , bird and snake.

 Here are a few pics of some of the products..

In photo order. Banana, galangal, papaya , basil , lemon grass , eggplant  , chilly , sweet basil. 

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I will treasure this post of Stoolpusher's, as it was about the last one he made before he was starting to suffer from his illness.

So very sad as his dream was to setup his farm and lead a peaceful life in the country. He had bought another small farm nearby very recently, and the previous owners were waiting for their crop to be harvested before handing the farm over.

Daos father is able to help a little I think but he does have a full time job as well.

When I can travel again, I will certainly make the effort to go and see Dao and what Brett had set out as his dream.

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