mo99

Thanks Tyswom you are right in most cultures. Here farming people are poorly educated and very suspicious of anything new. The education system has been rote learning based and rumors are manifested into commonly accepted truths. This strain of mushroom is new to Thailand so no-one who has seen ours can have seen them before. The local offender mushroom is close in appearance but relatively rare and many people will not have actually seen them either. This is a matter if this time reinforced folk tale can be undone. Can we convince people to take the chance and try them?

Seems to me Thais are much more willing to try new Mushrooms than Americans are. Most Americans only know what a Button Mushroom is... I'm sure once they try it and the word gets out, they will catch on. I hear they are getting really popular in India now, I suspect Thailand is not far behind.

I'm probably just better off asking for Dolomite Lime, but I'm sure they will correct me with their own way of saying it...LOL

Cooked has offered good advice. CRH (Carbonised Rice Hulls) will raise the pH slightly but will open up the clay soil. Check your local area for sugar mills, if there are any near you try for a load of cane bagasse. Like CRH it is sold for the cost of loading and delivery. Of the three limes, I would use dolomite as it contains the best range of minerals. Rock phosphate and potash are both cheap, at under 200 baht for 50kg.

But it all comes down to adding humus, organic matter and lots of it. Manure based compost is the best way of doing that. And of course, since this is me answering, do not overlook extended EM application as a drench to get the microbes happening. .

What do the Thais call Dolomite? I would like to get some in Chiang mai.....

I find worms really help break up clay, especially the clay under a compost pile that was full of worms! The slower method is to keep all your crop residue on top of the soil, and/or "chop and drop" mulching.

Rose Apple Cider? You will probably have to add sugar though....

Sepp Holtzer's Permaculture a good book in which he talks a bit about how he does his terraces. A lot of videos about his farm on Youtube, here is one on Terraces:

Make sure you steer clear of EDTA, since it is toxic to fish and invertabrates. Also it only works at a narrow PH range, which defeats the purpose of using it. I posted a video on the aquaponics topic : http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/644274-aquaponics/

That's topsoil IA, it does tend to dry up during the dry season. That is the point! If you are lacking Organic Matter in the upper layer then you will have run-off. Of course mulching helps.

Why to find 500 bart shovel?, the only one I can find are 250 bart bean cans ,my spade I brought with me from the UK, much to the amusement of the check in staff at Heathrow.

As for a scythe a look at google there are companes in the UK and USA that still sell them ,but will they send one to Thailand .

Good luck with that, you can't even get a tiny pocket knife through the airport anymore...LOL

A decent scath sound to me like a good idea. I was thinking this, back a few months ago when trying to cut some weeds with the weed-wacker ( it is much heavier than a scath, and unbalance) not to mention the noise and power consumption. How did such an idiotic invention ever came into use, I have no idea.

Much as I would like the clod in his left hand, I haven't, I got the lifeless hunk. Further I have dirt, not soil. High percentage of fine particle clay which is porridge in the wet and concrete in the dry. It has been tilled and chemically fertilised for years which has effectively removed the carbon from the soil.

If you can tell me how to reverse that and get organic matter back into the ground without tillage, then I am all ears.

IA,

Plant roots are the primary way of getting OM back into the soil. Also as I mentioned earthworms move OM into the lower layers of the soil as they come to the surface to feed on decaying plant matter. Fungi help bind the low OM dirt together making it more sponge like. Even in my little garden where I have mostly sand, the fungi have begun doing this. I have no real soil under the top soil, and yet the fungi have attached themselves to the sand particles. I am not arguing about initial tilling to get OM into the soil, but susequent tilling should be avoided since it destroys the very organisms which build soil.

IA, check out this video on Youtube:

He mentions a few good reasons Not to till, everytime you till it destroyes the soil (even if it may take a few years to notice).

It is a great idea BUT... Firstly water availability, in non-irrigated areas that is difficult without a pond dyke setup. The channels shown under the beans were for irrigation of the field. His rice is probably grown on land that can be flooded and drained at will. The green manure crop used to fix nitrogen more often here is sunhemp and it is incorporated into the ground before or as the land is prepared.

I agree with teletiger that the mat will inhibit the rice. The bean used has been cropped therefore despite the nitrogen fixing during growth it will draw back most to flower and fruit. Without any doubt the labour required to cut that mass, rollup and out again would be an issue. And I would be interested to compare the yield gained.

Finally the soil as is now. Most forms hard pan near me and eventually that means no water or root penetration when the rice is flooded deeply for months at a time. Much of the biology simply does not survive. I would argue that tilling the soil properly does little real damage to the biology and improves the aeration.

IA,

There is a load of research that proves no-till to be superior for soil structure and water retention in the long run (3 years +). Also the Fukuoka technique does not use flooding. Lastly the technique shown of sowing the seed prior to cutting the green manure ensures that the seed germinates just before the green manure starts to rot, thus not causing the seed to rot (and eliminating weeds).

Problems with tilling: kills beneficial animals such as worms, frogs/toads, etc. Damages beneficial fungal mycelium networks by exposing the mycelium to the air. Destroys soil structure by cutting up root mass. Root mass creates channels for water to drain and gives food to mycelium.

No-till allows for a more natural soil building process where crop residue sits on top for earth worms to incorporate it into the soil, thus worms are your plough (and you have more of them with this technique). This is proven to break up clay soils better than ploughing, since the soil improves each season. Where as using tillage, you have to till again the next season (thereby becoming a till addict).

Mycelium works for you by improving water retention, mining minerals (making them bio-available to plants), and improving soil structure. Worms help improve the soil structure, drainage, and nutrient distribution (bringing phosphate and potassium up to the top soil), thus reducing your need for fertilizers in the long run.

There is a lot of research in no-till farming, it has been proven many times, even conventional farmers are seeing the benefits, but it is not an instant result situation.

Thanks for the posts

The reason I like this method is one to try and get away from using chemical fertilizers, that over time will damage your soil. Second to be less dependent on fuel.

I understand this process is far more labour intensive but for the smaller farm it could be worth trying. I have a large lake next to my paddies which is full all year round, so water is not an issue. In the first video they used black velvet beans, just wondering if they are (towa dam) any ideas.

Regards

It looks to me like the one in the first video was cow pea. Tua dum (black bean), most commonly the one they use in the thai deserts.

Fukuoka used clover for nitrogen fixation, but it is probably less practical for a hotter climates like Thailand.

This one is in Mae Rim: https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%9F%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C%E0%B8%A1-%E0%B8%9F%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%82%E0%B9%88/153351724777406

There is also one in Sansai, but I don't have any contact info on that one.

Easy to get in BKK & quial start laying at 6wks old however they never sit the eggs so you will also need an incubator to renew your stock

There are many local farms in CM, don't go to Bangkok! My wife found a place selling hens for 40B, I'll try getting the info from her....

Col. Packdee,

What color is the spore print of your garden mushroom? I have two similar looking species in my garden.

This may be useful to id the garden mushroom:

(I do not own this content! It is a page from the book: Edible and poisonous mushrooms of the world. -Fair use should apply)

I have noticed the ones in my garden have gotten cleaver, they don't attack me much anymore. I went down to the canal the other day and they were jumping at me. Maybe they eventually learn who their friends are? In my garden I leave them alone unless they start making a mess of a small unestablished tree, or the nest gets too big (fish food).

EDTA is poisonous to fish, better not using it in aquaponics!

If they were egg shaped, small (around the size of a pinky nail or less), and have a hard calcified shell; they were House Gecko eggs.

Snake eggs do not have hard shells, they are more like leather, and they lay eggs in the soil (which require external moisture for the eggs development, found in damp soil).

Gecko eggs are unique in that they have a hard shell which also adheres to surfaces like super-glue when laid. Often times they are laid in pairs, and the two eggs are glued together to a surface such as a wall, leaf, rock, etc.

Other lizards have soft shelled eggs like snakes, which are also laid in the soil.

'So we will end up cutting down a LOT of trees.'

Not a good idea.I'm with Akky #9 on this.

Cut only the trees occupying the footprint of your house to be. Mango are delicious, require no supervision, provide shade, and can be sols or preserved, even the kids would love one or two to pickk on the way to school.

When one considers the time needed for a tree to grow to maturity, cutting it down seems cruel at the least.

Another commonly overlooked problem is Termites! My landlord cut down a lot of trees at my place a few years before I moved in, and we have a huge termite problem now. They are even going after the live trees. If you get rid of trees for what ever reason, I'd recomend adding some mushroom plugs to the stumps to decompose them faster.

Thanks for the efforts on my behalf guys. I am starting to think that BSF farming for protein is harder than catching the buggers in the firstplace. Still none here and about as much interest here now.

Actually they are self-harvesting. The larvae will crawl up to the top of the compost when they are ready to pupate. All you need to do is make a ramp with a collection container under it, and they should drop in when they are ready. Of course birds can be an issue, I frequently see small finches eating mine but not enough to make a real impact. You could keep it covered as canu. suggest.

RT did a special on future foods, one item was using house flies as a human food source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhPbgNOYqhg

I will not be the first to sign up for the "Fly Burger" though...

On a more realistic note; Soldier Fly are the way to go, for your purposes. They are easily harvested, they do not bite or harbour pathogens, they are said to have pheromones which drive away house flies, and they do not buzz around much (so much less annoying than house flies).

It's the same as stating the obvious, though some seem to forget the obvious these days.

Here's another obvious statement:

Carbon Dioxide is Necessary for Photosynthesis

Haven't heard on the news lately C02, along with light is necessary for trees to grow. I only hear the NEGATIVE side of Carbon dioxide in the media.

Sorry mate, but carbon dioxide levels are too high and rising more rapidly than for thousands of years due to the activities of a certain mammal. This is starting to cause serious problems. It's not a matter of 'if a little is good, more must be better'.

Dancealot makes a good point.

It is interesting to note that the level of CO2 in the air is below the optimal level for the growth of most vegetation and that is why they add more in greenhouses. It may well be too high for other reasons but many plants want more not less to optimise photosynthesis.

There is a difference in CO2 that is close to the ground which is made by micro organisms and other animal activity and atmospheric CO2. This is something people forget, that CO2 is heavier than air, if it is around the same temperate. So burning fossil fuels and starting a compost pile are entirely different. CO2 made in the soil tends to stay near the plants which can then convert it into O2 and add the carbon to their mass.

Combine excessive use of fossil fuels with destroying the forest (which we have been doing in mass since the Bronze age), and the net effect is more CO2 than we need. Also less carbon in the top soil is another neglected topic, since topsoil traps carbon (and as IA pointed out; we are losing topsoil on global scales).

I just started using spent coffee grounds, seems to work well against slugs and snails. Added bonus: worms love them.