Reginald Prewster

I fear this might happen hence the farm... How much will be a steak in about 20 years, if we see that the average age of a farmer increased to 60 years in just a decade? 60 now I am fit as a sneaker but climbing wind turbines paid it's tribute. I have for July an appointment for a hip joint replacement, seems I follow my parents and grandparents the same way. They had all kind of Android stuff in their bones but taught me that's for the better. To be agile and mobile is the point so for me and my wife (48) the right moment to start the next step... (beside looking forward when the young lady at the airport security grabs my <deleted> to find the hidden gun) One thing I realize now already is: I grew up very countryside (quiet) and 21 years I loved Pattaya, but the last few years it started pissing me off, I wanted my tranquil and peace again... The farm is in the middle of nowhere but to Khon Kaen it's only 32 Kilometers which makes me feeling safe. (Brilliant hospitals)

I would turn into the worst drill sergeant the world has seen... Employ hard rules... If the mother wants to defend him time to say good bye. How can you be happy there?

My wife has 3 Sisters who cared about themselves. One was a full size Bar girl for many years. Is happy married since 17 years and is now mother of 2.. It can work out.. If the farang is a pi**head or barfly, well, it might not... actually nowhere in the world, would it?

My Father died with 93 my mother is 96 now.. Grandfather was 91 and Granny 89... Both had a Garden growing veggies and even the muscles failed from time to time we had a sense of humor. When my father took the watering can (full off course) he sometimes crash-landed in his veggies and I complained once: "Why you dickhead don't use 2 cans half full to keep a better balance?" His response: "Don't make me piss*ng on your coffin young lad!" Turned 60 last year I bought a Farm (17 rai) as my retirement project and I expect that I will sit in the shade under every tree I planted... If not, then I at least didn't give myself up and lost hope...

There is some other stuff I tried and it works mechanically not toxic. Diatomaceous Earth (Kieselguhr) It sound a bit chemically but it is 100% natural. It is made of sediments from the sea bed, like algae and shells which have been turned into hard grit over millions of years. The handling is a bit tricky because of the high silica contains which is not healthy if inhaled, so a face mask is required. It is sold via Lazada at around 300 baht a 400ml bottle. For the same amount of money you can get 100% Diatomaceous Earth oil absorbent, which is precisely the same stuff. But 25lbs the bag. Grind it down and mix it with water until the solution is milk white and put it into a sprayer, then spray the infested plant from all sides. As soon the Diatomaceous Earth dries it is active again. Any insect that get contact with the dry powder dries out and dies eventually. Unfortunately it makes no difference between good and bad, so it should be only applied when the plants are not flowering for the sake of our bees. It is very good if you use it around the trunk to keep off pests climbing up.. It lasts only as long it is not raining... Reginald

Mine I planted came from Big C out of the shelf where they have all this dry stuff. It was about 70 Baht as far I remember and the germination rate was ok. The red Pacific 99 I chopped down as I caught the bird flu.. Good mulch by the way as the plants grow way above a meter before flowering...

HI all, I just bought 17 rai and converted it into a retirement project as a food forest design. I planted way over 300 trees from all around the world, which my wife started whilst I was working abroad. The most worries I had that her works would be for the cat or only possible with hammer pesticides. So my main focus was how to knock out pests, if they come quick and silent and many of my "studies" proven now right. My first interest was the all hated Red Weaver Ant. (Oecophulla smaragdina) They are some really little buggers and everyone hates them. I was looking at them from another view. Why are they so nasty and attack just anything close to the trees, where they have their nests? Oh, cool they are carnivores. By the way did you know that all nests made of rolled leaves in the tree have their own queen, but the tree as such is owned by one single family or tribe? Quite efficient, isn't it? Did you also know: They use their pupae to glue the leaves together, another good feature, considering all of us have a dried out bottle superglue in the draw. They got a whole home full and always fresh. That's not all. As said they just attack anything what comes near, in or under their tree. That woke up my interest, may be they are not as bad as they appear. I had to test what happens when my loved trees gets bugged by pests, so some trials using their behavior I was learning for years. Trial Nr 1: Pick a nest (rolled up leaves), carefully and still get bitten the crap out of yourself. Place the nest in the infested tree and the war starts immediately. 3 hrs later, your beloved tree including the soil around it is wiped from pests which they feed to their pupae. Then off course you are the main target again, so how to get your mangoes without being bitten? Keep a gentle spray of water flowing while you harvest, they will rush into their nests and keep a grumpy eye on you, but fear the "rain" Trial Nr 2: Their tree. As said the whole Family has many rolled leave nest in one tree and are not keen to move to the infested tree 5-7 meters away. They have enough to do to keep the balance between eaters and prey in their own tree. Now you tie a string or 3-4 from their tree to your infested tree and so "their tree" has grown, allowing a bigger family. Some new queens with a strong army will fast move over and do their claim on the unprotected part of "their tree". They wont do it walking over land... But the bridge works. Enjoy your bites and thank them little c**ts... If interested I will post more of my trials with other things so simple and cheap, but these Red Weaver Ants (Oecophulla smaragdina) are an almost one shoe fits all. Bug, Spider, Fly, Humans, Cows, Dogs, (one will drop and the crowd cheers: Choke him Jonny, Choke him) Regards, Reginald

In the supermarkets I have seen bags by the kilo. It is actually easy to grow if you have the right soil and self seeding once established. Not to say its a weed that is hard to fight if unattended. Finally I made it green manure/mulch before flowering to get control over it. For rotational pastures I definitely see a lot of potential (mixed with other grasses, pinto peanuts and Moringa) but otherwise do yourself a favor and buy kilo bags at Big C... You want to take the risks above link helps: Pacific 99 has the biggest yield (a ton per Rai) and high resistance.

I would confirm that your picture looks pretty much than a lime and not a lemon so its a big one, but Lazada has some which grows almost guaranteed like this one. Regarding Lemons I planted 2 Ponderosa Lemons on my farm knowing the skin is too big for the market but for my own baking just what supports laziness if you need a lot of lemon zest. In the Guiness book of records a Lemon (and I guess its the Ponderosa Type) stands at 5.265 kg. The fruit's circumference was 74 cm and it was 35 cm high; measured on 8 January 2003. You are getting there one day ????

Nice one, I have done 11 years research and tested a system in Pattaya for 8 years. Pretty similar than yours with good results. The System must have been matured if I read your levels and by now it should run balanced like a clockwork. One thing caught my eye is Blaehton (hence made in Germany) which are heavier than the cheap Chinese made clay pellets which are never sinking. Floating pellets in a ebb/flood grow bed it is just what you don't want. Will you please be so kind and answer me the following questions? 1. Where did you get them? 2. I developed a greenhouse cooling system which asks for a quite big size pellets in diameter for best cooling results and perfect would be if they are big, but stay within a range of 2-3 millimeter in difference. 3. I see that your water is only returning by gravity. Do you use anywhere Vortex Nozzles where the pump feeds the grow beds? This did in my system the trick by increasing the growth rate of my fish significantly. But I was building the other way around, fed by gravity in the grow beds and pumped into the fish tanks above the grow beds with vortex nozzles. Cheers for any reply Reg

Hi all, the last post about mud bugs is about 10 years ago. A breeder in Bangkok has his last post on FB dated 2020 and didn't reply. So I put it up here in The Forum in hope to get somebody who has a some good specimens or even a good breeding stock up for sale. I am into Red Claws since 10 years but before relocation from Pattaya into the Isaan we had to BBQ all. I bought land over there and I dug out a pond of 5500 sqm plus added a 420 meter long river. With this virgin set up of water bodies I want to start with Red Claws when the rain season sets in, so they can establish themselves before the common invaders like eel and Snakeheads show up. Because its all new I want of course the best of the best and therefore I don't mind if the breeder has only one that is suitable. (As longer the tail the better) I would come over personally to check them out. Cheers for any reply..