jandtaa

Hi folks

Voting is now open here Transport gallery.

J

Can't argue with any of the above

I've got a packet of rosella seeds but I'm not that keen on planting them as I'm more taken with pigeon pea for the uses Watersedge has mentioned re; trellis/support, shading, livestock feed and as a bonus they are nitrogen fixers make great mulch and when pruned hard grow back with a vengeance ( although a potential problem is theft of the pods to accompany "laab Dip") 

J

Hi Jubby

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

We must drink the same brand of coffee  !!

J

Hi Jubby

I've got nearly 500g so can easily spare some, PM me if you want to pop over for some

J

Hi Ericthai

I think you need to clarify which plant/plants you are looking for and which seeds you are supplying (I suggest using the botanical instead of common names). All of these plants are used for bast production but do have differing cultural requirements:

White jute (Corchorus capsularis)

Tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius)

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa)

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus)

cheers for now J

Imafarang

Which part of the following did you not understand ??

"Members please be aware that brewing alcohol for retail in Thailand requires certain licences which I am sure the OP is fully aware of and has already obtained (and yes we all know that "moonshine" is available countrywide). Although the legality of home brew in Thailand has appeared before in other previous threads I do not believe we came to a satisfactory conclusion as to the legality of discussing it upon this forum. Therefore please keep this in mind if replying to this topic which is where the OP can obtain aforementioned fruit juices. General specifics in regard to personal preferences for your favourite version of the tipple or suggestions as to the direction the OP should take in his endeavour are fine but please do not post recipes or brewing method specifics etc..."

If you'd have read the entire thread, perhaps taken the time to understand what it was and was not about and followed the link provided by the OP you would be aware that he is brewing on a commercial scale with knowledge of the correct permits required. If as you assume he is brewing for personal consumption I'm sure we'll never hear back from him as his liver aint gonna last too long brewing up 700 litres of juice a month with a view to increasing production for personal consumption.

So in a word.. No !! It is not what we wanted to hear.

cheers for now J 

"So how about it? I have read TV for long time, and this is my first post, my view is that its 99% little boyz or maybe even some fresh farang meat that's been to Pattaya, or Phuket"

If this is your opinion after reading TV for a long time I'm suprised you would post here seeking members advice in the hope of getting answers from the other 1% who aren't sniffing there relatives underwear !! Seems a bit of a long shot for such a topic. 

Maybe you should seek marriage guidance councelling at the local Wat where you spend so much of your time. On the otherhand.... whose that trip trapping..?

 Hi ozzydom

I guess that is the problem with many crops, you can make a few baht selling at the local market, but when it comes to getting rid of larger quantities you are at the mercy of the big buyers. Saying that I hate to leave the land idle, so will no doubt end up with bags of chilli. Jim

Hi Jim

Yes I think you are correct, I seem to recall that people noted that if you can produce your crops "off season" when the market price is highest by using irrigation etc.. (obviously more capital outlay which many local farmers simply cannot afford) you can make a few baht. I also seem to remember the advice was to start on a small scale (1 rai or less to see how it goes). How about growing the variety of chilli that is sold dried.

J 

Foreverford did send me a link to an online album of this project of his a while back with plenty of shots of the construction process and the finished kit being used to make roads around his farm. Maybe you could try sending him a PM as I think he may be back in the country.

cheers for now J

Hi Folks

Well it's been a while but here's an update. Progress has been fairly slow on the plot recently but my New Years resolution is to try and get more organised and concentrate on just a couple of areas rather than trying to do everything at once. The original pile of compost finished a couple of weeks ago and I have been applying it to the young fruit trees. I have quite a collection of further piles in various states of decomposition and have another 30 sacks of manure and a mountain of rice straw so I will build another couple of windrows using the same quick method. Hopefully I can bag up a large amount of finished compost and store it for use next year to give myself a head start.

The young fruit trees appear to be settling in nicely, I'm now down to deep watering once a week so this frees up some time, and they are just starting a flush of new growth. Now I have plenty of compost I'm digging new planting holes for the 20 odd containerised specimens I have awaiting planting. I've also been making "Bokashi" with my kitchen scraps so will experiment with adding a bucketful to some of the planting holes.

I now have the following species :

Mango, Longan, Rambutan, Marian Plum, Kaffir Lime, Lime, Tangerine, Jack fruit, Pomegranate, Tamarind, Pomelo, Asian Pear as well as Coconut, Banana, Cha Om and Sadao.

I've also started sheet mulching the "forest garden" area using cardboard, rice straw and compost so hopefully this will keep the weeds down and save time next year so I can concentrate more on the growing side of things. 

Cheers for now J 

Mmm.. mouthwatering SD2 !! I love using fresh figs as an ingredient, great simply served with parma ham and a rocket salad, poached with honey and spices and served with vanilla ice-cream or my favourite of the moment fig and gorgozola pizza (google for recipe).

I nearly picked up a couple of rooted fig cuttings at the recent Chiang Rai flower festival (well worth a visit as there was a large "garden center" with vendors from all over the country and stalls selling nearly every kind of fruit tree), but was limited for space in the pick up due to it being a day out with extended family and they weren't the healthiest of looking specimens although with some TLC I'm sure they would of survived. Did grab a couple of pomegranates, a marian plum and a sour variety of tamarind which I have not been able to get from local nurseries.

Definitely plan to take a truck up to visit next year as as well as figs I saw stalls selling grape vines, avocado etc...

Keep the photos coming SD2 as I'm sure they inspire many.

cheers for now J 

Try searching for old threads on "makheua" by Maizefarmer

Although these are eggplant they belong to the same family as chilli and have similar cultivation requirements, I can't remember as it's a few years back but I'm sure chilli came up in the discussion and it is probably one of the most complete guides to growing along with financial aspects available on the web.

cheers for now J 

Hi Jubby

No the Gypsum will not harm the trees, in fact it is often used as a fertiliser providing readily soluble calcium and sulphur, both important in plant growth. Because neither calcium or sodium are  transported to the growing tips of plants I use little and often through the growing season.I have also used it as a clay-breaker, just broadcast on the soil surface and watered in and it really does help to prevent the crust that forms at the surface of my soil when it dries out.

Around here I've never found it in an ag store but then again I can't find bonemeal or dried blood etc.. despite extensive looking. Readily available as gypsum plaster at builders merchants.

Cheers for now J 

Hi Steve

Living in Chiang Rai (probably one of the few provinces capable of growing apples) for a while now I have yet to see an apple orchard. Peaches/nectarines yes and some apricot. Led me to do a quick google as I have bought apples in the local market and considered planting a few seeds (I have managed to grow an asian pear from seed but it's gonna be a few years until it bears fruit ).

Found the following which may be of interest ;

"2.6 Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.)

This is the most well known deciduous fruit crop. In South-East Asia, apple is commercially grown is East Java, Indonesia, which produced 50,000 tons from 7.6 million bearing trees in 1988 (Kusumo and Verheij, 1991). Apple growing proved to be successful at high altitudes in Northern Thailand and is gaining popularity in the Philippines.

In Thailand, 45 cultivars of apple were introduced and the overall growth was observed for five growing seasons. Low chilling cultivars such as Anna, Ein Shimer and Dorsett Golden grew well at Royal Ang Khang Station at an altitude of 1,400 m.a.s.l (Subhadrabandhu and Punsri, 1986). These cultivars seemed to have no problem in floral bud initiation. They flowered readily and the fruit set was satisfactory. However, fruit set of Anna was much better if cross pollinated with Dorset Golden or Ein Shimer.

Due to the long storage ability of high quality apple from the high chilling cultivars grown in U.S.A, Australia, New Zealand and China, imported apple fruits are commonly sold in local markets of Thailand at rather low prices. This makes the production of apple in the highland areas not so attractive to hill tribe growers as they can only sell their fruits at rather low prices in order to compete with imports, whereas the cost of production is almost the same as the other deciduous fruits. Because of this reason, extension of apple cultivation by the hill tribe growers has ended, and research work on apple has been suspended."

This article was dated 1991 by the way.

It would explain perhaps why Malee juices (such as apple and orange are produced from concentrate rather than being  truly 100% fresh fruit juice as the concentrates are likely to be imported ), so maybe attempt to track down the concentrate supplier. Personally I'd look into the Asian pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) as an alternative, sourced within Thailand as a fresh fruit for the following reasons

* Building a cider press is a relatively simple procedure and any competent engineering shop in LOS will be able to make one from plans widely available on the net. Sure there is an initial capital outlay but the labour costs to operate it are going to be minimal and it's a lot more fun than ripping open Tetrapacks of processed juice.

* They're not the cheapest fruit in the local market up here but cheaper than imported apples ( next time I'm in town I'll get a comparison for you ).

* In the bar/restaurant I was working in during the summer back in the UK ( and from reading the industry trade magazines whilst I was there) there is a huge shift amongst drinkers towards Pear cider traditionally known as Perry but recently rebranded ( and I know when I worked a bar on KPN several years ago that Koppaberg Pear cider (Swedish) outsold the apple variety by about 10 to 1. The Asian Pear called "Salee" around these parts is almost like a cross between an apple (appearance) and a pear (texture) but to my palate leans more towards the Pear in terms of it's superior sweetness, its "vanilla notes" and shear juiciness (runs down your chin upon every bite) and I guess you're marketing these products at the "farang market".

*Maybe also consider doing a "cloudy" version i.e. don't filter add finings etc.. as it is fast becoming the mark of an "authentic cider brew" from a marketing point of view and saves on some labour and costs and tastes a lot better. Also I feel that you need to drop the ABV by a couple of percent to improve the flavour (but then again maybe your intended clientel are just going to shove it in a plastic bucket, throw in a couple of Redbulls and a handful of straws and party away

Whichever way you decide to go best of luck with the venture , but fresh locally sourced produce is going to yield a superior product in my opinion, with plenty of natural yeasts from the fruit skin and natural sugars i.e. fructose from the flesh (for your fruit wines again look at grape concentrate to improve the body, rather than grape juice (generally this is the reason it is added and not for flavour but I guess you realise this already) and that for your named varieties of well known wines I assume ( seeing as you simply require grape juice) that you're relying on your imported yeast strain to provide the desired finish, it will help but a wine made from Malee grape juice and a strain of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae does not make a Chardonnay, Chablis or Semillion simply a "dry fruit wine"  

What do I know on the subject ?? I have spent a good deal of time in the West Country ( home to both cider and perry in the UK ) on farm homestay holidays and have drunk copious amounts of both, some good, some mediocre, and some that actually rotted the carpets and started to eat into the floorpan of a friends car when we inadvertendly left a container under the rear seat for a couple of weeks one summer (it was that acidic it ate through the rubber seal of the container and if it got through the floorpan I'm sure there would of been a smouldering hole in the tarmac) , and yes I have seen a sheep's carcass thrown into the vat it's not an urban myth. I've also brewed a drop or two myself although simply as a hobby( from "temperature controlled" fruit juice on a radiator, marrow wine in a smuggled stocking and potato whisky (potcheen) from scrounged kitchen scraps (potato peelings and citrus rind) to full blown mashed and sparged organic real ale and numerous fruit and hedgerow wines).

Members please be aware that brewing alcohol for retail in Thailand requires certain licences which I am sure the OP is fully aware of and has already obtained (and yes we all know that "moonshine" is available countrywide. Although the legality of home brew in Thailand has appeared before in other previous threads I do not believe we came to a satisfactory conclusion as to the legality of discussing it upon this forum. Therefore please keep this in mind if replying to this topic which is where the OP can obtain aforementioned fruit juices. General specifics in regard to personal preferences  for your favourite version of the tipple or suggestions as to the direction the OP should take in his endeavour are fine but please do not post recipes or brewing method specifics etc... 

cheers for now J

Yeah these polymers are incredible in the amount of water they can absorb and subsequently conserve ( I use them in my hanging baskets in the UK).

Another strategy would be to apply a handful of gypsum ( acts as a "clay breaker" ) around each tree as it will help water penetration of the soil .

J 

Hi Jubby

I believe that nitrogen drawdown is most commonly associated with woody mulches such as bark, wood chips and sawdust. It should not be such a problem with rice straw which breaks down much faster. One way to combat nitrogen drawdown is to add a layer of compost underneath your mulch. This is the method I am using on my young fruit trees at the moment. I've dug shallow trenches (if you wish to use chemical fertiliser place this in the trench) around the mounds that the trees are planted on (about 45 cm from the trunks on smaller saplings and 60 cm on the larger specimens, you should be guided by the dripline of individual trees) and then applied a good 4" of compost over the mound and the base of the trench (ensuring the compost is kept away from the trunk to prevent fungal infection) and then covered the compost with a good layer of rice straw. The trees have been in a couple of months now and I'm down to deep watering once a week, the trench helps direct the water towards the roots and the compost provides nutrients whilst the mulch helps regulate the temperature in the root zone and conserves moisture. Before the onset of the rainy season I intend to backfill the trench with homemade organic fertiliser and the soil excavated from the trench, add another layer of compost and mulch with pigeon pea prunings, bamboo leaf and a capping of rice straw to prevent erosion and direct rainfall away from the trees.

With trees in there hundreds this may be a little labour intensive but it will keep you out of mischief  !! Maybe you could try it on some of your favourites. On a larger scale how about trying a living mulch, something like pinto peanut or another ground covering nitrogen fixing plant.

I know you had some nasty fires last dry season and using large amounts of rice straw concerns me as well, I think I may set up some sprinklers and just keep it damped down when the idiot neighbours start burning on windy days as they did last year. I may also get a tractor with a blade to clear a fire break around my plot as I also have my euca fence to consider.

Cheers for now J

Hi folks and sawadee pee mai to all !!

Beautiful shots Kanwin, you should write a short tutorial on photographing fireworks and post processing them because I've read a few on the net but the end results come nowhere close to the images that you "kan" produce !!

cheers for now

J 

Hi Endlessimages

No I agree you don't get the full creative range, maybe I should have said that it's a great starting point if you want to step up from your bundled software which comes with cameras. It's going to be a lot shallower learning curve than PS with most people being familiar with working sliders and seeing instant results (I only started using lightroom a couple of years ago but have been using PS for about 5 years. There are plenty of plugins etc... now available on the web and at each new release more tools for photographers are made available. Adobe software is well known to be fairly bloated and a bit of a RAM hog so Lightroom is a fork of the Creative Suite Software aimed strictly at photographers whilst CS4 includes 3D tools etc.. and is heavily biased towards web design.

cheers for now J 

Hi Folks

Really nowadays as straight up photographers without the need of so many CS4 features, which are mainly aimed at graphical artists, I feel you should be looking towards Adobe Lightroom or Aperture etc for the vast majority of your editing requirements, also saves a few quid.

cheers for now J

From out in the sticks in Chiang Rai using TOT wired connection.

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"Recently my wifes father, who lives in a small village a short distance north of Kabinburi, distributed 500 rai of land to his daughters. My wife received 50 rai. The family now intends to plant eucalyptus trees on this land and my wifes share of the expense for her 50 rai will be about B 100,000. This price will include the purchase of the trees (I think 3 bhat each) and the planting and maintenance of the trees until the first cutting in about 3 years. One sister still lives in the village and she will take care of getting the trees and the hiring of some local villagers to plant and maintain them. The expected sale price after the first cutting is estimated to be around B700,000 and a lesser amount from the second cutting two years later. This seems to be a pretty good return on our initial investment of only B 100,000 and involves very little work on our part. I know their is always the possibility of something going wrong like a fire or disease but still seems like a reasonable investment. Has anyone had any experience with eucalyptus tree farming in Thailand?"

To quote the OP  ie. post #1 in a thread entitled "EUCALYPTUS TREES" so I'm guessing this is what we are discussing. Not quite sure where you got lost along the ways maybe you couldn't see the wood for the trees or should that be the "hemp"  .

J

I guess there is a possibility it was taken across the border somewhere ?? (maybe filing account can inform us of the exact location ? ) but with both Thai script on the truck in the background and on the crates the dog is sitting on to it's Thai related IMHO if that is your concern.

cheers for now J 

Hi Maxxamum

Sounds like on that sort of scale a rotation of green manure would fit the bill, for more info have a read of this thread in the organic sub-forum. You'll also find threads on mulching and other soil enhancers/conditioners.

cover crops, green manures and nitrogen fixing trees

cheers for now J

Building up the soil; compost,compost and more compost in short (I'm now also experimenting with Bokashi and bio-char as soil additives with a good dose of EM), plus a good layer of mulch which over time will also break down (sheet mulching is a great way to reclaim uncultivated land with minimum effort or you could go for the double-dig method to establish bio-intensive beds).

With regard to watering I prefer when the scale allows either the hose or a couple of watering cans ( using a pair of cans is more balanced and kinder on the body ) as it keeps you up close and personal with your plants giving you the chance to spot insect problems and disease early.

best of luck J 

Can't see it being a scam as the buyer stands to gain very little so write it off but explain to the buyer what may have happened. Just google camera lens fungus and you'll see that it is a very common problem, e-bay mention it in one of their guides to buying photographic equipment. Its caused by the lens being stored in dark and humid conditions, did you put a sachet of silica gel in the box to absorb moisture ? It's quite possible that the lens was infected with spores that have bloomed in transit.

ps. if you're selling camera equipment you might want to make sure that your photos of the equipment and not the packaging are in focus 

cheers J