Organic Farming/gardening Sub-forum.

[Lickey]

A few weeks ago Soundman pinned an Organic Farming thread for me, basically, i wanted to stop using Herbicides & Peticides on our farm, and wanted other peoples views how to go about this, My salad beds were poisened by labour overdosing with cides, that was last November and still not a weed grows, so no chance for plants, i just needed some ideas how to look after the beds without chemicals, but so many people have posted, its an information overload, and to be honest, a job to sort through for the info i want.

Jandtaa has thoughts on design of a sub-forum, see post 79 of the pinned Organic Farming thread, and has stated that he could sort the info into the correct cattorgories, [rather him than me!] so thats a leader and a sorter allready for itemizing things.

In our heart of hearts, we all want a greener earth, do we really need Cides getting into the ground water,run-off into klongs and lakes,boreholes ect? no, i dont think so, please consider a sub-forum or even a new forum for Organics, Thankyou, Lickey.

[jandtaa]

To whom it may concern,

I've been using the Thai Visa forum for about 3 years now (started browsing as a guest and then joined up in 2007) and have gained a wealth of information from the members over the time. I'm particularly interested in the farming forum (see my about me content) and when Lickey started an organic thread I suddenly found an outlet to share all the research material I have accumulated over the last 5 years or so with fellow members. The thread seems to be getting quite a lot of views and a growing number of members are starting to post on a regular basis. The problem is the thread is becoming a bit of an unwieldy beast with so much info on a wide range of organic subjects, that members are experiencing information overload . There seems to be a growing consensus among posters that the thread would be better served by being a sub-forum. I agree and as Lickey has indicated, I am more than happy to arrange threads and "lead" a sub-forum should it come to pass (I,ve taken a lot from this forum and feel it is only right to give something back).

As Lickey also pointed out we have discussed some possible categories in a post on the thread (realise we may have been jumping the gun but got to live in hope ) . I've had some more time to think the organisation through a little more fully and propose the following;

I think the sub-forum would appeal to a wider audience if it was titled "Organic Farming, Smallholding and Kitchen Gardening"

Ideally pinned topics (we already have posts on all the following subjects ) would be;

Growing fruit, vegetables and other crops

Composting and compost tea

Mulching - methods and materials

Soil - Microbiology and ammendments

Insect pests -  organic pesticides, biological controls and integrated pest management

Plant nutrition - organic fertilisers and foliar feeds 

Green manures - legumes, cover crops and nitrogen fixing trees

Vermiculture

Aquaponics 

Useful links and resources

These are the main subjects pertinent to Organic growers and come up time and time again so I feel that to pin them from the start should really help browsing members access the info and help new members find their way around. I had previously considered pinning a topic for news, organic philosophy and general discussion but upon reflection have realised this will simply the threads that people start on a day to day basis.

Thankyou for your time and hope you will give serious consideration to the proposal.

yours sincerely Jandtaa.      

     

[Foreverford]

To whom it may concern,

I've been using the Thai Visa forum for about 3 years now (started browsing as a guest and then joined up in 2007) and have gained a wealth of information from the members over the time. I'm particularly interested in the farming forum (see my about me content) and when Lickey started an organic thread I suddenly found an outlet to share all the research material I have accumulated over the last 5 years or so with fellow members. The thread seems to be getting quite a lot of views and a growing number of members are starting to post on a regular basis. The problem is the thread is becoming a bit of an unwieldy beast with so much info on a wide range of organic subjects, that members are experiencing information overload . There seems to be a growing consensus among posters that the thread would be better served by being a sub-forum. I agree and as Lickey has indicated, I am more than happy to arrange threads and "lead" a sub-forum should it come to pass (I,ve taken a lot from this forum and feel it is only right to give something back).

As Lickey also pointed out we have discussed some possible categories in a post on the thread (realise we may have been jumping the gun but got to live in hope ) . I've had some more time to think the organisation through a little more fully and propose the following;

I think the sub-forum would appeal to a wider audience if it was titled "Organic Farming, Smallholding and Kitchen Gardening"

Ideally pinned topics (we already have posts on all the following subjects ) would be;

Growing fruit, vegetables and other crops

Composting and compost tea

Mulching - methods and materials

Soil - Microbiology and ammendments

Insect pests - organic pesticides, biological controls and integrated pest management

Plant nutrition - organic fertilisers and foliar feeds

Green manures - legumes, cover crops and nitrogen fixing trees

Vermiculture

Aquaponics

Useful links and resources

These are the main subjects pertinent to Organic growers and come up time and time again so I feel that to pin them from the start should really help browsing members access the info and help new members find their way around. I had previously considered pinning a topic for news, organic philosophy and general discussion but upon reflection have realised this will simply the threads that people start on a day to day basis.

Thankyou for your time and hope you will give serious consideration to the proposal.

yours sincerely Jandtaa.

Jandtaa is truly a super star in so many ways and again he is showing it as what he will propose to do with this site can easily be justified in the amount of time and energy that he has put in helping so many people in so many ways with their questions and his enormous amount of personal and well documented knowlege. This is an extremely important topic as it will be the only way that the average small Thai farmers will ever be able to get out of the problems that beseiged them when the World Bank dictated to Thailand that they would have to invcrease their rice output to be able to export rice to get hard currency to pay off the loans they had given the govt. well add chems and poison and you increase yield for only a short time and then you get into the unending downward spiral that all farmers around the world have fallen into with the use of these soil killers.

Sorry for that rant but in reality the only way the Thais will change is by seeing examples and not reading in books. There are many people in Thailand that will be willing to move into organic farming and home production if they have the experience or knowledge of someone to direct them and there is only one source and that is Thai Visa. This forum holds the future of Thai agriculture in its pages and if it could be organized through jandtaa and anyone he can get to help it would be a big boost for many neophytes that just can't seem to slog thru all the info that is mixed in many of the different posts.

It would be invaluable to have this subforum and we would have an excellent man with Jandtaa to "lead" all of us through it. Please consider this as many organic farmers and people who want to start small scale home projects want to do it organically and won't even know that this "Support" section is here or that we are bringing up this subject. my family has been farming organically for nearly 15 centuries and i could fill pages to show the benefits of what it has created. hey that's a good idea I can put it all on a "sub-forum" for just organic farming!

[Smithson]

As pointed out by others, a sub-forum would provide valuable information on organic farming, something which would benefit everyone in LOS.

The 'sticky' thread on organic farming has proved very popular. It has now reached information overload, so a sub-forum would be a great addition to TV.

[loong]

The problem is the thread is becoming a bit of an unwieldy beast with so much info on a wide range of organic subjects, that members are experiencing information overload . There seems to be a growing consensus among posters that the thread would be better served by being a sub-forum. I agree

I agree also.

A sub forum with separate topics as opposed to all topics lumped into 1 thread would be so much easier to use and refer back to relevant info. The thread is already starting to get unwieldy.

Please,powers that be grant our wish for a Sub forum

Edited March 19, 2009 by loong

[Foreverford]

The problem is the thread is becoming a bit of an unwieldy beast with so much info on a wide range of organic subjects, that members are experiencing information overload . There seems to be a growing consensus among posters that the thread would be better served by being a sub-forum. I agree

I agree also.

A sub forum with separate topics as opposed to all topics lumped into 1 thread would be so much easier to use and refer back to relevant info. The thread is already starting to get unwieldy.

Please,powers that be grant our wish for a Sub forum

I'm going to be off-line for a while so I thought I'd express my thoughts on the subject of our request for a sub-forum as I feel it is a very important request. If we were looking for a sub forum so we could advance a hobby or some form of entertainment I'm sure TV would have to look at it much differently that what we are requesting. Thai farmers are some of the poorest and most debt ridden folks on the face of the planet. By trying to do anything to get the majority of the Thai populace to change and incorporate some or all of the methods that the King has set forth in his programs of Sustainable Agriculture. It isn't a pie-in-the-sky kind of pipe-dream. I helped formulate the verbage for the first legislation in the California Health and Safety Code for the State of California that addressed and qualified what organic designated in regards to food items. I believe it was the first in the United States and has been the basis for this ongoing evolution (if not revolution) back to exactly what man has been doing for the last millenium but crash violently over the last 100 years with the chemical transformation of the farming sector. The entire world suffered because of this corporate chemical greed.

Thai Visa is probably the reason that Thailand is seeing a huge resurgence in organic methods and sustainable practices. I groveled thru the internet (it is not my desire or expertise) and went in circles trying to get some relevant and pertinent info and wasn't too successful. When i stumbled onto this site I was able to attain 10,000 times the knowledge in the same amount of time and it was all relevant to thailand and the ways things are here.

I do know that with ThaiVisa if in the beginning they had a sub-forum section for organic and sustainable farming that i would have been able to accomplish a lot more in less time and as always time seems to be a big constraint. I think ThaiVisa needs to look at the number replies to the number of views. In about just six weeks there has been well over 100 replies and most of them are informative. I need some info and I somewhat dread (when i have the time) having to try to remember which post the info for what fish in....

Truly amazing what has been accomplished in six weeks by just pinning this. If we get a sub-forum going the organic farmers will show the kind of follow thru that has kept the movement going from its modern renewal in the 60's and 70's to the legislation that made it a world-wide movement of an alternative lifestyle for the growers and the ability for consumers to be able to eat in a more healthy and enjoyable way. I'll be looking forward to seeing that this request may be moving towards approval as it can truly make a difference as the older farmers remember the times when they used to farm similarly. Now they can be able to access all the education knowledge experimentation tht has gone on for the las 30 years and know that when someone gives them a bean seed tro grow for green manure that it is the best seed for what he is trying to do. knowledge experience documentation cooperation are all excellent resources to put into your land and they can be the reason that a finger or an eye isn't lost and that the beans are two foot in two months instead of damping off dying desolation. Thaivisa is the farmers bible in Thailand there is no question to it. the organic farmers request is that we need a slightly different book and as in amny things two slightly different books can live in harmony. thanks and good luck in the decision for a sub-forum

[jandtaa]

Thankyou  Everyone for your support and esp. Forever Ford who has illustrated The need for a sub-forum far more eloquently than I ever could !!

Hopefully one of "the gods from above" has a slightly green tinge to their character and can help further the cause !!

I realise you mods are busy guys and there is a good deal of work involved in implementing a sub-forum but feel it is a serious issue. We have sub-forums on the board for games, jokes etc.. and even seperate sub-forums for International and Western food !! So hopefully you can find it in your hearts to grant our small wish which might actually make a difference. Just some form of acknowledgement would be a start as I can slow down my postings and save someone some time when it comes to splitting up the existing threads !

Thanks for your time Moderators Jandtaa   

[tjeffrutherford]

Hi all,

I'd just like to thank Jandtaa for getting this rolling, and to voice my (Thaivisa virgin) support for the sub-forum proposal. I did a lot of reading on the Thai Visa forum before joining up, and it's been really helpful. (You pop up in a lot of my google searches.) Our natural farming project is up and going in Chiang Mai, and I'd be keen to be more involved.

Cheers,

jeff

[teletiger]

Ditto all the above.

Regards.

[jubby]

Definately a lot of useful information in the pinned thread on various subjects. It is getting unweildly . A Sub Forum would seem to be the logical next step IMHO.

[jandtaa]

Thanks for your support TJE, Jubby and Teletiger

Just crunched some rough figures and worked out that if the interest in the pinned thread remains at the same level for the next 11 months taking us to just over a year from the date that lickey first posted we would have the following ;

12878 views and 828 replies !! (think of all that lovely ad revenue !!)

Obviously If it became a sub-forum I would expect these figures to be substantially higher as more people would be aware of the topics that are being discussed and join in the debate and contribute to the info already available (well at least they may be able to find the info relative to their needs)

I realise we have the search option but it's just not the same as having a dedicated place you can get to know and find info with the click of the mouse !!

Looking for one of over possibly 30-40 different topics within a thread containing 828 replies just isn't gonna be feasible I'm afraid and people will just stop using it !!

So please "the powers that be" give the request some serious consideration and get back to us ASAP

Thanks again Jandtaa

[bina]

to all.......

lickey ahs pm'd me;

i agree wholeheartedly that it is time to sub the organics.... im not sure if it is just organic gardening and not along the lines of ecology, biodiversity, etc....

indeed, it is all very very thailand related, as opposed to , lets say, losing weight forum... however, the gungho greenies will have to remember that green issues have an emotional baggage with them... and it will be important to 'weed out' the rants, raves, and political bs from the methods/ techniques, supplies, etc...

i think it would be great, btw, when we started with the farming forum, it was mostly from issaan based folks and then it just grew, and became a forum-- so i htink the time has come to sub it...

i guess i will post to the mods section? and lobby for it?

bina

israel and mod for the farming forum which actually doesnt seem to really need a mod since every one is so nice and polite... though the organic styled forum would need a strong handed individual i think...

[Lickey]

Thankyou very much Bina,

It seems to have lots of posters with knowledge sharing ideas, Now Jandtaa has a big job as forum leader, sorting out the posts into sections,wish him luck with that!!

Hopefully it will convert some cide users to being more green, its not the total answer, but its a start,

Again, Thanks Bina, Lickey,,

[bina]

i dont think i made it a sub forum yet;? did i? or do i have the power to do so?? not sure really what my powers are actually...

maybe i better lope over to the mod section and post a query there?

or do we just go ahead and sub it?

bina

israel

[Tywais]

i dont think i made it a sub forum yet;? did i? or do i have the power to do so?? not sure really what my powers are actually...

Admin (mods can only recommend) has set it up yesterday bina > Organic Farming

[bina]

cool....... thanx, saw i just now...

thank you all on behalf of the orgies....

)

bina

israel

[jandtaa]

No, thanks due to you Bina !!

But please don't let the cat out of the bag we're into orgies I won't be able to keep up with all the posts  !! On a serious note I hope you can help give me some tips re; being a moderator and you must share some of your experiences with the new sub-forum !! Although at the moment it's mainly plants I would like it to encompass organic livestock rearing as well. Back in the UK the organic smallholding I live on when I'm there has some dairy goats , beef cattle sheep and pigs all raised organically so any input  you may have  (regarding the tropics/subtropics) would be more than welcome !!

Once again a huge thankyou for helping towards the furthering of the sub-forum, hopefully together we can all take organic farming in Thailand a step further !!