Photos of kitchen gardens

Gecko123 · May 27, 2015

Would like to share photos of kitchen gardens.

Edited May 27, 2015 by Gecko123

EmptyHead · May 27, 2015

Nice!

WitawatWatawit · May 27, 2015

Lovely stuff, gecko. You make me jealous. Best wishes for a good harvest.

soidog2 · May 27, 2015

Nice, I'll post some photos tomorrow!

OOLEEBER · May 28, 2015

Very cool. I look forward to following this post.

delh · May 28, 2015

Well done, an interesting topic to follow.

loong · May 28, 2015

Hey Gecko,

are those recent photos?

Looks really good

With the recent rains I'm suffering with an explosion of weeds and can only do a bit very early morning before the 40 degree C heat kicks in. So can't keep on top of it.

Your plot looks to be pretty open. If I don't fully enclose mine, it would all be destroyed by chickens and dogs.

Whereabouts are you? My seedlings would just burn up without shading.

Keep up the good work

holymoly · May 28, 2015

Great Stuff heartwarming - please post some more pics. I live smack in Bangkok and miss my

Gardening in Canada

maderaroja · May 28, 2015

Lovely, delicious.

RuamRudy · May 28, 2015

Any balcony gardens to give me inspiration? I have long been considering some sort of vertical lettuce patch but never quite got round to it...

Gecko123 · May 28, 2015

Hey Gecko,

are those recent photos?

Looks really good

With the recent rains I'm suffering with an explosion of weeds and can only do a bit very early morning before the 40 degree C heat kicks in. So can't keep on top of it.

Your plot looks to be pretty open. If I don't fully enclose mine, it would all be destroyed by chickens and dogs.

Whereabouts are you? My seedlings would just burn up without shading.

Keep up the good work

The vegetable garden is primarily a cool season activity for me, maybe a little rainy season too. The photos are from this past November - February.

No real problem with neighborhood dogs, although the compost piles sometimes attract them. Neighbor's chickens don't really bother the garden.

I've been toying with greenhouse/shade trellis ideas to extend the growing season. Anybody have any pictures of greenhouses/trellises of any kind, would love to see them.

Thanks.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Gecko123

pigeonjake · May 28, 2015

well its a lot more tidy then mine, as you see we grow a bit of corn, i had some wire left over so long bean growing up there, its to hot here at the moment for greans, but when its cooler there will be greans and carrots going in after the corn, ill post pics of them once there away,

we have some videos on youtube too about our place and what we get up to under ronald jackson thaifarmlife.com,

i love just pottering about,,lol

keep up the good work, its nice to see

Gecko123 · May 28, 2015

Hi Pigeonjake:

Thanks for posting the pictures.

Are those beans you're growing on that wide mesh wiring the typical long green beans sold everywhere in Thailand?

That's a great idea for a trellis.

akentryan · May 28, 2015

I have bananas, limes and Malaysian lemons growing in the back yard. Two patio orange trees and a mulberry tree in front each yielding a couple of jars of marmalade and jelly a year. Vegetables pose a problem as worms and snails eat eveything except the hot chilis. Underground grubs don't help either. I am thinking about treating the soil in my beds to kill the grubs and have screen cages built to protect the plants from every thing else. Anyone have any experience doing this? My first objective would be to grow a decent tomato. I have seeds from the USA for a half dozen varieties. Any helpful advice appreciated..

pigeonjake · May 28, 2015

Hi Pigeonjake:

Thanks for posting the pictures.

Are those beans you're growing on that wide mesh wiring the typical long green beans sold everywhere in Thailand?

That's a great idea for a trellis.

hi,

yes mate long bean, if you look at the picture on the right hand side you will also see long bean and cucumber growing up the duck run fence, i just plant them anywere they will climb, but when there was some wire left, well i just had to use it for them, its great, and easy to just pull up and move, good for long bean and cucumber,

great pics of your mate, if you look at our website and videos, you will understand why mine isnt as tidy as it should be, we have been that busy,

and you know we farm pigs,ducks,chickens and fish,,,lol, thats not mentioning the budgies, caneries and finches, pigeons ect,,lol,

but i do have some really great compost, my word it is good this year i cant wait for the corn to finnish so i can get this black gold into the soil,

i have a little L200 kabuta with a rotto tiller on it i bought it second hand for 50k it does all sorts round our farm,

only this morning i draged a yuka tree into our land that had fallen over in the winds and the owner said i could have it, that is now a border for a flower garden,,lol

i think this will turn into a nice thread, thank you for thinking of it

jake

superal · May 28, 2015

Hi Gecko123 & Pigeonjake , I am very envious of your achievements as I used to be an ardent veg grower in the UK . I have tried to grow tomatoes which gave reasonable results when planted in 8-10 inch pots . Lettuce germinated ok but their growth was slow . Carrots were disappointing although those that survived were a reasonable size and edible . I also tried some English runner beans grown up a wigwam cane structure . 50% germination and rapid growth to the top of the canes but the stalks were skinny and a light green colour . All perished within 2 or 3 weeks . I have since learnt that as you say , the best time to grow is normally October through to March . Do you grow tomatoes , cucumbers and pumpkins etc in the hot season ? I can also see from the pics that you both seem to have done a lot of ground preparation work with manure etc . Can you elaborate on that . Also do you use a rotavator ?

A very enjoyable post . Thanks

pigeonjake · May 28, 2015

right ive just poped outside for an update,,lol

this is the yuka i dragged in this morning,

this is how the long bean look now,

and my onions

water melon coming on great,

long bean up duck fence

thai cherry, sorry fruit,

pomigranet again fruit, we have a lot of different fuit

and the lemon grass patch in front of one of my bird aviarys,

sorry for so many pics,,,lol

pigeonjake · May 28, 2015

hi superal

ive got an advantage as we keep pigs chickens ducks ect we have a small farm, look at our videos on youtube, so i have lots of compost i dont sell any we use it all as our farm was just 2 rai of grass when we got it from grandma and the soil was terrible,

but with hard work you get there, as you have seen we have a very small tractor but she is worth her weight in gold, its hard work digging here, ive done it,

pic of our compost heap, i have 2 of them, one ready to use and one being filled

Gecko123 · May 28, 2015

Pigeonjake:

It looks like your garden area is pretty shielded from wind. If I try that wide-mesh wire trellis idea (which I plan to do) I think I'll need to use wood or concrete posts to support it. When the wind kicks up here, I'm pretty sure it would knock over those trellises here. I'm really into composting too. Believe it or not I till the vegetable garden area by hand (shovel, pickaxe, hoe, rake), and I have the orthopedic doctor bills to prove it!

Actually, I don't recommend doing this, especially at first, because the joint stress and strain on your back from swinging a pick axe all day is no laughing matter, lol. I have a number of gardening related aches and pains to be sure. But over the years, I have managed to improve the consistency of the soil to the point where it can be worked without feeling like you need a jack hammer to break up the clods. I have thought about buying a rototiller or a small tractor with a rototiller attachment.

Superal:

The soil improvement effort has been endless, and been on-going for 10+ years. The backbone of it has been the composting. All of the grass mowings, leaf rakings, kitchen scraps, banana tree trunks, bamboo leaves, etc. from a 5 rai area are gathered and composted. I don't raise any livestock or chickens, but I periodically collect steer manure from neighbors, (my next door neighbor has a 40 head dairy farm), and also add store bought chicken manure pellets. Last year, I put a dump truck load of that black soil-ly looking stuff left over after sugar cane is processed (there's a mill in the area). That was probably overkill, but it has since had a good chance to be cured and to cool off, and I am very much looking forward to this year's cool season. If you take a close look at the soil in the pictures I posted, I think you can see that the soil condition is better than typical farm land soil.

Regarding your questions about specific vegetables:

Lettuce: Really have to be super super gentle with the watering during initial germination. Best to start in plastic trays, but can be started in open ground. Forget about hose watering during the initial germination. I actually have used a backpack sprayer with the nozzle little more than a mist in order to get them going.

Carrots: Can be tricky, and frankly, I'm sometimes suspicious of the seed quality. The seeds do take a while to germinate (guessing? maybe upwards of 2 weeks)

I've gotten decent size. Not much bigger than baby carrot size. Have never come close to commercial size.

Tomatoes: Have had great success in past years, but in recent years not so much. Tomatoes here seem susceptible to two things: worms which get into the fruit causing it to rot, and aphids which wither the leaves. Only time I've had success growing them has been in cool season.

Things which are easy to grow which aren't bothered by insects/pests: bai horapha (basil),bai grapow (lemon basil), lemon grass, red onions and garlic (cool season). Cilantro in containers (very slow germinating) is also pretty easy, but need to shelter from rain during rainy season.

Hope this helps.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Gecko123

Kiwi1 · May 28, 2015

Hello Gecko and all:

A delight to see pictures of your garden and happy healthy plants.

For folks considering making a kitchen garden, could be worth goodgling " no-dig garden" .

For Thai conditions suggest looking at items from Queensland Australia where climate is not too differenet and there are quite a lot of no dig enthusiasts.

Am no great gardener myself, but when I developed a no dig vege garden back in NZ was amazed at the great results and the minimum of work involved.

zlodnick · May 28, 2015

Great photos, Thanks,

Isnt it something how we all have different interests. Some guys would hate this kind of stuff, but to me, there is nothing more relaxing than hanging out in the garden, pulling weeds and enjoying nature.

Also, a good compost pile is a beautiful sight.

And the best part is, here we can do it all year long.

Laza 45 · May 28, 2015

Great photos, Thanks,

Isnt it something how we all have different interests. Some guys would hate this kind of stuff, but to me, there is nothing more relaxing than hanging out in the garden, pulling weeds and enjoying nature.

Also, a good compost pile is a beautiful sight.

And the best part is, here we can do it all year long.

Haha!.. I liked the compost pile too!! I've been trying to convince my wife that they are a good idea.. she isn't buying it... too many rats, snakes.. stinks.. I'll keep trying.. I love my garden too...

zlodnick · May 28, 2015

When we first came to Live in Thailand, we lived with my wifes sister. Her place was a mess, so I cleaned everything up and built a nice compost pile with all the organic matter. Came home one day and the SIL had burned the compost pile!

I dont like to burn anything, so I have brush piles all over our property. I plant squash and pumpkins around the edges of the brushpiles. Its like a ready made trellis and its quite attractive too.

soidog2 · May 28, 2015

Not exactly a kitchen garden but lots of stuff to eat!

Keep in mind, the last few month weather has been absolutely brutal.

Avocado

Rosemary

Sweet Basil

Habanero

Horse Radish

Pineapple

Jackfruit

Durian

Fig

Coffee

Cabbage family

Edamame (soy bean for humans)

Grapes

Bay Leaf (Laurus Nobilis)

Cacao (Theobroma cacao)

Oregano

Edited May 28, 2015 by soidog2

soidog2 · May 29, 2015

Part two, more garden edibles.

Ponderosa lemon with starfruit in the background

Tarragon

Dates

Eggfruit (Pouteria campechiana)

Curry (Murraya koenigii)

Red DragonFruit

Mabolo (Diospyros discolor)

Young Adansonia digitata leaves and flower bud, excellent nutrition.