vegetable growing in Bangkok, permaculture garden business...may be

[andreas islinger]

i live in bangkok since 1 year and we have a small townhouse with garden around... small but any size can be changed into an abundant city garden.

i have developed 2 organic permaculture farm and village developments in australia over 25 years, but since a while living with my wife in Nonthaburi

i want to use every saqure cm of our garden road frontage,edges walls gardenbeds, pathway edges, and substantial verandah spaces.

the place is situated in a "village development" on ratchapruek rd, Nonthaburi.

my plan is while the misses is working putside even in Bangkok suburbia i can grow most of our food needs.

i am searching good soil i can top up existing garden beds and turn them into raised bed situations.

i am searching for a welder who ca make me brackets for our verandah so i can infrastructure to support around 400 plants on 2 verandahs.

we also need around 20 meters of metal/wood tables for additional pots...

places for resources like railway sleepers, styrofoam boxes, a few hundred growing pots.... and as i sad before most importantly soil,compost and organic feriliser/mulch sources....

i am good with computers and would make those informations neatly available for others in a database for bangkok resources...

anyone who is bored and wants to something similar....let me know

may be we work something together and help each other.

all the gardens in our suburb with may be 100 houses are the same...undermanaged, mostly ornamental but NO FOOD

i have tons of experience, just sick of sitting around and drinking too much....

[troysantos]

Andreas, though this isn't an answer to your question, you might find it relevant. There is an urban gardening group in BKK that is very active. Thai City Farm. www.thaicityfarm.com The website is all in Thai, but I'm sure there are people who speak English (assuming you and your wife don't know Thai, and your wife isn't Thai). Also, they post lots of stuff on YouTube, and of course have a FB page. The guy who is most prominent in the group seems to know a good amount of English. Seems I've also seen where he has knowledge of permaculture. He holds workshops at his home garden once a month, somewhere in the Bangkok area. You and the group just might be able to exchange some info / tips / etc. Explain and demonstrate pc ethics and principles, I have a feeling some of them'll love a lot of pc stuff.

The group might also be able to help you find what you're looking for.

[RickBradford]

The HQ of City Farm is also in Nonthaburi, which may be convenient for the OP.

The address is: 912 Soi Ngaamwongwan 31, Soi Yoi 7, Ngaamwongwan St, Ampur Meuang (City District), Nonthaburi. Tel: 02-591-1195. E-mail: [email protected].

Co-ordinates 13.862222N,100.513333E

They have offshoots and projects going on at schools and other places right across Bangkok.

[dunks]

Hi?

Welcome to Ratchapruek! I have been here a couple of years now and enjoy it much more than BKK. Whilst I haven't done all I plan to do with the garden, I also would like it to be predominantly edible species.

If you go onto Kanchanapisek rd and head towards pathum thani there is a market area that sells all types of garden products from seeds,soil, pots etc.

Best of luck!

[cooked]

I tried to buy railway sleepers one time and was told that they were reserved for railway company employees. They weren't in particularly good condition as you can imagine if you know Thailand.

[andreas islinger]

thanks so much for all your suggestions!!!

[Thian]

Keep in mind that in many new village parks (moobaan) it is not legal to start a nursery or put it full of pots. Some have rules about that but nobody obeys them of course.

I know several woodshops who sell used wood in your area. I just don't know the streetnames.

Along kanchana phisek you can buy all you need. Best would be to order a truckload of soil, ask the gardeners where they buy it.. Also look in the sidesois where they built many big plant markets. Also there are wholesale company's for pots and all you need.

Between Central West gate (that new big mall) and the Rama5 along kanchana phisek there are the most plantshops.

Is all construction at Ratchaprueck finished now? I haven't been there for a while because of all the trafficjam and dirt on the roads.

[andreas islinger]

cool, i shall head there on the weekend...we have been there a few times already and loaded the car to the brink... i bought acouple hundred bags of good potting mix near huahin.... 12 bags for 100 baht... not bad i thought... but i need around 1000 bags and its far to go... the soil they sell in bangkok is of poor quality i found so far....

Ratchaprueck is getting there... the new bridge extention over the klong is drivable now... but they are working still on pavements and planting etc... probably another year and its all finished 555...

but hey traffic as bad as ever after 6 am standing traffic for kilometers... going into the city/rama 5...

wonder why you are not allowed to fill your plot with pots.... must be the access water??? i have plenty of vernadah spaces and along the road where i can comfortably place 1000 pots at a time.... thats all i want to do....at this stage...

[Thian]

If you need that much soil you better order by truckload. It must be somewhere on kanchana phisek, just ask the thai gardeners where.

In the moobaans there are rules about how to keep it neat and tidy. Rules like no more then 2 dogs, no pots on the street, things like that. Not that anybody obeys those rules or anything will happen but they have those rules.

I can show you houses in your area where the owner has 1000 pots in the frontgarden, on the street and everywhere and then you probably understand why it is.

But i guess if you try to make it look nice nobody will complaint.

You can also make big raised beds to grow in.