I want to start an Asparagus growing Blog - Advice Please

[ThaiLife]

My self and my Thai wife decided to use some land we have ( 1 Rai ) to grow asparagus and over the past year ive documented our progress with photographs , videos and diary entries . I would like to share our past and continuing experiences on some sort of personal dedicated blog where people can ask questions and leave comments .

As ive never done this sort of thing before , I'm now looking for some advice , I don't mind paying to set up a blog , but free would be nice , I have searched google and there seems to be many options and choices, but it would be helpful to hear from any forum members who have a personal experience of blog's . In my mind I would like to have my own internet domain address that describes what we are doing ( w w w growing asparagus in thailand dot com ) sort of thing.

Any comments and suggestions on how to proceed would be welcome

[HooHaa]

https://www.google.com/search?q=set+up+blog&oq=set+up+blog&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4551j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

[TPUBON]

Did you get a blog started? I tried growing some asparagus and failed.

[ThaiLife]

https://www.google.com/search?q=set+up+blog&oq=set+up+blog&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4551j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

Thanks for the link , I was hoping for some personal recommendations and comments

[ThaiLife]

Did you get a blog started? I tried growing some asparagus and failed.

The asparagus plants are doing well , ive not yet started a blog , still trying to sort it out

This is a view of the land before we started growing asparagus

This is now

its been and still is an interesting journey , currently we have over 3,500 plants , that are watered by a pumped sprinkler system fed from a deep hand dug well . The plants are not yet producing top grade stems , but we still sell our daily crop to a local asparagus buyer for export .

[rhythmworx]

https://www.google.com/search?q=set+up+blog&oq=set+up+blog&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4551j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

Thanks for the link , I was hoping for some personal recommendations and comments

Goto google search home page click the square box next to sigb in,,,it list maps, Gmail etc,,, click more at the bottom and click 'blogger' sign in and your away.

Its easy and totally free has webstats everything, don't click publish until you've previewed everything and are happy.

Another option is to install wordpress, you can create it all on your computer, but you will need to buy a domain name and web space etc..

Might aswell stick to googles blogger IMO, it does everything you need it to.

Edited August 28, 2015 by rhythmworx

[RichCor]

https://www.google.com/search?q=set+up+blog&oq=set+up+blog&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4551j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

Thanks for the link , I was hoping for some personal recommendations and comments

Goto google search home page click the square box next to sigb in,,,it list maps, Gmail etc,,, click more at the bottom and click 'blogger' sign in and your away.

Its easy and totally free has webstats everything, don't click publish until you've previewed everything and are happy.

Another option is to install wordpress, you can create it all on your computer, but you will need to buy a domain name and web space etc..

Might aswell stick to googles blogger IMO, it does everything you need it to.

WordPress actually lets you create a blog hosted under the wordpress.com domain, so it would be accessed at, like, howto.wordpress.com

The wordpress can also be set to create announcements automagically on your FaceBook page whenever you publish an entry on your wordpress blog.

Just sign up.

The only issue I've had with having a wordpress hosted site is disappearing images and not having clean control over them. But that's true with most blogging sites.

Some people might just post on Facebook, then then you have to deal with all those Facebook users leaving Facebook-like comments.

Another option would be to create a domain under GOOGLE, then use the free service Google Sites to create and publish static designed web pages. Really easy to do.

[dddave]

Ambitious and imaginative project....good luck and please post a link here to your blog when you get it going.

Makes me nostalgic. Growing up, my suburban Massachusetts backyard had asparagus, planted by a previous owner. We'd pick some but we did not really know how to maintain the plants and they'd always end up going to seed.

[innerspace]

If it was a serious part of your business I would advise to get a pro to set it up (my work) but given your niche and goals...go with diy free.

Wordpress is great and the open version can do anything with the right developer, but wordpress.com is free and a good chunk of the flexibility.

Visit wordpress.com and signup and will have a site made in minutes.

Browse the free themes for something relevant and then add your story step by step under the post area. Blog complete.

[NeverSure]

myasparagasblog.wordpress.com isn't an upper level domain like myasparagasblog.com would be. Does that hurt any with search engines these days like it used to?

Cheers.

[jmicaelk]

Hi, could anyone confirm the growing cycle of Asparagus in Thailand, will there only be 1 period of harvest 8-12 weeks, or will there be many around the year, read someone saying 2 months of harvest, then 1 month of dormant and then the cycle goes on.

My friend have some land that is too small for corn so they would like to try this

Thanks in advance

[petedk]

I use Wordpress and find it extremely user friendly.

I have my own domain names (3 sites) and use a webhosting service that supports Wordpress. There are many themes to choose from and they can be changed at any time.

As you get more and more experienced you can add plugins which allow you to add more interesting things on your pages/blogs.

Good luck with the asparagus growing.

Edited September 26, 2015 by petedk

[ThaiLife]

Hi, could anyone confirm the growing cycle of Asparagus in Thailand, will there only be 1 period of harvest 8-12 weeks, or will there be many around the year, read someone saying 2 months of harvest, then 1 month of dormant and then the cycle goes on.

My friend have some land that is too small for corn so they would like to try this

Thanks in advance

Hi , We are growing Asparagus and following the growing pattern of other local growers in our area , there are some growers who have slightly different growing patterns , but on the whole around where we are the growing cycle is

One month dormant period when all the ferns have to be removed to allow the asparagus plants to rest , at this resting time no asparagus are picked .

After approximately one month , depending on the rate the new asparagus crowns start to come up , food is put on the asparagus beds , both commercial chemicals and cow dung mixed with rice husks , as soon as the crowns have grown to a pickable hight they are picked , this picking period lasts for about two months .

This growing cycle continues through out the year .

Its been and still is an interesting project , our goal as with most asparagus growers is to at some time achieve a high growing rate output of top grade asparagus which command the best wholesale prices , hopefully in the next six months we will achieve a higher growing rate of the top grade asparagus .

We are still learning and have made a few mistakes along the way .

TL

[ThaiLife]

I use Wordpress and find it extremely user friendly.

I have my own domain names (3 sites) and use a webhosting service that supports Wordpress. There are many themes to choose from and they can be changed at any time.

As you get more and more experienced you can add plugins which allow you to add more interesting things on your pages/blogs.

Good luck with the asparagus growing.

Thanks for the advice , its apprecated , I'm still tinkering with a few blog formats and hope to soon get some thing up and running , I will of course post the blog link here if its not against forum rules .

TL

[JHolmesJr]

Hi

growing stuff is great….many people just want to be bankers these days and move to the city.

may i ask, of the 7 grades of asparagus you posted, which is the most desirable and why?

Are they graded on appearance or other characteristics like colour and firmness etc?

just trying to understand so I can pick good asparagus when Im at the supermarkets.

Thanks.

Edited September 27, 2015 by JHolmesJr

[ThaiLife]

Hi

growing stuff is great….many people just want to be bankers these days and move to the city.

may i ask, of the 7 grades of asparagus you posted, which is the most desirable and why?

Are they graded on appearance or other characteristics like colour and firmness etc?

just trying to understand so I can pick good asparagus when Im at the supermarkets.

Thanks.

Hi

The local buyer who we sell our asparagus to, sets the criteria for each grade and price paid accordingly , the top grade ( A ) has to be cut at 25cm in length and has to be firm and straight in appearance with a tight straight cone head , the body has to be all green in colour , the body thickness can be a bit different in diameter . Achieving the cone head appearance is done by placing a plastic hat on top of the asparagus head as it starts to grow , personally I think the all green asparagus ( no white showing at the stem bottom ) do have a richer smoother taste and well worth buying .

The Cone Plastic hat

These shown below were on sale at Tesco Lotus and are lower grade

Currently around where we grow the price given by the wholesale buyer for top grade ( A ) asparagus is 60 baht a Kilo .

As some one who in the past never grew any thing , I'm now constantly amazed at the asparagus plant , come to that plants in general .

TL

[jmicaelk]

Thank you so much for all that info, how many plants do you have per rai ?? And where is a good place to buy them and what is the cost ??

[ThaiLife]

Thank you so much for all that info, how many plants do you have per rai ?? And where is a good place to buy them and what is the cost ??

Hi

Originally we went down the planting asparagus seed route as we were having difficulty in locally finding the ready grown seedling plants , we managed to find some asparagus seeds locally , but the cost was 7,000 Baht for one Kilo , we then checked out several other villages in our area and eventually found an old lady who has the seeds for sale at 1,000 Baht for two Kilos .

The asparagus seeds

We asked several local asparagus growers on the best way to go about planting the seeds ( they had to be soaked in water for three days and then placed in a damp pice of cloth until their first small roots sprouted ) .

The seeds in the damp cloth

Once the seeds had sprouted their small roots , we planted a few hundred seeds in a small test area we had prepared on our land , the seeds were laid in straight rows and covered with earth , this seed growing area was covered with sun screen sheeting while the seeds were growing .

Eventually most of the planted seeds grew and reached a hight of about six inches , but unfortunately the majority of small plants contracted a fungus problem and we had to remove and burn them all .

The seeds reached this stage shown below

The next thing we tried was to put a few hundred all ready soaked seeds in individual small clear plastic grow bags filled with a bought growing soil / compost and left them to grow in the shade out of direct sunlight , eventually the small plants started to shoot up , but for a reason I'm not too sure on, the seeds did grow , but most of them were very small and frail looking . So we decided that it was no good planting small frail plants and took them all to the local rubbish dump , just in case the bought growing soil was infected .

The seeds in growing bags

At this point after two failed attempts , we decided to go out once again and ask around other asparagus growers in our area if they know any one who had asparagus seedling plants for sale , we eventually found an asparagus grower who was in the process of growing seedling plants that he was going to sell , we place an order for 3,500 seedling plants and the cost was 2 Baht per plant .

Below is a shot of the 2 Baht seedling plant , being planted

to cut a long story short , we planted the 3,500 seedling plants we had ordered and to my surprise they all grew into strong healthy adult asparagus plants.

TL

[cyberfarang]

I think it depends on how IT savvy you are.

Here is one of the top website hosting companies in Thailand.

http://www.netdesignhost.com/

This is an FTP uploader site using File Transfer Protocol technology where you can create your own professional website from as little as 150 baht a month that includes your own personal domain and domain name. You have to have experience of HTML coding and CSS script.

I don`t recommend free websites, although there are some good ones around, but because they`re free they have limitations. It depends on your expectations of how you want your website to appear, the material you wish to publish on there and how you want it to perform.

Otherwise try a wordpress site. Weebly have a good reputation, but if you do not want to have space restrictions and prefer your own unique domain name and address, then you will be disappointed with the free options. On all these websites it is possible to set up Google Groups, Facebook and Twitter links.

[jmicaelk]

Thanks again for that info, may I ask where in Thailand you are. Im looking at 5000 plants per rai and to plant in up to 8 rai, maybe I find something else to put in those 8 rai as well

[njpski]

Hi ThaiLife

My wife and I would love to know where you bought the seedlings please

We have land near Khon Kaen that we want to use to grow asparagus

Any assistance would be wonderful

Cheers

Norman

[cyberfarang]

Hi ThaiLife

My wife and I would love to know where you bought the seedlings please

We have land near Khon Kaen that we want to use to grow asparagus

Any assistance would be wonderful

Cheers

Norman

My Thai girlfriend wants me to buy some land and grow lumyai on the land. I told her no way because I`m not allowed to do that in Thailand.

Just out of curiosity, how do you get around the legalities of owning land and running a farm in Thailand?

[njpski]

The land is in my wife's name. We have been married for nearly 7 years so it doesn't matter that it is her name.

[cyberfarang]

The land is in my wife's name. We have been married for nearly 7 years so it doesn't matter that it is her name.

No it doesn`t and I`ve had this argument time and time and time again.

My situation: I am a retiree, have a Thai girlfriend, we are of similar age, been together for a number of years and we rent a large house owned by her brother. She wants us to get married, buy some land, build a house and maybe another plot of land to grow lumyai trees, with my money of course all in her name because in Thailand I cannot have my name entered on the land papers. I have looked up the law and there are no two ways about it, a Farlang cannot own or run a farm in Thailand, whether it be crops, fruit or livestock, even if the farm is in the name of a Thai wife.

There are ways I may have ownership of a house but not the land it sits on. So down to the nitty critty, being a retiree having no need to officially get married to remain here means the girlfriend has no claims on me if the relationship fails because there is no such thing as a common law wife in Thailand. I am not going to invest a ton of my money into land I can`t own or even be a part owner and a working farm that I would be breaking a law if owning and working on there, can never own and be kicked off for a multitude of reasons. A situation that would be more beneficial to other people, having to rely on trust and could if things went wrong end up being a big all time loser. My girlfriend`s family say to me, why you worry, you have a lot of money and I answer yes and I intend to keep it.

It would be a different story if I could legally own a plot of land and a farm, secure, protected with my name or joint names on the paperwork knowing no one can kick me off and why I asked; how do Farlangs that invest their money in land and farms even in their Thai wives names manage to get around the legalities? So convince me and I might have a crack at it myself.