New house + 1Rai of land = What to grow ?

[cobbler]

The Thais aren't stupid so my first suggestion would be to look at what your neighbours are growing. Ask them. You may want to get a soil analysis done. Soil improvement will likely be necessary. Trial and experiment, no monocropping, forget about making money.

A problem here is theft. Most vegetable gardens are shaded.

Yes we dont live in issan so didnt like to say,because sounds like im being a snob. Theft is a big problem in some areas of thailand so you may need to be sure you are around at time of harvest. Also some things are easy to steal but other crops are not. Eg people arent going to stand and pick 1000 bart of chillies or kaffir lime leaves. As they could be shot while doing it. However if 10 baskets of bananas or pineapples were sitting around, expect the worst. Also be very careful of jealous neighbours. They can tend to poison or steal your crop in the middle of the night. Maybe never happen but good to be aware of the possibilities. Definitely do never leave harvested produce outside at night without a reliable guard.

Cheers Cobbler

[cobbler]

This is a kaffir lime about 3 weeks after picking leaves

[cobbler]

Another kaffir lime about 3 weeks after picking leaves. We have a plan to put 1 rai of these in but just trialing a couple first before outlaying money. So far so good. At 50 bart per kilo its looking promissing.

Cheers Cobbler

[jvs]

We used to buy a lot of potting soil also ,not any more.

We use all leaves ,grass,chicken and cow manure ,saw dust,ashes from burned wood and what ever else will rot and now we make out own compost,fantastic!

We have chickens for the eggs and to keep the insects down,no termites or thousand legs around anymore.

Also some hydroponics and we have fish from the canal in front of the house,eighty % of the green stuff we eat comes from our own garden.

I love it when Ann just walks around the garden and comes back with a load of goodies,her smile is just an added benefit.

[cobbler]

We used to buy a lot of potting soil also ,not any more.

We use all leaves ,grass,chicken and cow manure ,saw dust,ashes from burned wood and what ever else will rot and now we make out own compost,fantastic!

We have chickens for the eggs and to keep the insects down,no termites or thousand legs around anymore.

Also some hydroponics and we have fish from the canal in front of the house,eighty % of the green stuff we eat comes from our own garden.

I love it when Ann just walks around the garden and comes back with a load of goodies,her smile is just an added benefit.

Thats great. What area do you live?

[jvs]

We live in the Cha-am area,about 10 km. out of town and very quiet.

[cobbler]

Cha am yep ok ,is that just south of bangkok ,not far from salt area?

[jvs]

It is a little more south than that,Just before Hua-Hin.

[cobbler]

Oh yes been past there many times. Top spot

[cobbler]

Shit i thought everybody lived in issan

[Sydebolle]

Ever thought of growing lettuce and herbs for restaurants and hotels on hydroponic systems? If yes - I can help. Is manageable with little staff, takes not too much water and generates cash crops within a few weeks after you've started. And, should you move, then you take your hydroponic farm along

[realenglish1]

Grow Squash

[Bredbury Blue]

My brother in law (RIP) lived not so far away in Pakchong and he grew dragon fruit.

[asdecas]

Hubs. There's always a demand for hubs in Thailand.

[cobbler]

Hubs?

[pigeonjake]

hi all great reading,

we have a pig farm on our 2 rai, but ill take some pics tomorow of my veg plot and my manure, i call it my black gold,,lol

i grow sweet potatoe great and better then the normal potatoe as they will grow i plant a few peanuts for my pigeons, better to take pics tomorow for you to see,

there are many things you can grow, capow,cabage,long bean,cowpat, many veg,

if you want to see our place we are thaifarmlife.com, youll see there what we do on 2 rai,

ill take a couple of pics of the veg plot tomorow

jake

[nithisa78]

You can work as much or as little as you like no matter how big or small your land is. Many things i can advise you to grow but if you are in the wrong area they will be no good.

We are now situated in a small village between Dan Kwian and Chokchai in the province of Nakhon Ratchasima .

So far Ive found one large wholesale market that locals sell their produce to , and buyers then come from other areas to buy in bulk . In the area where we are it seems there's a lot of land planted with Cassava and ive seen large areas of land planted with what looks like a tall grass.

In the short time ive been here ive all so seen quite a few smaller land plots growing Cucumbers , Chillies , Green beans , Tomatoes , Asparagus , Peanuts , and assorted fruit trees.

It would be nice to find a crop type that is not too labour demanding ( having to constantly be on the land every day ) but may be that does not exist

Our idea is to only supplement our income so its not critical to have a daily income return .

Like I tell the Mrs when I mess up in the garden, I'm from NYC. Maybe grapes?

[cobbler]

hi all great reading,

we have a pig farm on our 2 rai, but ill take some pics tomorow of my veg plot and my manure, i call it my black gold,,lol

i grow sweet potatoe great and better then the normal potatoe as they will grow i plant a few peanuts for my pigeons, better to take pics tomorow for you to see,

there are many things you can grow, capow,cabage,long bean,cowpat, many veg,

if you want to see our place we are thaifarmlife.com, youll see there what we do on 2 rai,

ill take a couple of pics of the veg plot tomorow

jake

i just had a look at your website. Love what youve done. Good job. Similar to kings project style of farming

Cheers Cobbler

[pigeonjake]

hi all great reading,

we have a pig farm on our 2 rai, but ill take some pics tomorow of my veg plot and my manure, i call it my black gold,,lol

i grow sweet potatoe great and better then the normal potatoe as they will grow i plant a few peanuts for my pigeons, better to take pics tomorow for you to see,

there are many things you can grow, capow,cabage,long bean,cowpat, many veg,

if you want to see our place we are thaifarmlife.com, youll see there what we do on 2 rai,

ill take a couple of pics of the veg plot tomorow

jake

i just had a look at your website. Love what youve done. Good job. Similar to kings project style of farming

Cheers Cobbler

hi cobbler,

thanks mate, im no web builder still learing but it give an idea on what can be done on just 2 rai,

we here the horor stories about the girl wants to buy hundreds of rai,,lol, dont need it,

we have even cut out the middle man now, i built the wife a small shop put it on mamas road frontage and my wife sells pork every day 6am till 10 and 3pm till 7pm, wish we had done it years ago,

a lot can be done here with a bit of thought on not to much land and make money, as you have seen we have chickens,ducks 3 typs, and geese, bloody hell iv even got budgies,caneries, zebra inches,coldeline finches, fancy pigeons and my racing pigeons,

i just love going to collect our own eggs, own veg and now when we have a pig slaughterd we choose the pork to put in our fridge,

good luck to all,

jake

[chilli42]

If I had a Rai of land to grow stuff I would focus on personal consumption - things that I like and ideally things you can't get in a supermarket in Thailand (which is just about everything). I would take it a step further and go organic ... or organic as once can go in this country. Use natural fertilizer and no pesticides. I would carve out a section for a greenhouse where I could get better temperature and sunlight control. I every you!

[cobbler]

Pigeonjake. Do you buy your piglets as wieners 30 days old,do you have fish in a dam also?

Never believe the people who say you cant make some money from a small amount of land. They just dont know how. Falang make the mistake of spending $ but earning bart. Its got to be cost effective. Jake has nailed it. If you can,go have a look at his project. 1 rai or 10 rai,the concept is the same,just a different scale. Love it love it love it

[pigeonjake]

hi cobbler,

yes mate we buy them in as piglets and rear them up to market wieght, 100kilo, but our get bigger now as we sell ourselfs,

i also now buy my feed direct from a feed mill and not the feed shop at cost price, took me year to do this, find a mill that was willing to sell me feed at cost, we buy 135bags a month,

6,20 guys got to go and do my feeding and collecting eggs, ill take my camera with me,lol

jake

[cobbler]

hi cobbler,

yes mate we buy them in as piglets and rear them up to market wieght, 100kilo, but our get bigger now as we sell ourselfs,

i also now buy my feed direct from a feed mill and not the feed shop at cost price, took me year to do this, find a mill that was willing to sell me feed at cost, we buy 135bags a month,

6,20 guys got to go and do my feeding and collecting eggs, ill take my camera with me,lol

jake

ill come and have a look 1 day. We r in bangsaphan. So its a time thing.

Cheers Cobbler

[CLW]

ill come and have a look 1 day. We r in bangsaphan. So its a time thing.

Cheers Cobbler

That Bangsaphan in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province?

[nev]

hi cobbler,

yes mate we buy them in as piglets and rear them up to market wieght, 100kilo, but our get bigger now as we sell ourselfs,

i also now buy my feed direct from a feed mill and not the feed shop at cost price, took me year to do this, find a mill that was willing to sell me feed at cost, we buy 135bags a month,

6,20 guys got to go and do my feeding and collecting eggs, ill take my camera with me,lol

jake

Hi Jake, do you have Quails?, my wife is thinking of doing Quail all sounds good from what I can gather, buy birds 20 baht each, can have a 1000 birds in one Avery, each bird can produce 10 eggs a day, sell 100 eggs for 60 baht to her contact who will set her up sell her the feed buy the eggs, and after one year buy the birds back.

Sounds OK but as we know TIT.

[pigeonjake]

hi cobbler,

we are as you know in the sakaeo province your welcome to pop along,

nev, i just cant see 1 bird laying 10 eggs a day,?

i dont keep them, we have ducks and chickens for eggs, and 3 geese, i dont know why ive got them,,lol they make a noise shoulod anything be about and i got told they keep snakes away, but tit,

and cobbler, yes we do have fish in the run off pond, 1000 blah duck go in and it takes about 4 month to get to weight,

if you look on you tube under ron jackson, thats me and thaifarmlife.com you will see us on there too, feeding the pigs and fish and a tour of our place,

its not much to see, we are a working farm not a farm stay, we have 2 guest rooms, but its mainly family and friends who come,

the only way you will learn here is to talk to people who are doing it, and take information that you think will suit what you want to do,

not every area had buyers for things that you will produce, you must be able to sell what you produce,

the veg i grow is for us, what we dont eat goes to the pigs,duck, chickens ect, nothing goes to waist,

pic 1, i know its only a pic of 3 eggs,,lol, but you know they are fresh and you know what the chickens are doing, running free,!

pic 2, is seeds coming up, tomatoe, cow pat and there is some corrots, but you can see sweet potatoe to the right and capow to the left,

pic 3, is inside the veg patch, half of it is coverd and half isnt, you will see the sweet potatoes and peanut and the bottom and a row of cabage,

pic 4, is the coverd veg area with the 2 guest rooms at the bottom, i fence it all off because of the chickens, i like them walking around, better eggs plus they eat scorpians,

pic 5, is the middle pigs before i cleaned this morning, its 8,11am and im done, unless i want to do some gardening, but all the animals are done,

pic 6, is new piglets in straw, i put them on straw to keep them warm, then onto the compost, as you will see fed and contented

ill not put any more, the thread isnt about me, sorry,

have a good day all

jake

[nev]

hi cobbler,

we are as you know in the sakaeo province your welcome to pop along,

nev, i just cant see 1 bird laying 10 eggs a day,?

i dont keep them, we have ducks and chickens for eggs, and 3 geese, i dont know why ive got them,,lol they make a noise shoulod anything be about and i got told they keep snakes away, but tit,

and cobbler, yes we do have fish in the run off pond, 1000 blah duck go in and it takes about 4 month to get to weight,

if you look on you tube under ron jackson, thats me and thaifarmlife.com you will see us on there too, feeding the pigs and fish and a tour of our place,

its not much to see, we are a working farm not a farm stay, we have 2 guest rooms, but its mainly family and friends who come,

the only way you will learn here is to talk to people who are doing it, and take information that you think will suit what you want to do,

not every area had buyers for things that you will produce, you must be able to sell what you produce,

the veg i grow is for us, what we dont eat goes to the pigs,duck, chickens ect, nothing goes to waist,

pic 1, i know its only a pic of 3 eggs,,lol, but you know they are fresh and you know what the chickens are doing, running free,!

pic 2, is seeds coming up, tomatoe, cow pat and there is some corrots, but you can see sweet potatoe to the right and capow to the left,

pic 3, is inside the veg patch, half of it is coverd and half isnt, you will see the sweet potatoes and peanut and the bottom and a row of cabage,

pic 4, is the coverd veg area with the 2 guest rooms at the bottom, i fence it all off because of the chickens, i like them walking around, better eggs plus they eat scorpians,

pic 5, is the middle pigs before i cleaned this morning, its 8,11am and im done, unless i want to do some gardening, but all the animals are done,

pic 6, is new piglets in straw, i put them on straw to keep them warm, then onto the compost, as you will see fed and contented

ill not put any more, the thread isnt about me, sorry,

have a good day all

jake

Thanks jake i was thinking 10 eggs a lot for one bird,but she did say somthing about having the light on all night.

[pigeonjake]

i just googles it and they would lay about 300 a year,

a karkie duck lays more 325 on average a year,

[Markalan]

I used to live in Thailand now live in Japan an due to the price of farm land here i had to do some research. Basically i would suggest looking up the term aquaponics.

here are some handy links, good luck.

[Markalan]

oh and use cat fish first time around as they are tough as nails. A mix of aquaponics and standard land growing crops like potatoes and onions.