Part 2 - 4 Day Stay at an Organic Farm

 So, Sunny is in charge of agriculture. We’re going to walk around the 70 + acre farm and Sunny will show us around. Sunny is an international agricultural expert on climate-friendly regenerative agriculture who has worked on restoring soil probiotics for over 40 years. Since her retirement, she has taken up Thai traditional medicine to link soil health with human health. 

First of all, I wanted to show you these GIGANTIC small shells! They are about 3 inches or 7.6 centimeters long - about the length of my forefinger. I have never seen such large snails!

This is Manila Tamarind. It is high in vitamin C and K. It is also good for improving your skin. 

The government helps out farmers 

by helping them dig man made lakes to retain 

water. They also let the farmers pick out and plant 

a number of trees on their 

property 

This is a field of chives

This medicinal herb is called Hanuman Prasarn Kai. Sunny says it is good for the lungs and she uses it in preventing and recovering from COVID. 

These are bags of discarded tamarind shells which is waste biomass. Biomass waste is often burned in an open field, contributing to climate change and air pollution. Sunny transforms these tamarind shells into Biochar for use in improving the soil and in controlling the carbon in the soil to reverse climate change. It is the mission of Sunny’s farm to promote climate-friendly agriculture. 

Also, the animal manure is used for fertilizer and the animals eat the remains after the fields are harvested 

to help clear the land. 

Every day Sunny makes a tea from local plants for her family, guests and workers.

And she cooks fresh organic food! 

Some of the properties of these plants are anti inflammatory, antibiotic, and some plants stop blood clotting. And I got to reap the benefits! What a great resource Sunny is! You can check out her site or give her a call

Now on to Part III -

The Animals 

Part 3 - 4 Day at an Organic Farm

 Day 3 - The Animals

Today I’ll talk about the animals they have on their organic farm and what purpose they serve.

Sunny’s sister Tat, manages the animals.  

She has chickens and ducks and 

Actually, 5 puppies! She keeps them in with the chickens and ducks for the chicken and ducks’ 

PROTECTION.

Now, how can puppies protect the chickens and ducks?

They are 

NOISY!

If something is wrong they will cry and whine. And, of course, they are so cute!

The problem Tat has is the predators. One of which is the python snake. 

A python would try to enter the pens from on top of the pens but Tat was too smart for them! She put wire mesh on top of the pens and at a 45 degree angle the snakes would fall off! Clever, right?

Also, again, the puppies would whine or

cry if they didn’t like something. And again, with 

5 puppies, that is a lot of noise!

They also have these (water buffalo)

And these (cows?)

I believe it is the cows that

are taken to slaughter and some Buddhists 

want to save their lives 

so they buy them and donate 

them to a local farm.

Sunny has a couple of these 

that were donated to

the farm

The also have a herd of goats. I don’t have any photos 

of the goats. Thai people aren’t really into 

goat cheese so goats are bred for their 

meat but they also clear a

field by eating the remainders

after the field is harvested,

They also have a production area and a workshop area where they can teach classes on various subjects pertaining to health and natural farming and remedies. If you would like to contact them, 

here is their contact information;

New Life

Organic Farm

+66 091-670-0302

Part 1 - 4 Day Stay At Organic Farm

 Hi all! This was a fun adventure! A friend of a friend (the new friend is Sunny) has an organic farm in Phetchabun province and I was able to stay with she and her sister for 4 days. It was an incredible adventure!

THE BUS

So, as you can see these buses are modern and nice inside and out. The photo is of the back of the bus because we had one rest stop along the way. It was a 4+ hour ride from Bangkok, and I wanted to make sure I got back on the right bus when we re-embarked. It does say on the side of the bus the province you are going to. In this case it was Phetchabun province. 

As you can see the seats are very nice and comfy. The seats recline and the foot rests come up so that you can lay back and enjoy the ride. And, my ticket was only about $14 one way. 

I made some new friends along the way. The blonde lady loves to scuba dive and the couple in the background - the boyfriend is from Kentucky, lives in Thailand with his girlfriend and is a school teacher.

Along the way I spotted this truck carrying sugar cane which had just been harvested.

As well as this Buddhist temple I could see from a distance that was set in a hillside 

THE FARMER’S MARKET IN NONG PHAI

Sunny took me to lunch when I arrived and helped me navigate the menu to get not spicey food. I like it really mild.

At one point we went to the local marketplace in Nong Phai.  I’ll show you lots of photos with a few explanations.

The white plate in the center. What is it? Yes, rats. I guess there are rats that are safe to eat there. The government helps to regulate the quality of that meat.

The yellow chickens were dipped in saffron. The customers like it that way.

And guess what? They are big on waffles! They sell them everywhere! And they make breakfast sandwiches out of them. It actually makes sense.

Mice this time.

Pigs feet

These bags contain ingredients to make your own homemade meal. See the fresh ingredients? 

I loved this license plate. Ultraman. The super hero. 

A basket maker displaying her wares.

Snakes, anyone?

Street Food is very common and very popular here. You see it everywhere!

Yeah! Now to the sweets

They cook this dessert inside of bamboo

These colored jelly bean looking things are made of bean curd. Very colorful! 

These desserts are wrapped in banana leaves. This is what is inside. Mushed rice with a sesame paste inside. You eat it warm. It’s good!

This is a tamarind seed. It’s flavor is used a lot here. At this particular time of year there is a very small window that the seeds are soft and you can eat the whole thing. Kind of like the texture of a date. 

These are yummy too. They are a crispy puffed rice with coconut sugar on them. Yum!

I think I’ll make this a Part I 

because the organic farm 

is the real highlight 

Stay tuned for 

Part II