Thread: What's in your garden?

While not really "whats in your garden", but for some this river maybe in their garden soon. Part of my daily bike ride covers about 5 km along the Wang river. It rose nearly 6 to 8 feet last night. Must have had a big rain up further North of us.





On our side of the river it would have to rise 40 feet or so, The other side in some areas its will take about 3 or 4 feet until it is in folks yards.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

On our side of the river it would have to rise 40 feet or so

Foresight is a wonderful trait.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Foresight is a wonderful trait.

Yes it is. Of course I had a long list of things before I built and one was has it ever flooded here from the river rising over the banks? My FIL said never but the other side has gone under a few times in low places. I will take a picture tomorrow on my ride and show a long stretch of low areas. Its close

No rain today as of yet but its stirring up again and looks imminent.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

I will take a picture tomorrow on my ride and show a long stretch of low areas. Its close

Pics on my ride today. River dropped at least 5 feet or so.



Low side and there are homes along this side for quite a few KM's



High side. You can see it would take a lot to crest those banks.

As JPPR2 has taken this down a different path I thought I might follow ity as well.
Yesterday I went out to have a look at the paddies after the little bit of rain we had on Sunday but it didn't make a lot of difference as they are still dry and the rice struggling.





Even the water holes are almost empty


At the river the water is as low as I have ever seen it. It is 2ft below the spillway and way below the main overflow.


The boys came along for the ride


They enjoy a run around


and a swim


Cheers

Originally Posted by ootai

As JPPR2 has taken this down a different path

^I do apologize.....

BTW, Your dogs are swimmers like mine. I have a Chocolate Lab and a Golden Retriever. Show them water and see ya later....

^^How long have you been without rain?

OhOh
It is not that we have had no rain but what we have had is just enough to stop the rice from dying. At this time of the year the paddies are usually full of water but right now they are empty, the soil has some moisture but the other big problem is with no water the weeds grow and they can take over. So whatever happens from here on I don't think it will be a very good harvest around here this year.

JPPR2
I don't really care about going off track as I am not really sure why I started this thread in the first place must have been bored.
My dogs do like to get in the water mainly I think to cool down as they don't do a lot of swimming as such, they only go 2m-3m from the shore and then back again. One will go out a retrieve a stick if I throw it out for him but if I throw it too far he says get yourself.

Cheers

OhOh,
Interesting on Durian. I read same about elevating them up. I have 3 we just planted and they are elevated. They seem to be doing well at this juncture. Our Jack Fruit appears to be diseased. I will like yank it out. Of course my FIL and wife say NO...We can save it. I disagree. Of course I can just let it go and see what happens.

Originally Posted by ootai

I don't really care about going off track as I am not really sure why I started this thread in the first place must have been bored.

I like threads like this in many regards especially with pictures. Lots can be learned.

Our Lumyai tree has produced so much this year. I continually give them away. Some have come by and want to buy them because ones in the market are small and not very good. I told my wife Whatever....I just share and enjoy just giving them away first letting them fall and rot. Same with Bananas. My FIL cuts them down and let's them rot versus giving them away. I always found that Odd. In the US I had Navel Orange and Myers Lemon and always gave them away

OhOh
Thanks for your post it is informative re Durians if I ever decide to plant any. The interesting thing to me is trying to work out what to do to get good results here. Back home (Aussie) I used to consider myself to have a bit of a green thumb, but here I'm the grim reaper.
I thought a shade house would be ideal as I have seen plant almost shrivel up from the direct sun but when I covered the whole place in with shade cloth the plants didn't seem to want to grow. It stopped the ground drying out so much but I couldn't work out whether to water them or not. I made the garden beds by digging a half metre deep trench and then putting in layers of straw covered by 50mm of soil and thought it should allow for good drainage but my mind is still open about its success or failure. The soil in there is so clayey that I think it will need a few years of adding organic material to make it a good garden bed.
Anyway the MIL kept trying to get me to open the place up and I finally gave in and opened the sides but left the top covered it seems to be working much better so far just takes a bit more watering.
The other thing I need to understand is the MIL's randomness, she just plants stuff all over the place and a couple of times I 've pulled them out thinking they were weeds. Me being an Engineer I like thing straight and orderly. Your description of your FIL's "jungle farm" rings true to me.
By the way thanks for the rain it has just pelted down for about 2 hours.

JPPR2
Time for me to learn some more if possible as I have some of these trees here and I haven't a clue what they are.
I asked the Missus but she doesn't know in English but she said she calls them "sour leaf tree", I presume that's her interpretation of the Thai name.
What I can tell you is they get eaten alive, the MIL sells the leaves as fast as they can grow. Picking them promotes better growing.

Here's a young one


And an older one which has been hacked to get it to grow more leaves.


You can see it here next to the Jackfruit tree. This area is at the bottom of the outside kitchen which is at the back (west side) of our house

Cheers

The little woman came up from the garden with a big basket of beans, cucumbers and tomatos. I wish we could grow jackfruit here. I love it freeze dried.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

I have 3 we just planted and they are elevated.

Allegedly they thrive on sloping sites as the heavy rain flows away. In the jungle where my father in law has his farm the slopes can be near vertical and his Durian normally produce a good few tons per year. This year was a poor harvest, allegedly because of low rainfall.

He has a supply of river water available year round and we have been sent up to the farm to water the trees. This is from hoses connected to the supply pipe. Not very scientific just "experience". He did at one stage take an interest in putting in a permanent irrigation system but it was never really started.

I on the other hand researched Durian and Coffee before planting anything. I searched and found many articles both academic and ones more information and vague suggestions. I went to the local government office, who by coincidence are the Thai centre for Durian. There, through a Thai lady interpreter, I spoke to their resident expert. They were both very helpful and eager to share their experience. They confirmed what I had read. So I felt confident myself although my wife continues to consider official Thai recommendations and Asian academic research as internet rubbish.

Whilst this was going on our "back garden" was a rubber plantation. I was allotted a small area where I planted coffee trees, lemon trees, a pomegranate tree and an under-crop of Pineapples, good for my breakfast but also as a mixer for SangSom, IMHO. My FIL talked about cutting the rubber down but again nothing occurred.

At this point I returned back to the UK to care fro my father. After a six months tour of duty, my brother took over and I retuned to find the rubber trees gone and some Durian trees planted all over the place. Not one straight line, different spacings and at the level of the existing ground. I knew from experience the garden flooded every year, from the uphill properties and then flowed downhill to the next. But Pa knows what he's doing I was told. I put some more fruit trees in and where a spot was available coffee trees.

Because these trees were MY trees I also laid some irrigation pipes from our house supply. Everybody was amused. The general idea at home and here on TD is if you have to irrigate you've planted in the wrong place or accept a varying crop according to Buddha. Having visited well run Durian orchards, irrigation, fertilisation and good management technique I fall into the managed group.

During the "summer months" here, June to October no irrigation is required as we have more than ample rain. During November to June the trees, both Durian and coffee require 4mm depth of rain/irrigation per square metre of canopy shade per day. This is due to the evaporation through the plans leaves. It depends a bit on temperature and cloud cover as well. I bought an outdoor "weather station" and logged the min/max temp, rainfall, humidity and wind. Again the weather station was a matter of hilarity that the felang was using some method in his madness.

The info allowed for the calculation of the irrigation requirements which I have followed, usually

After four years I had one Durian fruit growing, it usually takes 7 years for the fruit to grow. But "somebody" knocked it off. The coffee trees produce enough coffee beans, which I pick, process, sun dry and roast for a year. Which was my real priority. The Durian this year generally are fine but one has lost all it's leaves. I'm not sure it will recover.

I've recently cleared another Rai of land, planted some more Durian closer to home. The main farm is truck accessible during the winter months because of the river which is crossed six or seven times and the red clay tracks. Nice straight rows, 400mm high 3,000mm dia platforms and will be irrigated by November.

Taking care of my orchards is a hobby, keeps me slimmer and hopefully will provide my wife with an income in the years to come. It also allows a little quite R&R away from the village. I've a feeling she will sell it as soon as I disappear in a puff of smoke and spend the money unwisely.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

I continually give them away.

My wife's family, plenty around, when it's harvest time bring bundles of fruit and veg to share. My FIL distributes the not fit for market Durian around relatives and neighbours. If a wild pig appears one dark night that is chopped up and shared out. Luckily none like my roasted coffee beans although some have a cup of my americano, they do of course pollute it with condensed milk and extra sugar. Heathens.

Originally Posted by ootai

The other thing I need to understand is the MIL's randomness, she just plants stuff all over the place and a couple of times I 've pulled them out thinking they were weeds. Me being an Engineer I like thing straight and orderly

Oh yes. My wife throws everything out. We have a mango tree two metres from my seat where I survey my back garden. I've told her it's coming out. One night I'll do it and blame the ghosts. She puts Thai vegetables in, tells me don't cut them down and then buys the same veg at the market.

Straight lines and an even ground. oh for such a world. I spend half my life tripping over discarded branches and rocks thrown all over the place.

All the while, Thainess prevails.....

Originally Posted by HuangLao

All the while, Thainess prevails.....

Very true, I am but a happy traveller through their country.

Originally Posted by ootai

JPPR2
Time for me to learn some more if possible as I have some of these trees here and I haven't a clue what they are.
I asked the Missus but she doesn't know in English but she said she calls them "sour leaf tree", I presume that's her interpretation of the Thai name.
What I can tell you is they get eaten alive, the MIL sells the leaves as fast as they can grow. Picking them promotes better growing.

Here's a young one


And an older one which has been hacked to get it to grow more leaves.
Cheers

It appears to be a Chamuang tree. It is used in a pork stew like dish adding a sour taste and a aromatic smell. We have one and my wife does the same. Picks leaves and waits for the new ones as they have a better smell and taste. I also heard it has medicinal values as well.

Originally Posted by ootai

Me being an Engineer I like thing straight and orderly.

Me too. When landscaping a yard needs to have some sort of symmetry. Not Thai bashing at all here but that does not seem to be part of their make up. Its plant where there is open dirt and see what happens.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Straight lines and an even ground. oh for such a world. I spend half my life tripping over discarded branches and rocks thrown all over the place.

Things that make me scratch my head;

* Burying cans, bottles and big hunks of cement so when you go to plant later you spend hours digging up the garbage.

* Tossing little rocks everywhere so I hit them with my lawn mower and jettison them all over the place at 1,000 MPH also causing me to have to sharpen the blade regularly. I have spent countless hours getting the rocks out of our yard. My FIL (God Bless him) turns over dirt and tosses the rocks out in the yard where I get to find with my mower. I have told him. PLEASE stop that. Its getting better

* This is my personal favorite .... Tree Stumps. Thai's whack down trees leaving a stump about 2 to 4 inches above ground so you not only trip over them all the time but I get the joyous moment of clipping one with my lawn mower. I have dug up no less then 12 to 14 stumps ranging from 4" to 12" diameter around our place from Lumyai, Mango, Jack fruit etc. What I find funny, They will cut down a tree and right next to the stump plant another tree and they die because the stump rots and attracts bugs and termites that kill the new one. I have slowly educated my FIL that when he cuts down a tree, show me so I can dig the stump out.


All in a day of life here.

Originally Posted by cyrille

No idea what it is, but it's in my garden.

It's also called Torch Ginger. I have red, white and pink varieties in my garden.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

It appears to be a Chamuang tree. It is used in a pork stew like dish adding a sour taste

That's it. An alternative to tamarind leaves when making the pork stew.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

When landscaping a yard needs to have some sort of symmetry.

Personal taste. Engineering and maths background, but in nature, my garden I like no symmetry. Not absolute randomness, I put a bit of thought into the science of spacing and location, but aesthetically I like it all looking as if it just appeared there. That's with trees. Small stuff like cabbages etc it's impractical to be random and lines are essential, although there are applications where random veges can be grown, sort of like wildflowers.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

show me so I can dig the stump out.

I agree the stump should be removed. Quickest is to dig, but easiest is to wait a year then light a bonfire over it and keep feeding the fire for a few days (if it's a big tree stump).

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Tossing little rocks everywhere

Also not bashing, but there does seem to be little thought to the future or of consequences.

[QUOTE=Maanaam;3803593]Personal taste. Engineering and maths background, but in nature, my garden I like no symmetry. Not absolute randomness, I put a bit of thought into the science of spacing and location, but aesthetically I like it all looking as if it just appeared there. That's with trees. Small stuff like cabbages etc it's impractical to be random and lines are essential, although there are applications where random veges can be grown, sort of like wildflowers.

Maanaam
I don't have any issue with it outside my shade house. I actually think it is probably a better idea as it create a micro environment.
However within my shade house I like to keep things straight as I can then dig the garden beds and maintain the channels between the beds to allow the water to run off during heavy downpours, not that we have had many of those so far this year. The ground where the shade house is slopes south to north and east to west so that the low point is the north west corner and it is nearly a metre lower than the opposite corner. All the water flows through the shade house and out the bottom corner into drains that take it away to the drain at the edge of the road. Before I set up the drainage it used to wash channels through our cassava. Now it heads off down the hill to our neighbours I and don't have to worry about it.

JPPR2
Tree stumps don't exist anywhere where my Missus has land as I love digging them out.
None in our paddies as they damage harvestors etc.

I was tidying up one block and got this one out, so big my little excavator couldn't lift it so I pushed it to where it now reside on the side of the paddy.



Took some digging to get it out.