Sorting the Garden

**Loombucket** · 09-11-2008, 07:20 PM

Preamble and disclaimer

This is all based on my experiences. When I make sweeping statements like 'everyone, no one, anywhere' and 'nowhere' etc, I mean around my local commumity. I can't speak for all of LOS.

No matter where your house is, no matter how large your garden, one will, at some point, want to have somethings in it that look nice. Even if you do all the planning and have people round to do the actual digging, there will come a time when you need to get your own hands dirty. The soil in Thailand is something else and the western style Fork and spade, whilst available in some places, are not ideal weapons of choice.

Lets start from the begining. This is known as the Jod or back hoe and is used for just about everything from digging, weeding, mixing cement, raking chippings and cutting roots. Every home has one, farms usually have an assortment of large and small ones and some have holes in the back to let water drain out

The handle fits inro a 'D' shaped hole at the back and is secured with a simple wedge. The handle is missing here because I have just broken it! This is the side view showing the curve of the blade and the handy reinforcing bits on the sides, When new, the edge of the blade is blunt but this is quickly worn into something that you wouldn't want to cut your foot with.

Getting the handle length just right, for you, is a trial and error thing, because everyone is different. Once you master the art of swinging the thing, however, you realise that you can work quite fast with it. One word of warning is that you will be using a different set of muscles, as opposed to using a spade or fork, so start gradually , or your back will protest. As with all outdoor work, of couse, you will still need the hat, the shade and the water. The Thai 'hottie' with shorts and matching ice bucket is an optional extra, but I tend to find that they put me off my stroke.

Next up, we have the post hole tool, I never did find out the local name, more accurate than the Jod but time consuming and painfull on my palms. The small one is great for weeding the flower beds.

The next 'essential item' is a rake, to collect all those weeds and bits of grass. This one is made from rebar and is grafted onto a wooden handle. It's a tad heavy but should last for years.

Lastly, for this introduction, and regular readers will recognise, my first Isaan style tipping wheel barrow. It is not a big thing, but heavy enough when full of soil. The twin wheels take a bit of getting used to, but only round the corners.

Having borrowed the one that the Gardener lent us, for a few weeks, I just had to have my own.

Preamble over, where the heck do I start?

The tree line, down the field, had been great at the begining and provided suficient shade for lake, and pipe, workers and small picnics that I insisted on, to help me 'bond' with the place.

Unfortunately, they were Eucalyptus, grow like the blazes and suck all the water and goodness from the soil around them. The branches were soon sacrificed for scaffolding and the stumps looked a wee bit sad. There was no way I was going to dig the blooming things out though. Fortunately there was a handy digger in another thread.

He soon made some bladdy great holes. You can clearly see the area of the grass/weeds that the trees have affected.

This is one of the smaller roots.

With the last bits of root romoved, and the holes filled in, I decided to let Mother nature do her thing and let the ground recover. I knew that it wouldn't take that long.

**hawkeye** · 09-11-2008, 08:23 PM

LOOOMBUCKET! Already I know this will be worth following. I really enjoyed the house building thread and wish you and Mrs. LB all the best in the garden venture.
Wonderful stuff................
hawkeye

**jandajoy** · 09-11-2008, 08:26 PM

Tremendous thread. When I'm sober I'll learn a lot.

Well done.. greeny

**daveboy** · 09-11-2008, 08:30 PM

^
his not done fok all yet

Look forward to seeing your thread grow LB

**jandajoy** · 09-11-2008, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by daveboy

his not done fok all yet

bollox, he's taken photos. He's writ stuff. The man's a hive of industry. Shit, he got up!

**jandajoy** · 09-11-2008, 08:36 PM

We're getting photos of tools. Which, by my reckoning, is a very good thing.

good to know what tools people are using. I think.

**oldgit** · 10-11-2008, 12:47 AM

In March this year I bought the head of the smaller one and took back to UK, put it on a hoe handle, a handy tool for hoeing between plants, you would do well shipping them, as they have nothing that narrow in the UK.

**hillbilly** · 10-11-2008, 01:40 AM

Come on Loombucket, we're waiting. Work, work, work!!!

**Loombucket** · 10-11-2008, 03:08 AM

Originally Posted by hawkeye

Already I know this will be worth following.

Originally Posted by jandajoy

Tremendous thread

Don't put me on a pedestal yet.

Originally Posted by daveboy

his not done fok all yet

The most acurate statement so far.

Originally Posted by oldgit

a handy tool for hoeing between plants, you would do well shipping them,

Thanks for the sales lead, I may well take that seriously.

Originally Posted by hillbilly

we're waiting. Work, work, work!!!

Cheeky!!

**hillbilly** · 10-11-2008, 03:41 AM

I remember my first Thai wheelbarrow like it was yesterday. I want to say that it cost me about B850 or so. Told the workers that this was for 'din' (dirt) only. They didn't care, soon it was filled with 'boon' (cement).

About 4 wheelbarrows later, I gave up.

Mine are now torn up, scraped all to hell, welded and dented.

Good luck with your shiny blue wheelbarrow...

**Rural Surin** · 10-11-2008, 09:58 AM

Ah...the Jod. Will find this type of tool and facsimilies throught Asia. A classic all weather all-purpose tool.

**Rural Surin** · 10-11-2008, 11:32 AM

Originally Posted by jandajoy

We're getting photos of tools. Which, by my reckoning, is a very good thing.

good to know what tools people are using. I think.

With all due respect JJ...you must be one of them city slickers.

**SEA Traveler** · 10-11-2008, 10:49 PM

Khun Loom,

You certainly have your following... and for good reason. I look forward to your commentary on the trials and tribulations associated with "Sorting the Garden".

**JohnTB** · 10-11-2008, 11:11 PM

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Ah...the Jod. Will find this type of tool and facsimilies throught Asia. A classic all weather all-purpose tool.

Great show - especiallly the tools most falang cannot appreciate here. I worked at the Garden of Eden (near Ban Khai; 27 kilometers north of Rayng City on Hwy 3138), a farm for HIV/AIDS folks, part of the Camillian Social Center network in Rayong Province, for six months and was very happy to see someone photograph, display and explain these versatile implements common around rural Thailand.

Good show.

**sunsetter** · 11-11-2008, 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by SEA Traveler

Khun Loom,

You certainly have your following... and for good reason. I look forward to your commentary on the trials and tribulations associated with "Sorting the Garden".

will yours be next?

nice start lb, hope its a good as the last, what am i saying? course it will be!

**Issan Man** · 11-11-2008, 03:37 AM

Really looking forward to this LoomB,and thanks for the Photo's.so thats what one of those is called,have often seen the MIL going off to her land with one strapped to the side of her bike.But I must admit that I am a bit disapointed that as yet,no Photo of your well used Dibber

**jizzybloke** · 11-11-2008, 03:41 AM

A whole day and a half this thread has been going and not a lot has been done yet, come on loom get your finger out!

**Loombucket** · 11-11-2008, 04:58 AM

Here is a pic of the lake at low tide. It's slightly out of sequence but clearly shows the two stabs at getting the base about right. The soil line, accross the middle, will be where the pillars will go, to support the bridge. The single tree is a token gesture, as there are more to come later.

Time passes. This means that there is a history break, usually depicted in the movies, by displaying a calender with the date pages peeling off and flying away. As I don't have access to that kind of stuff, members are asked to engage their imagination.

Later, the ground is still recovering and the lake has started to fill again. It still looks a little on the bleak side. Rescue came with the sight of this rare water mammal, I found floating one morning. It looks like half man, half plant,

......but turns out to be Khun Mow, the odd-job man, towing some Bua Dang (Lilly red) accross the surface. He digs a small hole in the mud and then plants them with his feet, like he's been doing it for years.

The plants have been 'cleared' from a nearby pond and cost nothing, so we have as many as we can. Mow spreads them around, unfolds the leaves and they are left to settle and blend in. Later, they will open in the sun and cheer the place up a bit.

Time passes.

They have started building and there is someone here 24/7. We also have water, which means that any plant watering will be a doddle (compared with getting water from the lake, in a bucket

). The Buiders kindly knocked up this little enclosure for the baby Saak trees to play in, untill it is safe to put them into the ground. We bought 100 at 19 Bht a pop.

Mow started planting them down the long fence run, securing each one with a stick, just out of reach from the Cows next door.

Each tree has a little moat around it to catch the water and stop it running away, the water, that is, not the tree.

They will grow straight up, without branching, carrying large leaves and will be worth somthing in about 10-20 years, if I can bear to part with them.

These were the last to go in, up by the house. In the end, we only lost two plants. Probably due to the soil guys taking too long over the kitchen garden. The survivors will get water every day untill the rain starts and a weekly supliment of Buffalo droppings.

**MeMock** · 11-11-2008, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by oldgit

In March this year I bought the head of the smaller one and took back to UK, put it on a hoe handle, a handy tool for hoeing between plants, you would do well shipping them, as they have nothing that narrow in the UK.

My wife did the same to Australia and it then followed us to NZ. Use it all the time.

**Propagator** · 11-11-2008, 05:51 PM

Not bad Loom, I hope we will see the proof of your hard work, callous hands and blisters etc, or will youjust be the organiser again

Look forward to the developments in this thread, and you may get some criticism from me

**Loombucket** · 11-11-2008, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by Propagator

you may get some criticism from me

I will look forward to that and yes, I will be sporting the odd blister or tway.

**daveboy** · 11-11-2008, 11:17 PM

How big will the saak trees get LB & are they quick growing?

**Loombucket** · 12-11-2008, 04:10 AM

Originally Posted by daveboy

How big will the saak trees get LB & are they quick growing?

I can't give you a precise figure daveboy. The Gardener reckons that they will be as round as a water butt in about twenty years. I have been monitoring them for a while now and they are, indeed, growing very fast. I will give updates on their progress, as we go along.

**Jet Gorgon** · 12-11-2008, 07:52 AM

C'mon, LoomB, more pics and action!

**Loombucket** · 12-11-2008, 06:33 PM

Sorry Jet, there's not a lot of action in this one, yet. There is a lot of fiddling about, trying out ideas untill the house is done, the trucks stop coming and hoards of people stop trampling everything. Besides, if I post everything in one go, there will be a long and boring wait untill I get back there, and the fun really starts. Iv'e also got loads of other excuses, that I won't bore you with for the mo.

Here is one of the Saak trees, after about five weeks, before the rains came.

Members/fans of the building thread, will remember the Banana plants, hung out to dry on the ceremonial first posts. They stayed up there for a long time and I assumed that they had had it. One did not survive but the other two are keeping a sugar cane company, and are doing well at the front of the soil mound.

Meanwhile, down at the back of the lake, life was slowly getting back to normall.

Now to do something at the front of the lake. After we had the drain pipe put in, and the land built up a bit, there was a nice little bit for a tree garden. Unfortunately, everything that we put in was relentlesly nibbled by the cows. This excuse for an Isaan syle fence, using timber liberated from the scaffolding, and anything to hold it together, was a last ditch attempt to keep the perishers off.

It was decorated with 'thorny sticks' and worked a treat. Later, I liberated every scap, that I could find, to put some sort of solid edge, around the lake, to ramp up the soil.

Again, it would not win any prizes, but kept me amused for ages. Later, It will be made to look a bit nicer, but it is ok for now.

You can just see, in back and to the left, the broken drain pipes, that didn't make the drain. I will attempt to sink these, to make some raised beds at the entrance to my tree garden.

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