Rice and Zen

For the first time in 10 years I went on a holiday during the summer. Here is a short blog post with some photos from the trip. It was lovely to go away but oh my goodness, I came back to a lot of things to do – weeding, side shooting, picking, dead heading… (read about this here.) It was worth it though!

My daughter and I were visiting my dad who has lived near Chiang Mai for 3 years. It felt very strange leaving my garden and allotment during such a peak growing time. Fortunately one of my sons was in charge of watering pots, the greenhouse and polytunnel so I knew everything should still be alive when I got back (it was!) and Charles kindly weeded the allotment and raised beds in my front garden.

We flew to Bangkok where we caught another plane a couple of hours later to Chaing Mai.

Dad lives in a village near to Doi Saket in Northern Thailand. It is very peaceful here, a lovely place to relax. We were especially excited about the swimming pool which was completed shortly before we arrived. It used a mineral filtration system, no smelly chemicals. It is a complete contrast with life at home. I’d brought some writing work with me – it was amazing working here on the veranda looking at these views and going for a swim whenever I felt too hot. I have visited Thailand in January and October, when it is hot but nothing like I experienced this time!

View from across the pond

My daughter beside the swimming pool

View across the rice fields to the mountains

coconut palms

Part of the landscaped gardens

Dusk

The garden outside the villa I stayed in, with chickens!

one of the sculptures in the garden

Here dad has created Of Rice and Zen, a boutique resort with two individual villas for rent – one has been there for a few years and a newer one  built using timber and tiles from an old rice barn. All of the scaffolding is made from bamboo.

The roof timbers

Bamboo scaffolding

The tiles are 100 years old. I thought they look beautiful.

The gardens here are gorgeous, there are so many possibilities growing in the tropics. The edible plants in dad’s garden include coconuts, mangosteens, mangoes and pandanus, a grass-like vanilla flavoured herb used in cooking both sweet and savory dishes. I’ve tried to grow it in the UK several times but without much success. Between the garden and the rice field, the khlong is used to channel water and irrigate the pond and rice field. Here one can forage for wild plants including edible morning glory and bitter gourds. The villagers also collect frogs and fish.

The chickens keep pests under control and supply the house with delicious fresh eggs

There are many orchids in the garden

One of the pond’s lillies

This garden is inside the villa I stayed in

The khlong separates the garden from the rice field and is used to irrigate both

Edible plants growing in the khlong include morning glory

The garden outside the villa I stayed in, with chickens!

July is the start of the rainy season in Thailand. It was very hot and humid (especially for a person used to English summers) with incredible thunderstorms. One morning the khlong had overflowed, flooding part of the garden. It looked very dramatic, but soon drained away.

The morning of the flooding

Ants cling onto grass as their home is submerged

Flooded gardens and rice fields

The pond becomes part of the rice fields

Organic growing is becoming increasingly popular in Thailand. This wall painting is in a large shopping centre:

One of the many markets inspired by sustainability, healthy eating and organic growing.

I enjoyed exploring the many stalls.

Seeds for sale

Organic produce

The Salad Concept’s stall

stall selling biochar and organic gardening potions

Their logo

The hall for organic growers

A tree planting project

Some of the stalls

Inside a garden cafe

Entering the garden cafe

I would love to have these beautiful blue doors

Here I bought some Thai organic potions to experiment with – an Egg Hormone for fruit (think I will try some on the aubergines) and Soybean Hormone. ‘Hormone’ is an unusual term for plant feeds, I wonder if it is one of those words that translated unusually from Thai to English.

I love tropical fruits and Thai cooking and came back full of ideas of how I can adapt home grown vegetables and fruit to create meals influenced by the colours and flavours of Thai cuisine.

Snakes head fruit, mango steins, mangoes

Watermelon

Papaya

Dragonfruit, mangoes, papaya, mangosteins

Vegan Thai dish

Colourful vegan Thai dish

Cheerful wall painting in a vegetarian cafe, Chiang Mai

Inside the coconut

Breakfast

Growing micro leaves and sprouts in a cafe