ORGANIC FARMING

 

  

On Dec. 5 we had a unique opportunity to visit an organic farm project outside of the city limits.  It was set up by an organization called NEED Network for Education and Economic Development.  They came to our school on Friday evening and talked to our students about their idea of agriculture and what it means to them.  After some interactive activities and discussion we were prepared to go to visit their farm the next day.
Saturday started early at 8am where we all met up to go to the farm which was about 30 minutes outside of town.  You could feel the excitement as we all crammed into a tour van for the trip.  When we arrived we were handed big floppy hats to shield us from the sun, gloves to protect us from blisters and armed with cameras to document our day.  We started with a lesson on basic ecology and how to make compost and EM, then we went out in the field to get our hands dirty.  We made compost, EM and learned how to extract seeds from various plants, then planted seedlings to take back to the school and a tomato, chilli or eggplant seedling for each student to take home in a pot.  We returned to Thai Freedom House in the evening, tired and full of stories from our day which also included a wonderful homemade, vegetarian lunch, a traditional song exchange and a wild run through the dry rice fields.  We will return to visit the farm again and see how our plants are growing in February.