Since we bought the land to build our farm on, a lot has been done, but if you haven’t seen it yet, check out the previous video where we first visited the land deep in the jungle. Back then, we had to hack through the wild bamboo forest with machetes to reach it, but now we can actually drive there, although only with a 4x4 vehicle or 2 wheeler, as the trail can be quite treacherous in places and pretty much impassable for a regular car.
But even before building the road, we built a bamboo hut or “thlam”. This type of hut is common on every farm in the region, and typically used to rest and cook in, during the day while working on the farm, and sometimes to sleep in.. and in our case to have a party in!
The actual construction was pretty fast, a couple of weeks part time, using bamboo cut from the surrounding jungle. All lashed together with bamboo strips - no nails or screws or metal fastenings, no concrete or bricks.
Inside the hut there was even a place to cook over an open fire, which was somehow achieved without burning the hut down.
Once the hut was built, a group of us we went to stay for a night, and there were about 11 or 12 people squashed in like sardines in a can.. some less sober than others!
Surrounding the hut was thick jungle and pitch darkness, no doubt filled with wild animals watching us. There were rumors of Asian black bears in the area, which were later proven - watch the video for more on that!
After the wild night in the jungle hut, it was time to get started on turning that jungle into an actual farm, and the next step (after building the hut), was improving access - we needed a road.
We hired a guy with a JCB to do the heavy work of cutting a jeep trail through the jungle, right up to the middle of our land (more or less). It took about two weeks, and at times we were worried he might not make it as the ground was too rocky, not to mention steep - our farm is basically on the side of a mountain, which makes it picturesque at least. But he finally found a way through, and built what is practically a highway compared to what it was. Of course the harsh monsoon seasons would do their best to destroy the road in future, but it was looking good so far.
While we had the guy digging the road, we decided to also get him to dig a pond for irrigation use. This had to be high up so we could use gravity to bring water down to the planted areas, so he somehow drove his JCB up what looked like a vertical slope to me, carved out a flat area on the side of the mountain and then dug a big pit for the pond. I was impressed what one guy with a JCB could achieve!
After the pond hole was dug, a simple structure was built over it, with a tin roof and gutters to collect rainwater and channel into the pond, which was lined with a rubbery pond liner material. This structure is what we now call the “pool house”.
Once the road and pond was complete we needed to clear the land for planting, and the traditional method used locally was basically slash & burn. A bunch of hardy locals with machetes cut their way through a large area of forest, flattening everything around. After which, the burning began - a dangerous process but the locals were well used to it and knew what they were doing.. having said that, our new bamboo hut did end up getting burned down in the process! It was nice while it lasted… fortunately it was quickly rebuilt. These huts are not meant to be permanent structures, typically being used for one year and then abandoned as the farmers move to another area for the next years planting.
With the land now cleared (not all of the land though, just a few acres in the middle to start with), it was time to start planting something. We bought a bunch of Mango trees, lots of Areca/Betelnut, and a random assortment of other fruit trees (Guava, Papaya, Durian and more). We then planted Banana between all the fruit trees, which would in theory help them to survive and thrive.
Irrigation pipes were later installed, which was no easy task on the steep slopes, and drippers put next to every tree (not the bananas though). The monsoon rains filled the pond, and when the dry season arrived we started using the collected water to irrigate the trees so they could survive until the next rainy season.
Not everything survived though - most of the Papaya plants failed, but we still got a few doing well. Bananas mostly grew well, and our Mango trees are looking pretty healthy. We’re doing all this using organic principles (although not yet officially registered as organic), so no nasty chemicals here, just nature and a bit of luck!
More land will be cleared and there will be more trees planted, more disasters, more failures, and fun along the way… and maybe even more bears and other creatures of the wild!
