Who We Are

Who We Are

We are a small permaculture project in the foothills of the Cardamom Mountains in eastern Thailand that works on rewilding (re-naturalizing) a fruit orchard and bamboo plantation (all in all 1.3 ha) and slowly transforming it into a food jungle.  We started here in Chanthaburi Province in November 2018 after living and gardening in the South of Thailand for several years (where we transformed a 0.5 ha oil palm monoculture into a decent little permaculture farm).  Our land is right next to a Nature Reserve on the side of a mountain – the highest settlement around. It has been completely chemical-free for over 15 years, and has year-round access to fresh water from a pond in the jungle.

A human and a baby cat

Dave (31) is a German who came to Thailand as a volunteer on an organic farm in 2014. He worked a regular job for one year before deciding that the high levels of alienation, the stress and the listlessness among many of his European peers are not compatible with his expectations for a good life – so he decided to move to the tropics and provide himself with what he needs all by himself. After five years in the South, he and his wife Karn decided to start their own project in the mountains of Chanthaburi province.

A human and a stick insect

Karn (30) is from the rural area of the Northeast of the country, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Business English and worked for half a year for a hotel and then a real estate agency in Phuket before she decided that the normal life in the city isn’t as wholesome and regarding as the simple life in Nature. She has a lot of experience with the simple life and enjoys it a lot – it is like reliving childhood memories for her. She has impressive knowledge of uses and benefits of all kinds of plants, makes herbal remedies from the plants in our garden, is an expert in foraging, and makes the most incredible jungle food.

On our land we have over 500 (!) species of plants (click here for a full list) that we cultivate, use, appreciate or simply know by name. About one quarter of our land is giant bamboo – excellent for construction, pure drinking water, and for making biochar. There is one regular concrete house (with bathroom) and one small wooden bungalow (for volunteers), one wooden house (where we live), and one open pavillion for hanging out, eating, playing chess, etc. We plan on building another house – a primitive hut – at the very top of our garden.

The previous owner planted this land with a variety of foreign and rare fruit trees already, so we have – among regular fruit like Mangosteen, Durian, Langsat, Santol, Mangos, Milkfruit, Jackfruit, Rambutan, etc. – a Macadamia tree, the extremely rare white Wani Mango, Jabuticaba (the Brazilian tree grape), Durian from Laos and the Phillipines, and Marang (a cousin of the breadfruit).

rambutan

Dave, doing what he likes the most: climbing

(Check out Our History for more information!)

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