Rice Cultivation

Our farm began as a rice field, and rice remains at the heart of everything we do. Planting and harvesting are community activities we do together once a year, and the rice we grow sustains us for more than a year, with the extras sold in our farm shop. In Thailand, rice is grown in flooded fields to protect the young plants from pests and suppress weeds. Because our fields flood during the rainy season, we first raise seedlings in a nursery and transplant them after about 35–40 days. Three months later, the rice is ready to harvest and provides food until the next planting. During the off-season, we let the fields rest and grow sunn hemp, which enriches the soil with nitrogen. Rice husks are used in our chicken coop, in adobe bricks, as chicken feed when milled, and as organic matter to improve soil health. Rice straw becomes mulch for our vegetable gardens and feed for our animals, as well as finds use as decoration at our farm.