Counting back 30 years ago,
if you were not born into a farmer family or living in a cultivated land environment where your daily is familiarized with agricultural cycle, you would not have been able to imagine that one day you can grow rice and vegetables, raise chickens, plant fruit trees and harvest the them as sources of food or medicine.
Born and raised outside the city, although I am familiar with agriculture, but I used to live my life as a typical person who tried to live and uplift my life in the city accordingly to the social trend. Surprisingly, the more I was surrounded by comfortability of the city life, the more illness I got in return. After realizing about my life, I found the answer that I wanted some space where I could grow and plant my own foods because I knew that consuming safe foods are very crucial to our lives. That was the time I said goodbye to Bangkok and started a new challenging journey of my life. I planned to utilize the space of 4 Rais in covering the need to launch my combinational farming based on self-sufficient economy philosophy invented by King Rama 9 with his belief that it will be valuable and useful to his people.
These land of 4 Rais are divided into 4 different yet unproportionate parts. Firstly, I do jungle and fruit plantations with focus in planting local cultivated banana trees, different types of mangoes and a bit of coconut trees. Then, I plant the homegrown vegetables which I used their seeds to do replantation. Thirdly, I raise chickens for eggs and reproducing purposes. I used the chicken
excretion as a fertilizer. Lastly, I surround my shelter with flowers and various seasonal fruits. My one more dream is to have the fishpond and rice farm of my own.
To my dear smartphones,
As of now, none of any farmers lacks the access to smartphone including myself. I conducted self-studies on agriculture through my smartphone most of the time. I believe that we traversed the online world as if walking in a community. Until I found a group of friends who had the same idea about "Heart Core Organic". From there, it gathers many people of various age who are interested in organic agriculture in one platform where we exchange, support and drive organic farming and food safety together.
I see working in the field is no different than going on a wild adventure. It has exciting stories all the time. In the midst of silence, there is a movement of living things in different sizes. In the middle of the day, I live through with the real images in the field that there was abundant of curiosity especially in my early years. At night,it is the time I get to discover my answers as I carry all questions to consult with my smartphone and friends in the online world. I have repeated this cycle for almost 5 years now. I have always developed myself from not being able to do agriculture until I now have become a capable farmer who can not only just grow, but process what I planted. I, however, always remember that this learning never ends.
When I look back and see myself in the early day from an ordinary woman who is now a capable farmer that can produce her own fertilizer, plant vegetables, raise chickens, process fruits up to making her own soap and shampoo. I think life is worth living. It apparent that I am healthier. I am also specialized in making my own products such as dried bananas,shampoo,tofu and seasonal vegetables which are very organic. These items are preferred by people these days. Not only the safety that we and consumers receive, but our latent expectations and friends who share the same alignment are on the sustainable environment of the world we live in. This is due to the cultivation of organic agriculture which is an agricultural practice that conserves soil and ecosystems. We take time to wait and collect the products according to the appropriate time that naturally allocated without exploiting the nature by using stimulating chemicals. Because it does not only destroy us and our land ecosystem. but it also affects the taste Quality and devalue the work we have done.
Moreover, we put emphasis on reducing waste from packaging in concrete ways. Our products are sold online. We try to communicate the packaging pattern according to the purpose. For customers who know our identity, will buy our products at quality by looking over the outer shell. And the response was amazing, for example, we could pack all kinds of vegetables in the same bag. With some regular consumers, they would usually send their own boxes for us
to pack their pre-order products.
It would be a great if there would be a phenomenon that there will be more small but capable farmers who can drive organic farming in all areas across Thailand and use a communication device like a smartphone to create opportunity in returning home and developing their lands and communities.
This can be started from the humble beginning slowly but stably. I believe that not only the safe food that we have helped to create, we together can share
the fresh air and maintain the world temperature for our next generation. Therefore, I fully support and encourage everyone who is striving on this path.
Author
Noon – Natkanag Prichaborisutkul
Farmer/ Safe Food Producer/
Organic Soap and Shampoo Producer/ Self-managed Trainer