Showing 1 - 5 of 5
Clearing the air
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 18/09/2016
» I posted a photo of a plant on Facebook and was pleased with the interest that it aroused among some friends. "What is it?" several asked. "Is it aloe vera? Is it malunggay [maroom in Thai]?"
Grow your own grub
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 22/11/2015
» Readers must have heard of His Majesty the King’s por piang (self-sufficiency) economy for farmers. Based on the assumption that a farmer owns 15 rai of land, it advises the land be divided four ways: 30%, or 4.5 rai, for a pond or water reservoir, 30% for a rice field, 30% for vegetable and fruit orchards, and 10%, or 1.5 rai, for a residential area.
What's the secret to a great garden? Understanding plants needs
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 19/05/2013
» When I read last week's column, I realised that I had been day-dreaming at the keyboard about what I would include if I were to write a book on plants and gardening in Thailand and did not actually answer Jan Steuten's letter. A resident of Chiang Mai for 21 years and an avid gardener, he wanted to know how to take care of indoor and garden plants, which was why he was asking whether there was such a book in English to guide him.
The diy path to a dazzling garden
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 19/08/2012
» Years ago, when several houses in my neighbourhood had lawns, there was a man who made regular rounds of the houses on weekends to mow them or prune trees. We had a gardener at the time so he did not work for us, but he had several customers in my neighbourhood. I could see him mowing the lawn of my nearest neighbour one weekend, and pruning the shrubs in the garden of a house farther down the road the next.
The virtues of vegging out
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 10/06/2012
» South Korea is one of the most affluent countries in Asia, however old habits die hard and many of the country's citizens still tend to backyard vegetable gardens just as their forebears did decades ago. My daughter, Nalinee, who is now in Yeosu, South Korea, observed that locals there ''like to grow vegetables in containers in their backyards or in vacant lots near their houses. The soil does not look fertile yet the plants grow very well.''