My New Garden Plot

Let's see if this works... and for how long!

I began, a couple posts ago, showing how I started clearing the back yard (small as it is, it is still a lot of work in Thailand).  Now, I can begin my raised garden effort.

 

 

What's funny is, well, there's a lot of very interesting aspects regarding this job.... is first, the grass that is sprouting in the fresh dirt, where no grass grew before!  These are fresh stalks of grass and not the kind that I have been planting~

The raised bed material is made up of something interesting; it's what Thailand has created since they mostly don't do large-scale lumbering here.  They call it "cement wood" which is made up of cement and pressed to look like slabs of wood!  Even painted, too.  I can't be sure if other material is also part of its ingredients, but I know for a fact that my helper had to cut it with a circular cement saw! 

Right now, it's the hottest part of the year and daily temperature is about 35 degrees Celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit.  So, I can't say it's the best time of the year to plant...  but, I bought seeds...

...and a starter tray. To keep inside and in air condition until they begin sprouting.  Maybe a month inside; maybe it'll be cooler by then, and I can water them constantly outside in the garden. 


You can see cilantro, cucumbers, watermelon and an elongated green bean.  It is a local bean, unusual to see (for us non-locals), but that's not why I'm planting them.  I'm trying them out to plant "bean sprouts" since I couldn't find any other kinds of bean seeds to plant for that purpose.

I started with this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBIYebUgVVI


and was soon told, "People in Thailand don't raise their gardens" hahahaha!

All the Little Creatures...

Great and small~

What's been interesting is learning to live with the creatures.  I've lived in enough locations around the world to become accustomed to creatures of all makes and sizes... nothing like snakes or huge spiders and such, but lizards, salamanders, snails, cockroaches, ants of all sizes and colors, and probably others.  There is nothing like the feeling of walking across fresh tilled dirt to hear a crunch under you foot from a tender snail's shell, and of course, the squish of the soft creature.  I try to be careful with nature, but when there's more than a few of them in the same area, well...

This is one of my big ones~

I never knew snail activity would be so interesting.  Here you see two snails what looks to be copulating, fertilizing eggs, pulling apart with tons of white eggs...

Besides the snails, the cockroaches simply do not like light or water.  When I water in the evenings after sunset, they go running from their safe places and scatter everywhere.  They're about 3" long, and I managed to get this shot of one on a huge chunk of celery that I tossed into the garden area.

It's not that we like to see cockroaches, it's just after living in Brazil, Africa, and China, were they grow abundantly, they don't seem to bother me quite as much!  Still gross though...

But one that's not quite so creepy is my chameleon... I think that's what it is anyway.  He's not pale looking like Salamanders, and isn't green like a lizard of sorts.

 I've watched this character grow from about 2" long.  He seems to come out now when I'm working, maybe checking me out.  I know that when I'm close by now, He stays still and rolls his eye at me hahaha like saying, "Oh, it's you again."  

The photo below was just the other day when I must have startled him, and he shot out from the green bushes and started up the reddish brown tree.  It was kind of cool to see him change, and I was lucky enough have my phone in my hands.  Look how long his tail is!  I guess I need to name him now!

Chameleon photos in Thailand: https://www.google.com/search?q=chameleon+in+thailand&client=firefox-b-e&sxsrf=ALeKk03_qafyfT1objw4TlKj8GjTjlE6Mg:1586073502471&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=3SnvNEb_oazUTM%253A%252CD9LexPUNG6M-uM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kRxcUU9UAYCGb0J4qDMfntEFzHkcw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiugM-d6NDoAhXIzzgGHUUxAkAQ9QEwAnoECAYQEg#imgrc=3SnvNEb_oazUTM:

Next up...  building a garden area~