Tropical Gardening School & Homestay
Updated October 20, 2011:
Dokmai Garden proudly hosts the ‘Tropical Gardening School & Homestay’. We accept farmers, garden amateurs, college students and academic professionals.
The first option is a six days set program, beginning Tuesdays at 08.30 (checking in and introduction) and ending Sundays at 13.00 (checking out).
The second option is a tailor-made program for each student, depending on your background, interests and expectations. Some wish to spend two weeks just learning names – fine, we can do that, some want to spend two weeks just cooking or growing organic vegetables, fine, we can do that too. Since you pay a small fee this is not a traditional volunteer activity.
The students may request a written certificate about the contents of their education, signed by a PhD in biology.
Curriculum for the fixed six-day option (5000 Baht):
1. Introduction to tropical plants, their names and origins.
2. Principles of organic gardening, composting, pesticides, animals.
3. Tropical vegetables and Thai cooking.
4. Tropical fruits, identification and care: cacao, jackfruit, mango, longan, rambutan. Tree pruning (including topiary) & tree planting.
5. Visit to a mountain village and jungle excursion to Opkhan national park (full day).
6. How to attract butterflies and birds in your garden. Orchid morphology, pollination and care.
Additional Excursions (extra costs for transportation and double teaching fee):
A. Jungle expedition to Doi Inthanon to learn more about the native ecosystems (full day).
B. Visit to a selection of Chiang Mai gardens to study different landscape design (full day).
C. Visit to a local vegetable market (half day).
D. Visit to a local flower market (a gigantic aggregate of small independent vendors of gardening plants) (half day).
E. Mushroom foray (June and September).
Read more about Dokmai Garden and its 1000 plant species here!
Teaching period, study hours and teachers
You will practice tropical gardening/farming for four hours (8-12 am), Tuesday-Sunday. You will collaborate with Thai gardeners/farmers as well as study under the supervision of a western university scholar who will teach you tropical gardening/farming and tropical biology. One of our teachers is the author of the best seller ‘Fruits and vegetables in Southeast Asian Markets’.
Costs and how to get there
Option 1. The one week option is 5ooo Baht per person including lodging , teaching and the full day excursion. We offer a simple room (for 1-2 people) in an Esan style wooden house and a shared western bathroom. We have a well equipped kitchen where students can cook their food, or if you wish to relax you can bike to a nearby noodle restaurant or order food from us.
Option 2. Students pay 600 Baht per day for a tailor-made stay. Extra costs in case of excursions.
Students may exchange the room for a lunch. That means you stay downtown, but come to Dokmai Garden in the mornings for teaching, and then leave after lunch.
Sign up here: info@dokmaigarden.co.th
When is the best time to go?
November-mid February (Cool dry season): best season for vegetables, cool nights and mornings.
Mid February-May (Hot dry season): best time for blossom. May can be rainy.
June: vacation – no tropical gardening school!
July- October (Green season): rainy, rice, butterflies, gingers, mushrooms in June and September, lush green, not so many flowers.
Collaboration
Prof. Michael Pascoe, Academic Program Coordinator, Fanshawe College, Canada.
Impressions of previous students:
Dokmai Garden in the eyes of American guests
Ben’s impressions from a stay at Dokmai Garden
It is more than watering plants
The tropical gardening school: the first few days
Very welcome!
Ketsanee Seehamongkol (owner)
Jackfruit is easy to grow, but do you know how to escape fruit flies, stimulate large fruits or roast the seeds? Khun Densak Seehamongkol (picture) is the head gardener at Dokmai Garden, with many years of experience from farming.
500 signs in English, Japanese and Thai describes some of our 1000+ species on display.
The students stay at the gardeners’ house.
Be prepared for hard work…
…and moments of rest.
All pictures are from Dokmai Garden in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
Do you have any written advice on the correct watering of creepers, shrubs and orchids on my condo balconies?
Dear Liz,
Do you live in Chiang Mai? The watering depends entirely on the type of species. There are 20 000 orchid species in the world, some are rainforest species demanding daily showers, some are boreal ground species demanding cold, some are monsoon plants demanding six months of drought….
if your orchids receive rain regularly then that’s the best water. if not, general info here apply to many but if your orchids are kinds Eric’s talking about, then it’s probably too wet. Finding out exactly what you have will guide you.
http://www.beautifulorchids.com/orchids/orchid_care_tips/watering/watering.html
Thanks for the gardening tour, Im still interested in the tropical gardening course. It would be next year, sometime, thanks, missi