We have been busy buying and putting plants into the ground. Al l done except for a pumanee durian that will not be delivered until after I have left.
The fam spent the weekend in Rayong and Chantaburi experiencing a few fruit farms and parks...along with some non fruit related sites. Several markets and nurseries were hit along the way. A plant lovers dream for sure. Main issue is that I have been eating way too much food and fruit.
The price for plants will make you ill compared to what we pay back home. A five foot monthong was $16. A nicesized long lap lae durian only cost us $3 at the farmer's nursery. This was an area that had plot after plot just filled with different varieties and various sizes...like a portionof the city was only for selling durian.
They do all the grafting soon after germination. A small, new branch with many leaf nodes is cut from a mature tree and a section is cut for each leaf node and then grafted onto the seedling with a simple wedge graft. So a single little branch can do several seedlings. As you can imagine, the graft area is very delicate at this stage. They take a strand/hair of a coconut husk and wrap that around the grat to secure. Then wrap in tape.
The scenery in Rayong and Chanthaburi was as different as night and day to elsewhere. The landscape was either dominated by acre after acre of rubber trees or fruit trees. Durian, mangosteen, rambutan, jacks, maprangs as far as you could see.
Market for farmers. Thousands of grafted durians
Making durian candy
Chicken with raw durian curry
Braised pork with garcinia cowa leaf as main flavoring
Clam and oyster farms
Restuarant serving them fresh
