Thanks for all the comments.
Don-Pierre de Plume wrote:Why not use mulch or woodchips? Really helps with preventing weeds and soil moisture loss. The illegal loggers would surely be happy to drop off a few truckloads from the forest?
Great project
I have never seen this on the plantations I have been to. But I'm going to discuss this with our man in Phnom Penh.
ricecakes wrote:What about ducks ? Don't they make good weeders or would they chew the pepper as well ?
You could let a gaggle wander around , fatten 'em up on weeds and then one by one bash them over the head with a shovel till their brains spill , rip their guts out and flay their skin off and have some delicious duck a la pepper.
Yum Yum !
Our partner has lots of ducks, chickens and turkeys at the farm already. I can't say I've seen any of them putting in much effort to keep the rows free of weeds. But they get bashed over the head eventually.
Visser wrote:I was at La Plantage pepper farm last week and they told me they used that insdct killer made from a South American root. (Cant remember thd name) Do you use that instead?
About the pond, greenhouse farmers in Holland just lind the pond with black foil that will easy last over a decade even exposed to UV. Not sure if you can get it in Cambodia but might be something to look into.
Great looking project btw.
Thank you. We use some kind of natural insect killer, but I don't know the name. It might be Rotenone as LL suggests. In retrospect, we should have used some kind of foil in the pond to prevent leakage.
PenhMan wrote:Outstanding. What a beautiful setting, too.
I wonder if you'd get some rainy season run-off from that verdant hill? A little tromping around up there and you may find a spot to install a simple wooden or metal sluiceway to capture rainfall flow, which could lead to a holding tank. Also maybe a rainwater capture system on the roof, which would lead to ground-level tanks. Anything to help, I'm saying.
All the best in your admirable project.
Thanks. The water sure is a big issue at a plantation like this. There is a concrete pipe from a small stream at the bottom of the hill to the pond. We have one well with good capasity (potable water) that saved us through last year. This year we are drilling one more well.