Organic farming / farm visits

One of the lovely things about going to organic conferences is the farm visits. Here's some photos from yesterday's trip to working farms (that double as show farms) close to Bangkok. It was chance for me to see crops growing that I am normally only see on my table. While most people think that 'organic' means grown without artificial agrochemicals (which it does) this implies a whole lot more as these photos show.

Tree lines provide habitat for birds which act as predators of harmful insects

Flower borders host beneficial insects which eat rice pests

Ingredients for making fertiliser. Five of the six ingredients shown here are waste products from the farm / kitchen

On farm (non-food) processing unit

This farm was reclaimed swampland

Diversity is important in organic systems. (There are three different fruit trees in this photo) This makes systems more resilient (to pests and disease) and allows for a wider diversity of crops and thus diets) and spreads the harvest (and work load) throughout the year.