Garden to Market- Helping the poor to grow food!

Last month we began a mushroom farm. We purchased 500 mushroom starter bags from a local farmer. These bags are filled with mushroom spores, sawdust and other materials to help support growth. Each bag costs 50 baht or $1.40 USD making the set up costs $700 USD. The shelter where we keep the mushrooms was an existing Sala that was no longer in use. We have a dark and damp environment and water the mushrooms grow.

After installation where the mushrooms are placed on shelves or suspended by string the bags are opened and the cotton wool at the opening is removed. It is important that this is done in a very hygienic way, as disease easily be introduced to the bags and destroy the spores or cause the mushrooms to be deformed. After a few days, the mushrooms begin to grow out of the small opening, with each bag producing up to 3 large mushrooms every day. We stagger the opening of the mushroom bags to ensure we have a market to sell them as they grow. Mushrooms are hard to keep fresh but we don't have a problem with that. Every day the mushrooms are sold within hours. They are so tasty that they don't make it to market. People come to the garden to purchase them!

We have continued to grow our other vegetables and fruit which are both eaten by the epeople at the hand to hand housing and sold at the market. Our garden project not only produces yummy food to eat and giveaway but also work opportunities for those who have little or no education.  We receive many traumatised people into our housing complex and the garden project provides a space to heal, grow and earn an income.  Our head gardener is learning to read and write and the garden project has given her confidence to begin learning at 56 years old!

Links:

• http://www.handtohandpattaya.com

Over the past 3 months we have been busy expanding our gardens as new people have been wanting to come into the program. This includes a lady with 5 children, who has never been to school and is almost blind. This makes not only daily life a challenge, but also the prospect of finding a job impossible. With no income it has been a struggle to feed her family on what she can get from begging and collecting water bottle.

She has recently moved into our housing estate where she and her children recieve free housing, food and schooling. The garden project has given her a way of making some extra money but more importantly a new self esteem and purpose, She feels she has value and can contribute to not only her family but her community, This promotes more than financial stability, but also physical and mental health.

Some of what is grown is sold and market and the other is eaten by those at the housing estate where the garden is. The gardeners are reimbursed by the foundation for what is eaten. People learn quickly, if I work hard, I can get ahead and be rewarded. 

Links:

• Hand to Hand Foundation