Naga Hill Resort is a beautiful resort set on the top of the hill that towers Rajabhat University Lake, 12 km North of Chiang Rai. Its owner started building and planting trees on this bare (agricultural) land 18 years ago, and the property now has countless magnificent maturing trees and bamboos towering above, providing beautiful shade and a 'jungle' atmosphere that can only come with time...
My mission:
. suggest improvements for resort and carry out boss' decisions about them
. define maintenance plan
. garden maintenance with gardeners
. upgrade gardeners knowledge in maintenance and tree care
. upgrade garden practices and design on-the-go
At first glance an easy mission, local practices proved this job very challenging. First and foremost, changing practices that have been in place for a long time is a painstakingly long process that requires commitment from leadership, requires resources to be allocated, delegation of authority, sensible decisions put together into a clear action plan...
From working in this context, I have learned so much about so many things: leadership, practicing Thai on the field, practicing my training and communication skills, and obviously... plants, tree care, garden maintenance, setting in place my first permaculture experiments, etc...
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| Suggestions assorted with priorities, a document to assist decision taking |
Surprisingly, there were no maps of the 20+ Rai resort. My first task was to draft a Site Analysis, and then proceed to make suggestions for improving the resort garden and overall functionality.
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| Mindmapping propositions |
I have grown quite fond of Mindmapping tools. I use
X-Mind 7 which is available for free
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| Beautiful, mature and sometimes uncommon trees towering above us! |
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| Beautiful existing garden and views |
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| Delightful exotic bungalows |
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| A Thai classic: trees show a history of less-than proper care |
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| Do I need to comment this? |
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| First things first, make tools operational again |
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| Weeding is done by-hand. Very respectful of the environment, this practice is ungrateful for everyone in the team, I found solutions to limit time spent doing this |
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| Morning surprise! |
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| Tree care: practicing after watching videos and learning theory indoors |
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| Making mulch material is one of the first steps to improving gardening practices |
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| Making our first compost pile - permaculture 101 |
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| Can you see it? Are you scared? |
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