"Meeuhng", a tea either chewed or brewed, is the flavour of the North.  It is not an expensive commodity but grown for market sales, it can provide reasonable income.  A good example is the mixed tea garden of Mr.Samrut.

On the Pai-MaeMaLai highway at kilometer 28-29 is found Pa Daeng village, PaPae district, MaeDaeng region, Chiangmai.  This community, located 700-800 m.a.s.l., was established more than 100 years ago.  The majority of families grow meeuhng tea and the village economy is largely based on its sales.  Most of the villages' approximately 130 households are members of the PaPae farmer's cooperative.

The Family History

Mr. Samrut was born in 1955 in PaDaeng village.  At the age of 20 he married Ms. Sreeawn of the same village.  They have an 18 year old daughter in her 4th year at the Chiangmai Rajabaht Institute and a 17 year old son in his 1st year at SanPaDong Agricultural College.  Sreeawn's grandfather and mother also live in the house.  Of the six household members, only Samrut and Sreeawn are available to work in the family garden.

Changing Their Thinking

Originally, Mr. Samrut's agricultural acrtivities were no different from other community members - growing tea (4 plots) and raising oxen.  He made enough money to raise his family.  He had no debts but neither did he have fistfuls of money.  He was, however, concerned about what the future would be like in tea growing.  The habit of chewing tea was becoming a thing of the past.  He wanted to get into fruit orchards.  In 1989 he took the plunge.  He borrowed 30,000 baht from the PaPae cooperative and bought an old 40 rai tea garden.  The property, sloping 30-40 degrees, was next to a major road close to town.  Setting up irrigation would not be difficult.

Towards a Mixed Garden

In his new 'old tea garden' Mr Samrut decided to plant three species of tree - mango, "makwaen" (a spice of local preference) an tea.  His reasoning for his selection was like this;  makwaen is sold easily and in high volumes at the market so money will come in fast.  The mango and makwaen provide a lot of shade which aids the growth of the tea.  The shade also makes gathering fruit far more bearable.

Mr. Samrut also sold his oxen to fund the establishment of his mixed garden.  This new garden already had tea trees interspersed with other forest trees such as rubber and nipa palm among others.  It was decided he would leave these trees standing.  Not all of the 40 rai was planted with new trees as there ws only 2 people available to tend the garden.  The smaller trees were removed from the target area and makwaen seeds were cast.  The plot ws then burned as this is the manner by shich the seeds are germinated.  He also planted a local variety of corn in the fields.  When the rains came he had corn and makwaen sprouting everywhere.  The weaker seedlings were pulled as were many of the male trees.  Only the female of the species can produce the saleable seeds and only a few males are neede for fertilization.

Together with the makwaen he planted new tea trees following the contour of the land.  The planting line was cut as a terrace approximately one half meter wide.  These trees were planted approximately 1 meter apart to ease the collection of leaves and the necessary pruning.  Between the rows of tea trees, Mr. Samrut planted mango and banana, the latter to provide shade for the mango trees while simultaneously providing a commodity (leaves, fruit, flowers, trunk, etc).

In the early years while the trees did not yet fruit, Mr. Samrut planted other income generating species such as red bean and various vegetables for sale and home consumption.  He was also able to reap some profit from the old tea trees and from the sale of tea saplings grown from cuttings.  From these initial sources of income he was able to chip away at his loan, supplement other family income and raise a hedge around his garden.

After 1984, Mr. Samrut had planted mango, tea, makwaen and other fruit trees such as pear and lynchee.  In the non-planted area of the new 40 rai plot a small 'rest hut' or temporary shelter was erected and saplings were transplanted.  He also planted vegetables for home consumption and some sales.  By 1986 it became necessary to have a year-round source of water.  He therefore decided to sell two small plots of land, raising 30,000 baht.  With this money he established an irrigation system, the source of water being a stream running from a nearby mountain side.

For the next several months after that, saplings were sold to raise money for cement fencing.  In this effort, most of the labour was from within the family; only one outside person had to be hired.  Even in establishing a small hillside dam by hauling stones up the mountain, all labour came from within the family.

Techniques in and Composition of the mixed Garden.

Mr. Samrut kept many of the various original trees on the plot.  This allowed for varying canopy height. - the older trees through to the new seedlings.  He has 600 mango trees of varying species, 240 makwaen trees, 7 pear trees, 240 lynchee and 30 jackfruit trees among others. The lowest tree canopy is the tea.  And what a canopy!! He has approximately 25,000 trees.  At the ground level is many species of beneficial plants that sprout naturally [and which I could not translate, sorry -ed.]

Weed control consists of simply cutting grass around the trees.  Insect pest elimination is focussed on golden fruit flies.  Here Mr. Samrut uses an attractant to trap flies in an insect trap (and he claims to catch them on the order of hundreds of thousands).

The Garden Yields

The variety of trees in the garden - forest trees, fruit trees and ground level vegetation allows  for a year-round income.  That is part of the benefit of a mixed fruit garden - different species fruit at different times of the year.  A properly selected mix of fruit trees will provide saleable produce across the year.  Mr. Samrut sells his produce to a distributor who comes to the village regularly.

Some garden products, like tea, are processed at home before being sold.  The tea is collected and sold four times a year with an excellent return.  His fruit fetch a very good price as the elevation tends to cause the fruit to mature beyond the regular season.  Mr. Samrut can therefore demand a greater price.

Today Mr. Samrut has 4 plots of land - his original tea garden (2 sites), his more recently acquired 40 rai mixed garden and finally his seven rai riceland in Pai, MaeHongSong.  This latter plot he rents for the cost of 50% of the harvest.

The Benefits of a Mixed Garden

 INCOME
Mr. Samrut points out that his mixed gardening has taught him that tea can easily be the economic base of his farming.  Sale of leaves and shoots provides ample income.  The fruit provides an added regular source of income.  As the tea is consumed either by chewing (the old leaves) or as an infusion (the younger leaves), he can collect the leaves as the market best allows.  Whether he has to wait or has to collect leaves early, tea can be profitable.  Either way - the produce isn't lost.

He and his wife will also find off-farm labour in low garden production periods to ensure a daily income.

The annual income from all activities is as follows:
 
 

 EXPENSES
The main expenses of the family can be broken into 3 categories: maintaining the garden; regular family cost of living; and paying off the loan from the cooperative.  Garden maintenance costs consist of hiring temporary labour.  They are, however, planning to incorporate a fish rearing operation to provide income during those months with low revenue.  Furthermore, they are planning to build a permanent domocile to replace the temporary shelter in the mixed garden.  This will simply be more comfortable in those periods when they must tend to the garden and reduce the commuting from their original home.

They have also borrowed a total of 320 000 baht from 2 sources to buy a house in the province center at a cost of 600 000 baht.  The cost of the kids schooling totals 132 000 baht a year.

 SURROUNDINGS
The Samrut family's decision to keep the remaining original forest cover on the 40 rai plot of land has proven beneficial for them as well as the local ecology.  The trees they have introduced are, for the most part, indigenous species.  The remaining original cover provides beneficial litter, adding to the soil humus, which, of course, aids in the growth of the revenue enhancing ground level vegetation.  The root systems, varying in depth, allow for effective nutrient recycling - to the benefit of the fruit trees [although the theory of nutrient recycling through root uptake certainly seems plausible, there still lacks solid scientific evidence of any such occurrence in appreciable quantities - ed.]

An even greater benefit gained from the variety of vegetation is a more balanced insect ecology, allowing some limits on pest infestation through competition and hunting - i.e. population balances.  The reduced need for pesticides allows for a greater speciation of other animals too, like songbirds, etc.  Finally - that the soil has full coverage all the time through plant litter, the soil is rich in biomatter (living and dead) and moisture.  In other words, it remains "healthy" and fertile.

 THE GREATER COMMUNITY
Mr. Samrut's garden attracts much attention from outside his community.  They come nonstop to visit and to learn.  Originally, however, his efforts did not receive the attention it should have - not even from his family.  In the last several years only have people begun to notice.  Mr. Samrut has since even helped a fellow farmer convert 30 rai of land to a similar mixed garden by offering all he learned.  His garden was originally known as the 'crazy man's garden'.  Over the last ten years, however, this has changed.  People from far and near, both government and private have expressed interest.  This is the pay-off for their effort and patiece.

Today the family has the freedom to spend time together, they don't worry about having enough food; they don't have to rush to an employee's call.  They set the price for their produce and they get it.   "We are truly our own people" says the family.  They continue with confidence, " Mixed gardening is the answer for those farming the highlands."