Laura goes to The Farm - Day 1

Friday, November 15, 2013

John went to install a solar system charge controller at the PCL Integrated Farm and we tagged along. (People for Care & Learning http://peopleforcare.org/)

Getting to Puok, on Route 6, was the easy part. We were in a 4x4 heavy-duty pickup truck - good thing! The road soon became little more than a muddy, crevassed track.

While waiting for our ride, John merged two non-functioning charge controllers into one. 8328-1

   Some creatures

a duck 1107 

         we met along

a water buffalo 1090

               the way.
a cow 1110


When the road ended, we crossed a foot bridge, ...

How to get to Takam Village, Cambodia 8349

... walked through the village and onto The Farm property.

While John performed his magic, Issac (The Farm project manager) gave us the grand tour. We saw and heard about how the 12 feet deep ponds were growing fish; how the pigs in their hut over the water were feeding the fish and growing bacon and how the rice growing nearby was so much taller than all the neighbour's rice.

Pond, Pig Pen with Rice growing behind to the right. 1119

Happy Pigs 8364-1

Aiming for self-sustainability, the ducks and geese supply eggs and meat.

Happily bathing ducks. 8365

Guard Goose wanders away after frightening the Canadian visitors away! 1123

The clean and tidy kitchen will soon have lights and an outlet.

Checking to see what's for lunch - Rice of course! 1132

Laura visited the Loo ... can't miss it! 1116

The mushroom growing operation is being used to teach the poorest of the local women a profitable micro-business. This and the rice storage bank facility (empty until harvest time) are the first of many in the vision of this NGO.

Mushrooms growing in stacked bags
full of cooked and inoculated spent rice husks. 1150

Laura tried some - Delicious! 8373

Behind the new planting of Beauregard Sweet Potatoes, there's a New Chicken Coop in it's fenced in (with de-contamination gates) free-roaming yard and a plantation of Cassava for shade.

New planting of Beauregard sweet potatoes
with the New Chicken Coop in the background 8369

Issac and Mom checking out the soon-to-be-harvested planting of sweet potatoes. 0113

Free run chickens behind a baby banana plant. 1160

We rounded off the tour with the Director's Dock on the pond, the Bio-Gas System which runs the staff's cooking stoves ...

A good place to relax - watch out for rotting floor boards! 1165

The Bio-Gas Digester - amazing technology! 8371

... and the Solar-Powered Electric System.

The Solar Panels - catching the Rays!

What excitement! ---> IT  ACTUALLY  WORKS! 

Back at the Battery Shed, where John had been busying himself, - like an Elf before Christmas - we found a happy man; The charge controllers were working perfectly. There had been some doubt as John had merged two non-functioning units into one and wasn't sure it would work. The Farm now has electricity to run lights, charge cell phones, watch TV and pump water from the well.

Praise be to God!  --->  Mission accomplished!


On our walk back through the village, we stopped to watch and smile as some people ground fresh roasted rice - very tasty stuff! - and to see the home of the poorest lady participant in the mushroom growing operation.

Village Life - November 2013

The Drive Out became an adventure as we were called upon to pull a MB diesel van out of the mud before we could proceed.

"We can tie on under here somewhere!"

How the Moto got through ...

A late lunch at Babushka Restaurant,

Laura helping me with my English4Business class and

joining John for supper at Common Grounds Restaurant finished the day off. 

What an introduction to Cambodia for Laura!