Food shortages? LOL - NEVER gonna happen in Thailand! Let me show you why on my little Wednesday wander.
I needed oranges for the batch of kombucha that's almost ready. Not western oranges, but Thai oranges, which are sort of like mandarin-tangerines. Sweet and super juicy. My plan was to juice some and mix it with the juice of Rose Apples, and let it brew overnight.
For some reason that I have never been able to fathom, the fresh market 5 mins from our old Thai house on the outskirts of Chiang Mai never sells fruit after lunch, and so I needed to walk the other way, towards the temple, where there is always a fruit vendor on the roadside. And so off I set at about 4.30pm, just as the sun was losing its sting. How hot was it today? Only 39C today - 102F ... considerably cooler than yesterday's 42C (107.5F). Our normally brilliant blue skies? Oppressive and clouded by smoke from nearby forest fires. š
Let it be said that despite our village of Baan Rim Tai in Mae Rim being only a 23 minute drive into Thailand's second largest city of Chiang Mai, it is hardly an urban hotbed of activity. Au contraire. LOL. TRaffic is not an issue!
My walk today was only about 800 meters each way, down a single piece of road from our house to the local temple (where the orange vendor sits) and back.
I had fruit on my mind, and was not disappointed. ššš Our immediate neighbour in the main road was selling pomelos from her tree - big balls of sweet grapefruity yumminess. But I'd already bought those yesterday. š
Just about EVERY house in the neighbourhood is dripping almost ripe mangoes (our garden too!) and most Thai people protect them from the birds.
Every house likewise has a papaya dripping with fruit right now, to the point of almost stem-snapping:
While a few of the more well-to-do houses sport flowers in their front yards, like these INCREDIBLY FRAGRANT Asiatic lilies:
most people tend to err on the more practical side, with pumpkins & cherry tomatoes:
and bananas.
I walked past the first ricefield at the back of the village,
past the little stream which turns into a raging canal in rainy season,
and paused to honour the local village spirits, and ask for safe passage.
By then I was at the temple, Wat Duang Dee,
and found my trusty orange vendor parked under a big, shady old Banyan tree.
The temple is currently closed due to #covid19 and so I was not able to photograph more than from behind the high fence - we'll save that for another #wednesdaywalk when all this #coronavirus crazy is over.
Walking back, the local village shop had freshly cooked curries and rice available - 20 baht each (about 70 cents) or free for unemployed people - take away only -
and our vegetable selling friend, Ooh, was selling freshly picked vegetables opposite our little laneway - she grows them organically behind her house in the next street.
When I got home (having also snagged some ripe tomatoes from Ooh, still warm from the sun - 1 kg was 30 cents), I couldn't resist tasting the sweet local oranges.
You'll notice they're imperfect, small and NOT your average perfect western fruit. It's always worth the walk down the street for the locally grown organic oranges which never make it to the supermarkets.
And my last fruity surprise? While I had been out, our kind landlady had dropped by. Instead of being upset or moaning about the unpaid rent (us having very much reduced income do to coronavirus) she had instead dropped off freshly harvested bananas from her own tree. To make sure we're not hungry and had plenty of fresh vitamins.
As you can see, growing food is a way of life for even urban people in Thailand. Most Thai people remember what it is to do without food from the 1940s and 1950s, and EVERYone grows fruit. Our biggest food related crisis?? The jackfruit tree in our backyard is gong crazy and FULL of BIG ripening jackfruits... and we don't especially like jackfruit. š¤£
Feeling blessed & abundant.
And very much enjoyed sharing my simple #wednesdaywalk with you.
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