Garden to Market- Helping the poor to grow food!

The 'Garden to Market' project feels like it has gone from 0 to 100 in a very short time! We began with a small group of unemployed people, some land, a little bit of knowledge but a ton of passion and enthusiasm.

The first step we needed to take was to get some training which was given through the 'Meechai Foundation'. This is a Thai charity that has been doing this type of project on a grand scale for over 30 years. Our team went away and learned how to grow plants that would do well in our environment and also how to set up a cost-effective compost system. This compost is done using 2 plastic buckets and a colander. The composted material seeps directly into the soil underground fertilizing the plants without having to lay it on top.

The children and youth living next to our plots have also excitedly joined our program and they love learning all about the growing of produce and cooking it too. 

Covid 19 has shut down Pattaya and there are many desperate people needing food. In addition to the rice that we usually give each week, we can now give fresh vegetables too. Soon our bananas and papaya will be ready.

It is not possible for the growers to take the produce to the market due to the covid 19 restrictions. So the Hand to hand Foundation is purchasing the produce from them to give to the poor with their rice. In this way, we can both feed the poor and provide an income for the growers.

Our next step is to build a chicken coop so that we can gather eggs to add to our food supply.

Thank you for all of your generous donations in providing food, employment and hope to the people. The project is succeeding far beyond what we could have imagined at this early stage.