Kirimaya, a 64-room resort near Thailand’s Khao Yai National Park, is developing a 5-acre (2-hectare) organic farm that eventually will supply all of the property’s vegetables and herbs.
Ten staff work full time on the farm, where the seed-to-harvest period can be from 45 to 60 days, depending on the crop.
The farm will consist of 160 blocks of plants, and each plant will be grown in four blocks harvested one week apart to give the resort a continuous supply throughout the season. In addition to using organic fertilizer, the resort has installed a “drip irrigation” system close to the surface of the soil that controls the soil’s moisture content and limits weed growth without chemicals.
The first phase of crops includes 12 different lettuce varieties, local vegetables such as Japanese pumpkin and Chinese kale, and Thai spicy herbs such as galangal and lemongrass.
Executive Chef David Bedinghaus is overseeing the farm and even helping to plant crops. “Organic produce is such a huge trend in the industry right now, and to have the produce growing at the resort — it doesn’t get any fresher than that,” Bedinghaus said. “I am thrilled to have such a unique, exciting project to develop.”
