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Notes from the vegetable bed

Grow it, eat it, start small. Pick a topic.

Learning path · Beginner Start a pesticide-free kitchen garden From a small empty spot to the first vegetables you can pick, step by step, without synthetic pesticides.
  1. Start a small pesticide-free vegetable bed: sun, soil, water, first crops
  2. Compost kitchen scraps at home: greens, browns, moisture and turning
Start with lesson 1 Learning path · Beginner Thai herbs in the kitchen Know, grow, use and keep the Thai herbs that go into everyday cooking, and where eating them as food ends and taking them as medicine begins.
  1. 10 Thai kitchen herbs: which part to use, look-alikes, and buying fresh
  2. Grow Thai kitchen herbs in pots: lemongrass, galangal, basil, makrut, pandan
  3. Herbs as food vs herbs as medicine: turmeric, andrographis, fingerroot
  4. Keeping herbs: fridge, freezer, drying, and what never to do
Start with lesson 1

7 articles

#KitchenBeginner

Washing vegetables: what cuts residues and germs, and what to avoid

No method removes residues completely, but washing the right way cuts them a lot. Soaking, running water, how much baking soda, and why not to use dish soap.

4 min read
#HerbsBeginner

Grow Thai kitchen herbs in pots: lemongrass, galangal, basil, makrut, pandan

Root market lemongrass, grow galangal, turmeric and fingerroot from rhizomes, raise basil, keep makrut and pandan in pots, and harvest so they keep producing.

7 min read
#HerbsBeginner

10 Thai kitchen herbs: which part to use, look-alikes, and buying fresh

Lemongrass, galangal, makrut leaf, holy basil, Thai basil, fingerroot, turmeric, bird's eye chili, pandan and culantro: what to use, how they taste, how to pick them.

6 min read
#HerbsBeginner

Herbs as food vs herbs as medicine: turmeric, andrographis, fingerroot

Turmeric in a curry is not turmeric in a capsule. Dose, concentration, how long you take it and other medicines change the risk. When to ask a doctor or pharmacist.

5 min read
#HerbsBeginner

Keeping herbs: fridge, freezer, drying, and what never to do

Coriander goes in the fridge, Thai basil hates the cold, lemongrass, galangal and makrut lime leaves freeze well, and homemade garlic in oil needs care.

6 min read
#SoilBeginner

Compost kitchen scraps at home: greens, browns, moisture and turning

Kitchen scraps can become good soil once you know the green-to-brown ratio, keep the moisture right and turn the pile for air. Plus fixes for smells and flies.

4 min read
#Grow cleanBeginner

Start a small pesticide-free vegetable bed: sun, soil, water, first crops

No big plot needed: one raised bed is enough. Find a spot with enough sun, mix your own soil, pick easy crops and handle pests without pesticides.

5 min read