Monday 14 February 2011

We Arrived At Juu's House Nice And Early,

for our trip to Wat Yanasangyararam Agricultural Training and Development Center,
the temple complex is near the Buddha Mountain,
we parked up and made our way to the stalls, this show is put on every year at this time, saying that it does not seem a year ago that we were here with Steve and Kai, the time just flies past!
there are awards to be given karaoke being one of them,
soon we were in the aisles of plants for sale,
over here there seems to be a fascination with carnivorous plants,
this is the first stall we saw selling them,
we then moved into the flower section,
Diana just loves sunflowers,
but looking at these ours have a long way to go,
the field of marigolds looked so nice as well,
also for sale here were some silver pheasants, this is the more colourful male, 2,000 baht for a breeding pair,
everywhere you look the center has different crops on the go,
the growers bring samples of their crops to sell the young trees, this time mangoes,
plus lots of potted plants,
like these Begonias,
also there were a few stalls selling Epiphytic plants, they are sometimes called 'air plants' because they do not root in soil,
and more than a few stalls selling theses succulent type plants,
some of them the most beautiful red colour,
we next walked past another growing area, although not my favorite I have often eaten okra, or ladies fingers as it is sometimes called, but I have never seen the plant growing or it's flower, so a double first for me,
naturally there were more orchid stalls than almost any other group of flowers,
it was a case of 'you name it they have got it' as far as orchids were concerned,
just a few many for sale,
in so many colours,
and shades,
of the three above I liked this one the best,
there were also many small varieties, these flowers just an inch or so across,
then what we were looking for, coconuts, we will call back for a couple later rather than carry them around the show
oh no! more orchids, these were almost a meter in height,
with huge flowers at the top of them,
Diana did not believe me till she tried,
this orchid has a most wonderful fragrance,
lots of Bromeliads,
and fancy cacti,
another stall selling these insect eating plants,
the flying food like flies are attracted to the hanging traps,
once inside the plant digests the insect and processes the nutrients from it,
'yes we have no bananas' was how the song went, but there were plenty here today,
along with huge lemons, although difficult to see, this fruit is so large it is nearly breaking the stem,
row upon row of bananas,
the owner having seen us taking pictures of them very kindly gave is some to try,
and nice they were too,
the downside was that there are so many different varieties of them to try,
another orchid stall, but I stopped in my tracks when I saw how brightly couloured the orange one was at the bottom of the picture,
fooled me again!
this is the sign over the main admistration building,
some more of those succulent type plants with the nice flowers,
they almost look like bonsai trees they appear to be so old,
another first for me, I have never seen this palnt before,
it had really strange shapped flowers,
more massive orchids,
also there were many cut blooms for sale,
I did not get close enough but I think this is another variety of the orchids that have a fragrance,
then time for a ice coffee,
coffee take away,
we then saw some brown rice for sale, having read that it is less fatting than white rice we bought some,
not cheap at 40 baht a kilo, but think of the wieght I will save!
all along the outside of the show ground there were stalls selling everything you could imagine,
I love crispy pork skin, pity that me teeth do not as there was so much of it for sale on this stall,
then time for a quick snack,
I was thinking about some duck, but them remembered we were going to have some for Sunday lunch,
papaya poc-poc,
and roasted chicken, none for me I was saving myself for later,
we then continued our walk, these are some of the plums I like so much, but I have been told they only grow up north as it is too warm around here,
another huge bunch of bananas,
sausages as well, is here anything you can not buy here?
this is I think a rice husking mill, the appliace of science, so easy to make, once you have seen one!
then Diana saw something she has bought before,
sticky rice, it appears it is sold the same way in the Philippines,
I have mentioned dragon fruit on the blog before and that they were fruit from a type of cactus, well this is what it looks like,
small tomatoes,
and more orchids to go,
you can also buy pineapple plants if you want to grow your own,
then I saw these 'flatten' pineapples, grown as a novilety I guess there were only a couple of inches deep but a foot or so across,
the stall here cuts vegtables every hour or so or when they run out, you can not get fresher than that!
we are now back acros the other side where there are various medical remedies for sale,
Diana decided to try another packet of sunflower seeds,
we then chanced upon a water lily stall,
the flowers were so beautiful,
but that display is not for us,
it is for the insects that fertilize them,
many lilies once a insect is inside it,
will close its petals till the next day only relaesing the insect after it has started it's job of fertilizing the flower,
different oils to help skin aliments,
and a selection of money boxes,
and toys,
never a good sign when ladies are looking at sharp knives!
this got my interest, a stall selling mushrooms, nothing unusal there you might think,
but you could grow your own, just buy the piece of wood, add water and put in a dark place and hey presto!
fresh produce of course is in abundance,
good or bad news, another orchid stall,
this one had the types that have flowers on long hanging stems,
and very pretty they were too,
another first, what is this plant?
decididly strange fruit/flower,
on our way back some more vegtables being harvested,
a row of pineapples,
another couple of weeks and we will see this one in the market,
Diana is buying a miracle fruit berry tree, take the most sour thing you can think of, eat one of this trees berries and what ever it was will taste as sweet as sugar!
and I have got two coconuts,
and then we are off home for our Sunday lunch, hit the older posts button if you want to see where we go.

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