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Catherine Farm

Bang Khonthi, Samut Songkhram

A mixed orchard by the canals of Bang Khonthi

Catherine Farm sits in Bang Yi Rong, Bang Khonthi, Samut Songkhram — the Mae Klong river basin, one of the heartlands of Thailand's Nam Hom coconuts. Here coconuts, bananas and papayas grow up together on raised beds between the canals, tended the organic, regenerative way. Come and have a wander with us!

A young coconut palm catching the morning sun beside a canal, with more coconut palms and bananas on the beds beyond
Mae Klong river basin

Raised beds & canals

Soil on the beds, water in between

Ours is a traditional Mae Klong raised-bed orchard, the kind Samut Songkhram growers have tended for generations. Here's how it works.
Cross-section drawing of a raised-bed orchard: raised soil beds alternate with water-filled canals, water seeps from the canals into the soil, and coconut, banana, papaya and mango trees grow together on the beds.123

  1. The raised bed

    Soil dug out of the canals is heaped into long beds, so the trees stand high and dry with their roots out of the water.

  2. The canal

    Water in the canals slowly seeps into the beds and keeps them moist in the dry season. In the rainy season, the extra water has somewhere to go.

  3. Growing together

    One bed holds Nam Hom coconuts, bananas, papayas and other fruit trees such as mango. Taller plants shade the young ones, and fallen leaves become food for the soil.

On our beds you'll find

  • Nam Hom coconut
  • Namwa banana
  • Hak Muk banana
  • Papaya
  • Mango
  • Many other fruit and flowering trees
  • A young coconut palm spreading its fronds on a raised bed, with a canal on either side
    A Nam Hom palm by the canal
  • A big mango tree, a clump of bananas and a young mango growing side by side, with chopped banana trunks mulching the ground
    Mango and bananas, side by side
  • A papaya tree with a cluster of green fruit under its leafy crown, among taller trees and blue sky
    Papaya among the other trees
Chopped banana trunks and dry leaves mulching the soil around a young tree by the canal in the morning light
Mulch from the orchard itself

How we farm

Organic care for living soil

Five things we always stick to, in plain words.

  • No herbicides

    We never spray weedkiller. Grasses and little plants share the orchard and shade the soil from the sun.

  • No growth accelerators

    No rushing and no forcing: the fruit grows and ripens at nature's own pace.

  • No chemicals — 100% organic inputs

    No synthetic fertilisers or pesticides, only natural, organic inputs.

  • Diverse, mixed planting

    Coconuts, bananas, papayas and other fruit trees grow mixed together, making a home for all sorts of living things.

  • Regenerative farming

    Dry leaves and chopped banana stems go back onto the beds as mulch, so the soil gets richer over time, not poorer.

Why we farm this way

A stroll around the orchard

A few snapshots from around the farm: morning light, evening light and a friend or two.
  • The farm's black-and-white dog on the gravel lane beside the canal in the morning light, with bananas and trees lining the far bank

    A four-legged farm friend

  • A young coconut palm on a raised bed ringed by canal water, with lush banana plants behind it under a blue sky
  • Banana clumps on grassy raised beds, wrapped by canal water in the soft evening light
  • Young coconut palms on the raised beds in the late-afternoon sun, with narrow canals between the beds and a banana plant alongside
  • A young coconut palm growing next to a banana plant heavy with fruit on the raised beds, in the late-afternoon sun
  • Dry leaves mulching the soil around a young tree, with a banana sucker coming up nearby by the canal
  • Namwa banana plants with plump green bunches among broad leaves, a coconut palm behind them
  • Tall banana plants interplanted with young coconut palms on the raised beds, with a bunch of bananas hanging in the middle
  • A cluster of dark-green unripe papayas hanging beneath the leaves
  • A pink-flowering tree leaning over a narrow canal, next to banana plants and young coconut palms
  • Hands of green and ripening yellow bananas laid out on banana leaves
  • A banana plant beneath a soft golden evening sky

A gentle breeze on the beds

Take a little break and watch the young coconut fronds sway in the wind with us.
Young coconut palms swaying in the breeze on raised beds between narrow canals

Visit us

Fancy seeing it for real?

Where we are

Catherine FarmBang Yi RongBang Khonthi DistrictSamut Songkhram, Thailand

Please email us before visiting, so we can arrange a time that suits us both.

Email us to arrange a visit

Catherine Farm

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