Eight weeks of natural building at Pun Pun farm

From Pun Pun

Pun Pun farm is a seed saving organic farm and natural building training site. The farm founders, a couple from Thailand and Colorado respectively, started Pun Pun seven years ago with the hopes of providing a greater variety of seeds to farmers and teaching people how to build homes with adobe and other natural building materials. Jo and Peggy's vision has grown into a nationally noteworthy spot for Thai and foreigners alike. During our seven week internship, hundreds of visitors passed through Pun Pun. We feel lucky to have spent such a wonderful time living in community with these wonderful people.



After leaving Kerala, we spent the night on the Koala Lumpur airport floor. We were excited to arrive in the land of a thousand smiles after nearly four months in India. Pun Pun's land and community turned out to be a perfect place to hang our hats and have a life changing experience to boot. As we settled into our adobe home on the top of a picturesque hill an hour outside of Chiang Mai, we wondered what was in store. The internship focused on demolishing and reconstructing the ailing Pun Pun kitchen. It seemed like a daunting task when we first arrived and ate a meal in the eucalyptus and bamboo framed kitchen. Over the course of the internship, we realized a sincere sense of accomplishment by tearing down the old building, laying the foundation, building adobe walls, applying first and second coat plasters, choosing earthen paint colors, fine tuning arched features and finally watching the roof welders finish the gigantic project.



Our group was twenty four strong, consisting of five Thais from Bangkok and one from Puhket, a woman from Singapore, sixteen Americans and a Frenchman. As the weeks sped by, we grew close through working, gardening and sharing meals each day. There were about twenty permanent members, mostly Thai, who also lived in the community. The opportunity for cultural exchange was high, whether we were chopping veggies for the incredible Thai cooks, or learning new words from our fellow Thai interns. Did we mention the food? Homemade tofu and soy milk graced our table a few times a week, garden fresh salad daily, and the main dishes were amazing! It made a huge difference to know that someone was preparing a delicious lunch for us as we worked on the kitchen throughout the mornings. It is possible our productivity was maximized because of the kitchen staff's loving support.



Our main teachers consisted of Joe and Peggy, her brother Nate, and a gentleman from Trinidad by way of England. Jo had recently become a household name in Thailand due to hefty media attention focusing on Pun Pun, natural building, and his simple approach to life. During our stay, hundreds of people came by the farm to see what wisdom Jo could impart on them. Other larger groups visited for a few days at a time, including Red Bull's charitable volunteer division. It was fun to see city folk from Bangkok come and experience what farm life is like, from making compost to home made jam and soaps to playing in the mud to make the heavy adobe bricks.



During the morning and afternoon sessions, our teachers demonstrated numerous building techniques, but then allowed us to work hands on and make our own mistakes. After a few weeks of practice, our confidence grew and we could work on the buildings on our own with little guidance. When asking if we should do a task one way or another, the common answer was to do whichever way would take less work. In a sense we transcended the theories presented in earthen building books and were able to experience first hand the ins and outs of working with earth. We loved being encouraged to try what made sense to us by interacting with each other and the building materials instead of reading lots of books and studying theories. Unlike other community theory foundations, building and growing food on the farm stemed from a minimalist approach.



Working closely with the earth made us think about how all animals use the earth in some form or another to build a home. Some individual animals build homes like a snail or turtle shell, some familial, like a bird nest and some communal like bee hive. But all animals create a home only big enough for their needs. Why build something big and complicated and extravagant if it is not needed? Most animals make shelter in a home, but the planet itself is a big communal living space. Why design a building feature or work plan when something else we be less work and still perform the needed or desired function? We began to ask ourselves what we truly need to be happy, and the farm taught us that it is possible to build our own home and live more simply.



We started most mornings with a yoga class in the meeting hall. We were two of about 7 yoga teachers staying at the farm. So we were blessed with a new teacher on most days of the week. In the evenings, we shared our skills, watched documentaries and had discussions about sustainability. Our group had very diverse backgrounds so our conversations were lively; we frequently questioned each other and the topics of discussion. As the kitchen took shape, so did many friendships. Our new favorite around the world traveling couple hailed from the Bay area. We spent many weekends exploring the natural beauty of our surrounding area with Nathaniel and Kim. They have a witty and entertaining travel blog at www.anotherfuckingtravelblog.com. Check it out!



We ended up staying a few extra days at the farm. Jon, Josh's brother flew in for a three week visit and we wanted to show him some of our new skills. By his first afternoon, Jon was knee deep in mud making cob for the new earthen oven. Our time at Pun Pun taught us much, and time passed too quickly. With only a month of travel abroad left to go, we headed to the beaches of southern Thailand to round out our trip. Stateside on April 7th. Yikes! :)