We stayed at the Pineapple farm for two days. Nok’s family owns and operates this farm in Ratchaburi province. The province is located about 3 hours west of Bangkok and borders Myanmar (Burma).
Most of the family’s house was outside. I really liked this because it felt very close to nature. The farm had several cats, kittens, and two friendly doggies. Sitting out on the patio with coffee, then an herbal tea and pineapple cookies was one of my favorite things to do in the morning while we were here.
After breakfast Nok gave us a tour of the land. She showed us so much plant life I’d never seen “in real life” or never seen period before. The front of the house is where all the flowers are kept.
Behind the house is where the land is. Walking down a main path you are led to a plethora of plants and wildlife.
We saw:
- Banana trees with huge leaves and huge magenta banana pods.
- lemon trees
- lime trees
- Pomelos
- Jackfruit
- Pineapples (duh.) The pineapples near their house are only one of their acres. We saw more acres when we drove out to the field.
- Mangosteen (I don’t believe you can buy these in the USA)
- Red Chili peppers
- Coconuts
- Mangoes
I felt very peaceful walking on the farm. It was a beautiful sunny, hot day and the sounds of nature where so beautiful. This is a rare thing for me since I’m more of a “city girl,” spending most of my life in suburbs and cities. Nature is so important for our health as human beings. I definitely would like to incorporate more visits to nature when we return to the states.
We saw lizards and tons of butterflies flying to and from all the plants. There are cobras but we THANKFULLY did not see any. Nok told us a story about her cat recently getting eaten by a cobra and her Dad killed the cobra. Her Dad is Buddhist and a very peaceful and kind person, but I think he was understandably pissed that this damn cobra ate their family cat! He chopped the cobra’s head off. This made me think Nok’s dad was not afraid of cobras which IMHO is pretty badass!
After seeing the farm where Nok and her family live, we went to visit her mom in the field. Her mom is retired and works the land every day for 6 hours!!! Talk about a daily workout. Nok’s mom is the happiest person and most fit woman I have ever met, so I’m assuming her lifestyle choices are good choices. She did not speak English, but she was always smiling, laughing, making jokes, and feeding us. A true Angel!!!!
When we got to the field we saw Nok’s mom and her coworkers chopping off the pineapples for harvest.
True Story: Before we went to the pineapple farm I had NO idea how pineapples looked in nature. I literally thought they grew off trees but wasn’t sure. Turns out they grow on short bushes. When the pineapple is ready for harvest, you take your machete knife and chop it off on the top. The part you chop will begin growing another pineapple – so there is no need to replant these bushes, just chop off what you need.
Nok’s mom chopped off a fresh pineapple, cut the edges off with her machete knife and handed it to Paul – it looked like a pineapple lollipop.
Our time at the farm was very interesting; full of nature and seeing another way of life. We were so grateful for Nok’s family welcoming us (complete strangers) into their home. We really enjoyed our time and getting to know the family.
Savvy Roving 
This seems amazing. I love seeing the pineapple bushes! I’ve never seen them growing in nature either.
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