Courses

We host courses, workshops, and groups to come and learn with us both in Thai and English on self- reliant living, organic gardening, community living, natural building and natural health throughout the year.

Our courses hosted in 2024 include our Sustainable Design, Get Grounded and Food Matters Courses as follows:

Dates:

 

Sustainable Design Course

February 22-25

 

GET GROUNDED

May 13-17

October 21-25

 

“What if…?” Course

June 5-11

 

Food matters

December 2-6

 

Sustainable Design Course (in Thai)

Oct 11-15

 

More Info:

 

Sustainable Design Course

Pun Pun will be hosting one Sustainable Design Course course at our center in Mae Taeng, Northern Thailand, near Chiang Mai.

Course is taught in English language
Our Sustainable Design Course is a unique chance to gain practical and specific knowledge on getting started on a piece of land. Led and taught by Jon Jandai with extensive experience in land design, this is a wonderful in-depth opportunity for those looking to get a piece of land or get started on a project and deepen their understanding of how to do so.
Techniques and Topics:
  • Evaluating how to look for what kind of land to buy for different purposes and what to look for in purchasing land.
  • Learn how to understand the characteristics of all types of soil, identify their purpose as well as how to transform soil for increasing fertility.
  • Learn how to source water, harvest, store and filter water for various needs.
  • Learn to understand the characteristics and habits of plants, where and what we might want to grow, and how to design what we plant with these characteristics in mind for optimal growth.
  • Understanding the habits and characteristics of pests and how to design to live together to maintain abundance of our gardens.

6,800 baht/person.  This fee includes all food during the course, accommodation and instruction.  All proceeds go towards supporting Pun Pun community to grow and continue with our seed center and outreach work.

For this course, please register at jandaijon@gmail.com

 

Get Grounded

 

Pun Pun will be hosting two Get Grounded courses at our center in Mae Taeng, Northern Thailand, near Chiang Mai.
Course is taught in English language
Our Get Grounded course is a chance for people to learn the basic techniques we use on the farm and will give you a taste for how to do the different things we practice here. This will include an introduction to gardening, making garden beds and composting, introduction to earthen building with adobe including making bricks and laying them, cooking from the garden, and making some basic natural products.It’s a chance to spend some time at the farm in community and see what you like and can take away for use in your home.
Techniques and Topics:
The whole workshop will be very hands-on and focus on allowing participants to experience every topic themselves.

  • Organic Gardening including how to prepare garden beds, make seedlings and compost, and focus on the practice of seed saving.
  • Harvesting and using produce from the garden in the kitchen including cooking , fermenting, and making products from the garden.
  • Introduction to natural building techniques.  Will cover selecting soil, making adobe bricks, how to lay bricks, making and applying homemade earthen plaster and making and applying clay paints.
  • Some simple appropriate technology will be covered as well that we use at the farm for filtering drinking water and reducing our propane consumption in cooking/hot water, etc.

It is an opportunity to learn through doing where participants will learn the techniques we use while actively applying them to projects at the farm in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. It is also a chance to live with other like-minded Thai and international folks and get a taste of community living on the farm.

8,500 baht/person.  This fee includes all food during the course, accommodation and instruction.  All proceeds go towards supporting Pun Pun community to grow and continue with our seed center and outreach work.

Please contact punpuncourses@gmail.com to register for this course or inquire with more questions. (More info below)

 

“What If…?”

June 5-11 2024

This course will be a collaboration between the Pun Pun Community and our P’gakenyoa friends from Hin Lad Nai. It will be hosted at Pun Pun center in Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai and Hin Lad Nai village in Viang Papago, Chiang Rai. 

Course is bilingual, English and Thai

What if we were able to slow down and re-member our lost relations with earth, water, fire and sky? What if our identities were again determined not by what we buy but what we co-create organically with our communities and the lands that tend to us? 

This “What If…” Course offers a unique chance to re-cultivate a deeper understanding as to how our external relationships with Earth impact our relationships with our inner self. A safe space will be held for us to explore and process emotions and feelings of which typical modern life seldom offers space for. In addition to learning the foundational hands-on skills such as seed saving, wildcrafting, organic farming, slow cooking, etc. that Pun Pun is known for, we will explore the human relationship with ancestral indigenous seeds, not only examining their role in the food we eat but also in forming human identity, culture, and myth. We will explore how ritual/traditional farming practices such as rotational farming impact community life and the basic human need to feel belonging. We will learn about wild honey bee keeping and consider the major role bees play in our world. This is a rare opportunity, away from the “daily grind” to experience life more slowly, to examine our interconnectedness, with self, soil, and community. We will reflect over the importance of our ancestors. And we will consider the importance of a more land based, indigenous world view in these modern times.

Hin Lad Nai is a special village of the P’gakenyoa indigenous people of the area who have a unique and interconnected relationship with the land, the forest and their community traditions. They have opened up their space for people to learn these essential skills with them.

Content and topics:

At Pun Pun Organic Farm:

  • Seed Stories: We will revisit our timeless relationship with seed throughout the course, including those of myth and culture. We do this with storytelling, song, dance, etc.
  • Natural Farming: Participants will learn how to grow and harvest food in a mindful way that develops a deeper relationship with soil, water, ancestral memory, seed lineage, the vast unseen underground mycelia kingdom of microorganisms etc. 
  • Slow Cooking: We will learn how to respectfully harvest from the garden, cook from scratch and eat in mindful ways, looking particularly at root vegetables and their relationship with the land and people..
  • Waking the Wild: We will attempt to wake our wilder, ancient self through shared, embodied exercises that aim to push us out from our comfort zones.

At Hin Lad Nai village:

  • Ritual/Rotational Farming: We will revisit our ancient relationship with the forest, learning about indigenous techniques of living harmoniously with land in a way that benefits both land and people. Through ceremony, poetry, song, and story, we will look deeply into natural rhythms, our deep relationship with rice, indigenous seeds and cultural roots.
  • Returning the Sacred: We will explore the concept of “rematriation”, exploring modernities increasingly severed relation with land and consider how best we might make efforts to restore again a sacred balance with life, taking specific interest in the “P’gakenyoa” tribe’s view.
  • Tree hugging: We will connect with the massive grandmother tree “Khun Yai Lumpoo”, the only tree not felled by a logging company years ago that now serves as a powerful reminder of our roots and resilience.
  • Wild Honey Keepers and Ancient Teas: We will learn about the unique role bees and tea have with forging a relationship between humans and earth. And yes, we will taste yummy honey and drink delicious teas! 
  • Calling Our Soul Home: We will participate in the Baisi ritual of “Connectedness Threads” to seal our time together.

We wish to experiment with a sliding scale fee: We encourage people who are more secure in their financial reality to support others who now have less by paying a bit more than asked if possible. 

Suggested fees: 

12,000 baht/person or more for people more financially privileged. 7,000-10,000 baht/person for people able to afford this amount.

All proceeds will go towards supporting Pun Pun community’s ongoing efforts to preserve organic, traditional seeds and educational opportunities for all at low cost and the youth groups of Hua Hin Lad Nai village. *We wish to offer scholarships for people who do not currently have the financial resources but who feel greatly called to join this course. Please kindly write to us @ punpun.farm@gmail.com to discuss this possibility.

To register, English speakers please contact punpuncourses@gmail.com and Thai speakers at punpun.farm@gmail.com

 

Food Matters

Pun Pun will be hosting one Food Matters course at our center in Mae Taeng, Northern Thailand, near Chiang Mai.
Course is taught in English language
Our Food Matters course is an opportunity for people to get to experience a connection with locally grown food from seed to plate. In this course we focus on food, in every stage from growing to harvesting to preparing, fermenting and consuming. This course if for foodies who are passionate about learning more about growing and preparing food, particularly from this part of the world. We will cover local and market plants, get our hands in the garden and also in the kitchen. And eat a lot!
Techniques and Topics:
The whole workshop will be very hands-on and focus on allowing participants to experience every topic themselves.
  • Organic Gardening including how to prepare garden beds, make seedlings and compost, and focus on the practice of seed saving.
  • Harvesting and using produce from the garden in the kitchen including cooking , fermenting, and making products from the garden.
  • Learn local fermenting and product making from local foods.
  • Learn to make dishes and cook together with our experienced chefs on the farm.

It is an opportunity to learn through doing where participants will learn the techniques we use while actively applying them to projects at the farm in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. It is also a chance to live with other like-minded Thai and international folks and get a taste of community living on the farm.

9,000 baht/person.  This fee includes all food during the course, accommodation and instruction.  All proceeds go towards supporting Pun Pun community to grow and continue with our seed center and outreach work.

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LOGISTICS PERTAINING TO ALL COURSES

General Schedule

Morning and afternoon sessions will be held with an extended break after lunch in the hot part of the day.  We will start at lunch on the first day of the course and finish after lunch on the last day.

The Project

The course will be held at our organic farm, seed center, and sustainable living learning center in Mae Taeng, northern Thailand. We started this center to work to create seed centers to preserve our food biodiversity, grow food organically for ourselves in community and for those who come to stay with us, and host trainings and workshops on ways to convert to more self-reliant, sustainable ways of living.

Teaching team

Jon Jandai and various community members from Pun Pun farm

Living situation

We will provide simple accommodation in one of Pun Pun’s earthen or bamboo guesthouses or dorms. A thin futon mat, blanket, sheet, pillow, and mosquito net will be provided.  Accommodation is single rooms, shared rooms and dorms.  All accommodation is in close proximity to each other.  Outdoor toilets and showers are close to the guesthouses.

All meals will be shared and eaten in the communal kitchen.  Vegetarian and fish options will be available and we will try to use the most organic vegetables as possible from the farm.  Food will be simple Thai food with brown rice.  We try to use as much of our own produce and other seasonally available produce as possible so we tend to focus on a primarily vegetable and whole grain diet with added protein from eggs, fish, or tofu.

Community living:

Evening activities and exchanges will also be included. A large aspect of the course also includes the experience of living in community with other participants as well as entering the community of members living at Pun Pun including children living in our community. We have found this element to be a major contributor in the experience of the course for participants.

Registration
1) Email your participant survey to punpuncourses@gmail.com. (or for the Sustainable Design Course to jandaijon@gmail.com)
2) Once you have sent your participant survey and have been confirmed, a 4,000 baht non-refundable deposit is due to secure your spot. Please understand we cannot hold your spot until we receive your deposit.We ask you transfer this to our Thai account of which we will send you the details.  The remainder will be collected on the first day of the course in Thai baht or if you chose you may transfer the whole amount beforehand.
Pun Pun Participant Survey:Please write us a short email introducing yourself. Please include where you’re from and a bit on why you want to join the course, what you are hoping to get out of it and how you hope to use it later. This will help us to prepare the program for your needs.Please also include any special dietary needs causing for any adjustments from the food offered as specified above. Please wait for acceptance before making travel arrangements.

 

 
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