Hi there ๐ฉโ๐พ๐จโ๐พย ,
We are Nok and Kampon, the founders, farmers and makers behind Happy Earth Farm - a small organic farm in Thailand where we make body care goods entirely from what we grow.ย We are so glad you are here!
For almost 20 years, we have been working on this land which was once an industrial farm into a certified organic farm. Throughout this journey, we have learned so much not only about ourselves but also about the interconnectedness of all creatures on this planet.
You could say that our journey began in 2005 when our daughter was born and we returned back to our family farm. In retrospect, it all started long before that, when terms like 'climate change' or 'zero-waste' were not coined yet.
On this path we're on, we contimue to live, learn and grow.ย
LIVE...
Years before starting the farm in 2005, we were both with local Non-Profit Organizations in resource management, forestry and alternative agriculture promotion for several years.
We worked along side with the hill tribes in Chiang Mai on projects that prevent deforestation.
We worked with villages in the North East of Thailand to protest against the construction of a dam.
We organized protests against the governmentโs policy to build an electric plant in the South of Thailand.
We interviewed community leaders on the impact of environmental policies and organic farming.
We saw firsthand how the government's approach and industrial development have had an impact on local communities, health and the environment. With growing frustration with capitalism, the government policies,ย and the deteriorating state of health and environment, we felt like something radical needs to happen.
When our daughter was born in 2005, we realized that we could not wait for anyone to change the world for us. We need to transform it ourselves. So, we decided to turn our back from the capitalistic world to create the kind of life where we can truly be self-sufficient while reducing our ecological and environmental footprint.
LEARN...
Luckily, we have a family farm in Uthaitani. After quitting our jobs, we all moved back to the farm in the hope that our daughter could grow up in the most natural environment possible.
Despite the rocky start turning a once-industrial farm into an organic farm, we started to implement regenerative farming principles to grow food. Believing in the interconnectedness of all life forms on earth, we see our farm as a whole ecosystem where we need to work with the โlife forceโ of Mother Nature to heal the earth and grow food without the use of chemicals. Not only do we avoid any pesticides or herbicides on our land, we also try our best to use only our farmโs own resources. For example, we make our own fertilizer from chicken poop. We rely on the farmโs biodiversity including bugs and bees to protect our orchard from harmful insects.
It was not an easy journey, especially when our own families didnโt understand what we were trying to do. People told us it sounds good in theory but itโs different in practice.
After a few years, there was one day when we felt like we couldn't do it anymore and wanted to give up. The next thing we did totally transformed our thoughts and feelings.
We looked around the land we have worked on. We heard birds chirping and bees buzzing in our field. Our rice, sesame and all our plants looked like they were all thriving happily together with different creatures on our land. Thatโs when we realized all our time and effort were not wasted. We were able to restore the vitality of the land and all that lived on it.ย We were making Mother Earth happy. Hence our name;ย โHappy Earthโ.
At the same time, we also started to learn about different herbs and traditional healing wisdom from the locals. Stories from the past told us how people used to clean their bodies, how limes are great for hair and scalp and how people would pat their face with rice water before going out. The more we learned about it, the more we were inspired to replace our usual chemical body care products by making ones of our own. Partly too, because we wanted to preserve these ways of life for the future generations. At the same time, we felt like we could no longer trust profit-seeking corporations to have our best interest in mind.ย ย
GROW...
Within 5 years, we managed to get an IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) certification for our farm, and we were able to replace all commercial body care products we were using with ones of our own. At the same time, our farm started to bear more fruits than we could finish.
From then an, instead of just selling our crops to middlemen as cash crops like other farmers, we decided to use them to share our story, spread the philosophy of living in harmony with Mother Earth, and inspire change from within.
We're grateful for grandma and many old folks who shared with us stories of how they used to care for their body with products from the land. Combined with our knowledge of medicinal herbs and homemade body care products, we were able to come up with a line of products that are totally free from chemicals by using only what we grow at the farm. And we consider them the gifts from our land to the world.
Through these gifts, we hope to bring back the old ways of living and take people on a journey to self acceptance and reconnect everyone with Mother Earth once again.
Hopefully by sharing our story, we can inspire you to join this journey to live, learn, and grow together with Mother Earth.
Thank you for reading this far. You can learn more about our products, check out our Instagram profile or sign up to our Newsletter for the latest updates.
Sending beautiful rainbows and butterflies from our farm your way wherever you are,
- Nok & Kamphon.ย
Kind words of encouragement
