{"id":10604,"date":"2011-12-06T21:05:35","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T05:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/?p=10604"},"modified":"2012-01-08T12:10:28","modified_gmt":"2012-01-08T20:10:28","slug":"precious-vanilla-pods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/06\/precious-vanilla-pods\/","title":{"rendered":"Precious Vanilla Pods"},"content":{"rendered":"

A vanilla farmer in Malaysia recounts the challenges of cultivating the world’s second most expensive spice<\/a>. The Vanilla orchid<\/a> grows as a vine whose flowers open for just a single day. After pollination by hand, the vanilla beans<\/a> take months to mature, and then months more to dry and cure. That hasn’t deterred farmer K.K. Yong, who invested a small fortune, and began farming vanilla in 2009. He has yet to see a single bloom, let alone a precious pod. In the tropics of Southeast Asia, the climate is right, but the vines take at least 3 years to mature. For now, he has a farm of tropical vines to tend, and plenty of mosquitoes for company. According to Yong, “a big mosquito population means you\u2019re doing something right \u2013 the environment is damp enough.\u201d Despite the challenges, Yong is optimistic. \u201cThe market and price for vanilla is excellent. With so many people quitting the business, there\u2019s a chance that I can be a major player if my plants start bearing pods!\u201d
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