Herbalist Hoang Quoc Thanh (third from left) introduces tourists to the model of growing medicinal herbs under natural method.

There is a beautiful stilt house on the top of the mountain. Next to it is a palm-leaf hut placed in the middle of a small fish pond. There are also hammocks, bathtubs, and spacious designed swimming pools. The farm is isolated from the outside world and anyone who wants to come here has to take a 30-minute hike to the top of the mountain.

At the end of 2020, Thanh from Ho Chi Minh City came to Lam Binh to implement the project of planting medicinal herbs under the canopy of a natural forest. He established Khai Tam Lam Binh Herbal Garden One Member Limited Liability Company. In early 2021, through surveying the terrain and soil quality, he chose the forest in Ban Thang Village, Phuc Yen Commune to develop a herb farm.

He explained that natural farming is considered a meditation method in agriculture. There, the direction is to develop sustainable agriculture, protect the ecosystem, and the farmer proceeds to plant and let the tree grow according to its own instinct. In the process of growing them, it is necessary to limit soil improvement and interference with the natural development of plants: no plowing, no fertilizing and no use of pesticides.

Currently, on the farm, Thanh has planted 5 hectares of medicinal herbs, some trees are planted under the forest canopy or at the edge of the forest such as crinum latifolium, sweet grass, multiflorous knootweed, and morinda officinalis.

With many years of experience in growing and managing pharmaceutical business in Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Tri, Kon Tum, Yen Bai, and Lao Cai, Hoang Quoc Thanh is confident with his model. With this approach, medicinal plants improve their medicinal properties while contributing to the protection of the green environment, without interfering with the ecosystem, in harmony with nature. Since then, it is the destination of eco-tourism and community-based tourism. This model also creates regular jobs for  5 - 6 local workers.