Sindora Garden of Pepper

Sindora Garden of Pepper is a ten-hectare farm about 20 kilometres from Kampot city in southern Cambodia. It sits between sea and hills inside the Kampot Pepper protected geographical indication. The land was dense forest until about twenty years ago and had been degraded. Half the property is now given to replanting Cambodian forest trees, about 120 species so far. The aim is to stabilise erosion and revive two springs that dry up in the hot season. The farm takes its name from Sindora siamensis, a native tree that has begun to grow back on its own. Black pepper and red pepper and white pepper are fruits of the same vine picked at different stages of ripeness. The small team does the growing and harvesting by hand, and the processing too. It works under the specifications of the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association, whose members alone may use the name and whose compliance is checked by Ecocert. Washing and soaking use spring water from the property. The Collège Culinaire de France has listed Sindora as an artisan producer of quality. The farm describes its agriculture as regenerative and fully natural.