Farming

It has been raining a bit now, and we have been digging with hoes and planting with our hands. Many local farmers hire tractors, but part of our 'work' here in Kenya is to help as many locals as we can, and since so many of these guys have no jobs, they are much obliged to earn while digging in our farm.

Our favourite worker at the moment is Steve, age 54. He has no teeth due to a car accident 20 years ago. Steve's age brings much learned wisdom.. He is not a permanent worker on The Shire, but he probably would love to be! Still, we have hired him for weeks now to help us get the soil ready and plant. He even takes time to teach the kids how to plant certain things as well. Of course he is only used to planting Maize, Beans, and possibly kale, so the variety of plants we have must make him feel overwhelmed.

Here is what we have planted so far:

• Tomatoes
• peanuts
• bananas
• sweet corn
• purple corn
• maize
• bell pepper
• soy beans
• zuchini
• butternut
• potatoes
• sunflowers
• beans
• carrots
• peas
• cilantro
• barley
• napier
• kiwi
• guava
• mango
• avocado
• tangarine
• papaya
• lemon
• custard apple
• apple
• passion fruit
• loquat
• orange
• spicey lettuce
• lettuce
• spinach
• radish
• mint
• cilantro
• parsley
• rocket
• basil
• chives
• thyme
• rosemary
• rhubarb
• lavender

Admittedly, most of these plants are only 1 or 2, and some are just being sprouted. This is our sprout list:

• jalepeno
• cayenne
• broccoli
• bok choi
• cabbage
• beet root
• red onion
• white onion
• green beans
• pomegranate
• stevia
• kale
• cauliflower
• mulberry
• spinach
• basil

We hope to have a good harvest near the end of the year! In the mean time, we need to start thinking about building a house so we can store all of these goodies somewhere..