I have intentionally stayed away from posting anything farming. Though the reason behind that decision is something I'd rather not paint here, I still believe that soil holds a bit of my healing. For that justification alone, the search for somewhere I can till and hopefully make something off of it has never stopped.
At the feet of these tea slopes lies an expansion of land that is up for annual leasing come the new year. The flat valley belongs to a single family of a former colonial times chief and collaborator. It is over one thousand acres. We call it the fertile cursed land.
It lies on the north of this humongous tea plantation surrounding the village my grandparents home stands. Use the smoke as your guide. Whispers link these manicured bushes to the man who married one of the corruption endowed heads of state.
These bananas hurdled together and welcomed my eyes to the fields of opportunities. The local youth baptized them that after a few made it out by leasing patches of the valley to start small scale vegetable farming.
The water body that irrigates the tea has a web of hidden streams finding their way here.
Melon farming on a quarter of an acre. The fees for a quarter range from 50 to 70 dollars per annum depending on where the water is located. If this farmer keeps this up, the yields will outdo the initial capital and the next season might be all about profits.
One can never go wrong with vegetable farming as we love our stews. Any farmer with a farm looking like this here right now is in a bear market like altcoins. The holiday season is upon us and we are known to translate joy into comforting good food with spices and herbs.
Feast your eyes on spring onions. But if this was mine, I'd prefer to do African garlic. It does better in the market than this one.
Some lettuce. This will do well. There is a huge tourism industry here which makes planting these worthwhile. Locally, it is not much of a delicacy.
A variety of white radish thriving next to the above patch.
Had to Google this. It is a species of a medicinal flowering plant in the sunflower family with high doses of paracetamol extracts. Pre-Columbian America used the orange-yellow dye and so did southern Africa to dye wool.
Thailand's population prefers it in salads and herbal tea as the Indonesian one consumes the young shoots raw or cooked.
Some cabbages to end the tour but I would go for the red/purple cabbages. By now you know when I say that it is because the market is way much better.
Conclusion...
These fields hold some promise in their brutal history. I have booked an acre in two halves and I intend to go all out on this farming thing. If I hack this, I will be celebrating myself for managing to start my official side hustle.
I'd love to undo the chronology this land holds but my brood must eat and my landlord cares less where his money comes from. See you in January.
wambuku w.
