Dear All,
We have just received the following news from Liz which we are passing on immediately with minimal editing.
Ian & Diana
Hi Ian.
Pray you are all well. We are fine. We have had a couple of days of rain and everything is green now. It finally looks like the Riziki we know and love. We have already started weeding. We finished the beans portion last week, this week maize. Crops in the farm this season are groundnuts, (Moses brought seeds from home), cabbages, butternut, and a small plot of tomatoes. Pray with us concerning the maize crop. There is an army worm scare around the country. It was announced in the local churches last Sunday that they were sighted in Rongai, which as you know is not too far from us. We have also had agricultural officers visit to warn and educate. So keep us in your prayers will be appreciated. (Details of the army worm infestations are easily found on the internet. It is potentially very, very serious for the whole of East Africa – Ian)
April saw me and Patrick go to quite a number of farms searching for hay. Our stored hay ran out because of the prolonged drought and we had to go out in search of hay. It was such a gruelling experience as nobody wanted to sell and those that could spare some the prices were shocking. We managed to get some to get us to June. Hopefully by then our grass will help. After this experience, I thought it would be prudent for us to build a large hay store that would help us store enough feed to take us longer than the usual dry spells. I was thinking a structure able to hold 2500-3000 bales of hay. It would be a very simple tall iron sheet structure. Let me know what you think.
Elizabeth was on leave during the April holidays and came back on the 10th of May looking well rested. All is well with the rest of the staff despite the busy holiday.
We are just about running out of the frozen tomatoes that have seen us through the worst dry season and we are looking to start storing some more in a couple of months. We are looking to increase the amount we store so it can be able to take us longer just like hay. This will mostly mean better use of freezer space any ideas are welcome on this. The dried kales also did very well and am happy to report we are now back to fresh kales.
I finally got to read the last newsletter today, and kindly note and correct that I have no direct dealings with Egerton university on farm issues. I actually am more involved with the ministry of agriculture than Egerton.
That is it from me. Greetings to Diana.
Baraka
Liz