permaculture advocate in Zimbabwe - too little/too much rain

Such lovely photos recently. I've been following along for ages and only just worked out that you are a woman, from the photo of you and your grandfather. Rufaro is a name I have never come across before.

I liked the comment about your bananas doing so well, with the additional compost. There are so many small bits of knowledge that can be applied to make surprisingly large differences.

I hope 2023 goes well for you!

I managed to weed almost the whole field, Mai Kumbi offered to help with the small part that remained. I appreciated this because the afternoons are now extremely hot. My experience since Ngoni left is helping me understand the reality of the labor needed to run a productive plot. I am still struggling to put down the awareness I am getting, in relation to fair share and I have been cracking my head for the past two days. I will write down my thoughts, once I have gathered meaningful words to express this clearly.

I was delighted to find a few bottle gourd plants that have germinated in the field as I was weeding. The cow peas has delayed spreading this time around (confession: Iast year I ended up eating the  seeds I had reserved from the field, l bought the cow peas I planted this year.) It's really hot and I am considering watering what I can using the well, so that we do not lose out completely on the cow peas.

The pump has been taken away to be opened up, hopefully it will be back and, up and running tomorrow. At least we had showers in the evening.

I have been working on my nursery skills, and I have had all sorts of mishaps, with most of them having to do with me improving on how much attention I have to give seedlings. I have done everything, from forgetting to water seedlings, putting too much mulch or dogs walking all over the seedling trays. I had decided to not write anything about my seedling trials until I got them right, lest what I am working on appears as a joke. So I have been collecting anything that can hold soil in it and using it as seedling trays. I had a successful batch of pepper which I got from some peppers we cooked and the seedlings looked healthy. Today I woke up and all of them except for one were eaten up, I think by rats. I never saw this coming, it's really frustrating. There are beetroot seedling that have started germinating, I have covered these with some mesh wire to keep the rats away.

I learnt yesterday that the area that Mai Kumbi had promised to help weed, still has weeds, so I am working on this section. I am also preparing the place I will be putting the second raised bed, so that by the time I have seedlings ready, I will have spaces available for the seedlings. I am going to bury a layer of weeds in this second bed, so all the weeds from nearby places are going straight on this area.

With the nursery experiment, I have decided to remove one metal sheet from the sides of the chicken run to let light in, onto the germinated seedlings rather than shifting seedlings in and out of the chicken run. As for the rodent problem or whatever it is that's eating germinated seedlings, I have used old potato sacks to keep the seedlings protected, I will see how this goes.

I finished weeding the field and burying weeds on the raised beds area, which ended up being two beds that I will shape up in the coming week. I also sprinkled duck droppings on top.

The onion seedlings which germinated are starting to drop and wilt. I experienced this last time and I had thought it was because I was moving mulch too much in turn disturbing the onions. I no longer know why this is happening, the soil is moist and l hardly disturbed the seedlings. I have increased soil cover on the next batch of seedlings, hope this works.

The raised bed area is still work in progress, but it's catching some rain already as shown in the picture below. There is a tropical storm in Madagascar and we are getting some of it's effect, water has been pouring down.

FAIR SHARE:
Ngoni called, saying he wants to come back and work at the plot. I am taking this as a huge compliment, that whatever he was getting out of the plot is better than what a big company is offering him, but it's also saying a lot about working conditions in general and remuneration packages.
I was exposed to all the work that is demanded for by the field, in it's entirety for the first time this year. It was an eye opening experience. How we were treating the land is exactly how the system we have designed at the plot is treating it's custodians, taking way too much than it gives back from either the helper or even from myself as the owner. Following is an illustration of this, using the maize field.

TASKS THAT NEED TO BE CARRIED OUT
1) Clearing land= weeding before planting
2) digging pits= 80hrs' task
3) Planting= 5hrs' task
4) Watering= 24hrs (twice per week for a month before the rains)
5) Weeding= 3times for the season
6) Harvesting=
7) Shelling=

I will use what I was charged for weeding to come up with an hourly rate for the tasks above.
If 3 people charged $USD30 for an 8 hours' job, then a single person's charge per hour =$1.25
Therefore:
1) Clearing land= $30
2) digging pits= 80hrs' task = $100
3) Planting= 5hrs' task = $6.25
4) Watering= 24hrs = $30
5) Weeding= 3times for the season = $90

Total labor costs excluding harvesting and shelling = $256.25

If one is to be paid per hour for any task done, $256.25 would be an estimated labor cost for the whole maize growing season, excluding harvesting and shelling.

This makes sense if the value of the product will be greater than or at least equal to costs. But a bucket of maize is $5 on average,
and my expected yield is now about 12 bags since I cut an area from the field for vegetable growing. Therefore

12 bags = 3*12buckets of grain= 36buckets
36 buckets= $5* 36= $180

This is not enough to cover just the labor cost implication.

This clarifies a # of things:
1) To run a homestead currently, one needs support from family, or they support themselves from a formal job.
2) Stay in helpers have very low salaries, that can hardly covers their basics, but because it's a norm, it's acceptable.

If most smallholder farmers' systems are similar to my set up, then it's now a no brainer why it's unpopular to be a subsistence farmer and why for any helper, this is only a stepping stone to a different career.

Also conventional farming automatically becomes attractive because the work involved looks more convenient and productive, with the use of tractors, herbicide...e.t.c. But just like how we have proved that we can produce a sure yield the unconventional way, I can see myself developing a system that offers some convinience with regards to the labor demands
I have a couple of ideas which I already have and I will be sharing in the future.

I confirmed that one of my problems with pests that are eating seedlings are definitely rats, I saw one tearing and eating leaves off of a plant with my own eyes. The covered seedlings (chilli and red pepper seedlings) are growing well. What is puzzling is there are tree seedlings I am growing as well, these are not being eaten.

I am shifting the kitchen compost position to an area, still at the banana plants, adjacent to the existing one. This will allow us to leave the current compost to mature without being disturbed. I actually harvested some soil from the new compost area as I was digging to make a shallow pit. I got just over a bucket which I will use for my seedlings.

Mai Kumbi's son has been caring for the choumollier beds, and I have arranged for us to meet and discuss on what he expects from such a job. If we can come to an agreement, then it will mean that labor for caring of choumollier will not be on me, as I plan to just take a percentage of what comes out from monthly sales to pay for labor, I see if we come up with something in two days' time.

Today, I had a walk with my sister to the plot for a little harvesting. And it's just therapeutic picking things from the garden. We got peppers, beetroots, maize, mangoes, duck eggs, cow peas leaves, blackjack leaves and onions from the storage. The cowpeas is definitely not the type from last year, it's not spreading and the leaves aren't many.

The cow peas leaves that we pick are the very shiny new ones that are still tender and have a lighter green color than the older leaves.

The smile and joy that a field brings out is the best gift.

I got very little onion seedlings that I ended up transplanting even though they were still tiny because something is not right. Onions do not seem to have been affected by rats, but something cuts them. I have put some soil in the sun and will leave it to totally dry up and burn then use this, if there are things in the soil that eat seedlings maybe they won't survive the dry soil.

I am spending the next 2 to 3 days at the plot, and this time I did not have to buy anything to go and eat. I made beetroot bread, boiled some beets and soaked them in vinegar, this I will eat with plain scones which are also homemade and to add variety there are things I will make a simple salad with at the plot.

I went round looking for dry maize grains to buy, close to the plot, and at the place I usually buy maize from they said a bucket is now $7 at wholesale price, so it's not profitable for them anymore, I ended up getting some maize from the field though it's not too dry.

The potential of freedom that I am seeing is making my blood rush. I now honestly think  poverty can be eliminated (in theory, I have always believed, and I think as race we would have failed ourselves if we never figure out how to get rid of poverty, at least for those willing to put the effort). There are many layers to be addressed but one step at a time is feasible. Each person is at a different stage in realising what it is they need to do to be free to access life's basic things with little anxiety or struggle.

I remember some suggestions that were given to me when I started the thread, pertaining to water harvesting that were Greek to me. In my brain as I would read, the instant thought that would come was that these suggestions needed a lot of money. Now because I have a better understanding it's making more sense and very applicable without as much money as I had thought.

My discussion with Kumbi went well. He mentioned what he expects in exchange of his efforts in the garden as a percentage of what we manage to sell per month and it's something I can work with. He has already increased his effort and time he spends in the garden since we spoke, he has even started collecting grass for mulching the beds. This guys is a young guy and it is exciting to see him spend his day doing something productive. The rate of crime and drug abuse has sky rocketed so I am happy our space is keeping one boy off the streets. His friend is now also spending a lot of his time at the plot, so it's two boys off the streets.

I will be taking note of whatever harvest I make, for the next month or so, this will help me see if I achieved my goal of producing, inorder to stabilize sustenance. In my harvests I will also include organic matter that we are producing within the yard as well as how much water we are harvesting or have harvested for the rainy period, to show our growth from a regenerative perspective as well.

From the raised bed, this week I got pepper and beetroots. With the cucumbers I had fallen in love with the use of vertical space as cucumbers follow a frame, it's so foreign and it has a way of beautifying the garden, this would for sure have attracted attention. But they were a total flop the leaves dried up and eventually the whole plant, which has left me a little afraid to try them out again, though I really want a climber that I can create a frame for in the garden beds, it's just sophisticated and pretty.

I am picking cobs from fallen maize stalks and shelling these to feed to the ducks, and I left feed to last for the next 5 days. I haven't reached a full bucket of shelled maize yet.

We got our second banana bunch. I cut the plant and used the greens to add organic matter to one ofthe raised beds. Even what I remove from maize cobs goes to feed these beds. The other source of organic matter are the weeds that have grown around the water harvesting pit. I only opened up the path that has water flowing into the pit and from that small patch I got a lot of grass.

I have been a little lucky with the nursery experiment this time, I have beetroots, chilli and peppers I covered these up and today I will start opening them up in the afternoon and covering them during the night. The pepper was being cut even when covered, so l let weeds grow and this way whatever is cutting the peppers has more to eat from, and this can save some of the pepper and it seems to be working.

We had cow pea leaves, with a sauce made from peanut butter for supper last night. It was so tasty and tender.

We bought some baobab fruit and just when I was about to throw away the 'shells' not too sure what the outer part if the fruit is called, my sister just said to me "knowing you, you will need that". I chuckled because it really sounded funny that she would know better what I needed, than I would, but I listened to her and didn't throw it away. Well I am glad I listened because some days later, it downed on me that I had been struggling with the mint plant that I planted in the bird's nest that we picked, it was messing the sink area and I had used a plastic as a holder. Now the plant is sitting nicely in the baobab shell and I think it looks nice.

I managed to get help to have a meeting with Complexity University people, the ones in charge of the Gigatonne challenge and it's there tomorrow, I wish to at least get some feedback on what's going on as we never heard from them to know what they are saying about the effort we put in abating carbon emissions. Whichever outcome is going to come, I feel it's fair for my team to at least get some kind of feedback, though the favourable scenario would be job creation from the hard work.

Kumbi has raised almost all of the choumollier beds it's really impressive. We are one of the few people who sell this type of vegetable that are surviving the excess rain, most gardens drowned the plants.

Now we have a completely different thing to deal with. Kumbi just showed me today plants that have absolutely no leaves and he has no idea what is eating the leaves. I need to figure the problem out fast and keep sales up and keep Kumbi's enthusiasm in the garden at the level it is. We had a decent income for the month of January, of course decent is very relative, but we were both satisfied with we got.

I am continuing to cover/ pile the raised beds with weeds I am removing from around the water harvesting pit. Then allowing tiny creatures/insects that find themselves comfortable under the weeds to work the soil. I have noticed a pile of weeds from next door that hasn't been moved in weeks and they usually throw their weeds away. I am suspecting that it  will be used in the garden, I hope that's what's going to happen, I guess I will have to watch the space.

It looks like birds are the ones eating out plants. The area they started with is hidden by maize stalks and right next to the fence, which explains the reason why we would just find a huge portion eaten and also it looked like it was so systematic. Now those beds no longer have leaves and we are seeing a more random damage on various beds. I am really surprised though, we have never had birds eat out Vegetables during the rain period, and my suspension had always been there will be enough for them in the forests. I am surprised they are eating the Vegetables at this rate.

This week's harvest includes maize that I shelled forthe ducks, beetroots, carrots, cowpeas and the leaves, and onions from the stored batch. The cow peas aren't as expected, l am getting a few leaves as well as the beans. When there are plenty of various vegetables it's easy to cut down on starchy foods, because the Vegetables are so filling. My sister made stuffed peppers and we had very little starch but the meal was so filling, with most things being from our garden.

The past days have been raining so much and I have stayed at home. I made some chicken soup which seems to be doing the seedlings some good because they are looking healthy. I have also been collecting all the pepper seeds whenever I could. Actually, the pepper seedlings are from seeds I got from some yellow pepper I bought from the store. I had bought yellow and red pepper but to my surprise, the red pepper had absolutely no seeds. I remember hearing someone say it's a deliberate thing for some fruits and vegetables to not have seeds, so that the whole growing of plants can be commercialized better. It's like we have lost our humane touch, if this is true.

The other thing I have been collecting since last year are eggshells and they are now plenty and I can consider adding them in the duck feed with some consistency.

On a less brighter side, the other reason I can't go to the plot is because I hurt myself shifting seedlings last week. An object fell on my toes and two of them got cut. I thought I could manage the cuts, but today they are swollen and so painful, I am not too sure of home remedies I can do anymore.