permaculture advocate in Zimbabwe - too little/too much rain

I managed to get some mesh wire to put over the upcoming seedlings and though I don't know what else will come my way, it's such a relief to know the rodents aren't the ones that will get to my seedlings if anything is to happen to them.
There was a plant in the squash family that just started to grow. These days I am allowing things to grow on their own, in and around the garden area as long as it does not disturb any of my plans. I just realized today that it could be some butternut plant and I am excited. There are tree seeds that have also germinated, maybe its seeds we were throwing at the composting area, where I got some of the soil for the garden, and we are putting them in pots for my sister, who has a larger place to grow them. So far we have a baobab tree and some mango trees.

I am also watching the bananas that I cut when I was filling the keyhole garden with organic matter. They are growing back, as if to prepare for the next time I will need organic matter to raise the level of my bed. It will be a great thing if I can again just get things from within the yard to fill up the garden.

I woke up today to find that the rat had eaten a female flower from the butternut plant and it dug its way under the mesh and got to my seedlings. I am looking around to see if I can get things to block the rat from going under the mesh, to protect any seedlings that will germinate, I hope this woll not be an issue. Eventually I will have a proper cover made which I can hopefully sink into the soil and I need to budget for this. As of now, whatever money I  have, I would rather save it to buy seedlings ready for planting in case I fail to grow mine. My mission is to prove that it is possible to build wealth no matter what circumstance one is in, in this case, I have to figure out how to outwit this rat without spending money.

Rufaro, i have rat issues in my garden, and they're hard to deal with.
I have cats recently, which keep the rats away, but they also poop in the garden, which I don't want for health reasons.
If it's quite dry, they may want the moist growth, in which case maybe providing a bit of water elsewhere may be helpful. Same with food, if you have any veg scraps maybe put them far away from your young plants and see if you can draw them away. I remember you saying you thought you saw a snake, maybe you can try to resolve things together by putting scraps or some sort of "attractive trash" near where the snakes were.

The place where I stay is different from the plot where the snake was. So I am working on two different properties to make them productive especially where food is concerned. I hear you on distracting the rats and I will see what I can do. It's hard for me to even think of giving the rats water to drink though I don't have any other alternative.

This morning there was no sign that the rats went under the wire mesh. The germination is slower in the  covered area because there is more shade, in comparison to the opposite side which has more hours of unobstructed sun. When I saw a line of seeds that I  put down early last week germinating (on the sunny side), it dawned on me that I no longer have time for sowing as I hoped for. So I have broadcasted seeds randomly  on the part covered with wire mesh. The first time I put seeds there not a single one from thas side germinated, and I don't know if it's because of the rats eating seedlings or there was no germination at all. For now there are individual spots that are showing signs of germination but since more than 2 days back, I am not seeing any new spots.

I figured that since I am already watering the shady area, there is no harm if I have many seeds germinating as opposed to nothing or just a few. I can't put anymore seeds on the sunny side, there is no more space. I also covered the mesh with a plastic to minimize evaporation as much as I could and keep the space warm. For now I have done all I can to try and create a productive place as far as the onion seedlings are concerned. I am not going to feel too bad if I get to a point where I have to buy seedlings to go with to the plot.

There goes my butternut. I don't know what else to do  I cannot control my emotions. Yesterday I covered the butternut with an old potato sack but the rat got to it anyways. All the plant's tips have been eaten and I don't know if this will kill the plant altogether. I was liking the way the place with the butternut, ginger and tumeric was shaping up.

I have dug a hole and put some water in a container to trap some rats. I used peanut butter right around the level just above the water to attract them. It is meant to trap the rats, if they fall in the water they should drown. I tried this once it didn't work, but Baba Mitchell who used to stay at the plot did it and it would work wonders.

Rufaro , sorry to hear about your rodent problems, those critters sure are frustrating!

Sunday started off low and slow. I was supposed to start working on a project that my sisters and I agreed to take on, during school holidays. I did start putting order in the house, but today is when I really made progress. We are preparing our house for kids we intend to host. My sisters and I decided to officially carry on our parents' and grandmother's tradition of supporting family that goes beyond the nuclear one. We are working on health, education and self awareness as usual, but this time it's more organized and well thought of. One of my sisters is funding the whole thing, the other one is managing the kitchen and health area and I am working on the education bit, especially for those that are writing this year. We will teach most of the things, through the lifestyle we will live during the time we have the kids. For example, I am cleaning the house like I would, if I was expecting a special guest so that the house should make the kids feel important. My sister who is working on the food is not around so I have started to try out how to add fibre and vegetables to our meals and still have them looking nice and tasty. I am also going through my clothes to plan what I will wear so that I look clean, simple and young for them. We intend to celebrate one of the kids' birthday and I will be wearing a pretty dress and heels on the day, I could not find one of the straps for my heels and I might have to wear them without, though they look so much better with the straps.

Today I received groceries from my sister and once I am done with the house, I will start structuring the lessons I will be teaching in advance. I noticed how organizing a lesson on the day I need to teach a class is difficult, the last time I did this.

The food looks yummy!

I haven’t worn a dress in years, but they look really nice on you. You’ve put the thought into my head that it would be nice to go out to dinner with my husband. I still have a lovely dress hanging up, so I’ll need to wash it to freshen it up. And I think I have a necklace of beads. No heels, but I’ve got some nice sandals. Thanks for the idea.

Yesterday was an interesting day. I have my cousin's in-laws who stay in my city and it's been years since I  have seen them. I had parcel I was supposed to hand over to them, and I thought to meet with them in town or have them tell me where to drop off their parcel for them to pick it up. When we were arranging this for them they were so happy not for the parcel but because they were getting a chance to meet with me to see how I am. When I was organizing to meet with them I was trying to cut costs which is why I had suggested to meet with them in town because going to their place meant I would have to double my transport cost. My cousin's in-laws are now retired and the way they expressed their desire to see how I was doing made me rethink how I am approaching relations. They helped me to see that there are some things we have to make time and resources for even if it means a lot of sacrifice, like just visiting the elderly in my life, as a way to express love for each other. I ended up going to see them and I had such a good time.

One of the girls send me her end of term results and she is so afraid of maths especially. I don't even know if it's fair to blame the kids for these results. Circumstances surrounding them are against them. With the look of things we are going to have more of the classes than anything during the holiday if we wish to work towards a miracle. Maths exam she has a 2 out of 50 and last term she would not send me her results because she feared what I would say. With her we have to help her pass because we are lucky that she got a donor. I don't think this offer will still be there if she doesn't make it the first time.

I got to thinking about how the bad overtakes the good. There is someone out there who started an organization to help less privileged kids go to school. Then the baton stick was passed on to the school and they rightfully picked my niece, she really needed this help. The problem comes with the loop that yields results. The financial side has found good samaritans, the issues that remain are
1) is she getting quality education from her normal classes

2) is she putting enough effort to get good grades

3) are we, as  a family providing the support she needs since we no longer have to worry about her fees.

When you look at it, the giving end has done all they can, it's now the receiving end that is left with the task of completing this loop, for it to become a success. It's the same with parents as they struggle to work for school fees, it fails to have any sense once both the child and the education system lack the vision to pass the final exams. I am now waiting for the kids to come, I hope they will come. They closed schools yesterday.

I want my niece's story to be different and unfortunately I can only have her during the holidays, but I surely will make the best of our time together.

One of the kids has confirmed she will be arriving on Monday. My sister is not back yet to work on the menu so I am continuing to work on a temporary menu. We have plenty of soya beans which should help us to have a lot of protein in our meals. I had been struggling to make anything tasty with the beans and the milk will not be feasible for a bigger group considering we are only getting power between 10pm and 4am, which makes blending the beans a little difficult. Two days ago I found a way that will work with the kids and which will leave me with enough time to teach. I will have some days where I can make porridge which has, roasted ground soya beans, as well as peanut butter. I will add a fruit to make it more tasty.

The other thing I have done is to look into alternative ways of earning money and I have decided to sell peanut butter a few bottles have been picked but things are still so slow. I made a poster and advertised in our local group and one person saw my poster and they want one. I could earn money through this if the people who show interest in having posters actually  come around.

I woke up in the middle of the night and I decided to listen to music and fold clothes in my wardrobe. I always seem to mess it up, now that I have a line up of clothes I will wear, I think I won't have to dig through the wardrobe when I change, trying to figure out what to wear. Therefore the wardrobe has to be in order for most of the time at least for when the kids are around so that I can be a good role model.

In the midst of this I strongly feel I heard gunshots outside, based on how guns sound in movies and it was terrifying because it sounded so close. Last week mai Kumbi mentioned there were gunshots they heard close to the plot. Guns were only real on TV and it seems like it's becoming our reality. I so hope I am wrong. Within a few minutes after I heard the supposedly gun shots, I began to turn a T-shirt which was amongst my sister's clothes and it turns out it's a T-shirt I lost in 2017 I think, which has so much meaning because I had received it as a gift. I had it mixed with her clothes when I visited her and it's still new. I had the back of it facing me and the lines on the T-shirt came one by one, as I was turning it ( I am not exaggerating anything, it was so dramatic) and only after the third line did it dawn on me that it was my T-shirt. The panic mode quickly disappeared because I do not believe in coincidences and I  think I was receiving a message to  not worry and to only concern myself with things I can change and, to be the change I want to propagate. Of course I am known to numb feelings when I am in a space that scares me the most, and being alone right now had shaken me but I am so calm and I am not afraid. I will  continue with.my music and folding of clothes until I feel sleepy.

I will be receiving my first guest today and I am nervous. The times they would come in the past holidays a lot of things did not matter much as long as we would have a good time. They would all sleep in one room, we would squeeze two beds in the room and they hardly had moving space and they were okay with it. I  dont want them to be okay with a lower life quality and we are ready to upgrade their sleeping arrangements a little bit. The other bedroom had  a big crack and it was open that we could see the outside, so we had turned it into a store room and it was filled with things. During the rainy season we managed to have the cracks filled and some underpinning was done, so we have two bedrooms for the kids. I have just managed to finish both rooms and to create a space that makes them feel special hopefully. I used an old wine holding cabinet as a provisional dressing table, I hope this will all feed in their subconscious minds the fact that they matter and they deserve life's fine things. Also we are using old things I am using old things we already have so that they get rud if the excuse we usually give of not having enough money to improve our living conditions.

I am worried about the cracks that were worked on, because it's not six months yet since the job was done and already cracks are starting to show. The weak point cuts across the house which meant multiple walls had a growing crack.

Mai Kumbi has been amazing, she has been sending her kids occasionally to bring vegetables from the field and she brought my share of our produce sales. A few months ago it never occurred to her that I might need things or money whether it was for me, and since our talk she is more aware of the fact that we all need to benefit from the plot. I will be teaching her child, instead of her paying for holiday lessons and this is to balance out the time I am not going to the plot as I am assessing their progress.

We had a successful lunch. My sister is back and the kitchen is hers. I was worried about the eating of vegetables, but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The older girls are asking if they can be put on a fattening diet with a lot of fat, so that when they go back to school they won't look like they are coming from a place of need. I know they know that too much of fat is bad, I am trying to understand what they think is important in their lives, the image they potray to people, or the quality of life that they can have, due to the choices they make.

We managed to get a dance coach for the kids and they were so excited to dance. The little one was too intimidated to even try, he just watched the others dance.
For school I have started but it's mostly maths for the ones that are writing this year.