The Farm

An Update on Turkey Time

Well, as you all know it was my desire to have all white turkeys on the farm. Too that end we bought a white Tom for breeding with the white hen. I also bought a black Tom and several hens to be our Christmas dinner. Sounded like a good plan.

Didn't work.

The day before Christmas I sent word to the farm manager to slaughter three turkeys for the Christmas dinner and he did as directed. However he wanted me to have the biggest turkey for our dinner and so the white tom was selected and is no more. Needless to say Christmas dinner was not good for me. The kids had no such problem and enjoyed the meat very much.

Our turkey population is growing as we now have 6 chicks hatched from our own eggs and I hope one of them is a white Tom. We shall see.

Turkeys Join Our Farm

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We purchased three turkeys to help fatten up our Christmas dinner.

Now for the problem: the white one was so pretty we decided we would find her a mate and not eat her for Christmas. Then the black ones started laying eggs.  Now, no one wants to eat them for dinner.  For now, we are collecting the eggs to set a hen and raise chicks.
Back home in the United States, simply picking up a frozen turkey at the supermarket made life much simpler.  You don't get to know them on a first-name basis.  But since we have no supermarket, live birds are our only resource.


It will be interesting to see who survives Christmas dinner.

The American Garden

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The radishes serve two purposes. I get to eat them and the chickens get the greens.  This gives the egg yolks a healthy gold color.  Most egg yolks in Rwanda are a pasty white.  Our eggs are special and when our chickens are in full production they should pay for their own food and feed our kids.

We are planting every inch of land available. This should help with food for the kids. The lettuce and radishes and spring onions are for me. I remember my mom planting onion sets but never onion seeds. Different, No?

Wanted: A Real Farmer

Opportunity for employment
Farmer needed
Must love animals and kids
Especially
Chickens, cows, turkeys, dogs and in the future goats and rabbits. Planting is a must.
The Children are a bonus.
This job pays no wages, has lots of side benefits and the retirement plan is a home in heaven if you have done a good job.
Kidding aside, our farm will one day be an asset. For now it is in process.

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Blossom should deliver a calf in November and then we will have milk for David and all our kids.
We'll have an update on the chicken farm next month.

Planting Crops, Gifts from a Marriage, and a Cow Named "Flower"

An Experimental Seed Garden




After trying our patience, the rains have finally started and so is my first American seed garden. This is an experimental garden and, yes, I got down on my knees in the soil and planted the seeds. A young woman helped me and thought the way I planted my seeds was very strange. Next month's update will bring with it news as to whether this little experiment is successful.

A Gift of Trees


Talking about gifts from God. Hope, a house mother at the boy's home, told a family member we were having a hard time getting timbers for building our roof. Trees are scarce here. He called and gave us 300 trees from his property and will help pay the labor to have the trees harvested and prepared for our use.

A Gift of a Cow Named "Flower"



As you may remember, last month Mary Claire, one of our first mama's, was married. Well, in Rwanda, they still practice the tradition of a dowry, and as such, Claire's parents were given two cows. Claire's parents consider us family as well. They brought us gifts here at the village. We were given a large mat woven by hand, two cases of Fanta, a beautiful wooden lidded bowl filled with candy, and lastly and most importantly, a cow named Flower. What a wonderful gift.



The cow is young but a very good breed and will give us a calf and much milk in the future. Out of materials we had on hand we were able to build her a house with enough space for a second cow and a baby calf. We are expecting a second cow from the kind delegates of People to People who visited us in August. That cow will be fresh and will have milk for our baby David.