The Farm

On the Farm

When the district gave a cow to Urukundo it was with the understanding that we would then give a calf to another family and then they in turn will give a calf to another family. This keeps the prosperity going.

It was our turn to follow the tradition and so we gave our first calf to this gentleman and his family and now it is up to him to continue the tradition. 

It is a very special occasion so we presented the calf with much ceremony.

The village leader inspected the calf to make sure it was a good one.  He approved.
We have now fulfilled our commitment to the district and the cows given to us now belong to Urukundo. The culture and traditions in Rwanda are interesting and benefit the population.
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Our Farm Reaped Blessings

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Dave & Kira taught us farming from a new perspective. Mangers for feeding the cows is a big help in food consumption. Along with the chopper we are feeding our cows in a better way.
The manger works also for the goats.
Papa goat now has a home of his own for entertaining. Helping us keep better records.
Water and feeders for the rabbits were ingenious and a simple solution
Awesome what an inventor like Kevin can do with a plastic glass, a saucer, a nail and a block of wood. Thank you Kevin.

The Farm

We plant everywhere we can. The vegetables feed our kids and are shared with the community.

I really do want to plant sweetcorn. 

The corn here is like field corn we used to steal from Grampa's fields and roast over an open fire at night. I laugh to think we thought we were fooling grampa. I am sure he knew what we were doing all the time and watched over us.

Now that I am thinking about it we also took potatoes from mom's pantry and put them in the ashes to cook. They were the best potatoes ever and covered with dirt and no butter and some salt but oh so good. You have to be a kid in the 30's & 40's to enjoy such a treat. Hey I am not getting older only better.

Beans are our earliest crop for harvesting.  

The beans are pulled out by the roots, carried to the basketball court to dry in our little truck and then pods are pulled and shelled.

Drying plants are then placed around other garden plants to hold the rain water longer.

The kitchen gardens are producing well.

Lettuce patch - I believe it is Romaine.

Pineapple patch - this is my first time growing pineapples, and it seems to be a long process!  It will be interesting to see how it develops.

Snow Peas : the seeds were sent specially from the US. We're not sure yet if they will produce well.

Did You Know?

...I did not.

Much to my surprise goats can die from Pneumonia. Not the smartest farmer in the world I did not think 65 degrees was cold.  I lost a precious goat to pneumonia before I realized in Rwanda with a breeze and rain 65 is too cold for goats.  The really sad thing was she was growing twin lambs inside so we lost both mother and babies.  We now have a tarp covering for the goat barn to protect from the cold and rain. The goats are happier and I will not make such a mistake again.

I learn more every day but this was a tough and a costly lesson.

The Goat House. Blue is my favorite color.


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Project for April

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The on-going project for Urukundo Farm to be a major producer of broilers and eggs is getting close to being accomplished.  We just need more space and the building project will give us this. The building project in the pictures below shows the progress made so far. We have a market for the broilers with MR CHIPS RESTAURANT in Kigali City. He would like for us to deliver at least 200 broilers a month. Now, that is reaching but with God all things are possible. 
Broilers
Construction in progress.

Farm News

The big news is that mama pig has 9 babies, and the second mama has 5 - our pig population is exploding!

Mama and five babies.  I just learned that baby pigs snuggle when they are cold. It seems animals have many Instincts attributed to people.
Our animals have all been tagged and records will be kept for each animal. This gives us a history for our animal. 
More news
Daisy and two of the young heifers are pregnant and soon will deliver,  increasing our cows count to 8.  We're hoping for all female offspring.
This will also increase our milk production. At this time, only one of our cows is producing milk and so we have to buy milk from a local farmer. Of course that also helps the economy but I will be glad when we have all the milk we need and can offer the excess for sale.
Our baby.  Her mama is supplying the milk for her and our kids.

Chicken Farm News

The incubator is ready and we will start hatching our own baby chicks. The design is simple and I hope it will add to the assets at our farm.
We still need some kind of thermostat for it. Any ideas?
Our farm now has about 300 layers (for eggs) and 100 broilers (for meat). Our children have eggs twice a week. Eggs have been named as an important food to aid in learning, so we provide eggs to the preschool once a week and we sell eggs to the community for a lesser price making it possible for them to purchase for their families. We also have a market for extra eggs. We do not expect to make a big profit but it would be good if the income from eggs and chickens paid for the food to keep them.  Might not be the best business practice but it makes good sense to me!

 

Latest Event from the Farm

Our goats arrive, all ten of them. They are unique. The coloring is great. There is a Papa goat, 2 Mama goats and maybe 9 young goats.
We went to buy 10 goats and came home with 12. Goats multiply fast but not that fast.
We call them the personality "kids". 
Kids coming home.

Each goat was picked because of their uniqueness. Just like us - we also are all different.

The new house has a stage where the boys can inspect the new arrivals.
Time for dinner. Cow grass is also good for goats.