New playground, new shamba plan and getting ready to come home

Hi All,

I am sad to say officially but as most of you know we have been forced to come home early due to a unreliable renter in our house and a sloooowww housing market. Without the income from the lease/option to purchase our home we are unable to stay in a volunteering situation as our real life bills continue to need to be paid. I think after realizing that there was no choice in the matter after hours of painstaking "deals" (mostly done by my parents) with the person who was leasing to own our home I have settled into the idea that rolling with life's twists and turns is part of the excitment as you never know what's around the corner. So for now we are spending our last week working as hard as we can to secure some things that will help the progress of the orphanage and definitely plan to come back.

New Playground: The new playground is almost complete. The surprisingly asthetic retaining wall complete with vegetation and the leveled area above holding the new equipment is ready to go other than a few adds and painting of the equipment in cheery colors. The kids look patiently at it every day and are so excited.

Shamba plan: One of the short term goals that we had wanted to accomplish, not realizing that it would have to be done really "short term" was to organize the 9 acres of farm land into two sections. 1 section that sustains the staple food for the kids and 1 section that operates as a production farm selling high quality staples to the community that will in turn support the financial needs of the farm so that it will not be an expense reliant on donations. With MAJOR assistance for Njeroge, the shamba manager that we brought with us from WWB we devised a plan in 3 month increments that will be able to show objective growth and progress. I am thrilled about this for the obvious reasons but also because of the amount of work and pride that Njeroge put into the report that details every aspect of the shambas for the owners that live in Texas, making it easy for them to continue and grow this part of the operation without our assistance. We will use the rest of our fundraised money for this purpose and I will attach the plan here and on facebook for those of you who donated money to orphanage projects. I think you will find that it will be well used and will contribute to the long term success of the orphanage and the health of the children. That's all for now! Hugs to all. Ann

WHAT'S PLANTED CURRENTLY:
1. Potatoes - 10% of the land - Upper Shamba
2. Cabbages - 10% of the land (growing cabbages) - Upper Shamba
3. Cabbages - 15% of the land (ready cabbages) - Upper Shamba
4. Kales - 5% of the land - Upper Shamba
5. Maize - 20% of the land - Upper Shamba
6. Maize - 10% of the land - Lower Shamba
7. Carrots - 2% of the land - Upper Shamba
8. Pineapples - 20% of the land - Lower Shamba
9. Tea - 20% of the land - Lower Shamba
10. Napier Grass - 15% of the land - Upper Shamba
11. Napier Grass - 15% of the land - Lower Shamba

IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED FOR SHAMBAS;
1. Sufficient seeds for all crops
- Potatoes: introducing of high yield and resistant variety called "Shangi" which is available locally...1 bag required
- Maize: variety 614 or 626 available locally
2. Introduction of mixed cropping i.e. growing different varieties of vegetables
- In addition to current crops add eggplants, squashes, spring onions, cogets, corrianders, amaranthus, green peppers
- Also plant more tea on lower shamba
- Establish an orchard nursery on the farm
3. Manure - need more manure as present manure will not be enough for next three months
4. Fertilizer - If not organic farming then will require D.A.P. for planting and C.A.N. for "top dressing"
5. Completion of bore hole irrigation so farming can be done year-round (i.e. dry or rainy season)
6. Proper keeping of all farm records and animal unit records so we can calculate the profits/losses and to trace all farm tools and equipment show all activities done daily on the farm.

3 MONTH PLAN FOR GROWTH AND PROGRESS:
1. Farming as a business requires crops that grow fast and give a high yield, i.e. cabbages, kales, corrianders, spinach, tomatoes. Using this horticulture style farming for the three month plan Njoroge wold like to plant the following:
1. Cabbages - 50% of the upper shamba (one half acre). Minimum yield of 4,000 cabbages with a minimum cost of 20ksh per cabbage when produced well. Total sales for cabbage would be 80,000 ksh.
2. Tomatoes - 30% of the upper shamba. Total tomatoes would be 2,000 plants minimum, which would equal 20 boxes of harvested tomatoes. Total sales at 2000ksh per box would be 40,000 ksh.
3. Spinach and Kales - 10% of the upper shamba which would equal 1500 plants. Total harvest per week would average 100 Kgs. 1 kg would sell for 20ksh, so total sales per week would be 2000ksh per week, or 8000ksh per month, for a net profit of 24,000 Ksh over three months
4. Others - 10% of the upper shamba. Various crops such as corrianders, onions, eggplants, green peppers, pumpkins/squash, amaranthus, and cogets - depending on price and availability

LOWER SHAMBA - Plant maize, beans, tea, pineapple, and napier grass/fodder. Utilize all of the lower shamba to grow these crops only.
* The main idea is to plant fast growing and expensive goods. It is also good to avoid planting maize and other tall crops around the home. Large scale growing in both shambas will be good as it will yield high profits.

NJOROGE'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
-Based on his knowledge, observations, and experience in this area (it is similar to his home area) he makes the following recommendations to help increase production on the shambas and have great excess to sell:
1. Use of both manure and fertilizer when planting crops - This soil needs a lot of fertilizer to produce the best crops
2. Encouraging crops that are nutritious for the kids...i.e. pumpkins, amaranthus, spinach, as minor crops in the farm
3. If possible have funds available for the farm to cover any urgent needs

TOOLS NEEDED:
-After identifying all the tools in the storage area and speaking with the other shamba workers the following tools are needed for farming:
1. 1 rake
2. 2 hoes
3. 3 medium jembes
4. 2 sprinklers
5. A pump sprayer - for spraying fertilizer, etc.
6. 10 large sacks for introducing portable gardens
*** Pesticides will be purchased depending on the plants' needs during the growth period.

CURRENT SALES:
Currently Beatrice is selling cabbages for 5ksh per cabbage because the cabbages are small and of poor quality. This is because the cabbages did not receive proper management i.e. watering, weeding, etc.