Weather Report

And so to the weather. I am beginning to worry about the possibility that I actually bring rain to Kosele at the start of my visits. It has hammered it down here today and the rain is still drizzling on as I type. In the long run this could be a good thing, as there is definitely a rain related problem in Kenya generally and this part of Kenya in particular. The concern is that the problem seems to be changing. I remember reading reports in the media back in the UK earlier this month about the massive amount of food that gets wasted globally. There are all sorts of reasons why this happens from the evil business practices of supermarkets to the inability of some countries (including Kenya) to maintain roads that are capable of carrying food crops to markets meaning that they rot in the fields.

This year, from what I can gather, we have suffered from the problem of having too much rain in our area. This might seem unlikely but the kind of crops that we grow out here (maize, sorghum, kale, cassava) are quite sensitive to weather extremes. Too much rain and crops are spoiled. Too little and they don’t really get started. Either way it’s a real issue for the farmers.

The rain that we've had today has been a real blessing. Everything was looking very parched and a lot of our water tanks were approaching empty. The kale and peppers that we are growing at the moment needed a good watering and we would have had to get the watering can brigade out tomorrow if the weather had stayed dry. We have, fortunately, just about finished drying our maize so things are going well. However ….. if my Jonah effect with the weather is maintained we could find ourselves in trouble as we prepare the fields for planting. Apart from creating rather unpleasant working conditions a lot of rain now won’t help us very much. Duncan, our farm manager, isn't very keen on planting into waterlogged ground. We ideally need the rain at the end of the month, once the land has been prepared. I’m guessing that a concern is building up that the rains are going to come at the wrong time and leave everybody stranded. It's a tough decision knowing when to plant. In the past the rains have appeared to arrive early so farmers have rushed to plant their seeds only to have the rain stop leaving them high and dry. Literally. For the good of the farming community around here it would be great if those of you of the praying persuasion could add our farms and preparations to your list. Something weird is happening with the climate around the world. I hope it doesn't sink our community again this season.