Photos from the week 10/26/2013

Due to a lot of rain this week, I was not able to make it out to the farm every day. The thick wet mud makes it hard to get around and do much. Nevertheless, here are a few photos.

This week at Somongue we built a bridge. 

Monday we planned it out 

Wednesday the bridge was finished

Friday, after a week of lots of rain, the bridge had washed away.

Some of the sunflowers planted around the farm for beauty and to attract pollenizers. 

Here is an interestingly shaped and colored moth I almost stepped on because is looked so much like a leaf. 

Part of the soybean harvest coming back from the farm.

Photos from the week 10/19/2013

This week we set up two sets of 8 solar panels each. The power from these will go to
the new houses that are being built at the farm.

During a camping trip this week, Roy, a few others, and I went looking for what some people call swamp guppies.

This week I discovered a small native grass land shrub that we use to use as tea in Congo. There are a few of the plants around here, although since it is rare, not a lot of people know about it or drink it. It is highly sought after though. My plan is to domesticate it, and plant it in a garden. See if it can become a cash crop for this area.

The other day I was visiting work teams on the farm to give advice, answer questions, and get to know them better. As I was approaching one member I saw this adder moving quickly towards his feet. My machete was quicker than the snake could slither. That made it the second adder I have killed this week.

Storms in central Africa often come with lots of wind and dark clouds. It is all very exciting when a front movies in. I definitely set a record that day on my bike for fastest time home.
The house in the photo is one of the new houses at the farm.

Last week it was a bright red butterfly, this week I saw one that was almost all green. not as spectacular though.

Among other things we are doing out at the farm, is landscaping. Roy recently found 8 new hibiscus colors we did not have around here, so we have added them to our collection.

Photos from the week 10/12/2013

Campfire and singalong with the missionaries.

While walking through the Garden of Eden one night I stumbled across a bush baby on a banana plant. These guys have huge eyes, and when seen with a flashlight their eyes reflect red.  

A few excited woman, just served a snack of beans, bread, and coffee before this week's seminar. Our topic was the importance of vegetable gardens.

There was a small bee hive in one of the pump units here. The pump needed work, so I was called in to remove the bees. 

One of my adventures this week took me along a stream down in the forest. Streams are great places to look for bugs. 

I have never seen a butterfly like this one before, and only saw it long enough to snap a photo before it disappeared off in to the jungle. The red is stunning, but the photo did not capture the purple tint on its wings. By far one of the most beautiful and brilliant butterflies I have seen. 

My almost stepping stone. These spiders are huge, but despite their size, they can still run across the water when startled. 

Three pots full of a dozen kinds of eatable mushrooms! 

It is scarab season on the elephant grass flowers. In Congo we use to collect and eat these, but no one here seems to eat them. I collected a bunch just for old times’ sake.  

Cranberry hibiscus is high in vitamin C and is a fun ornamental and salad topping. The plants are pretty even without the flowers. 

One of the things we are experimenting with is fluted pumpkin. The flesh is not eaten, but the large seeds are. These are the two biggest ones I have seen here, but I guess they are normal size. 

A bright green vine snake was sunning it's self in a small forest I was walking threw. Like the butterfly, this guy stuck around long enough to get his photo taken, and then disappeared. 

Gamboula Nutrition Center and Garden

      In past blog entries, I have posted videos of both the Garden of Eden, and the research station out at Somongue.   I have mentioned the nutrition garden, but have not said very much about it. The nutrition garden is the third major garden here that CEFA is working with.

      The Central African Republic has a very high malnutrition rate, and since the military take-over back in March, these already high numbers have doubled in some places! The Gamboula hospital is one of the only places in the country that has a program to try to get these kids back to health. Clarise, who is in charge of the nutrition center, makes special food and porridges daily for the kids. Since the program is individually funded, it is difficult for her to be able to buy all the food she needs to keep the kids eating.

      The nutrition garden helps solve this problem by providing vegetables, fruits, and leafy greens for up to 30 kids, as well as providing nutritious snacks for the kids between meals.

      As an added benefit, families of these kids can learn about how to grow these plants, how to prepare them, and can take seeds home with them when their children get better.

      Here is a short video about the program.

http://youtu.be/wSNX8q32SSA

Photos from the week 10/6/2013

The Central African Republic is known as the butterfly capital of the world. There are also a ton of really colorful and interesting moths. 

One of my projects here is to experiment with different kinds of living fences. Today we got 4 rows of various kinds of plants planted for the demonstration. I am really excited to work with this, because in every developing country there is a problem with livestock eating gardens. If we can find a way to make a simple living fence, it will be sustainable, and allow people to have both animals and plants. 

This ground snake was accidentally cut in half while someone was working in a field. These are not poisonous and are pretty cool looking. 

This week it seems like everything is blooming. The smells from all the coffee and citrus are wonderful, and the bees are everywhere in the tree tops. These fun little flowers were in the Garden of Eden. I don’t know what the tree is, and have never seen it before. I am going to have to go down there with Roy and have him teach me about it. 

This termite queen was dug out of a termite mound that was in the middle of the road. The only way to kill a termite mound is to remove the queen. She has a very large abdomen, and cannot move. In the photo you can see her tiny little head and thorax, the rest is her abdomen. 

Here is a screen shot from the radar this week. It is definitely rainy season in Central Africa. 

I love having bananas around. This stock decided to start ripening from the top and the bottom though, so I have way too many all at once. Good thing I have a freezer. Frozen bananas make good snacks after a day at work. 

Photos from the week 9/29/2013

The wild tulip tree in my yard has been blooming over the last few weeks and is covered in beautiful bright red flowers.

Last Sunday at the inauguration of a local pastor, two girls from the youth club brought him a woven palm branch covered with flowers to welcome him.

Some bugs (weevils in particular) look like they belong in a star wars movie.

Alexander holding up a large piece of honeycomb that we just pulled out of a wild hive. Too bad it is not honey season.

One of my hives was being attacked by driver ants – insects that have the numbers and strength to completely wipe out a hive in a matter of minutes. I quickly ran home and got some baking flour, which I sprinkled around the hive. The ants outside the hive refused to cross the white flour, while the ones inside the circle where trapped. The bees are still there today, so they must not have lost too many.

Roy speaking to the seminar students, most of whom were woman, about the importance of good soil. About 25 people attended the seminar.

Saturday there was a seminar hosted by CEFA. Everyone who participated got to go into the plant nursery and choose a plant to take home. In this photo, Roy is explaining what plants are available to an eager bunch of attendees. 

This week I walked under a guava tree, and as I was looking for fruit, I saw this snake.

Photos from the week

                                             
These field orchids are always nice to discover out in the bush. This particular bunch was quite large.

Roy and John laying out the boundaries of a 100m x 100m neem tree field.

Five young rabbits arrived from Yaoundé this week to join our rabbit project. The original two turned out to both be males. Oops!

Alexander holding a newly captured queen bee we caught while raiding a wild hive. Her and her colony are now in one of our hives. 

The 14 young turkeys that are part of our turkey project are starting to look like big turkeys now instead of chicks. 

While riding my bike out to the farm I found this large vine snake on the road. 

While I was talking with the nurse in charge of the nutrition center at the hospital, Dr. Tim came around to see a few of the malnourished kids. The nutrition garden I'm helping to restart will help feed some of the more extreme cases.