Let me take you back 5 years ago and tell you a story about these👇🏾👇🏾 watermelons 🍉 🍉.

At this time, This was the best in size, bric content and level, yield and everything.

This particular crop was guided by General Samuel Gacheru from land preparation, seed selection, planting, Intergrated Pest Management, fertilizer application etc. This guy can train you when he is very calm and I really appreciate how he taught me to grow watermelons amongst many other crops.

I took care of this crop by even bringing som guys from Rombo to knew watermelons. These guys were really good until they decided to start drinking “Kaluvu.” Story of another day.

We managed to protect this particular crop against all manner of pests and diseases. You know #watermelons can make you cry, literally, you can loose the whole crop in the first one month. If they survive the first month and you are not careful, they can just decide to welcome the melon fly and white flies and all sorts of pests. #Watermelons can make you close your farm and put a notice of: Land for sale.

But this crop was different, we manage to get slightly over 12 tonnes of very big fruits of between 8kgs and 14kgs, which was really good those days.

Then the grade 2 were close to 5tonnes. These are the ones I see on the shelves these days, I don’t know what happened.

My farm, the one I planted these melons is in Kamulu but you can access it from Malaa on Kangundo road but you have to cross the river. So when it rains you have to take a longer route 16kms from Kamulu.

This was the reason I decided to harvest the melons and store them….Weeeeee… this is where I knew how to easy it is to be a brewer😉😉.

This is how it started, it was around 26th November and it was just about to rain heavily so we had to move very fast. So we harvested and started selling in the smaller markets in Joska, Tala, Ruai, Githurai but this was 17tonnes. I had told myself I can’t sell to a broker. So by 5pm the owner of the truck wanted it back. I decided to high a room to store the melons and other crops we had harvested.

We got the room, the saw dust, and did what we thought was the best and safest way of saving our melons. Little did I know that we were now converting watermelons into weapons… first at 11pm the neighbor who has meant to be the caretaker called me and asked me if we locked someone in the room because he was hearing noises… I told him no. Then at 4am he called again and said the noise has increased but the doors are locked.

I opted to start my journey of 70kms to the place… We opened very carefully….. My friends…. What we saw was the pinkest or is the most colorful storage…. The watermelons were bursting at a very fast rate…. We had to start selling at almost a loss…

Ever since…. I plant… I harvest and sell. This thing of storage sitaki tena.

Have a brilliant month.

Honestly, farming done well with all structures has good money.
Farmers experience losses because it has too many variables with very few people along the value chain. Many of us got into farming as a way to make extra cash but were disappointed. This is because farming is a time-based investment. 3 to 6 months and you have to harvest and sell.

https://youtu.be/SiRC0LnsRO0

Some farmers like myself got very low but opted to learn the rules of the game and got our fair share of success but unfortunately, some gave up never to return again. Actually, some even sold their farms.

I am writing a series books on my lessons and those of other farmers. I will share more details on the same later.

1. Make sure you can spare time to understand your business well.
2. Don’t get training on being the best tomato farmer…. Get training on how to maximize the resources you have.
3. Make sure you understand the basics. From soil testing to weather patterns to market dynamics to labour management.
4. Make sure you get training for yourself as well as your farm workers REGULARLY.
5. Vet your farmworkers.
6. Vet your agronomist… Are they tried and tested? Do they have practical experience? Ask them for references ie. farmers they have dealt with.
7. Vet your partners — Seed companies, fertilizer, etc
8. If you have a passion for farming that is a plus but you have to have the patience to grow with it. Then make sure you follow your purpose, not passion only.
9. Self-evaluation is critical. Not everyone can run a business and farming is a business. Make sure you get the right motivation to continue. Probably support someone who can do it passionately.
10. Get the right information from reliable and unbiased sources.
11. Make sure you join our farming community www.afarmerz.com and www.facebook.com/AFarmerz

It is not easy but there is no business that is easy. Get this from me.

From experience running a business is not easy I have had more than ten different businesses from a cyber cafe, was bottling water, selling ceramic tiles, I run an advertising agency, selling electronics, had wines and spirits and lounge, and many other businesses.

My appeal is Never to give up on farming. Celebrate the small wins and make sure you have a proper plan.

If you feel or think that something is not going right, contact me and my team at any time. Make sure to visit our offices or plan for us to visit your farm.

I am a full-time farmer with other side hustles but I spend most of my work hours on the farm.

Honestly, farming done well with all structures has good money.

Farmers experience losses because it has too many variables with very people along the value chain. Many of is got into farming as a way to make extra cash but were disappointed. This is because farming is a time-based investment. 3 to 6 months and you have to harvest and sell.

Some farmers like myself got very low but opted to learn the rules of the game and got our fair share of success but unfortunately some gave up never to return again. Actually some even sold their farms.

I am writing a series books on my lessons and those of other farmers. I will share more details on the same later.

1. Make sure you can spare time to understand your business well.
2. Don’t get training on being the best tomato farmer…. Get training on how to maximize the resources you have.
3. Make sure you understand the basics. From soil testing to weather patterns to market dynamics to labour management.

1. Make sure you get training for yourself as well as your farm workers REGULARLY.
2. Vet your farm workers.

1. Vet your agronomist… Are they tried and tested? Do they have practical experience? Ask them for references ie. farmers they have dealt with.
2. Vet your partners — Seed companies, fertilizer etc
3. If you have the passion for farming that is a plus but you have to have the patience to grow with it. Then make sure you follow your purpose not passion only.
4. Self evaluation is critical. Not everyone can run a business and farming is a business. Make sure you get the right motivation to continue. Probably support someone who can do it passionately.
5. Get the right information from reliable and unbiased sources.

It is not easy but there is no business that is easy. Get this from me. From experience running a business is not easy I have had more than ten different business from cyber cafe, was bottling water, selling ceramic tiles, I run an advertising agency, sold electronics, had a wines and spirits and lounge, and many other businesses.

My appeal is Never give up on farming. Celebrate the small wins and make sure you have a proper plan.

If you feel or think that something is not going right, contact me and my team at anytime. Make sure to visit our offices or plan for us to visit your farm.

I will share more ways to succeed in farming.

Register here to have us give you a Free Evaluation: https://africafarmers.org/register/ — at AFarmers.

Farming is like any other business. was originally published in AFarmers: The home of African Farmers on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Well, that is some food for thought from my village. I will re-visit my grandfather for clarification and I will come back with the exact meaning.

Today, I want to talk about building communities. This according to my description is a bit different from community building. Here, I refer to building communities of people who have something in common. It is the bringing of people who have things, ideas etc to share but do not know where and how to share the same.

These communities already exist but most of the time not in very structured formats. They might not know that they are communities as some would refer themselves groups, or “chamas” (self-help groups). Most are driven by the need to come together to either fundraise for something or just to meet and plan for something big.

However, there is one type of communities that I am referring to today. This is where an individual has seen the need to create awareness for a certain purpose, problem or solution to a problem and wants to make others aware about the same. This individual does this through online social media platforms and more specifically our all-time favorite Facebook groups and they encourage members to share their stories. These groups start very small and grow beyond a single individual capability to manage and give each individual member the much needed attention.

Self-sacrificing group heads & moderators

As these groups grow so does the need for proper management of the groups becomes a big challenge. Creation of content that glues the members together is al required. Checking on spammers is also very important. So what do the owners of these groups do?

Most of the group heads better known as Admins, opt to make a hard decision. Personally, when my group Africa Farmers Club started growing I kept on asking myself this question as it required a lot of attention. I decided to take the challenge and decided to do what few of us do…to ask for helping hands (this is literally as the moderators have to use their hands holding their smartphones and other gadgets) to help moderate the group. These moderators have helped me take the group to being one of the best farming groups, at least by what members say. I have told them, but today on behalf of all Admins, I tell them once again, Thank you for helping grow our community. I am sure very many Admins out there share the same feeling. More importantly the members of these communities are grateful for all the self-sacrificing work you are doing.

Big groups with good content…. So what & what next..

Now I have something that I really want to tell you. Please grab a cup of your favorite drink and follow through.

We now have big groups (I repeat big in numbers) and good content. We all meet online and sometimes offline but what next? What do our members want from the group? Are they getting what they need from the community we manage? Are there others who can assist improve the quality of the group? How do we encourage more members to share their stories? How do we increase engagement in our online communities? How do we help other people to start new groups and join us in building communities? But more importantly how do we move from online communities to physical communities where we actually bring members of out communities closer together?

This I am sure would make the world smaller and have real interactions.

Well, we may think very hard on how to do this and try out a few ways on how to do this. This would definitely work but how long might this take?

I have started a journey and I would like to bring you onboard. Pack your bags and let’s start this journey.

I would like to introduce you to the:

Facebook Community Leadership Circles. These are Local chapters of community leaders who meet up in person to connect, learn, and collaborate. Here we connect with one another and share our challenges, solutions and best practice.

Are you in Kenya and an Admin of a Facebook group? Let us start this journey that will help us get the right insights on how to build stronger communities and bring the world closer together.

To join click here: Facebook Community Leadership Circles — Nairobi and let us bring the world closer together.

I have been a farmer longer than the combined age of my twins and I can surely say High yields starts with quality soil. The soil is one of the farmer’s most important and valuable tools, actually it is the most important. It provides a reservoir of water and nutrients that is required by crops. Each type of soil has a variety of properties that cannot be changed, such as texture. However, soil quality can be improved by doing a soil test with a reliable company and then by following exceptional farm management practices.

Soil analysis is a valuable farm practice that determines the exact amount of available crop nutrients that are in the soil, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, pH, humus content, available lime, and organic matter. It also provides a visible snapshot of various chemical, physical, and biological soil properties.

Some ask, “Why Is Soil Analysis so Important?”

Soil analysis presents information that is essential for the improvement of soil quality. By tracking the exact amount of soil nutrients, a farmer can easily adjust fertilization in accordance to soil and crop requirements. Additionally, soil analysis facilitates fertilization management, by also revealing the current soil pH level.

Soil pH is important due to its influence on the uptake of soil nutrients. The intention of managing soil pH is to be able to adjust the acidity, as needed, to the point where there are no toxic metals exposed to the crops, as well as to ensure that nutrient availability is at its maximum. Every crop has its own optimal pH range. Because of this, some crops grow better and can achieve their full potential in acid, while for others, this takes place in a more alkaline-based soil. The optimal pH levels for the most common crops are shown in the table below.

“When should I do a Complete Soil Analysis?”

A quality and balanced soil leads to higher yields. A farmer should collect soil samples frequently to detect any changes that could affect crop yields. It’s recommended to perform a soil analysis every 3–4 years. However, considering improvement of soil quality, it is ideal to execute an analysis as often as possible, especially when growing annual crops in a crop rotation. In this case, it is recommended that analysis of the soil should take place after every third crop in the rotation. I personally do it after every year.

Other important aspects to consider are the best time to complete an analysis, as well as the amount of time that should be allocated to do so. For example, soil sampling for annual crops should be taken after the harvest. In doing so, a farmer is left with plenty of time to plan for sufficient fertilization management. On the other hand, the best time for a soil analysis of perennial crops is during the dormancy stage.

How do I collect soil samples

What Happens After the Soil Analysis?

Depending on the analysis results, a farmer can easily manage the soil requirements for a certain crop, with the results indicating to him whether he needs to add lime to manage soil acidity. Liming rates are usually determined by taking into account soil type, depth of tillage, and limestone quality. The following table shows the lime rates according to the measured soil pH and its structure.

Alkaline soil can be managed by adding elemental sulfur or nitrogen fertilizers. Aluminum sulfate also lowers pH, but its use is not recommended because of potential harmful side effects (aluminum toxicity to plant roots).

Fertilizing crops without knowing their requirements and available soil nutrients is equivalent to driving a car while blindfolded. Finally, how often a farmer analyzes his soil depends entirely on him; whether he is ready to invest in soil quality and a higher yield or not. Do you know the levels of your soil pH?

Where do I take my samples for testing?

There are very many organizations and individuals who claim to be able to test your soils but credibility is paramount. To answer this question I will be biased because I have tested my soils from different companies but the results that stood out were from CropNuts. They take time and explain the results and not only give recommendations but they also guide you on where you can purchase the soil correction additives.

Call us to get more details or simply follow this link to collect your samples and send them Free of charge to CropNuts for analysis: http://m.me/cropnutsag

Why is Watermelon farming the easiest yet the hardest of all the so-called High Value crops? One of the reasons that makes it hard is what i refer to as “The Mighty Melon Fly.” I am telling you this monster is so terrifying to watermelon farmers that they are yet to understand how to cope with it.

This fly is not like any other fly. It knows when to attack and where to attack and multiply. It knows that when it has attacked a flower it is of no use so it leaves to tell the next flower how the other flower was stung.

Time and again I have tried to use all means necessary to trap all the melon flies in my watermelon plantations but they have managed to penetrate and still do what it knows best.

This is a graphical representation of how a fruit looks after it has been stung.

How to trap the Melon fly

What I have seen most farmers who have fought the melon fly war do are just making sure they gather all their ammunition way before they go to this war. I am telling you this is a war as it determines whether you will get that Kshs. 400,000/= (which by the way I think it is a Lie to lure farmers).

AMMUNITION AGAINST MELON FLY

Melon fly traps

I hope I have not scared any of you. I will next talk about How to start and succeed in watermelon farming.

#africanfarmersclub #farm.ink #Farming

The Mighty Melon Fly was originally published in AFarmers: The home of African Farmers on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

(A complete 1 acre farming kit)

I hear of small holder farmers many times and in very different contexts. This has made me fail to really understand what the term really refers to.

Who is a small holder farmer? What size of land do they own or as the case with many lease? What is their average income?

These are just but some questions that I ask myself.

Take for a comparison of these two farmers:

Omwami, has two acres of land in an almost all year round rainfed area but does not have both capital and knowledge on farming. So what he does is plant maize, beans, and other rainfed crops not sure if it will rain.

(Omwami’s friend’s temporary structure)

Omwami’s friend, who I forgot to ask his name, does not have land actually he has one point, less than an eighth of an acre. He has built a temporary structure (the picture above) that houses 713 chicken. He buys dry maize from Omwami to make chicken feeds.

Who of the two is a SHF?

This is a question that African farmers have to understand to make sure they get out of this jinx of claiming that they don’t have resources to use their land.

We at the African Farmers Club will encourage farmers to share their stories so that they can help other farmers to know how best to fully utilize the available resources. Whether you are a small holder farmer or not, your farming activities have to give you returns on investment.

The AFC- was originally published in AFarmers: The home of African Farmers on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

But honestly does timing matter any more in farming?? What are the best times to plant what? When does the market prices ever favor farmers?

My answer after eight years is it never does and it will never ever favor farmers.

So if you are waiting to be favoured then all I can ask you to do is imagine waiting for the rain in the dessert.

So if timing does not favour farmers, What does?

Now that is a tough one and it makes me feel like stopping right here.

It has been raining in Mombasa for almost 3 weeks now and yet Tomato 🍅 prices are still low in Nairobi.

Walking in the different markets in Mombasa I am not seeing the good number of watermelons that are normally all over here which is quite the opposite of Mombasa and yet prices are low in Nairobi. I mean most of us Agribusiness specialists or is it “Agribusiness Speculators” are based in Nairobi.

That is a beautiful “Lawn” of onions. Having looked at the photo posted by a good friend- Dennis Muindi, made me think of the opportunities we have as farmers but we just let them pass because we have decided that we will sell our onions, actually we will speculate onions or tomato or Watermelon prices as we wait for the best times to plant the same.

Let us stop being Speculators and start farming. Imagine how maize farmers felt when the prices went up? Maize is now retailing at the highest and I am sure the maize farmers who had stored maize have made more money than those who had planted onions.

But did all the maize farmers benefit?

Absolutely No. Only the ones who had a bumper harvest as well as those who had the commodity.

This is what will favour farmers.

• Making sure we maximise on the space we are farming on.
• Staggered planting- don’t plant everything at once.

• Take care of your crops well.
• Don’t re-invent the wheel - there is nothing very new in farming apart from new folia fertilisers.
• Ask the Right Experts. Remember not all 'Experts' are Experts. But also remember the Real Experts are not cheap.
• Go to the market to sell your produce even Trump went to Saudi Arabia to sell ammunition.
• Do not 'Over-delegate' (I know I have committed language-crime). I mean why do we let the farm workers manage everything and we are only asked to bring in the supplies?
• If you want to make money quickly do not get into farming instead get a phone and start Sports Betting but remember even betting has it’s season.

Have you seen what we at Farm.ink do to help farmers from seed to harvest?

When is the BEST time to plant Tomatoes? was originally published in AFarmers: The home of African Farmers on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Most of us have hobbies those that you know and those that you don’t know. How valuable these hobbies are to us depends on how they make us feel after engaging in them.

Well for me my most exciting hobbies are playing golf and farming… Yes Farming, I enjoy the peace of mind I get from going to the farm and getting the fresh air and enjoying nature. Seeing seeds germinate and growing into plants and then harvested…

This is just the perfect hobby. When I am called to give inspirational talks, I introduce myself as a farmer and most people don’t believe it but it’s true.

Hobbies

I enjoyed this hobby without any interruption until when I met two of my colleagues who decided to positively interrupt my hobby by making it even more exciting. We started looking at how we can help other farmers to get better results from their farms and not only in the actual farming but by helping the farmers create market profiles and getting market linkage.

I was so sure this was going to be the easiest and most adventurous thing in my life, until I realized I could only visit a few farmers every day. The reality dawned on me that there must be another way to reach out to farmers. I had done some marketing having been a founder member of a marketing and advertising agency. I mean working with computers and farming are two things I can do perfectly well but how do you use that knowledge to get to attention of your users?

‘The Udacity Call’

Then there came a very interesting comment during our weekly company Slack calls: “Noah have you seen the DMND course from Udacity?” I had just watched the Udacity’s Intersect 2017 conference and so when they mentioned it I was super excited and ready to start.

Putting in mind I am not very young with some good energetic young boys in the house as well a very busy daily schedule. But I tell you I could not resist joining the DMND course. Its uniqueness which is highlighted from the very experienced industry-trained instructors to the course content to the flexibility it gives you and not to mention the World-Class well designed Online Classroom which by the way is available on mobile platforms as well and you it allows you to download and it updates where you have reached once you are back online. All these plus first hand expert content partners represent the entire digital marketing ecosystem.

Real-world projects

With all these digital marketing tools at my disposal, together with the Real-world Projects for sure this course is transforming a digital farmer into a Digital Marketing professional who will have a 360-degree understanding of the digital marketing field. This together with different components of Big Data is going to help me not only create the solutions farmers need to succeed but it also make me and my team @Farm.ink to communicate the same effectively.What More!!!

With a personalized mentor, skilled instructors and experts partners in a world-class state of the art online classroom, for sure I am proud to say #IamDMND

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