In which Bob sees beauty in the sky, Jeremy digs a Moringa Garden, Camille pets Nwansane, and Sauza elopes with the neighbor’s rooster – November, 2012
BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE CAMERA MAN
Bob is not one to let the sky go on creating grandeur unnoticed. Even if it is framed with razor wire. In fact, the wire adds a bit of artsy irony to the photos.
RHINO LARVA
Jeremy unearthed a couple of these giant grubs while turning compost into a new garden bed. If they don’t turn into chicken feed, they will eventually transform into giant Rhinoceros beetles. Depending on the species, it can take one or two years for a beetle egg to change into a fully formed adult.
IT’S ALL IN THE SOIL PREPARATION
Thanks to Jeremy’s hard work, we will soon have moringa seedlings planted in this bed. He begins by digging out the beds, painstakingly removing the many rocks from the soil by hand. Next, he hauls compost from the front of the house in a wheelbarrow and tills it into the soil. Finally, the plants are plugged in and watered every morning.
The plan is to let the moringa plants form a low hedge rather than tall trees from which we can harvest nutritious greens for smoothies, stews, sauces and sides. The Moringa is a magical tree with many health benefits which grows in the tropics. We saved seed from the pods which we noticed hanging over our fence from the tree next door before the neighbors cut their tree down.
TIME OUT FOR SOME GOAT THERAPY
Nwansane enjoys being scratched as much as we enjoy scratching her. Sadly, she succumbed to a fatal case of colic (known as bloat in goat circles) a few days after these photos were taken.
CASA APONCHE, ER KUMASI
Aponche is Twi for “goat” and even though we named our home Casa Kumasi, it sometimes seems that Casa Aponche is the more appropriate name. Yes goats and humans alike all enjoy our little playhouse with the deck, courtyard, garden and solarium where we have our office. Jeremy likes to throw raw rice from the deck and watch the goats eat it up. They goats have staked a healthy claim to the grounds and in our hearts. From left are Aponche, Go-At and Nwansane.
DEFECTOR
Motherhood was a temporary thing for Sauza. As soon as her chicks were able to scratch out enough calories on their own, she eloped with the handsome guy next door. We’d still see her, walking right by her former home as if she never lived here.
MOTHERLESS CHILDREN
The chicks don’t seem to mind the new arrangement either. They don’t peep for their mother and faithfully follow the routine she introduced them to, walking around and around the yard, scratching up calories, dining at the compost pile with the goats and roosting in the elephant ear plant.
THEN THERE WERE TWO
This is really sad. The morning after Nwansane died, her herd mates, Aponche and Go-At seemed a little more needy than usual. Oh they still scrambled up onto the stairs in the hope of receiving a banana peel and happily devoured anything new we added to the compost pile. But for a day or two Aponche walked around and around the yard, bleating for her friend but she didn’t return.
GOAT HEADS
Goats have cowlicks and the buck has scent glands behind his horns which make him smell manly. Other than that, we can only guess what goes on in their little heads.
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