Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Get Your Hands Dirty

We've been encouraging our farmers to keep up their hard work through the irrigation season. The tendency is to sit back and rest on the rain fed harvest, but after a tough rainy season, farmers need to double down to see the fruits of their work. After a few months of irrigation, their efforts are bearing fruit, literally.


Second harvest of potatoes is on the horizon... A few early spuds make an excellent addition to the diet and help stretch the maize harvest.


Tomatoes and onions are an essential component of Malawian recipes. They keep things tasting good and boost appetite. Farmers have picked up the AWP staff habit of eating one or two fresh tomatoes in the garden during work.






Beetroots, along with carrots, broccoli, green beans (and their leaf), and wild vegetables, keep the garden in nutritional balance.






Many farmers are hopeful for a third harvest through intensive cropping in their irrigated gardens. If they can achieve a third crop rotation this year, AWP will have met one of its primary objectives. God willing, all will have abundant food this year!