Health And Farming

Had been having a bad spell lately as most of us is having health issues. I am still recovering from my sprained back & legs. It is getting better and still need to be diagnose by a specialist. Supposed to go for a checked up with the Orthopedic at the Main Hospital here on the 24th April, but was unfortunately postponed to early May, due the the unavailability of the Orthopedic Specialist.

Before herbicide.

Our helpers as also down with fever, flu and cold. This may due due to the rain, coming on and off. We were drench at times. Two helpers are also on leave till further notice, resting on health issues. Productivity is very low. We are behind schedule on most of our plans. We are also having difficulty of sending our produce to the city on a twice weekly schedule. Had a meeting and has decided to cut back our schedule to once weekly. Hopefully this can provide us more time to work on our planting / maintenance.

After herbicide and planted with Yams.

We are taking our weed management program a step further. Had just purchase a a engine driven piston pressure pump that can be used as irrigation and pressure pumping. We are familiarizing ourselves with it. Foresee some initial problem in terms of set up and usage as we are new to this. Doing more reading and research on proper weed management. Once we get it right, this shall definitely improve our productivity.

We are also making plans to acquire a light truck for sending our produce to the city. Our current truck is very good for farm use (off road), but not suitable for sending produce to the city on the long run (tarmac). Making arrangement to acquire driving license and commercial license (GDL) for our helpers.

Not much produce from our little farm except for the 1st harvest of a new batch of long beans. Had identified the type of Japanese Sweet Potatoes that has vigor growth and fetches a higher price. Propagate more of these so that we can transfer this to our plantation. Hoping to plant these in between terrace. Started four beds of yams and 5 beds of Bentong gingers.
Looking forward to a better month in May.

Farm Management

Back to work on the Farm after a very enjoyable short break. Wife and in-laws came for a short visit. Took them around, visiting popular tourist spots. Had a great time with plenty of fun, tasty seafood and adventure.

Finished analyzing the accounts and data. Our trial on Parcel 5, our Little Farm, shows that our business model is sound, achievable, sustainable and feasible. Making plans to move forward to phase two, by bringing this to our other Parcel, 1, 2, 3 and 6.



Our progress basing on helping each other, partners, associates, suppliers and helpers to attain a higher income, improve standard of living and building a better future through agriculture had attracted a new helper. He is quitting from his current job as a night security to join us next month. With one hand stronger, we can start putting into places some cash and mid term crops in parcel 6,1 and 3 (in that order) to pave way for more helpers to join us fourth quarter of the year. We need to create a strong foundation now in order for the new helpers to be self sustaining sooner.

Shall be collecting more data to do a planting schedule of crops for the other parcels. Our Redevelopment program for our farms is slightly delayed due to the concentration to test out our business model on Parcel 5, which is a success.

We started to increase one more trip per week of sending produce to the market in the city today. Had a very productive day as everything went smoothly. More updates on our Farm Management later.