2nd Time’s a Charm

So Jess and I have been kind of quiet about our home garden because, well, it was pretty much a failure. Except for a bunch of tasty arugula it produced for us. Everything else either didn’t even sprout or fizzled and died. There’s a number of speculative reasons for this:

1. The day after we planted our seeds, it absolutely poured. Enough that I think a lot of the seeds were washed away, as evidence by them sprouting in random areas of the garden instead of in  the rows we planted them in.
2. Before it was a garden, our tiny shamba, it was part of our landlord’s lawn. Lawns probably delete soil of nutrients, and it made the ground really hard to till the first time. I added manure, but I’m not sure if it was enough (or maybe too much?).
3. It didn’t rain at all in Nairobi for all of January and most of February until a few days ago. So whatever was hanging on (squash, onions, peppers and eggplant) completely died by the time we got back from our recent trip.

Anyways, you live and you learn. In theory, the “long rains” start in Nairobi in another week, continuing all the way into June. As I’m writing this I’m watching clouds building up. So I figured it was a good time to plant again. Especially as I was inspired by all the farmers we met on our recent trip to Tanzania and Malawi.

What we are planting is a small “home garden.” Most Africans have shambas far bigger than this that they are reliant on with their lives. Just tilling this small plot is back-breaking and skin-blistering work, I can’t imagine doing 3 acres worth. And I think it’s good exercise, but usually people that are doing all this hard work hardly need the extra exercise, nor do they probably get enough calories to give them enough energy to be doing such work. These small home gardens are the kind of thing Jess is encouraging farmers in Africa to grow, to supplement their diets of maize with some vegetables and varieties of other foods.

So this morning I tilled the soil (much easier the second time around!), cleaned out more rocks and roots, added more goat manure and planted some seeds. I made the row mounds flatter and packed the dirt down harder over the seeds to prevent them from being washed away. And I was more thorough in tilling the soil. So we’ll see. The only problem is there hasn’t been power at our house all day, so no water to give them a good initial soaking. Of course I could do what most Africans would have to do, which is carry buckets of water from the nearest borehole. Or pray for rain. Here’s what the “blank canvas” looks like:

In order from left to right I planted: jalapenos, arugula, swiss chard, eggplant, red onions and red bell peppers. We are leaving in a few days for NYC, for three weeks, so it will be exciting to see what grows while we are gone. Hopefully the rains will come, other areas north of here in Kenya and Ethiopia are suffering from drought. So we’ll be praying for rain with the rest of them.

Tom Yummy in Thailand

My apologies for the long haitus, but we have been eating our way through Thailand for the past two weeks. I don’t think I have to say that Thailand has a plethora of food awesomeness and diversity. You know when you are eating Thai food, not just because of the beads of sweat that come rolling down your head from the hot chilis added to just about everything, but the unique flavors and ingredients that can only be classified as Thai.

lots of chilies

Supposedly the secret to Thai food is the balancing of the five fundamental flavors of hot, sour, sweet, bitter and salty. They like to use strong and salty fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil, ginger, cilantro, curry powder, lemongrass, limes and large amounts of chilis.

essential thai ingredients

I remember the first time I had Thai food was in Tucson during my undergraduate years. It was truly an awakening experience and no matter how you slice it or dice it, Thai food is unique. Everyone says that you don’t know a cuisine until you have traveled to the country of origin, like Indian or Vietnamese food. But I must say, there are some restaurants in the United States that have gotten Thai food right. Maybe the spices have been simmered down to an acceptable gringo level, but overall, the flavors are there in the basic popular dishes. The green and red curries and pad thai, even in Thailand, were excellent but didn’t taste all that different to what you get in the U.S.

pad thai on banana leaf

The green curry, made with green chilies and is considered one of the hottest curries, was never hot. Not in Thailand. Not in the U.S. I just don’t get it. One thing I have not seen anywhere in the U.S. that was added to a lot of the dishes in Thailand are fresh peppercorns.

peppercorns and shrooms

One of my favorites, and still after traveling to Thailand, remains a favorite, is Tom Yam Goong or in Thai, ต้มยำ a hot & sour soup with shrimp. Yum. Everywhere we went in Thailand, it was always a little bit different, more spicy sometimes (like at some random bar in a small city north of Bangkok) or more mushroomy in other places. But, tom yam goong, in my opinion, encompasses all the flavors of Thai cuisine. Their fried whole fish with chilies is also so delicious, everywhere we went, especially the coast.

fish and chilies

The Thai also lean towards the exotic. Derek tried a few interesting “snacks” like giant water bugs and grubs, and also frogs. Most of these are prepared by deep-frying them and are often fermented in fish paste and smothered with chilies.

derek eating giant water bugs

Speaking of deep frying, although most Thai are thin, there seems to be an increased amount of individuals who are overweight. You can see more overweight children in Bangkok. I also noticed that everywhere you look, on the street carts or in the food stalls, there is a plethora of fried foods being sold, and sugary drinks.  Even their Thai iced coffees have a heaping mound of whip cream on them.

1/2 thai iced coffee, 1/2 whipped cream

Fried chicken, fried fish balls, fried pork rinds (the favorite) fried bugs etc etc. Also, lots of american-type junk food everywhere – lays potato chips, cheetos, and candy in brightly colored packaging. But fried food here is king.

pork rinds on a cart

Other interesting things about Thai cuisine and food habitation:

• For breakfast, they eat their own version of Vietnamese Pho, called Khao Tom, basically a soup with chicken or pork, with the leftover rice from the night before added to the broth. Often quite salty, and not nearly as fresh as pho, it is still tasty.
• They don’t use chopsticks there. Only a fork and a spoon. Interesting.
• Thai’s like whiskey and singha beer, what they call “sing”. When you order whiskey in a bar, they bring you a whole bottle, with a bucket of ice and some soda waters. Not good. But they do like Johnnie Walker, as do the Irish visiting Thailand…another story…
• Their wide rice noodles, usually made in a gravy with meat and some veggies are very mushy (called Rad na)
• They like eating morning glory (or kale like leafy greens) in oyster sauce. I liked it.
• They often give you extra salty fish sauce on the side. Not like you need to add more salt to the food…