# Hello Hive 

The start of the week has been a very busy one for me, so I had to skip my consistent blogging schedule for more pressing issues, but I'm glad that things have slowed down a bit now, and we will be visiting our farm tomorrow. 


![Screenshot_20250417-082754.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/monica-ene/23uFRzoCwyjuW4AECGwe4YUUbQq1h93Mseehza2yE2pm1QGLwFWDyNxTs5yed5BdpY1sQ.jpg)


In everything, we are trying to speed up the growth of everything we have planted by the riverbank in order to have some quality harvest before the heavy rains come. When the heavy downpour shows up, this river you see here will overflow its banks even to where we have planted these veggies. Even though we still have until the next 2 months for that to happen, sometimes the narrative isn't always like this. When dams or water bodies in other locations get overfilled, that can overflow and get to us here. The rain that fills the river isn't necessarily from the heavy downpour from here.



![IMG-20250417-WA0038.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/monica-ene/23ywwcXKTT6oMEPRJ7yAWKbYpwSw13pQELfqkVasaxkKfB8WUietjdKX7M3JcWYdxqAGC.jpg)


Any crop we can plant or grow from now must not be crops that will exceed a two- or three-month life cycle. 



The okra is growing pretty well, and yesterday we commenced weeding on the farm. For this kind of farm, we often prefer manual weeding, as it has been difficult to get a selective herbicide for these veggies. Moreover, I prefer manual weeding for vegetables. Vegetables are mostly eaten right after harvest, and growing such crops with chemicals will have such an impact on our health. 

![IMG-20250406-WA0012.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/monica-ene/EogMRGXNg43L3Kai6GdfAYJX9DWTP9YxNi97N53wBahFYeq2HPqMAddFh5BmUZXFoDw.jpg)


Everyone is clamoring about the importance of growing organic food, as we have all seen the impact of how inorganic chemicals have become more and more harmful and poisonous to our health. 

While it is still possible to grow our staple crops using moderately hazardous chemicals, avoiding the total use of chemicals in growing vegetables is highly recommended. 

By evening we would be back in the farm for more weeding. The okra are growing fast, and as a crop with a short life span, I expect to see it producing flowers any moment from now.



![IMG-20250417-WA0025.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/monica-ene/EqNG8W6nZyrrAjuQp9rEYTqezkKNReAQ3oPaZcAb7MEHm7hVpCVJqvtAttimPhUaept.jpg)

In the meantime, you can see that okra has already been harvested from other locations in the state by the farmers who have also engaged in this kind of farming, such as ours.

They have equally planted some good species, and I didn't hesitate to purchase a few for soup yesterday evening when I came across them. Okra is one important vegetable most people around here often eat for food.