Farm2home

02/10/2026

02/10/2026

🐶 FARM INTERMISSION: STORM’S POND INSPECTION

While we were preparing to label our Azolla ponds A1–A8, Storm decided that one pond required an immediate personal inspection. 😄

Her report:

✅ Water level checked
✅ Azolla softness tested
✅ Pond walk completed
✅ Farm workers successfully distracted

Apparently, Farm to Home Investments now has a Canine Quality-Control Department!

This surprise inspection is not part of our normal pond-management procedure—the pond will be checked and refreshed before Azolla is harvested for feeding.

Day 19 of our Azolla journey is coming soon, once every pond is properly labelled and ready for accurate record-keeping.

01/10/2026

🌿 DAY 18: RESET, REFEED AND RESEED

Yesterday, we removed 15.04 kg of reddish-brown Azolla from Pond A5. Today, we begin rebuilding it.

We prepared Pond A5 using:

✅ 1 kg cow manure
✅ 50 g superphosphate
✅ Healthy green starter Azolla harvested from Pond A7

The Azolla from A7 was weighed and recorded before being transferred into the renewed Pond A5.

This is why keeping more than one Azolla pond is helpful: when one pond becomes stressed, a healthy pond can provide starter culture for recovery.

Now the work continues—monitoring the colour, growth, water level and pH to see how quickly Pond A5 produces a healthy green carpet again.

“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”
— 1 Corinthians 3:6 KJV

30/09/2026

DAY 17: WHEN AZOLLA TURNS BROWN

Pond A5 was no longer giving us the healthy green carpet we wanted. The Azolla had turned reddish-brown, so it was time to stop, investigate and renew the pond.

We removed and weighed 15.04 kg of stressed Azolla before testing the pond water.

Our pH strip showed a reading of approximately pH 8, meaning that the water was slightly alkaline. However, colour changes in Azolla can also be caused by strong sunlight, heat, overcrowding or an imbalance of nutrients.

The lesson? Do not simply look at the pond—observe, test, weigh and record. Good farming is not about pretending that everything always goes perfectly. It is about noticing problems early and taking corrective action.

“Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.”
— Proverbs 27:23 KJV

29/09/2026

🔥 **DAY 16: THE FARM HAD OTHER PLANS!**

We planned to bring you another Azolla update—but somebody’s random burning turned our content day into an unexpected farm fire drill! 😅🚒

Everything had to stop while we worked to control the fire and protect the farm. Unfortunately, some of our stored bales were affected.

That is farming: one minute you are harvesting Azolla, and the next minute you are chasing flames! 🔥🏃🏾‍♀️

Thankfully, we are safe, the work continues, and Day 16 has become a reminder that uncontrolled burning can quickly put farms, animals and livelihoods at risk.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
— Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV

Please burn responsibly and always consider neighbouring farms. 🌱

24/09/2026

🌿 DAY 15: OUR 30-DAY AZOLLA RESULTS

For 30 days, we have been growing, harvesting, measuring and feeding fresh Azolla to our pasture-raised village chickens at Farm to Home Investments.

Our village chickens are kept for both meat and eggs, so the trial flock includes mature laying hens, growing pullets and birds being raised for meat.

📊 OUR 30-DAY RESULTS

🌱 Azolla started with: 1 kg per pond
🌿 Number of ponds: 3
⚖️ Average harvest: Approximately 4 kg per pond per week
📈 Week 4 harvest: Up to 4.5 kg per pond per harvest
🐔 Chickens in the trial: 125 pasture-raised village chickens
🥚 Estimated mature laying hens: Approximately 70
🥬 Fresh Azolla offered: 30 g per bird per day, offered free-choice
🌾 Layer 17 before: Approximately 80 g per bird per day
🌾 Layer 17 during the trial: Approximately 65 g per bird per day
💰 Estimated feed reduction: 56.25 kg of Layer 17 per month
🥚 Egg production before: Approximately 29 eggs per day
🥚 Egg production after: Approximately 35 eggs per day

That represents an increase of approximately 6 eggs per day, or about 21%, among our estimated 70 laying hens.

We also observed a change in yolk colour—from pale yellow to a deeper orange-gold. This will be one of the visual results we continue documenting.

OUR BIGGEST LESSON

Using Azolla with village chickens is not about completely replacing commercial feed. It is about using a farm-grown supplementary resource to support a mixed flock kept for both meat and eggs while carefully monitoring feed use, egg production and bird condition.

Because this trial took place during Zambia’s dry season, when pasture, insects and natural green forage are limited, we will continue recording the results as the rainy season changes the birds’ foraging conditions.

These are observations from our own farm—not a guarantee that every flock will produce the same results. Azolla should be introduced gradually alongside properly balanced feed.

“The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.”
— Proverbs 14:15 KJV

23/09/2026

DAY 14: FRESH OR DRIED AZOLLA?

At Farm to Home, we are documenting both forms to determine what is most practical for our poultry operation.

Which would interest you more—fresh planting material or dried Azolla?

22/09/2026

DAY 13: PRESERVING THE HARVEST

Fresh Azolla contains plenty of water, so we are also testing how to dry and store it safely.

It is spread in a thin layer on clean mesh, protected from soil, animals and contamination. It must be properly dried before storage to reduce the risk of spoilage.

“She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.”
— Proverbs 31:13 KJV

Growing is only half the work—careful handling protects the harvest.