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And it was a tea farm, so I'm asking.
I was like, okay, well how much are you actually well, fine, you're producing tea a gat it? Okay, so how much you what's your revenue a year? And it just did not It didn't add up at all, like at all. But for them, it's like a lot of times the herritage land, which I totally respect, I get that right, And if they don't have to sell, then there's no motivation there, you know what I mean. It's not like I think, it's just a different system here, right, so you just have to adjust to that.
So there are deals one thousand percent.
You can absolutely find land that is comparable I would say some parts of California, and like I keep comparing it to like Texas, right, Like you can get great land.
I I heard like ten thousand and acre on it is that.
Yeah, that's like a good yeah.
And then sometimes though, like there might be land that's like ten thousand a plot, but it'll be because it's like they really value the road, right, so like it'll be like things that we don't really think about, but like if it's close, they'll tell you how close it is to the main road, and the closer it is to the main road, the higher the price will be.
So I've seen plots that.
Are like, say you could go anywhere from like three hundred square meters, which is like I guess the size you would like build a house, right, And they'll be like it's ten thous dollars for that plot, which you're like, wait, I just could buy an aggre for They're like yeah, but not here.
They're like, where's the road, yeah exactly exactly.
One of the things that a lot of people, especially away from ignorant to is how profitable farming can be. Right, you said, we went to a tea farm, we got to see your farm, and we brought down the onion thing. Talk about that and why people should really be looking at this as a business opportunity.
Oh man, I mean like when you think about I knew it had to be profitable because you see it and you're like, these guys are doing it because it's making money. But I couldn't really wrap my brain around it. But my lawyer again who's been super helpful, he's a farmer, and he was like, I make way more money farming. It's like this is a short fire. So he started
to break it down for me. When I started to understand, Okay, it's like this is something that especially here because I think it, Yeah, really I think here, like this is so much agriculture like opportunities here, and I feel like the younger people are not doing it as much that they need it right and so like, for example, the reason I decided to do onions is because a lot of you know, they were getting like a year ago, they were getting a lot of the onions from Tanzania,
and then recently they kind of banned the onions from Tanzania. So it's like they need onion farmers here. I was like, I can do that, right, So things like that. But for example, like you know after your costs, right, if you if you put in five acres of onions, right and with everything, so you got your with the exception of the borehole, which will make your money back within
the year. But say like just all of your driplines and all of that stuff, right for five acres, if you once you spend all that, which is like say eleven thousand dollars, you can make between let's say thirty conservatively till like thirty five thousand dollars within let's say a quarter. Right, so at minimum you have two harvests a year for only five acres. That's a good you
can live on that, right, it's a good living. And then say you add another five acres, like so it's it is actually extremely profitable.
They're looking for farmers. They want people to farm.
It's such a good opportunity, especially Kenya. Kenya has so much flat land, you know, and it's great soil.
This is Africa.
It's like you throw a seed in the ground and stuff just grows, you know what I mean. Like literally, like it's amazing.
It takes.
It doesn't take as much as we've ruined our soil in the States, you know, And it took me so much to I mean even thinking about that, Like when I think about my farm in California, it took me a year before I could plant anything because the soil was so depleted and it was just so ruined.
Like I had to go.
Through this whole process of like fixing the soil just so I could grow stuff. Whereas here it's like, I mean I could put anything in the ground. You're like, oh, look it's a tree. You should see my backyard right now. I a little in an apartment. My backyard is like a jungle I have, but I ended up have been here a year, right, So I've banana trees that are like literally like twenty five feet tall, and like I had to cover them to keep the monkeys from taking all the fruit.
And I made It's amazing, you know. So it's just to show the difference.
Like, so I was gonna acually, what is the process that actually said, because buying land is one thing, but having an operational farms another thing.
You got to like have an irrigation system.
You gotta you know, I'm assuming you to plant the seas, you gotta have people that's working it. You gotta have pesticite control. Perhaps you gotta put the fence. Like I think people don't understand how complex farming. They look at farming is something that's like especially people from cities, right as something that's like backwards, right or something that. But it's like it's so people don't associate technology with farming, But that's like the first form of tech.
Absolutely, it is farming.
Absolutely, And like I said, it's also real money, right, Like it's real money.
And it's also like.
When you think about like food safety and just like no matter what's happening in the world, if you're farming, you've got this.
I mean honestly, like the only thing that's.
Gonna be could be the weather, right, But even that, like there's there's safeties that you can you know, take to get around that.
I mean, I think, like for me like buying all this stuff.
One thing I have to say is that like especially in the farming areas, people are people want to work. So it wasn't even hard, Like I got an agronomous and these are people would like full on like degrees in agronomy and like farming stuff that I was just kind of like fumbling through it, like they really know what to do, you know, And so I ended up I ended up finding someone. It was very again, it's just random, like because Naivasha specifically is a farm area.
So like my car broke down and.
I was talking to the mechanic and then he was like, well, this is a good This guy's a good agriculture like he's a horticulturist actually, and I was like okay, cool. And then I talked to him and he was like. I was like, well, who can I have help me? Like really do this and.
He's like why no guy?
And then I just like what snapped him? And he was like I'll be there on Sunday. I was like great. But it's also like you have to talk to people. You have to like some people are not gonna be as good.
You know.
You just got to kind of get out there. You can't be afraid to speak to people and kind of figure it out. It is something you have to learn, right, Like I'm still learning, but it's totally doable. One thing I will say to you different here than anywhere else.
And people are so willing to help. They're so well, I mean, they really are.
There's like no dumb questions because I asked tons of questions and they're just so willing to help. And they don't want you to mess up, you know what I mean. They're like, no, no, no, that's terrible, don't do that, you know, And you're.
Like, oh, I was going there because as you were talking and we spent a few days together, I'm thinking, like, you're really knowledgeable in this. So there's been an education process, but even when we are with our drivers, they're knowledgeable about everything. And how has the impact that the locals had on the process of you saying all right, I've got this acreage. I want to add more. They gave me some ideas. I'm going to add this. Wait, how do I power this? This might be a new idea.
How much is the impact you had on you so much?
I mean, when you think about even moving to a place where it's like the people, That's one of the first things that I fell in love with here was the people, and like these people are loving and care and they care and it's just from the top to the bottom, like you could be in the mall, bump someone, and just how that interaction goes, you know, to really needing someoney, to be like, I need help.
I don't know how to do this. Help me, do you know what I mean?
Like, it's just so it's so different culturally, I think from that perspective, it's like welcoming, right, it's warm.
And I think too, like what I.
Really appreciate and what's made this so feasible is that there is a process. Even if it takes a long time, it's the same. They'll be like, no, this is what you have to do.
You've got to do this.
And so whenever one keeps giving me this same answer, you're like, okay, you know you're not being taken for a ride. It's like, this is how you have to do it. And so then it becomes like, all right, well this is the way to do it. This is how we do it, and they, like I said, what you don't know? People will help and even you know, I'll talk to random people. They're like did you plant this? And are you putting this around it? And oh no, no, no, sister, you gotta put baking soda. And I was like, I
did hear that? They're like yeah, yah, yeah, I put baking soda if you don't want those. But you know, little things like that and you're just like, oh okay. But they're always willing to help. So it makes something that could feel really daunting and new. It makes it easier because it's not like it doesn't feel like crabs in a barrow where everyone's just like, you know, fighting to win.
It's like they're like, we're farm't we farm?
It happens you you can't drive up a road and can you not see some sort of someone selling some fruit or vegetables or something, right, Like, there's so many things people are just they're farmers and so it's great, Like you learn a lot just by regular conversations.
I feel like, so, what's the hardest part of farming? Right, even from you learning in America to now having a farm and can't like what is the heart? Dealing with droughts, even animals off your font? Like, what's the hardest part that you had to figure out?
I think I keep saying that.
Like my farm in California was like my like training ground for this, right because it was smaller and I had major pests there too, So like it's just figuring out like, Okay, what am I dealing with here? I think water has been a challenge, Like the rain, No rain is great, it rains so much here. I think getting like the borehole says like that system is so.
What is that?
So a borehole is like, well, right, so it's it's basically they're digging into the ground and well, first you have to get like a water analysis to see if there actually is water there, right, So you'll pay someone to come. Then you need a geologist to check and make sure like see what the rock situation is. And a lot of people will say, oh, you don't need that. I did it, so I just was like I need
to know, like what's happening. It is an extra cost obviously, but you need to check like if there's water there, and then you need to have someone come. And what I learned was someone will tell you like they can do it for cheaper, but you don't really necessarily want
that because then your borehole is gonna break down. And so essentially there they come, they check the water, and then they have to dig down between two hundred to three hundred meters and then they put the casing in there and then you've got this pump that's gonna bring the water up.
It's a well, it's like a well.
Yeah, it's like a smaller well essentially.
And it pumps up. But what is the purpose of that? To keep the crops?
It wills to irrigate?
And also because even if you're gonna build a house there, gonna need water, right because a lot of the land that you're gonna buy is rule right, so there's been nothing there before, so you need to make sure because a lot of land like there was. I was about to sign papers on this other land and then I and the guy was like, you should just check. And that's when I was like, I wasn't gonna do the jelige, but the guys.
You should just do it. That's okay. I'm just gonna keep doing it for all the land. And I ended up doing it.
And he's like, there are these massive boulders up to seven meters down, so my farming would have been a wash.
How much water is under it? Like does it?
It just depends?
Right? So like for me, right now, that first borehole that we saw that we just dug pulls up. It's like ten point four cubit feet of water or whatever every day, right, So that's so then that's how we did the math. So then I know they said that that amount of water, if you're continually getting that can cover up to maybe ten acres. Me wanted to be on the safe side. I decided to do five right, and then I'll put another borehole, so I know that no matter what, we'll have water.
But that's also solar.
So then you have to figure out if you're gonna get a generator or if you're going to hook into Kenya Power, which is also an option. Yeah.
One of the things we kind of like breezed over was the animals, and you know we grow up in farms, is like, hey, hopefully these groundhogs don't eat this or the birds don't eat it.
You have a whole different set.
Of animals hienas zebras.
How is that now?
Again?
That and making sure that they're protected because it was their land.
Absolutely absolutely.
I think the thing that I've learned so much about being here too, and it's funny actually even being in California, is that there is a way, and people have been doing it for millennia, right, there's a way to farm and not completely like ruin the ecosystem, but become a.
Part of it.
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