Dried Mulberries?

I have been thinking about the mulberry tree in my front yard and dreading the time when it starts producing fruit. I have found mulberries to be kinda a sweet but tasteless fruit, that isn't great by itself but is wonderful as a base (like frozen for fruit smoothies). Problem is i won't be able to eat them all and am really not looking forward the two months of sticky shoes and tip toeing through the mulberry mush (there is one directly in front of my gate and another in front of my front door). Since this is a rental house chopping them down isn't really an option, actually don't see an option but it did get me thinking about mulberries...

I've seen lots of dried fruits, especially at the western health food stores but they have always been a moist super sweet type thing. I remember in Afghanistan they would dry mulberries out (not hard there, the driest places I have ever lived) to the point they were crunchy and i gotta admit, they were pretty good. In retrospect i think i remember something like "apple chips" or something but that is about the only dried/crispy fruit product i can recall having seen/tried in the US. I am just surprised that more dried/crunchy berries aren't sold in the US (low weight, high storability, palatable, no-so-exotic-and-idea-as-to-repel-potential-customers)

Salinity?

Salinity?
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

My agricultural background, while fairly general, is a bit more geared towards livestock so I don?t have much background with horticulture/soil science/irrigation but despite that I hear about salinity every once in a while. When I hear there is high level of salinity in the water/soil of some place it usually conjures up a picture of the more finicky crops not being able to grow. Working in Azerbaijan my understanding of salinization has changed, mostly due to the fact that this is the worst case of salinization I have seen (now mind you, after doing some research I have heard of places that have it worse but for now I am just talking about places I have seen myself). In this photo the ground looks white, if it were the beach and this were sand that would be normal but it is not the beach it is an area that I pass through every once in a while called Imishli. The whiteness is salt (mineral deposits) that you can literally chip off. This is a camera phone photo so the quality is mediocre but if it were clearer you could see that it almost looks like a beach of salt. The primary occupation of rural Azerbaijan (this area is no exception) is agriculture and when I see those puny fields that are barely scraping by it does tend to make you feel sorry for those farmers.

Tree Thinning

Tree Thinning
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

Here is a common scene along creeks and irrigation ditches, trees tightly packed together to be cut later. Since my folks raise saw timber anything having to do with silviculture is kinda interesting to me, and growing saplings certainly counts.

I am still figuring out silvicuture in Afghanistan. There does not seem to be an industry of growing wood here but it does seem to be available and possible to grow. I see “lumber yards” all over the place in Kabul selling firewood and I do wonder were it all comes from. I think a wee bit of my question was answered yesterday while talking to a person who has an office in the Afghan Red Crescent (Islamic version of Red Cross) compound. She was telling me about how a person on a backhoe had come through to “remove all the dead trees” (but as she pointed out, it is still winter here so no trees have so much as a bud on them yet). The conclusion was that someone was probably just collecting all the trees to sell for a small (afghan) fortune, criminal at best considering how few trees there are around and this compound is/was like an oasis of sorts. So, the tendency seems to be cutting the trees wherever one can first and them and when nothing else is left start planting… at times Afghanistan is vaguely reminiscent of Easter Island.

This photo though was taken out in a rural province (Wardak) where I got the impression that people relied more on dried cow patties and grass for fire fuel so these saplings were almost certainly for construction (Poop and grass just doesn’t support ceilings/roofs very well).

The first thing I thought of was “Geeze they need to thin (prune) these saplings a bit”. I am no forestry expert but in growing trees in the southeast USA one normally starts off growing trees fairly close (though we measure the distance between planted saplings in feet not inches like here) but after a few years we go in and cut a few saplings out to allow others to grow more effectively etc. Here it seems that there might be a wee bit of informal thinning (“Oh, I need a shovel handle, time to go cut a tree!”) but no organized/intentional thinning efforts. Since people depend on trees for trusses across windows, doorways, small bridges, and ceiling/roof beams I would think it would be in their interest to grow some slightly better trees, that said however arable land is *much* more scare here than where I am from so maybe it works out (as centuries of practice does sometimes) as a more efficient use of water/land to grow many half-ass trees rather than fewer good trees, I just don’t know.

Afghan Logging

Afghan Logging
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

We were driving back from (I think it was back and not to) one of the field offices and I noticed some cuts trees. The trees seem to have been planted here as they are most everywhere in Afghanistan (ok, that is a bit of a generalization since I haven’t seen any other areas apart from Kabul and central Afghanistan) packed as close together as possible. They pretty much just cut everything at once (instead of thinning and then getting even larger trees). In the states clear cutting also just cuts everything but normally the trees have been thinned (many years) beforehand.

The tree sizes here are respectable but I saw many places where trees were literally growing on top of each other forming a veritable wall (literally, close enough that you can not squeeze through). It has occurred to me that considering the level of technical sophistication (or lack there of) that larger trees might not be manageable, in many rural areas people just don’t have access to anything apart from handsaws for cutting and donkeys for transport. I do wonder though if that is the reason why they don’t bother growing them any larger (something tells me that no, that is not the reason).

Hay Grinder?

Hay Grinder?
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

Yup this is indeed a hay grinder (I have another picture of one that is a bit more colorful that I might post later if I find it) meant for, grinding up hay! It took me awhile to figure out what these things were for, I initially thought that maybe it was an old* corn chopper for making silage (they do have a lot of livestock here so it would kinda make sense) but now, most Afghans aren’t that far along enough yet (livestock nutrition is almost an afterthought at the moment). After seeing one of these things in action and then asking a few questions I found out that it is for grinding up hay (that is stalks from wheat, rye, and other grains). I had to ask, “What do you use gorund up hay for?” and apparently it is used in the mud stucco and mud bricks that you see everywhere here (some close up pictures of a wall made of their stucco later).

*I say “old” because most setups in the US now are a two in one deal where the corn is sucked up and ground up at the same time then spit out into a trailer of sorts but one of the farms I used to work on had some pretty antiquated machinery and one of them was a “chopper” (or so the boss called it) that we fed corn and corn stalks into and it chopped everything up and spit it out as unfermented silage.

Fire Fodder (continued?)

Fire Fodder (continued?)
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

I am almost positive I have a similarly titled photo somewhere on my blog but #1 I am too lazy and impatient to bother finding it on this ass slow connection (read 0-3KiB/s) and #2 I am pretty sure its not the same picture since I embed all my comments etc into the photo itself and this photo has no comment.

So, this seemingly boring picture was kind of interesting for me and a picture I saw from Kabul to Band-I Amir. The little piles you see are scrub, usually the scrub (twigs, weeds, etc) left behind after livestock have grazed the area, this is the stuff not even goats would eat. The left behind brush is collected into piles (like you see in the picture) and then I assume they come around with a donkey and load the animal up with the brush and ferry it back to the village. Many times I would see these piles in the middle of no where and in the evenings I would see Afghans who had gotten a fire started and were obviously settling down for the night meaning, to me, that they were too far to reasonably walk home and then walk back the next day. Wow.

Fake flowers in Afghanistan

When I was en route to Panjshir we stopped in the town of ?? and purchased some flowers. When they told me they were going to buy some flowers they just said “flowers” not “plastic flowers” or “fake flowers” so I was struck when I walked into the “flower shop” to see wall to wall of fake plastic flowers. Now there is the pragmatist in me that says “hey they last a long time” but then there is my sense of taste (which is heavily influence by my decorative plant snob mother [and she’s damn good at it]) which says “Ugh! Couldn’t we get something else?”.

 

Apparently Kabul is about the only place you can buy fresh flowers in Afghanistan, plastic flowers are totally acceptable here, not something you would find stuck in the ground in some trailer park (like the US).

 

It does make me wonder about dried flowers, or maybe even origami flowers both of which just seem more tasteful to me, but then again I am heavily biased.

 

I can’t imagine that growing flowers (which I think of as being a fairly delicate crop) would be particularly easy but hey, that’s way outside of my league of expertise.

 

 

 

Bag'n Straw

Bag'n Straw
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

Since I have gotten to Afghanistan I have been interested (somewhat) in rural construction materials, namely mud and straw. I noticed early on that many places (even in Kabul) use a mud stucco with some sort of plant fiber mixed in but I had initially thought they just throw in a bunch of dried grass, but I was wrong.

Making stucco seems to be somewhat of an art (debatable I know). I have also discovered that Afghans are flatbread fanatics (not necessarily connoisseurs but Nans [afghan flatbread] are apparently an essential part of every afghan meal so wheat is grown all over the country but I never thought about what they were doing with all the remaining straw (plowing it back in would be nice but probably a pipedream). Well turns out they have machines here that are built specifically for grinding straw. Once the straw is ground they stuff it into bags like these and either use it or sell it. More on the machines they use later.

Afghan Mulberries (The Forbidden Fruit)

Afghan Mulberries
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

After having been stuffed with food they brought out a round of Mulberries. At this point I had just gotten over being really sick the week before from eating unwashed vegetables (or that is what the doctor thought, hell if I know whether they had been washed or not) so I was leery at best when they served the basket of fruit. When they noticed I wasnt eating they asked why and I mentioned my delicate stomach and how I wasnt sure the fruit had been washed so one of the Afghans hopped up, took the basket, dunked it in the river (where people wash their clothes, swim, bath, etc), and swished the fruit around... that pretty much helped me make up my mind as to whether or not I would partake of the (now) forbidden fruit.

Over irrigating?

Over irrigating?
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

Here was an irrigation ditch (which I was assured was clean and pure enough to drink, by a Afghan doctor that was with us [this was the first assurance of many; these assurances quickly reduced what little faith I had in his medical ability]).

The reason I took this photo was #1 the surface irrigation used (which I *really* think afghans need to get away from [though admittedly alternate forms of irrigation are usually more expensive and more difficult to implement] since Afghanistan is *very* dry) #2 The scallions (I didnt taste them but I smelled it and it looks like scallions) that were practically being drowned. I am not a horticulture person I dont think scallions require constant water (I actually sank when I tried to walk into the field, reminiscent of rice paddies).

I supposed my point was to show how poorly water is used (wasted) here, I believe in another post I mentioned how, when I worked at a computer lab in college, students totally wasted paper (which was initially free) when printing it made me cringe at how blatantly wasteful people could be. The lab finally got fed up and started charging and whatyaknow the rate of paper usage was reduced by 3/4th in a week! I think the same is here, at places where there is a source of water people consistently waste water and I sincerely fear for the future of Afghanistans water tables.

Ironic: Poppy processing in Afghanistan

Lately I have been working on a USAID concept paper for the enhancement of sugar beet processing facilities in the Afghan province of Baghlam and in the process I have learned how little value added processing (VAP) takes place in Afghanistan. Like in many places in Africa, the agricultural economies are focused on providing raw materials that are then exported and processed in other more developed countries. The idea of cultivating a country’s capacity to process agricultural goods is no trivial task, setting up the facilities is only half of it, export is the most difficult (i.e. Quality assurance, maintaining regular schedules, enforcing contract agreements, tariffs, etc).

The irony in Afghanistan is that the poppy industry has some of the most developed (not necessarily advanced, but certainly stable) processing facilities in Afghanistan. Even with the pressure of air strikes (rare), herbicides, burning, etc Afghanistan still produces over 90% of the world’s opium products, amazing.

The Village & grapes

The Village & grapes
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

I took this picture for two reasons; #1 How foreign and ancient the villages seemed to be (these structures are made of mud so while the village locations are ancient I was informed that most of the structures were not so old) #2 The walled vineyards which I saw quite a bit. The greenery you see inside the wall here is grapes. Since this is an Islamic society they don't use the grapes for wine (though that is the first thing that popped into my head, too much of Eastern Europe I guess). The Afghans I have talked to are quite proud of their grapes but from what I have seen so far they only eat the grapes as grapes, I am sure they have raisins but have yet to see them. I know little to nothing about wine production (types of grapes required, preferred soils, and preferred climates) but as invested as many of these farmers are in grape production I would be curious to see what the potential for wine production is (It would only be for personal curiosity since the cultural taboo would make actual production impossible, though it does amaze me that poppies seem to be more accepted than booze here).

Irrigation

Irrigation
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

Well this photo was supposed to show some basic surface irrigation but taking pictures from a speeding vehicle ain't easy so the photo ended up looking more like a mini swamp. To the right is a pile of straw (probably wheat, more on that later) and to the left I *think* are grapes.

In Afghanistan I have been appalled (though I totally understand the reasoning) by the grossly inefficient use of water, especially considering that most of the country is very arid.

Surface irrigation is the simplest form of irrigation to implement (how well its implemented is a different story) so in rural areas with little to no access to other irrigation technologies (not to mention little access to money) the decision to use surface irrigation is understandable.

The use of water here kind of reminds me of when I worked at my university computer lab, when I first started working they had a policy of free printing but it was insane how much paper people used and how frivolously they used it, I think the same applies here. When water is available they just use it without considering the long term (I'm talking months, not some 100 years later) consequences.

All that is not to say they don’t have some pretty nifty/creative irrigation technologies like Kareezes (which I hope to get a photo of later on).

Laundry Soap

Laundry Soap
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

I originally thought this might be some sort of vegetable based soap but I didn't have an Afghan colleague with me to ask (poor guy has to ask all my weird questions, I can see the locals thinking "why are you asking that?"). On the side the only English I could make out was "laundry soap" so that much I know.

They had other soaps there as well but I kinda had to take this photo incognito as I am still a bit nervous about photography in Afghanistan. I haven't had *any* problems but I have heard things like women walking in front of a photographer just as they snap the picture only to get yelled at, not to mention looking even more like a foreigner (I have grown a beard and there are some light skinned Afghans out there so I don't stick out tooo badly).

You can also see rice and beans behind the soap. I was pretty much amazed to hear that Afghanistan grows rice (since it’s a water intensive crop), though only in certain areas. Some locals grown their own little patches of rice but I was told that it is pretty low quality stuff and the "good stuff" comes from southern Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Afghan Compounds

Afghan Compounds
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

I mainly took this photo because I thought it was a good example of many of the homes I saw on my trip. Most homes seem to be built like compounds, that is, a big wall surrounding a few houses and gardens. I would be curious to learn the original reason for this design (security, keeping the kids/livestock in/safe, or something else).

Here is also another good example of how pervasive wheat production is in Afghanistan. While I haven't been to all parts of the country I have heard (and seen) that bread is a staple of the afghan diet and wheat is a pretty hardy crop so I don't see why it wouldn't be grown in other areas as well. There is also row of what I think is corn, funny because I have hardly seen any corn food products and it doesn't seem that they feed corn to livestock (though I don't know that for sure).

Chopped Wheat

Chopped Wheat
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.

Well the main reason I took this photo is hard to see. In the background you see a mound of white and some people/animals around it. Well I believe that mound of white is chopped/ground straw. I have seen (but unfortunately do not have photos of yet) machines that hook up to tractor PTOs that seem designed solely for the purpose of grinding up straw (not the grain itself but the stems, straw).

Here people are stuffing the ground straw into large bags (like 3-5 times the size of large feed bags) and loading it onto an animal (probably a donkey). I have seen large bags of this ground straw for sale on the side of the road and it occurred to me that this is probably sold for mixing with mud for stucco. Many structures here are covered with mud stucco of sorts that clearly has some sort of grassy/straw mixed in with it. In talking with my Afghan colleagues I found that the walls, many of which are made at least partly of this mud straw mixture, are rebuilt/repaired every year so I imagine the stucco is also repaired annually which would make this a product that has a constant market.