We are ready for you !

     I have not talked a lot about it on the blog, but I thought some of you would find this interesting. 

  

    We have a guest room at the farm, as well as a spare guest room in Bishkek .  The word is starting to get out, and people have began to book and stay with us .  

    When we have guests, we can arrange what ever level of services they need, from a continental breakfast, to full meals, translators and drivers.  The cool thing is that all proceeds are able to go to help support the on going work of actofkindness in Kyrgyzstan.

In Bishkek, the apartment is in an excellent area of town. It is close to the coffee shops, markets and Bazaar.  Located on a major bus route, the entire city easily accessible.  The apartment sleeps up to six.  The tea and coffee is always on, and full meals can be arranged. The apartment has air conditioning, wifi, and laundry facilities.     

 

Out at the farm living is a little more rustic, but still comfortable. Live and stay at the farm, eat with the kids, experience life in a mountain village.  If you are up for an adventure, we even have access to some 4x4 SUV's you can rent for the day ..

  

We have a third option. if you prefer something in between.  There is also a guest room available with Jengish and Emma. Here we have two sets of bunk beds and a single bed. It also has wifi and laundry facilities.. 

So come alone, bring your family, or bring a whole team with you .. You can do your own thing or join us as we bring help and support to the hurting helpless and the lost. Stay in the Capital city, the mountains or in between , or move around between all three. 

we look forward to hearing from you. You can contact us at: sunmasterjohn@aol.com 

A land flowing with milk and honey

Two weeks ago we collected the honey , we got about 25 liters from 5 hives.  Today they weer back to check the hives, and already the frames are so full that they are ready to overflow the hive ..

not just the produce, its looking like a bumper crop of honey as well 

The goats are doing great as well, they have received the cheeses cultures from Kazakhstan so they are able to start making other varieties of cheese. so now starts the experimenting while they work out the bugs .

plain cheese 

cultured Chevre cheese  

a vision turns to a reality

From the very first time I saw the garage at Podgorna farm , I could envision it being an awesome space to make a canning kitchen.  big space, high ceilings,  big double garage doors opening into the car port, soon to be dinning hall.. it even has a cold cellar to store all the goods.  Maybe it is my training as a commercial chef, but the thoughts of it excited me.  

Garage in May when we bought it .

Over the last few weeks we have been busy painting and cleaning , and putting in the double Kazan cookers.  then arranging all the tables, counters and setting up a work space .  

Today we went into production.. what an exciting time .. Jengish's Mom is the pickle master, so she came out to get them rolling .   

It was just a few weeks ago that we put the call out for help with this . money to build the stove and money for the jars and other canning supplies .. the call was quickly answered and work was completed just in time .. 

The entire space is in use , inside and out .. 56 feet of counter space filled with jars .

Emma is pealing and adding the garlic 

a huge assembly line was set up .. 

Tanya came by to pick up produce for the mens home 

 All that canning, and we hardly made a dint in the pickles, and were still able to send extra food to the 270 men at the mens home .  Today the mens home , yesterday was the Red river orphanage with 120 kids .. Take a look at what the extra's were today .. Squash, pumpkins, spaghetti squash , watermelons, beats, cornflour, zucchini, cucumbers, corn, beans, egg plants and onions . 

One more time I would like to thank everyone that trusted with us to buy food shares and help us put the seed into the ground .. 

It was a little early, but the workers got a special treat today .. sweet corn.  generally in Central Asia they eat what we have as cattle corn, so this sweet  tender treat was extra special.   

The new cucumber plants have just pocked their heads through the plastic, so its time to fertilize them. 

The Chinese long beans are ready to start harvesting now as well. 

 

I think they will be a big hit in tomorrows food drops .

We have only sold 62% of the food shares, so we will eventually try to set up some sales in Kyrgyzstan, but that will take time and a little leg work.. As you can see with everything going on, that's just too much to have Jengish and Emma doing, so for now they will just give it all away, and when I get there next month we can start working on a few sales out lets for our goods.  

Maybe some one would like to buy a few more shares, and we have 38 left, they are just $60 each, no doubt, well worth every penny .  

Great weekend

Last weekend we were in Quebec with limited internet so we did not have a chance to do any update on the blog.  It was nice , we were able have the boys with us.  We started the trip off with a bubble bath in the hot tub before shutting it down., the boys loved that. 

It was a nice time we had.  We got some time to relax as well as visit with some great friends and supporters.   We even had a special visit with one of the last of the Kyrgy 65 to make it home

. They came for the weekend and stayed with us   

Seconds after this picture was taken Jonah caught a huge bullfrog that promptly jumped out of the net, and landed on Eli's head,  then off my shoulder and out the front of the canoe..  That sure gave Eli something to talk about for the rest of his trip.

I got a few updates from the farm while we were away .  

Our friend Anne gave us some sunflower seeds when she visited the farm.  They are doing well . 

Here is Acelbeck with some boys on the farm , this is where the old garage used to be.  It is getting all cleaned up now .

Flowers are looking nice 

the peppers are just about ready 

and the carrots are starting to fill out as well 

These are the Chinese long beans .. they grow about 2 feet long each  

Next Sunday we will be at the light house in Espanola ..If you are in the area we would love to see you. 

On our way to Quebec

We are getting ready to hit the road again tomorrow morning.  Our next stop is July 19...... Saint-Andre-Avellin followed by 

July 26 ..... Espanola

Aug 2 ....... Peterborough

 We are looking forward to a great visit with some more wonderful friends.  

We had such a great time in Stirling reconnecting with many wonderful people who have such a heart for those we help in Kyrgyzstan.  

Sitting at my kitchen table working on the next presentation, I can look out the back field and watch the wild life .. deer, turkeys, and even the odd bear wanders out into the field.  

Back in Kyrgyzstan it has been very hot this week .. 43 c or 105 F .  so we have pulled the kids in off the field, and they will have to keep them selves occupied inside , or in the pool .  Jengish says you know its hot when the dogs are sitting in the puddles 

The geese love the water on a day like this as well.  Goosey has a new friend , he is second from the front in this picture below, and the goose beside him is his buddy.  Emma was saying that Gossey had fallen over and his friend came and sat down beside him , and one time the ducks where giving him a hard time, and his friend, the same one , came to the rescue and chased them away.  Julie says we just need to train him to help Gossey up when he falls over and we will be all set . 

The kids love the pool too , even visitors to the farm are quick to cool off. 

They have started bottling the honey .  Our first batch we got 25 liters, enough for 50 of these jars.  we will try to sell them to help with the sustainability of the farm, but if anyone would like to by some for us to add to the food hampers for the seniors or the orphanages or something like that , we can do that too. I am sure it would be a real treat for them .. exceedingly and abundantly more then they could ask or imagine 

Gossey is still growing

Today they were all working back at Podgorna farm , getting all the weeding done.  Again the broccoli turned out to be cauliflower there as well.

Kolya is on cooking detail today so he make them a nice baked veggie stir fry for lunch 

tomatoes are starting to ripen nicely 

onions are looking good as well .  they will be ready in time to go into the salsa sauce

These beans are a  Chinese long beans that are great in stir fries and and also for pickling for in salads .   We have a good big patch of these that will be ready to start picking in another week or two, and like the others , as long as we keep picking them, they keep growing .  the bean pod grows to about 2 feet in lengths . This bean patch is where the kids are weeding in the photo below .

Goosey has such love and admiration for Emma, when he is not stomping around getting into trouble he is happy to just stand and stare at her. 

He still gets into a little mischief from time to time but doesn't go far because he still falls over.  in the pictures below he is playing with the toilet paper , and then in the kitchen for a little snack of cabbage and carrots .   

 Emma says she is not sure how much more of him she can handle, she says she loves him but cleaning up after him is getting old  , soon she will have to leave him on the farm in the evenings as well.