Agriculture
A yam set for Guinness record
Written By: Michael Odigbe
05 Nov 2024 01:58 AM
I have a small organic garden ìn Edo State where I nurtuŕe aloe vera plant, basil, waterleaf, bitter leaf and a fruiting grape tree.
Within this garden, i have a little rectangular area near the fence where I plant yams every year.
In 2024, i continued my experimentation of using bags to plant yams for the second year.
Unlike the previous years of good harvests by November, I discovered that by September my yam leaves had dried up prompting me to start harvesting my eleven yams with joy.
But I gòt a shocker. Terrible!!! The harvest was very poor. It was the worst ìn my career as a small-time garden farmer.
At this juncture, my attention turned to a 'strange' yam I planted two years ago. When in 2023 it was sprouting, it did so with several fat climbers/ outgrowths that rejected stickprops. Instead, they grew straight upwards unaided, overshot the branches òf my grape tree nearby and on getting to the tree top the climbers/outgrowths covered there with a green tapestry of their leaves.
Frankly, I was afraid of the yam haven never seen such a yam type before. I felt the yam was a poisonous one so, I didn't harvest it in 2023.
In 2024, this year, the 'strange' yam began to sprout. In anger, I always cut of the climbers/outgrowths whenever they appeared.
One day, my younger sister Blessing visited and as we sat under the shade of my grape tree and the covering overgrowth of lush green leaves of the 'strange' yam, I complained about the nuisance value of the 'strange' yam to her vowing to always cut off its climbers/ outgrowths each time they come up.
She advised against such action, explaining in a lengthy lecture that the yam is of the stock of the Gwari ethnic group living in Northern Nigeria known traditionally to carry their loads on their shoulders.
I listened to her counsel and let the 'strange-yam be.
On October 11, 2024 I decided to harvest the yam to create a way for my landlady who is preparing to holistically rehabilitate the house.
Ordinarily; l would have allowed all the eleven climbers/outgrowths of the yam to dry off. But there was no time for this plan. I was compelled by circumstance to start the harvesting of the yam on October 11, 2024 not a better period of December 2024 when the yam is fully ready for harvesting from agricultural calculations.
On preliminary contact with the big head of the yam, my archaeological wisdom informed me I won't be able to dig up the yam within a day.
Therefore, I took my time in harvesting the yam.
Ultimately, the harvesting period lasted for 5 days ending on October 15, 2024.
I searched for an appropriate scale to weigh the yam. No dice. It was a very frustrating experience All I got was a volunteered hospital scale from a friendly POS operator that cannot bear the weight òf the yam using my intuition and common sense.
That is why today I don't know the weight of the yam.
Nevertheless, here is the measurement of t.he yam:
Head – 43inches
Middle – 23 inches
Widest Region of bottom – 12 inches
Length – 60inches
Within this garden, i have a little rectangular area near the fence where I plant yams every year.
In 2024, i continued my experimentation of using bags to plant yams for the second year.
Unlike the previous years of good harvests by November, I discovered that by September my yam leaves had dried up prompting me to start harvesting my eleven yams with joy.
But I gòt a shocker. Terrible!!! The harvest was very poor. It was the worst ìn my career as a small-time garden farmer.
At this juncture, my attention turned to a 'strange' yam I planted two years ago. When in 2023 it was sprouting, it did so with several fat climbers/ outgrowths that rejected stickprops. Instead, they grew straight upwards unaided, overshot the branches òf my grape tree nearby and on getting to the tree top the climbers/outgrowths covered there with a green tapestry of their leaves.
Frankly, I was afraid of the yam haven never seen such a yam type before. I felt the yam was a poisonous one so, I didn't harvest it in 2023.
In 2024, this year, the 'strange' yam began to sprout. In anger, I always cut of the climbers/outgrowths whenever they appeared.
One day, my younger sister Blessing visited and as we sat under the shade of my grape tree and the covering overgrowth of lush green leaves of the 'strange' yam, I complained about the nuisance value of the 'strange' yam to her vowing to always cut off its climbers/ outgrowths each time they come up.
She advised against such action, explaining in a lengthy lecture that the yam is of the stock of the Gwari ethnic group living in Northern Nigeria known traditionally to carry their loads on their shoulders.
I listened to her counsel and let the 'strange-yam be.
On October 11, 2024 I decided to harvest the yam to create a way for my landlady who is preparing to holistically rehabilitate the house.
Ordinarily; l would have allowed all the eleven climbers/outgrowths of the yam to dry off. But there was no time for this plan. I was compelled by circumstance to start the harvesting of the yam on October 11, 2024 not a better period of December 2024 when the yam is fully ready for harvesting from agricultural calculations.
On preliminary contact with the big head of the yam, my archaeological wisdom informed me I won't be able to dig up the yam within a day.
Therefore, I took my time in harvesting the yam.
Ultimately, the harvesting period lasted for 5 days ending on October 15, 2024.
I searched for an appropriate scale to weigh the yam. No dice. It was a very frustrating experience All I got was a volunteered hospital scale from a friendly POS operator that cannot bear the weight òf the yam using my intuition and common sense.
That is why today I don't know the weight of the yam.
Nevertheless, here is the measurement of t.he yam:
Head – 43inches
Middle – 23 inches
Widest Region of bottom – 12 inches
Length – 60inches
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