Unveiling What Lies Just a Few Steps Away

At times, it is good to explore your surroundings and even the community, especially if you just moved into a new place. Although not many people like going out when they don’t have business outside, it is still a good idea to get familiar with the new environment. Even in an old environment, one still needs to be well aware of it.

There is no need to always turn exploration into an excursion or travel far away when you haven’t even explored your immediate community. There is a saying that a man is not much celebrated in his own community because his people already know him well. So it is not an exaggeration to say that what we already have is often valued less than what we do not possess.

That being said, it has already been more than a year since we relocated to our new house. My husband is the type who doesn’t come home every day because of work, and I have not been able to explore anywhere since we moved in last year.

It was not until recently that a neighbour of mine mentioned that there were people farming close to us, something I had not even noticed. They planted pepper, tomatoes, vegetables, cucumber, and even condiments used for jollof rice.

So just yesterday, I followed him to see the activities of those farmers and, at the same time, to buy pepper and look around. As we embarked on the short journey, we walked for about two minutes and came across a small hut. I was told that the man living there is a palm wine tapper and also a hunter. He even has a place prepared for ethanol production. I was amazed at how everything was set up. We didn’t meet him at home, so we proceeded to our destination, which was about another two minutes’ walk. On the way, we came across a small stream, and we had to make a little detour to find another route.

Eventually, we were able to pass through another path and finally arrived at the farm. The place was beautiful to see. I asked them how they were able to plant everything and also keep them in good shape. There, I learnt about the different methods of planting pepper and the kind of pesticides I can use when they show unwanted signs.

As we were leaving, we went home with a lot of pepper, tomatoes, and other farm produce. We were even told that if we needed anything, we could always check with them as long as they still had their productions.