Naa Oyoo Quartey

She walked into Vida E Cafe and I couldnt help but admire her delicately twisted long cornrow braids. Even from a distance, the hair looked soft and healthy. Her name is Yasmin Baba, a lawyer at Sam Okudzeto & Associates . She was super friendly and agreed to a quick 5 minute chat about her natural hair journey.

How Long Have You Been Natural ?

Yasmin: 10 years now.

Why The Decision To Go Natural?

Yasmin: My relaxed hair was breaking actually from all the straightening and relaxing. I just started braiding alot and naturally my hair turned coily so I left it at that. I didnt cut it.

Have You Had Any Challenges At Work Concerning Your Natural Hair?

Yasmin: I havent. It was actually surprising. I do get quite a number of compliments.

What's Your Maintenance Routine Like?

Yasmin: I am very low maintenance I must admit. I wash and condition normally. I usually also braid to protect my hair and I also cut it like once a year. In the past three years I have done a proper cut to about two inches short to start all over. ☺️

Do You Have Any Particular Natural Hair Products You Use ?

Yasmin: No. I only use Shea Butter. I just choose to be as natural as possible so I use oils like Olive oil or Coconut oil. All of them in their raw state.

#MyKpenkpeshie is a natural hair feature on the everyday Ghanaian woman and her natural hair journey. It's a collection & curation of stories by Ghanaian women as they recount childhood memories, natural hair care tips, societal reactions to their change and more.

I got a call from an interested participant in the upcoming #DGBizWomen Digital Skills & Literacy Training Workshop in which I will be leading as a Trainer alongside Jemila Abdulai (Circumspecte) and Efo Dela. She wanted to know why she should sign up to the workshop and what she stands to gain.

Although I was slightly surprised I was nevertheless happy she asked. This is to add to what I took her through during the conversation.

Why should you as a woman require digital skills and be digitally literate?

Let's take the scenario of you being a professional woman in the corporate world and why you need these skills.

1. The career industry is evolving with an increase in demand for more digitally skilled personnel. Things have gone beyond knowing and using Microsoft Word & Excel. There's cloud storage applications, productivity apps, etc which many organisations are using today and it's essential to know why these apps exist and when to use them for whatever purpose.

2. In this economy, having a day job is no longer sufficient to meet your needs and an alternative source of income is more important than ever. You can easily do this if your idea involves the selling of tangible products. This is achievable by owning a custom storefront / online store where you dont have to worry about rent and other overhead costs. This is one of the modules which will be taught during the workshop.

3. You need to brand yourself professionally online using appropriate social media tools in order to attract prospective employers. How can you do this? That is what Jemila will be training on as well.

Another scenario is if you are a woman entrepreneur in any industry and naturally you want to increase sales so as to make a profit;

1. You need digital skills on social media to be able to acquaint yourself on strategies on how to connect with your fans with the right messages and content. How can you turn likes to sales? This is another area which we will focus on during the workshop.

2. Many women entrepreneurs in Ghana either have a tangible product on sale or are offering a service in one form or the other. Whether you are a model, a baker, a bag or accessory maker, etc how can you brand yourself on social media for prospective clients to make an offer for what you do? Discover this as well at the workshop.

3. How can you sell more on your e-commerce website and on social media? There are proven strategies to ensure conversions on your website from your social media pages and this is an opportunity to learn how.

If you are a student, you need digital skills in addition to the other skills you build in school. There's no excuse for you as a student to say there's no opportunity for digital skill development. 😀 for the youth.

During this workshop I will be leading on start and grow your e-commerce business. This will entail setting up a store, loading up your products, taking quality photos and how to sell the products using social media.

Register here to book your seat. We have special discounts for students as well and if you are a student you can contact me directly via the contact on the poster.

That's a really long blog title 😅. Most mornings, I like to prepare breakfast and sometimes lunch for hubby to take to work. It not only saves us the cost of eating out but it’s also a healthier option as I get to give him all the greens to chew. 😂😂. He calls it chewing grass 😘🌱🌱😄

I mused on what to make as a quick brekkie yet with some well packed nutrients. I didn’t have any meats but I had some leftover greens which I had bought a week ago. Hey! I could make a chicken sandwich using last nights chicken stir-fry which had a few pieces of chicken left in the sauce. It was going to be so doable. YAASS!!

Reusing leftovers are perfect ways to create new recipes and this was going to be just too chill. Psyched, I jumped out of bed to start preparations. I had bought lettuce from this very friendly roadside green grocer at Labone Junction about a week ago but they still looked quiet okay and not too limpy. Very usable. I love how fresh our new Samsung refrigerator keeps vegetables fresh. No lie. 😎There was no way I was going to throw out these greens.

I have been trying to reduce food waste in my home by reusing leftovers. Did you know any food you discard as a consumer adds to food waste? Ugh..huh. Yep. Let’s get to this, rite now!

Wash the lettuce in salt water and sprinkle vinegar on them to wake them up, slice tomatoes and onions in thick slices and grate mozzarella cheese on the side. If you don’t have cheese no sweat at all, you can skip it.

This was going to a simply delicious to the heavens kind of sandwich.

Preheat oven grill at Gas Mark 2

Chop up the chicken to make the sandwich less bulky.

Smother brown bread ( healthier than white) with Dijon mustard spread. You can easily find this on most supermarket shelves. Even in Makola.

Arrange the lettuce, tomatoes and onions as pretty as you can.

Sprinkle on chopped or shredded chicken on top of that. How generous do you want to be?

Beautiful isn’t it? Almost done..

Add grated Mozarella on top of the chicken and pop the open yummy-looking sandwich into the heated grill.

Give it some 3-and-a-half minute for cheese to melt but not brown.

Take out.

See what I said? Beautiful. Gorgeous. Insanely Beautiful. Oh the colours! The melted cheese flirting with all that meat and vegetables 😍😍😍.

Wrap into an aluminum foil and straight into a Ziploc bag if you want to take this to work like my hubby.

If not, please do not hold back and eat immediately! This chicken sandwich which is a leftover recipe to reduce food waste is a fantastic way of reducing food waste in our home and the country at large.

Although I didn’t get my share, hubby graciously gave his verdict. But what I didn’t expect was that he couldn’t wait to get to work and literally finished it in traffic on his way to work! Who does that?

Here I was hoping he would enjoy this at his workplace to give his colleague green envy but nooo! 😂

Have you noticed how some foods actually taste better the next day? Think of Jollof, Kpokpoi (Homowo meal), etc.

I was very happy to have reduced our food waste today. Coincidentally, I later got to realize that this Sunday coming was going to be World Food Day #WFD2016. This year’s theme will be focused on how the climate is changing and why the methods of food and agriculture must also change.

What are you doing to reduce food waste in your home? Please do share in the comments below to save not only money but our planet.

One of the realities of marriage is the time, place and amount of sex you can have. You can have it at the oddest of times, strangest of places and uncountable times depending on several circumstances, ceteris paribus.

Personally, sex in the morning with my husband is like the best time ever to unleash passions. The body is more relaxed to enjoy the sensations of touch, movement and everything else in between.

Wait, I am getting to the headline. Chill. It was Sunday morning and we were getting ready for church and I decided to be naughty small and literally jumped my husband! Or rather pounced. I am not going into the gritty details to worry your eyes but all I will say is…I felt incredible! Empowered! 💪🏾💪🏾💃

We set off for church and as I bathed in the glorious afterglow 🌟 I couldn’t help but think of what a blessing it was to literally shag ( someone said this word is outmoded) my husband, go to church and lift up holy hands in worship in church or perhaps on top of him (TMI?) . It was such a free and exhilarating feeling! So since my fingers can get quiet twitchy especially with such deep thoughts, I tweeted it. The bird flew off before I could change my mind 😁.

I showed it to hubby who laughed his head off and said I should wait till the Twitter boys got their hands on that tweet. It would be hilarious, I said to him. But I don’t think I considered the magnitude of that tweet and how far it would get. Church service was great! Choir ministration saw me lifting up holy hands in thanks and appreciation.

By Sunday night, the tweet had been retweeted 800+ times. Shocker! What really amazed me was that most people quoted the tweet and added ‘Gooaalss’ ‘ This is Lit!’, '🔥🔥', ‘ You do all!’. I was astounded! I had broken Ghanaian Twitterdom.

By Monday the tweet was in the thousands and we also realized that @SubDeliveryMan had also retweeted so naturally Nigerian Twitter jumped on. Kai! It was a roller coaster from then on. When was it going to stop? 😅

One of my favourite moments in marriage is shagging my husband proper on a Sunday morning and being able to lift up holy hands in worship 😎
— #GhanaDecides (@OyooQuartey) October 2, 2016

Then I started getting screenshots from friends at church who came across it on their timelines. #DEAD. I thought about this for awhile and wondered why this happened. I have tweeted loads of things over the years but why did this tweet in particular generate such engagement? 🤔

The reason why I believe it was quoted as goals was because that’s the aim of every single person out there. Well for Christian singles anyway. Fornication is rife and trying not to fornicate in an age where sex is seen as, “ if you don’t do it you aren’t cool” and where sexual images and videos can easily be watched with a single tap of a finger, is tougher than munching on 6inch nails. I have been there.

I did fornicate during my singlehood or when I was in the dating phase. Even when I met my boyfriend, now my husband. Yes, I wasn’t a virgin when I got married. Sorry Mom. 😝 The fornication sin can cling so hard to you if you have had sex before. You always get the feeling to do it for the last time and repent. But you find yourself giving in to the man who is showing some promise of being THE MAN. But after doing it, you just don’t feel right. Yep. I never felt right after fornicating, even during the act I was struggling inside. Then I would find myself in church unable to lift up my hands to worship because I felt very guilty and would rather kneel and confess my sins

When we decided to abstain, trust me that was incredibly a very difficult time. It led to fights, cold war and whatnots. I had to be strong. It actually got easier along the way till the wedding night. We were knackered but we got it on before passing out.

Now that I am married, there’s no guilt or shame before, during and after sex. I am actually obeying Scripture by fulfilling my duties as a wife and he as a husband. Freedom bi what? I can go to church and lift up both hands and thank God for the gift of sex and how wise God is because truly sex in marriage to your husband (not someone else’s) is worth the wait.

Pre-marital sex was heart-pumping and all but to me that’s just the pricking of the Holy Spirit telling you to stop but your flesh is also hard at work poking at you (perhaps that's his D) not to. The danger of it all, getting caught at it, disobeying your parents, not listening to your mind, just boils into a cascading wave of raw emotions and desire. That’s fornication for you. After, you can deal with the guilt and sometimes pain especially when the man dumps you for another woman. Now you are left wondering and anguishing, ‘after I gave my body to him, how could he do this to me?’ That's one experience I will never forget! Then I will swear to abstain till I get married. Not easy. Sometimes relationships end because one person wants to abstain whilst the other for whatever reason doesn't.

It was fascinating to read the responses of many people concerning this tweet.

One guy shamefully copied and edited my tweet just to get retweets but my beautiful fans quickly caught him at it and exposed him. But did he repent. Nope.

I was told by a friend that his female work colleagues had taken ascreenshot of the tweet and it had become a discussion amongst them. Wow!

I also believe that once in awhile it’s good to share some personal experiences on social media which other’s can learn a few lessons from. An example was my layoff which was my most popular post of all time!

Another reason may have been that, its not common to have a married African woman saying something like this on Twitter. As married women we need to talk more about the realities of marriage for those coming in to be aware of some things. I am not saying to reveal all but there are lessons out there, which can benefit those yet to walk down the aisle.

Could the last reason be that we love sex topics? But don’t want to admit it? Yet when someone shares their experience it gets quite a buzz out there?

My followership increased by almost 30 followers within three days! Does that mean, more ‘exclusive’ revelations are expected from me? Hmmmm….

I have heard people say, 'Ah but if you don't test the car, how sure are you that it will work?' to support their arguments on pre-marital sex. If the one you are going to be with is surely THE ONE, you don't have anything to worry about. God's got you. Like 100%. 😉 Have faith.

It’s been almost 2 weeks since we held the digital skills & literacy training workshop for todays woman #DGBizWomen . The workshop which was organized by Circumspecte & OneBaobab was attended by several women from different startup backgrounds such as the beauty, event planning, food and fashion industry.

As a digital trainer for the workshop, I was very excited at sharing my knowledge one-commerce and social commerce with the attendants. Many small businesses are signing up on several e-commerce platforms like Storefoundry, MyAhonya, Jumia etc, but how to market their online stores on social media is forever a challenge. That was where I hoped to bring practical solutions and knowledge to the attendants.

We had a late start as we waited for attendants to turn up but once we started it was full speed ahead!

I started with the basics and benefits of ecommerce, challenges facing the e-commerce industry in Ghana. We then had a long look at how to setup an online store using Storefoundry’s platform. Attendants were particularly excited about the social commerce so as to understand why they weren’t making sales on their online store. Many questions flowed in and as I explained what they were not doing right, many of them couldn’t help but nod in understanding.

The e-commerce practical session involved how to take great photos for an online store without breaking the bank. They were amazed at the tutorials and how really simple it was to take product photos using a smartphone. We went through how to make a flatlay product arrangement to taking jewellery shots.

Jemila Abdulai of Circumspecte had her turn on how brands can amplify their voice on social media.

Session Facilitator Efo Dela collaborated and coordinated the practical session.

What I found particularly interesting was the diverse background of the attendants who although few had a common vision of improving their digital skills and knowledge.

Amma a UK Resident queries Efo Dela on Social Media for Her Upcoming Brand

They made the commitment and took action to come to a workshop, which would benefit not just themselves and their businesses but also the community through the employment of Ghanaians.

Abigail, CEO of Absolute Needs

EvitaJoseph of EJBeautyStore

Beauty Entrepreneur Faustina Mensah of GlamourousYou with Jemila.

Perpetual of GarlandsGh

In a digitally enriched business environment, its essential for women entrepreneurs to empower themselves with the right digital skills to grow their businesses. The time to develop our digital skills and close the technology knowledge gap is now. Internet is becoming cheaper to access and there are more applications being developed everyday to make productivity and businesses more effective.

Follow @OneBaobab and @Circumspecte for updates on future digital training workshops.

I have stayed in many hotels in Ghana 🤔 that's pretty interesting now that I think of it . I haven't counted but I know I have stayed in low-budget (0 stars) to 3 star hotels in different parts of the country with each serving up a whole new experience altogether. Whether it's good or awful customer service, memorable menus, incredible ambiance or the most comfiest of hotel beds, the hotel industry experience is in the palm of my hand. Overall i would say that there's so much more exciting offerings hotels in Ghana can do to boost tourism in Ghana and add spicy adventures to the lives of Ghanaians.

There aren't many resorts in Ghana which have excited me as much as Aqua Safari Resort located in Big Ada. Trust me, very very few hotels in Ghana can get me all worked up.

I was struck by the mammoth wooden upside-down boat in the middle of the compound which greeted us through the windows of the Tuk Tuk hotel taxi. The taxi alone was super chill!

We were all oohs and aahs as we oogled. My eye got caught on a life-like pink pelican and I yanked my husband's arm to look . I almost lost it when the bird fluttered it's wings😝. A mini-zoo was right at the entrance to the hotels reception and me being an animal lover couldn't help going closer 😄.

The reception is housed in a partial gigantic ship hull. Decor pieces are subtly modern pieces with Ghanaian lifestyle touches in both the rooms and surrounding areas.

Equestrian outdoor artwork

Customer service at Aqua Safari was actually better and friendlier compared to some 2&3 star hotels in Ghana. Our bellhop was smart and friendly as he took our luggages to our room.

The room was clean and the bathroom cleaner and fresher! Although not a big bathroom, the shower was sizeable enough for even two. Think romantic showers 😎.

We didn't have any trouble with the standard room and the WiFi was pretty good for even a Google hangout call which my husband had later in the evening.

The resort restaurant faces the Volta River which passes through Ada to the sea via the estuary.

Front View of the Restaurant

Several outdoor seating areas closer to the river offer a much more intimate contact with the river. Better for selfies 😍. But do have some mosquito repellent on you just in case.

A few waterfront suites also face the river.

The food at Aqua Safari is just Okay. It's nothing fancy or tasty or memorable as compared to food at let's say Labadi Beach hotel.

The cherry which sits atop the cream at this resort are the water sports you can totally enjoy with your partner and friends. For about GHC 30 you can get 20 mins or so ride on a jet ski.

Although I was very hesitant to get on board the water jet ski, I soon found myself unable to get off. What heart throbbing madness! 😂

There was volleyball, badminton, larger boat rides and other sporting equipment available as well.

More hotels should consider incorporating fun gaming activities for couples whether for indoor or outdoor. Give value for customers money, I say.

Do pack an umbrella if you plan on heading there this weekend.

Price wise it's in the range of $$$ yet worth the value provided. You can also just go there for a day's trip to experience the water sports and riverside ambiance. Big Ada is just two hours or less (depending on who's driving) from the Tema Roundabout.

We had an incredibly wonderful time though short but with a promise to be back.

Which resort in Ghana is your favorite? Share a memorable experience at any resort you have stayed in in the comments below.

If you want to save more then you need to cut back on unnecessary expenses which are putting a dent in your bank account.

What are unnecessary expenses? These are basically things you don't need or things that you don't have a desire for. When you really sit down to think about the things which you are spending unnecessarily on, you would realise that they really are things you can cut back on.

Simple lifestyle changes like reducing the amount of coffee you buy from your favourite cafe, the number of times you eat out in a week to not buying the extra pair of shoes you buy every month.

This week as I continued on my journey towards saving for a vacation, I decided to cut out on the things I spent on last week.

• I skipped out on buying any soft drinks and chose to drink water instead.

• I ate more at home by preparing healthier home-made meals. Although groceries can be quiet an expense, if you buy in bulk for the month, it saves you more from eating out every week at expensive restaurants.

• My husband and I streamed a movie which was more cost-effective than going to the mall which would have cost us GHC70 minus snacks.

• Used the Barclays Savings Calculator to find out if I’m saving the right amount each month to reach my goal.

• Because I bought internet in bulk last week, I saved more data usage this week.

In all I have saved GHC13 this week. Not that internet is an unnecessary cost but buying data in bulk is a cost-saving measure compared to buying 5 cedis or 10 cedis every other day.

Our savings plan to travel may have taken a new turn. Instead of travelling outside, we are now considering exploring the new local resorts in Ghana. You may be surprised to know how many hidden & fantastic resort gems in Ghana. This is very exciting as it’s also an opportunity to discover other regions of the country and literally act like a tourist in my county.

We opened a joint savings account to use as our savings pot after budgeting for our trip. That way we will be able to determine how much interest we gain on the account through our joint efforts.

We also intend to automatise standing orders to transfer to the account so as to avoid long trips to the bank. Automising the transfers also prevents us from ‘seeing' the money. Less painful that way :-)

Since starting the savings plan we have saved about 10% towards our goal. I believe this is going to increase over time before the D-Day.

This article is the third in a series of sponsored posts for the BARCLAYS SAVINGS CHALLENGE. I hope the challenge has been as interesting for you as it has been for me. You can follow the discussion on Twitter and Facebook and share your own experience by using the hashtag #AFRICASAVES.

Visit https://goo.gl/9QbbAf for useful savings calculators, tips and more information on savings accounts.

" There really has to be more to make with garden-eggs aside garden egg stew 🤔." My exact thoughts racking my brain for some days now. I mean why are we only using this highly nutritious vegetable only in stews and soups? If it's not garden-egg stew then its chopped pieces of it lazing around in okro soup, light soup, palm-oil soup or groundnut soup. Eish! There's more to this vegetable than meets the eye. So to make things rather more interesting in my kitchen ( because I dont like one-way things) I created this rather unbelievably, earth-shattering recipe which exceeded my taste bud expectations! And trust me, I didn't know what to expect. 😅

I try to keep dinner light, easy and healthy. Late eating is definitely something I am against in our home as the effects of it can be quite dangerous (think of pot-bellies😖). Earlier today, I grabbed a pack of chicken thighs from Marina Mall and wondered what would be perfect with them chickens which hailed from Brazil. Imagine. Brazilian chicken thighs in Ghana. There was no local chicken in sight. I spiced it up with onions, chakalaka spice ( or any natural spice of your choosing), garlic and a bit of salt and placed it in the fridge to marinate till 6ish which gave it 4 hours of marinating time.

This recipe is super easy for you to make in a space of 30 minutes to finish if you have already meal prepped ahead of time. But if not then approximately 45mins minus the marinating of the chicken. Let's get right to the recipe shall we? *rubs hands gleefully*. 👏🏾

Ingredients

6 medium-sized garden-eggs

3 medium-sized tomatoes

1 medium-sized ripe plantain

1 chopped up spiced Chicken Thigh

A sprinkle of Oregano & Thyme

1 tsp milled dried Akweley waabi (Paprika)

Makes a meal for two.

The Easy Directions

1. Preheat oven to gas mark 4

2. Lightly coat the bottom of a glass baking dish with olive oil

3. Split garden eggs into halves and add to chopped tomatoes. Coat these with dry Thyme & Oregano.

4. Slice plantain into any shape you desire and add to the vegetables. Lightly sprinkle with salt.

5. Layer the plantain and veggies in the dish.

6. Next top up with the chicken pieces and sprinkle the paprika on everything.

7. Cover the baking dish with an aluminium foil to keep the moisture in for a more tender & juicy chicken.

8. Allow to bake for 25 minutes.

9. Use a fork to check if its done. If the fork goes in easy and the juices runs clear ( not bloody), you are good to go!

10. That's totally it!

Garden eggs are spongy in texture and it was a pleasing sight to see all the sponginess transformed into tantalising natural juices cooking with the chicken. What really made this dish noteworthy was the romancing balance between the sweet baked plantain and the slightly sour garden eggs! What perfection! Sweet mama! 😍 The garden eggs was well cooked that there was no need to separate the skin from the flesh. It all went down nicely. NEVER THROW OUT THE JUICES OHHH! The juices are very key here. You can always mop it up with a slice of brown bread or baguette like we did 😉.

The chicken which was spiced with the famous South African chakalaka flavouring gave the chicken a mellow sweetish spicy taste with hints of cumin. Too bad we didn't have a Chardonnay at hand. 😜

That's hubby's hand waiting to dig in. 😄

I would highly recommend this recipe if you are looking to make a quick but healthy early dinner. Garden eggs has been touted as a superfood for protection from blindness, preventing obesity, aiding digestion etc. I am back in love with it and never letting go again!

What else do you use Garden eggs for aside stew and in soups? I would love to know in the comments below.

Remember my recycled tyre project from earlier this year? I had to leave it behind after the wedding as they still had ginger and radish growing in them. I now had to start over in our matrilineal home and this was going to be tougher to even get started on. We live in an apartment building which has two other couples in the other spaces. With respect to land, we had a small backyard filled with plantain and a side area filled also with more plantain. The front yard is gravelled for car parking space. However, we had a soil-filled concrete wraparound which served as a flower pot for the entire building. That’s when I decided to use that area to grow my new batch of vegetables. There was also a a side yard which I got weeded for more direct soil planting but there are some stubborn Dandelions growing there and no matter the amount of uprooting they just seem to spring out all the time.

Harvested cucumber and seeds

There is usually one place I buy vegetable seeds from: the Agric shop (totally forgotten the name 😅) at the old Ministry of Agriculture on the Accra High Street opposite the Law Complex . Another place I recently bought more seeds from is the gardening aisle at ShopRite which stocks seeds from Starke Ayres. Sometimes the Agric shop doesn’t have what I am looking for so I go to my backup at the mall.

The cucumber seed packet had basic beginner planting instructions at the back so that was easy. Noteworthy: The seed packets at the Agric shop does not come with any planting tips. The following are planting tips on how I grew cucumbers in the concreted ‘flower pot’ portion of our house. I hope these will be a useful guide for you to start on your own home vegetable gardening project.

*Note- I am not a professional gardener or expert. I have followed gardening advice from several gardening websites which have led me here and in my pursuit of encouraging OFY (Operation Feed Yourself) I am sharing this with my audience.

1. Soil

I mixed the existing black soil with compost and mulch, which I bought at the Agric shop to enrich it. If you are looking for black soil to buy that’s pretty easy. Ask any of the guys selling the potted plants by the roadside especially in Cantonments and on the Spintex Road. Black soil is a mix of loam, sand, silt and clay soil which is pretty excellent for most vegetables you want to grow.

2. Planting the Cucumber seeds

Cucumber seeds are pretty large and delicious to some pests. Use your index finger to create about 2cm deep hole, place a seed in and lightly cover with soil. To prevent some pests from digging them up, cover the seeds with palm tree branches or plant in seedling containers for later transplant. I planted directly into the soil to avoid transplanting.

3. Germination

The seeds started germinating within 3 to 4 days to my utter surprise and delight. Keep watering lightly everyday.

4. Watering

Cucumbers love moisture so you have to make sure the soil is moisture-happy but not soggy. You can buy a small watering can to help you with this. Avoid over-watering and stick to once a day and early in the morning watering. Once the cucumbers germinate and reach a height of about 6 inches, increase to twice a day. Because I planted in the less rainy season towards harmattan, I increased watering to twice a day; morning and evening.

5. Composting

My compost from the Agric shop works wonders on the growing cucumber plant. Composting allows air, water and energy to move freely for the roots to enjoy healthy growth, increases nutrient content, ward of plant diseases etc. You can always create your own compost to ensure that the mix is indeed really organic. Check out this tutorial on how to make your own compost at home.

6. Trellising

Cucumber plants are vinery, i.e. they creep and climb over surfaces. You have to plan to make a trellis-which is easy to have made- for the plant to climb over. Why is this important? Because you also want to keep the cucumbers from being eaten by lizards and other pests, this will happen when the cucumbers develop on the soil. Thankfully, we don’t have lizards in our house. Well I actually haven’t seen any around yet which is quite odd, isnt it? I called Moses our joiner to make a simple trellis which I found on Pinterest. It can be a pyramid-shaped trellis like the photo below depending on where it’s being placed. There isnt much space in my concreted flower pot garden so I went with one-sided. Much to my chagrin, the plant is now climbing the window.

7. Pest Control

Lizards are common pests of cucumbers. Other pests are also listed here but I am yet to come across any in my garden. I nevertheless use neem leaves to control any pests that may be planning to stop by. Lucky for me, there's a neem tree growing right behind the outer wall so all i did was break off a branch, soak it in water for a day and using the same branch shake off droplets onto the cucumber leaves. Did you know Neem extracts have a rather unpleasant strong smell? 😖 Kai! But it works wonders 😀.

8. Fruition

Would you believe that I almost missed a full grown cucumber? It was hiding beneath the wide leaves in splendid silence. 😄 It takes 50-60 days for cucumbers to fruit. A little reading I did, educated me on how to identify a male flower from a female. My husband was pretty shocked to know that flowers had sexes 😂. Agriculture wasn’t one of his subjects in his Pure Science class. Forgive. So like I was saying, you need to know how to identify a male flower from a female. The male flower has a very short stem whilst the female’s is elongated at the bottom and once it’s pollinated, a cucumber starts developed. Fascinating!

Female flower with elongated stem growing into a baby cucumber

There will be about 10-20 male flowers before one female flower gets pollinated so don’t be alarmed when you see that many male flowers. Competition ay3 basaa!

8. Harvesting

Harvest cucumber when they are about 2 inches thick. You have to ensure they don’t ripen ( turn yellow) whilst on the vine. Delaying harvesting also can give you bitter cucumbers. That’s not cool for your salads though edible.

It’s been a real learning and fulfillingexperience for me from the time I started planting down to harvesting that single cucumber. There are currently 8 more growing steadily and I am super stoked! 🔥🔥

I made a decision for my home to eat homegrown vegetables not only for health reasons but also to inculcate that attitude of growing what we eat into our family’s lifestyle culture. It’s a lifestyle investment which will yield a rich harvest- all puns intended 😜-for me and my husband. Growing vegetables in our homes isn’t that difficult or time-consuming as some think. I am able to work on the garden for at least 15minutes and do other things as well.

Many modern houses in Ghana are concreting every available bare land during the construction stages. Most apartments are treeless. I recently saw a newly constructed apartment in Osu having artificial vine foliage hanging out of the balcony. Imagine! Garden areas in these modern complexes are mini-patches of grass with little left for even a rose bush. I have heard a number of people explaining this phenomenon as “no time to garden” and more popularly who’s going to clear all the leaves?” Excuses will not get us anywhere. Let’s develop that attitude of eating what we grow and growing what we eat like my friend Abigail does in her home. I do so admire her!

My friend Abigail proudly displays her harvested vegetables. What joy!

Have you planted any vegetables in your home before? What did you plant and what were the results? I would love to know more about your techniques too in home gardening.

Two days more and 2016 will be no more. Incredible isn't? 365 days have just gone by like that and a look back can either make you depressed, elated, disappointed or confident of days ahead. These are emotions that will arise depending on whether you were able to accomplish some set goals from the beginning of the year or failed to.

I have always regarded myself as being late and delayed in life. No, not late in attending events an activity that I have prided myself of not being guilty of. Rather, late in achieving goals I have set for myself, late in going through some phases of life. This realization came to me some years ago and I couldn’t but ponder on what this meant. Were the elements of life against my progression? Was I making the wrong decisions which were leading me to unknown, difficult and strange paths? Did the people in my life wrongly determine where I should be? Or perhaps, life was playing a delaying trick with me? These are the sort of negative thoughts that have plagued me at one point in time or the other. Negative thoughts but nevertheless ones which i was able to overcome through some drastic and strong determinant actions.

I finished secondary school with not good enough grades to enter the University; my Pure Science electives weren’t that great. That’s what happens when your Dad wants you to become a Doctor because most of his friends were Doctors. Several GSE exams later still in Science, I said no more. I was going to switch to Business and no one was going to stop me. By now most of my colleagues were in the University. Switching wasn’t as easy as I thought, as I had to take on Accounting, Economics, Business Management, etc. My Mom suggested going to Accra Poly DBS in Accounting then. What a sham that was! The Accounting rocked me! The teacher taught as though we already knew Accounting so all I saw were stars in class. I created mental blocks and told myself that Accounting was too hard. So I blasted that with my negative mindset and got out with a D. My undoing gone and done me in and I realized it. I didn’t give up and decided to write those same subjects this time in SSCE remedial and guess what I had straight A’s. Finally, University here I come. My mates had finished and they already had started in their entry-level jobs. I was 24 when I started the University. Oh did I mention I wrote SAT as well? What exams haven’t I written? That was an attempt to get me into University of Connecticut on a partial scholarship. My SAT results were pretty good! But life stepped in and I was bounced my US visa. Even with an i20 document.

I wanted to start building my resume early so I filled my vacation time with internships at Barclays Bank. By the time I was done with college my resume was quite rich with almost 8 months worth internships and working experience in the banking industry. Barclays loved me but I was tired of the monotony. So I moved on into the oil industry.

I felt I was late in travelling abroad. Most friends I knew were going on holidays in London and the States and yet I had a passport proudly displaying visa denied stamps. Bouncing be what!😅 I had tried three times whilst in school to go to the UK yet somehow the consul felt I wouldn’t come back to Ghana and continue my education. You know that brown envelope you get when going to pick up your passport from the embassy? The minute you get one, you know it's definitely not good news. My Mom said to stop applying and that God in His mysterious ways would bring me a Visa when I least expected it. I relented and decided to wait on God. After a few months in the oil industry, God made a way for me to go for training in Dubai. My first international trip was a Business Class one and in Dubai! After that came trips to the UK and USA. I never got bounced again. 😁

I felt I was late in getting married because society didn’t forget to let me know of this fact. One uncle of mine in ‘jest’ reminded me that my ‘Sell By” date was almost expiring. An old woman in the family suggested to my Mom one time that I should just get pregnant with someone’s husband and he will take care of me 🙄😒. Pressure!

My friends were getting hitched and I was dwelling in doubtful relationships with men who weren’t sure of what they wanted in a woman or which woman to choose from. It took me one trip to a resort far outside the city to reflect on my life and understand what I wanted in life, where I currently was and what I wanted in a man to cause a turnaround. I added loads of prayer of course. I realized how foolish I had been in the past relationships. The love which I thought I was in, was merely lust which had blinded me to so many things. I rededicated my life to Christ, made some spiritual changes and refocused on me. I worked on me for me. I had to make certain decisions which cost me some relationships. Would that decision lead to me being late in getting married? Yes. But sometimes you had to open your eyes to the truth. When you are dating someone who isn’t loyal, shows signs of unfaithfulness, don’t act desperate and cling on him. There will be a another man or woman who values you who will come along.

When you are dating someone who isn’t loyal, shows signs of unfaithfulness, don’t be desperate and cling on. Let him go.

I picked up forgotten passions and interests and had a blast whilst at it. Many men saw this glow about me which drew them like a horny moth to a flame. But I saw through their pretentious nature and desire to ‘get a quick taste’. Aben wo ha, bra na b3 di 😂. Men who later realize the mistake they made with you and new men who have fooled around for so long and see an opportunity with you. I said yes to one man who knew I was the one different from the others. I am married now and sometimes, I actually believe that had I said yes to certain men in the past things wouldn’t have worked out. I took time to learn more about marriage; read books by the late Myles Munroe who spoke practical relationship sense to me, attended personal development seminars and increased my participation in Singles events at church.

Are these enough to make you have a perfect marriage? No. They help but you have to do your part and make your marriage work the way you want it to. I later realized that had I rushed into accepting some enticing marriage proposal some years ago, I wouldn’t have survived. Indeed marriage they say is work. Prep yourself up for 2017 if you desire to get married. Marriage isn't a destination, its another step into a new phase of life.

Why all this plenty talk? Well, because the year is almost ended and you may feel like you didn’t get what you prayed for and you are late in attaining a goal you may have set for yourself this year. Or you may be feeling left behind as you watched many of your friends getting married; your plans to travel never came to pass; your plans of going back to school didn’t become a reality; your dream of starting a business never manifested.

It’s a scary place to be, I know. I have been there. That space of ‘why me’ is not a comfortable place to be in and you would rather be in a environment of thanking God for the answer to your prayers. You may have taken the step which everyone encouraged you to to start a business of some sort and yet you have nothing to show for it. This isnt your time to give up.

Many have gone on the same path as you have and they also trudged through the mud, fought giants and killed trolls on the way and made it to their destination.

As the year ends, get ready to make some drastic changes in your life. There are no shortcuts in this life. Shortcuts are only carefully disguised treacherous paths leading to more woe and destruction. They look easy, promising a quick fix yet with regrettable consequences. That feeling of being 'left behind' has to be dealt with to move forward into getting things right for 2017. It wont be a one day job for that I can assure you. I particularly find these incredible tips by MichaelHyatt on achieving goals for 2017 very useful as a guide for getting back on track in 2017.

Remember that life isn't a race neither is it to the swift. You aren't less of who you are just because you didn't the expectations of society or your own personal goals. Every day is a new opportunity to start anew. Disappointments will come but how you deal with them is what will propel you either forward or backwards.

Are you ready for 2017?

I must say that cooking white rice can be quite monotonous for me sometimes. Same old white rice being boiled in a rice cooker or on stove. It can get quite boring so tonight i decided to do something about it using dry herbs and some onions.

It's really exciting to discover new ways of cooking the simple foods we enjoy everyday.

A long time ago, my Mother taught me how to 'fry' rice in caramelised onions before adding water to cook the rice. This method is similar to what I made this evening. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Ingredients

2 cups of Cindy white rice

1 tablespoon dry herbs like thyme and oregano

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tsp of salt

For the Sauce

Half-tin of Corned Beef

2 cups of chopped tomatoes

1 medium-sized chopped onion

1 tablespoon dry milled paprika

half-cup of olive or vegetable oil

Salt to taste.

Instructions

1. Wash rice in room-temperature water, drain into a colander and set aside.

2. Place a saucepan on fire and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot add half of the chopped onions.

3. Allow onions to caramelize for about 5 minutes and add the washed rice and stir through to allow to fry over gentle heat for 5 minutes.

4. Sprinkle dry herbs over the rice and continue stirring to reduce a sticky saucepan bottom.

5. Add one half cup of water to rice and cover.

6. Place another saucepan on fire, pour in the oil and add the other half of the chopped onions.

7. Pour in the chopped tomatoes after onions caramelise.

8. Add a quarter cup of water to allow tomatoes to cook. Simmer over medium heat.

9 Add paprika and stir through.

10. The tomatoes will be cooked when the water drains and the tomatoes taken on a thick dar red color. Add the corned beef at this stage.

11. Sauce is cooked in about 15 minutes.

12. Serve rice with sauce and a side of vegetables if you have love for your greens.

The dry herbs combined with the caramelised onions were a match made in heaven 😍! The sauce was simple without an overwhelming taste of spices. You can decide to prepare the rice in a rice cooker if you want a shortcut but that doesn't give the right flavour if you ask me. A simple recipe for a memorable dinnertime with yourself or your family. Bon Appetit!

Did you like this recipe? What exactly did you like about it?

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