Changoi was blessed by the visit of Elephant. Seen here crossing the ‘Lelsa’ section of Changoi the elephant spent some time enjoying Changoi’s wildlife areas before heading off towards the Tinderet forest. We are unsure why this elephant was alone but they seemed in good health and we were sad to see them leave. Unfortunately elephants are very unusual […]
This month on the Tinderet farm trials have begun a trial to naturally control the destructive burrows of the African mole rat. The small indigenous mammals can burrow up to 15 feet an hour creating a maze of burrows that disrupt soil stability, plant roots and cause havoc in the tea fields. The Tephrosia vogelii, a […]
This National Tea Day we want to encourage transparency in where your tea comes from. In a time when we are questioning supply chains and their ecological impact more than ever we believe in customers knowing where their tea is from. All our tea is grown on our four Kenyan farms, each with their own […]
As part of the Williamson Tea Foundation’s continued efforts to explore and develop new agricultural systems and enterprises for the good of the environment and the farms our team trialled a small remotely controlled drone over Changoi. The old adage of ‘supervision, supervision and supervision’ being the key to good farm practice and crop management […]
In the past month the farms have experienced generally colder days. Rainfall has been higher than previous years, much to the appreciation of the tea bushes after a dry summer! Although the weeks have been scattered with grey days the solar panels have collected enough energy to totally power the Changoi farm and tea factory […]
This month we were delighted that our teas coming top in the Tea Classes competition. This competition is an industry wide contest, grading the tea leaf to evaluate it’s quality and condition determining it’s price . Hundreds of teas as judged and we were delighted to do so well overall. Our Kapchoura teas faired particularly […]
With extreme weather patterns seeming to be the topic of the news this month, our farms too have suffered. On Changoi farm, otherwise known as our sunshine farm due to it’s typically bright weather and home to the largest solar panel park in east Africa, we have experienced extreme hail storms. These unexpectedly sudden storms, […]
Within our Tinderet farm, known as place of lightening for its frequent violent storms, we have been furthering our sustainability by preventing soil erosion through the targeted planting of native trees along key water catchment and flow areas. These trees bind the soil together and reduce soil erosion, as well as regulating the flow of […]
Lying on the Eastern slopes of the Nandi hills, Kapchorua is our highest altitude farm at close to 7,000 feet above sea level, it’s steep slopes are home to Kenya’s characteristic rich, dark reddish soils. The tea bushes grow slowly here leading to tea leaves with a brisk, sculpted flavour and bright, rich colour and taste. […]
With an official SOS sent out by the UN over the growing threat posed by a drought in Kenya the lack of rainfall is now seriously threatening tea production this year, with tea bushes stressed and in particularly badly effected areas dying. We are anxiously hoping that the rains come soon!
With the damp and darkness of January already behind us and quite possibly all the good intentions of healthy lifestyles and gym memberships faded since the New Year we felt we should start the journey around our four farms with Tinderet, home of our Green Teas and hopefully remind everyone that the easiest way to […]
