August: Wrapping Up

View from a Baptist church window in Imvepi

Dear All,

I hope that you are doing well! Having just landed back in the U.S., I wanted to share a final post to wrap up our 2025 field season in Imvepi.

With the forest biodiversity school program and community feedback meetings completed at the end of July, our field team was mainly focused the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) field trials in August. This included weeding and measuring soil moisture, temperature, and maize growth.

Unfortunately, the maize did not fully mature until after I left Imvepi in mid-August. Robilert and Alex, however, oversaw the complicated process of 1) harvesting maize from inner 3m x 4m sections within each treatment plot, 2) measuring total cob weights for each plot, 3) weighing shelled kernels for each plot, then 4) measuring the kernel moisture levels so that we can make standardized yield comparisons across biochar, agroforestry, and crop-only plots. They did a wonderful job managing the crew, and sent the following photos:

Maize shelling and measuring moisture content

They also have been harvesting pumpkins which were grown along the outskirts of the field trials. We are growing for the field team, as well as the landowners and farm workers helping us throughout the season. All of the pumpkin seeds I saved last year from open-pollinated varieties found at Imvepi's Point J marketplace.

Pumpkins harvested from the CSA field trial boundaries

Wild Fruit Foraging

In August some of our favor wild fruits and berries ripened, so we frequently stopped to harvest and enjoy them after working on the field trials. These include Grewia mollis and Hoslundia opposita berries (in the top two and bottom two rows, respectively).

Also, our friend Lilly shared Saba comorensis fruits with us, which grow on vines in the tops of trees along the riverbank. Saba fruits are yellow, tart, and used to treat yellow fever and heart ailments.

Lilly with Saba comorensis

Coffee and Pumpkin Meetings

As a research team we hold weekly Wednesday morning meetings under the veranda at Alex's home. His wife prepares for us strong black coffee which keeps us wired all day long. It has become a ritual we all enjoy, and a chance to catch up, make work plans, and share lots of laughter. As pumpkins come into season, his wife also served us thick pumpkin chunks with salt as a tasty coffee accompaniment.

Alex's wife prepares coffee over a woodstove, and serves with chunks of pumpkin

Wednesday coffee meeting under Alex's veranda

Attending a Baptism

During my last week in Imvepi, I was able to attend a baptism for Lilly's grandson at their small Baptist church in Village 18. I left basecamp on foot around 7am and walked all the way across the settlement, arriving at Lilly's home for pre-church coffee at 9am. The church is only a five minute walk from her home, and as always, the energy so uplifting and music electric. At the end of the service, Lilly's grandson and one other baby were baptized with water dripped over their heads as clergy read scripture translated into Kakwa. It was a moving experience, and a lovely way to wrap up my 2025 stay in Imvepi.

Scenes from a Sunday baptism in Imvepi

After leaving Imvepi I spent a few days in Kampala and the town of Jinja, to see the source of the Nile for the first time. It was nice to cool off and relax a bit after many months in Imvepi. Back in the U.S. now, I will soon head to Blacksburg for the final Fall semester of my PhD. I will be returning to Uganda in the wintertime, however, and look forward to sharing updates from Imvepi fieldwork 2026.

In the meantime, I wish you all the best. Don't hesitate to be in touch!

Sarah

View of the Nile from Jinja, Uganda