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read my profile sign my guestbook Name: wendy&richard Message: message me Member Since: 11/6/2006

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Posting Calendar

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

First Farmers Market experience

Our first outing to sell goods at the Farmers Market was highlighted by six inches of rain the night before and another five inches the day of the market. Despite that, we got it together and made a fair showing. We took a small selection of lettuce greens, arugula, kale, bok choy, turnips, honey, chayote squash, kaffir lime leaves.

Another project....We were finally able to rent a chipper and clean up a bunch of trees and debris that came down in a January windstorm. We hired a helper but he was sucked into the chipper.

Actually, we had two friends help Wendy and I, and we barely finished by 5:30 that night. We chipped a bunch of large branches and trunks that ended up being about 15 yards of compostable material. This was the smallest stuff we put in the chipper.

It felt great at the end of the day and we were exhausted.

4:20 PM - 14 views - add eprops - add comments - email it

Monday, March 02, 2009

It's been a cold winter so far...

We built a more permanent chicken pen in the garden. The larger plan includes fencing the entire garden and rotating the chickens through the portions that are not being used to grow food so they can work and fertilize the soil. Until they are full grown, the chickens need full time protection from 'Io, the Hawaiian hawk (pronounced eee oh) and mongoose.

We have lots of mongoose and they are ferocious little beasts. They will reach through chicken wire and grab unsuspecting chickens if they are close enough. Then they eat whatever part of the chicken they can pull through the wire....yup. We buried chicken wire ten inches deep all around the pen to keep them from digging their way in, and they have tried numerous times. We also added more wire around the base of the pen to keep their little arms and hands from reaching very far inside. Roofing and bird netting keep the 'Io's out while the chickens are smaller.

We started with twelve and still have twelve. We have fewer mongoose. The chickens are just over nine weeks old now.

Here is a great shot Wendy took of an 'Io with one of the mongooses we trapped and killed. BTW.... I don't like trapping them but; 1) mongooses are not native to Hawaii, 2) they are listed as one of the 100 most destructive, invasive species in the world and, 3) they really want to eat our chickens.

A parting shot of the cats doing their Yin Yang pose.

6:24 PM - 12 views - add eprops - add comments - email it

Friday, January 23, 2009

New Year happenings

New chicken coop...

and Rhode Island Red chicks having some papaya.

We have lots of new holes to plant in, thanks to a mechanized helper.

We were able to dig more than 50 holes in one day compared with two holes per back breaking day if done by hand.

This was a morning when unusual southerly winds brought fumes from the volcano directly over our property. What you see is called vog. It is a combination of water vapor (fog) and hydrogen sulfide gas....not very pleasant.

Same view, different beautiful day.

7:30 PM - 13 views - add eprops - add comments - email it

Saturday, December 13, 2008

December

The Sunn Hemp matured and was turned under in preparation for
planting.

Here is a recent view from our front gate. Lava is flowing downslope from Kilauea and entering the ocean, causing the steam plume in the background. It is visibly explosive at times and glows brightly at night.

This is the view back toward the gate.

Our new cat has decided she likes hanging out in the banana trees.

2:03 PM - 8 views - add eprops - add comments - email it

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Hurrah for President elect Obama!!

Here is the latest. The inside of the house is really starting to look and feel like the inside of a beautiful house.

Just a little bit more plastic furniture to replace next to the bed and in our closet.

The garden is coming along nicely. The cover crop of Sunn Hemp will be ready to turn under in a month or so.

And at last, we are almost finished rocking and landscaping the driveway areas near the house.

7:27 PM - 7 views - add eprops - add comments - email it

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