Garden update

The last of our beautiful red tomatoes. . .













Some avocados from the yard, sitting on a rattan table that Russell put a bamboo top on.













Over the past week, we have been gradually expanding our garden, pulling up grass and hoeing up the thick, wet red clay soil.
Once we complete the expansion, the growing area will be twice the size!
We are hoping to start some more tomatoes, baby pak choy, mustard greens, carrots and parsnips!
More to updates to come soon. . .

Waihee Ridge

The Waihee (sounds like why-hey-a) Ridge Trail begins near the northwest coast of Maui, just outside of Wailuku. The views, (as seen in these two photos), of Haleakala on east Maui as well as of the valley and Kahului Harbor were wonderful.

We were lucky to have a pretty clear morning for our hike although a little bit hazy.




We also had some great views of the lush, green West Maui Mountains and Waihee Valley.














The trail followed the ridgeline closely, and we gained about 1500 feet in elevation in about 2.25 miles!



















Lots of beautiful Flora!






















Up, up, up!









Then, back down. . .


















A little giant-fern forest was a nice place to rest on the way back down.

It's a new year. . .

It's a new year and our garden is still growing! We both agree that this is our most productive garden yet. We still have lots and lots of delicious kale and rainbow chard, as well as some basil.








The jalapeno pepper plants are really starting to produce a lot now and the tomatoes are coming right along! In fact, this photo was taken only last week and just today I noticed there are at least 3 orangish-red tomatoes almost ready to pick.














Of course, we did already pick a few green ones to fry up with our cornbread, black-eyed peas and greens. . .













Last weekend we helped a local non-profit group who harvests unwanted fruit from people's yards and then donates the harvest to the local food bank. The day we helped, they harvested tangerines at one location and 'ulu, or "breadfruit" from another location.













The 'ulu trees are very beautiful, with very large leaves and these amazing looking fruits. The branches ooze a lot of milky sap when cut. The sap may be used to help heal cuts and the wood may be used for building all kinds of things from canoes to homes to surfboards (so I hear). Here's some more info on 'ulu if you are interested: http://www.canoeplants.com/ulu.html













So far this new year, Russell has continued to build things (furniture mostly) with the readily available bamboo from our yard. He had a little help one day recently from one of the neighbor's cats, Mama.

















She seemed to really like the machete. . . as a pillow.

















At the end of the year, we harvested some macadamia nuts, also known as "mac nuts" from our yard.

















We air dried them for awhile on the porch, a.k.a. the lanai. . .

















And then we cracked them open with a couple of flat rocks. The oily nut inside was really delicious! We made mac-nut pesto with some, and just ate the rest.

















We also have been doing some baking this month. These are our mutant gingerbread cookies. . . Don't let the looks fool you, they were delicious!

















A recent sunset, over the West Maui mountains, as seen from our driveway.

Lahaina-Pali trail

Last weekend we hiked part of the Lahaina-Pali trail. The trail was used quite a bit during missionary times, in the early 1800's, to travel between the Lahaina/Olowalu area and Maalea, and eventually on to Wailuku.












This trail was used until the 1950's when the Honoapi'ilani Highway was built. The highway now goes all the way from Honolua (almost the northernmost tip of Maui) to Wailuku (which is closer to the valley region). You can see a bit of it in this photo, as well as the neighboring island, Lanai.

















The trail itself was pretty steep, but the views of Lanai, as well as of the 'Au'au Channel (where the Humpback Whales are currently visiting) were wonderful.












Here is a view of the island, Kaho'olawe, framed by the scraggly branches of some Kiawe trees.













Kiawe trees were introduced around 1828, on the island of Oahu and have since spread very quickly to other parts of the Hawaiian islands. They make a good shade tree, except for on the beach, since they have thorns. . .

















The trail was pretty open and exposed most of the way though with lots of rolling red and green hills.













These beautiful red terracotta colored rocks were about a mile or so up the trail.

















There were also some smaller rocks scattered throughout the hills, all along the way.
















This group of rocks made a good resting spot and offered a great view of the reefs below and some people who were kayaking, snorkeling and sailing. And we even saw some whales! In fact, the tiny white spot above Katie's head may actually be a splash from a whale. . .

















A view of the southern slopes of Haleakala below some low hanging clouds.