Summer garden

Over the course of the past several months we have been able to have a number of beautiful garden fresh salads. Thanks to plentiful and delicious carrots and green onions we always had something fresh from the garden to go with pesto (made from basil we grew and locally grown mac nuts) or homemade veggie pizza! This was the last best pizza we made, early in the summer.














We recently (finally) harvested the last of our carrots. We had left them in the ground far to long. They lost their wonderful crisp sweet taste and grew all kinds of strange twisted appendages! They are still good to use in soups or stews, or even grated; just can't have them alone, otherwise they have a very sharp flavor. . similar to a parsnip. There was one carrot that looked amazingly animated like some sort of strange creature of the garden. . .


















We also finally planted our collection of pineapple tops. They had been accumulating for several months and one of our friends gave us a hard time about not planting them, so. . . here you go Kelly!









This is our turmeric plant in the gray pot. We planted some sprouted turmeric root and sprouted ginger root that we purchased at the store and they both have leafed out quite well, but the turmeric, wow! It is over 2 feet tall now and has another new shoot of leaves.










When we returned from our trip to the east coast back in late May, we were very happy to discover that the Lychee tree fruit were ready for picking and eating! We tried a variety of ways to pick them and never got a good idea of how to reach the ones at the very top. But the tree was loaded and all the fruit were so delicious and juicy and tart-sweet!



























Also upon returning we found that our pest-resistant mustard greens had a white mold on their leaves and also had grown tall yellow flowers. Amazing what can happen in only 10 days time! We let the birds eat the seeds for a few days and then we decided to cut them down and use the space for something new.




















We had many excellent green bean harvests throughout the summer. Despite the way the leaves had been totally devoured and made into skeletons by some mysterious creature, we continued to get lots of delicious beans.
Also, we continue to get lots of hot peppers.

BIG Island trip continued. . .

Here is an image from the lava viewing area that we went to while visiting the Big Island. This is the place where the lava flows into the ocean, after a long journey down across the landscape. It was mostly a lot of orange colored smoke but there was also intermittent sparks and flames which delivered lots of "ooo's and ahhh's" from the gathered crowd. After the sun had set and the stars began to show themselves it was pretty incredible. Here is a link to a video. right at the end you can catch some sparks and flames: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak17QRlg61I


After Sam and Russell and I arrived on the Big Island, we went into Hilo town for lunch and some camping supplies. We happened upon the weekly Farmer's Market which was a wonderful array of tropical fruits, delicious fresh-made Vietnamese foods, fresh made sweets and breads and more. We bought Jackfruit, egg fruit (Canastel), brown-sugar fruit, as well as avocado, papaya and mountain apple. Our camping meals for the weekend were very tropical!

Hilo town was a cool place because it was really walk-able and near the coast and, well, it had the great Farmer's Market! A lot of the architecture in the downtown area was pretty old, but cared for so that made it more interesting to explore by foot. They even had a "Kress" building, like the ones in downtown Tampa and Sarasota.





After we set up camp at Hawaii Volcanoes N.P. we headed over to check out the park before sundown. The Kilaeua-iki trail and overlook were super foggy. But when we returned the following day, the view was quite clear and you could see the see all of the steam vents.



We also went to walk through the Thurston Lava Tube. There were lots of delicate ferns growing around the entrance to the tube.

























It was pretty dark and damp inside, just like being inside of a cave. The lighting was fun to take photos with. Here is one of Sam and Russell walking through the tube and also some ferns growing out of the light.

BIG Island trip

In June, we went over to the the "Big Island", Hawaii, with our friends who were visiting from Florida. We camped at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for a couple of nights (in a beautiful, but windy Eucalyptus grove) and went on a great day hike through an old lava field. There were active steam vents (see photo below) in some parts of the hike, but much of it was old lava rock. The landscape was incredibly barren and exposed. Lots of wind, and also some rain on the return hike. We saw some tree molds, made by the streams of lava, as it flowed around tree trunks. You can see Sam looking down into a cave-like hole; that's a tree mold. Our friend Kelly also found a lava chair to sit and relax on.



































































































Check out this amazing Banyan tree. It is the biggest one I have seen outside of Florida. It reaches over fifty feet in multiple directions. The branches were so thick that it looked like sinew. This was at Rainbow Falls Park in Hilo.

May garden update

There is nothing better fresh from the garden than carrots. We harvested our first two carrots from the garden yesterday evening. The taste was wonderful; crisp and slightly sweet.















Our beans are doing really well this week. These photos are actually from last weekend. They are about 3 feet high now!

















A couple of weeks back, they started to get some yellowish spots on them. Katie made up a batch of compost tea with fish meal and yard clippings and let it steep over night in a 5 gallon bucket. We diluted it a little and poured it around the beans the next day.













They quickly perked up and now they look very happy, reaching for the sun as they twist around the bamboo tripod we made for them. We just hope they don't sprout beans before we get back from our trip to Florida this week!

Whale Watch Tour

A couple of weeks ago, our friend Sarah visited us on Maui. One day, we went with her on a whale watch tour on a 50 foot sailboat. We set off from Lahaina around 9 a.m. with a captain, one man crew and five other passengers.









Every year, between December and late April/early May humpback whales visit the waters around Maui. They have their young calves in these waters because the area is so well protected and it maintains a warm temperature of about 75 degrees (warm to the whales, not warm to us Floridians).















The sailing was actually pretty smooth and gave us a great opportunity to view the waters between Maui and Lanai. We scanned the horizon for whale tails for almost two hours.















About an hour or so into the tour, we had not yet spotted any whales. At this point, the one man crew began serving the complimentary beverages: champagne and "the king of beers". But we still didn't see any whales nearby.













So, the captain decided to extend the tour a little and try to get closer to the spot off in the distance where we were seeing a lot of breaching whales. The waters began to get a little rougher suddenly as the wind picked up along our new route.










The waves were suddenly much bigger. It was amazing to look out and see the top of a wave be above the boat!













The captain sits leisurely to the left of the wheel while everyone holds onto their hats.














As the waves became more intense, motion-sickness began to set in on Katie. The captain recommended that she lay down behind the wheel to alleviate the feeling.


This was very helpful, and for the remainder of the tour, she lay there listening to everyone's "oohh's and ahhh's" about the breaching whales off in the distance. But, it was worth it as it was very effective. As we all stepped off the boat, back at the slip, the one-man crew congratulated Katie for "not popping" and thanked us for sailing with them.


And then, we all needed some food and drink. . .
Sarah with Mai Tai #1. Great cup, but she didnt think there was actually any rum in it!















Our post-sailing Mai Tai's. . .ahhhhh, or was it arrrrghhh. . .

April Garden

Here is our most recent addition to the garden:















We had fun yesterday building this bamboo tripod for our blue-lake snap beans. Russell suggested we do a little "waddle and daub" without the "daub" and add a trellis of sorts to the tripod for the beans to grow up once they sprout. He had me thinking about artist Andy Goldsworthy and this piece he made out of driftwood. If you've never seen his work, I highly recommend checking this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBcdL8uO71E&feature=related

As you can see, (bottom left), our Mustard greens are starting to get going. We are thinking about harvesting a few for dinner tonight. . .














Sadly, the Broccoli and Cauliflower plants aren't doing as well as we had hoped. It turns out, we have a case of white butterflies. We aren't sure what else to do about them except hand pick off the eggs and worms.
















These butterflies flutter around our garden playfully all day, occasionally stopping to land on our vegetable greens and lay their eggs. . .which turn into ruthless kale and broccoli leaf eating monster worms!!!

















But, the Mustards seem to be pretty safe, thanks to their natural protection: spiciness!

March garden update

As we have mentioned before, we are working on expanding our garden space. Last week, we decided to check on our compost, to see if it was broken down enough to use on the new rows we were planting. When we lifted the plastic compost bin off, the contents inside retained a cube-like shape! We decided there wasn't enough compost for us to use (and that it is too dry). So, we turned it around a bit and then covered it again for future use. We are really missing the worm-bin we had in Tampa because of the amazing speed in which those worms have to assist with breaking down all that vegetable matter. We need to find some Maui worms I guess. . .

















Here you can see the three new rows we have added. In the row closest to the right, there are beets and Purple Osaka mustard greens starting to come up. We amended the soil with some of our neighbors compost (thanks!) and also some oyster shells, (that's why it looks a little white).


Next to the beet/mustards row is broccoli and cauliflower. It is coming right along for the most part. Although, there was about 5 plants that rotted around the bottom of the stem and withered away, which we will need to replant soon. And then there are the snails and slugs that are nibbling on the leaves a little too. . .




Everything else we had planted in the winter season is still maintaining itself pretty well, with the exception of the tomatoes. We replanted a few new varieties of tomatoes but they are starting to get that white mildew-y type stuff on the leaves. . .but we aren't sure why. But the garden is helping out some now with cutting back our grocery bill. We are hoping that will continue to help, as the garden grows more. Oh, and the baby Pak Choy we planted is sprouting up quite well, but too small to see it here yet, (same goes for the parsnip and carrot rows).