100th Hubbell Bubble Chicken Coop!

Last Saturday we drove down to the shoreline... not to swim or sunbathe at the beach, or even to walk along the coast... but to help build a chicken coop for Kua O Ka La, the Hawaiian immersion school next to the Ahalanui warm pond. It was part of a series of Natural Farming talks that have been taking place there since October.

We have really enjoyed this series which has included such topics as the Hawaiian moon calendar, cultivating 'uala (sweet potato) and kalo (taro), and will conclude with the big 'Ulu Festival next month. This time it was a more hands-on project: building a chicken coop for the school.

 

There was a good turnout and everyone joined in, one way or another. 

Even the younger keiki got to try their hands at coop-building.

Many hands make light work... and the coop was just finished in only two hours!

Once the coop was completed, there was a little blessing. Hawaiian chanting always gives me "chicken skin" and this time was no exception, though the day was hot and sunny. There was also a special presentation: Mike was chosen for the first annual Natural Farmer's Award! He was so surprised! It was announced that this is the 100th Hubbell Bubble chicken coop built on the islands - and that's just counting the ones that the UH-CTAHR Extension Office is aware of!

There were representatives from both Kua O Ka La and the Kamehameha Schools in attendance, as well as a member of the Maui County Council. The word about Natural Farming is spreading!

At then end of the morning, it's all about the friendship and camaraderie of doing good work together. Mahalo to all who helped.

My First Official Book Review!

Word is starting to spread about the farm book. Yay! We took a boxful to the local Natural Farm meeting last month, and online orders have been trickling in. And of course, folks who come to our farm for the tour have been snapping them up!

My friend Sonia Martinez, Big Island food writer and blogger, wrote a great review of my book for Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network. It was published in this month's issue.

Go ahead and take a moment to read the book review HERE. (No worries; link will open a new window.) And then, order your own copy if you haven't already! ;-)

Springtime Happenings!

It's not like I've just been sitting around twiddling my thumbs.  Lots of happenings at our place!

First off, we had the most wonderful time with daughter Lori and grandbaby Acacia while they were here for almost 2 weeks in March.  Lots of picnics and parks, get-togethers and even a playdate!  Acacia was a perfect angel, the darling of every gathering we attended...  and we hear she's a great little traveler, so hopefully there will be plenty of future visits to come.  It passed all too quickly but we made the most of every single moment!

The pigs have both been bred, with the first litter due at the beginning of July.  3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days is the magic formula for pig gestation time.  Lola & Suey each have their own pen now and both seem a lot happier for it.


                           (Sorry no pics yet of the new coop. I must go remedy that right away!)
I have a new chicken coop, a new variation on the Hubbell Bubble theme.  This one still has the anti-mongoose skirting, and the roof over the entire yard for both hawk and rain protection.  But we utilized building materials we already had lying about the place, so it's got beefier wood and the roof is of scrap pieces of tin, with a small vent space at the peak.  Another difference is that we ran the chicken wire horizontally around the entire pen, rather than covering each individual panel vertically as in the original Bubble plan.  This made stapling it on much easier, in two tiers with the bottom of the lower tier becoming the skirting.  Right now we have young chicks in there, my new flock.  They won't start laying until the end of summer, most likely.

Phase Two of the pig barn is well underway, a little further along than this photo shows...  or at least it was, until last Friday when Mike fell off the ladder!  He's okay: mainly he got the wind knocked out of him, but he also strained his back which has put the building project on hold for a little while. 


We've been planting a lot more cassava (yuca or manioc as it's called in other parts of the world), moringa, and sweet potato.  Also sugarcane, taro/kalo, and kabocha squash.  Still need to divide and replant the bananas.  All these are tropical food crops for ourselves and our animals.  Our goal is to not have to buy animal feed for the pigs and chickens, to be able to grow a balanced feed here, and to encourage others to do the same.

Other springtime bits & pieces:  We helped some of our friends plant 10,000 strawberry plants in their hydroponic greenhouse!  We continue to help at the hula kahiko performances at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  Enjoyed the Merrie Monarch parade in Hilo, an hours-long affair.  Have hosted a few farm tours too, for those interested in our Natural Farm piggery & Hubbell Bubble coop.  And of course, the vacation rental keeps me plenty busy enough besides all this.

And we are lucky to have had many gatherings with our island ohana (family) at beaches, parks, the warm pond, and at our homes.  Every now and then, when there are no guests staying at the hale, we get to take a turn at hosting.  We sure have a lovely group of friends here.  Makes us feel blessed.  And that's what it's all about!


(... and once again, I can't get that one picture centered. The perfectionist in me shudders to see it out of place, lol. Oh well.)

The Hubbell Bubble Chicken Coop!

I've written before about our chickens and their coop. We've adjusted the design a bit now & then, making changes as needed, as any good homesteader would do. Just because we're living in a tropical suburb, it doesn't mean we've lost our homesteader roots! Our vacation rental guests seem to really enjoy seeing a 'normal' yard being far more productive than the usual lawn & shrubs. We often hear comments like, "That's a good idea! I'm going to do that back home, too!"

Since we've become so involved with the Natural Farming group, we've had even more people curious to see our backyard chicken set-up. One of these people is Mike DuPonte, our local ag extension animal specialist. He was so taken with our coop design that, at his instigation, UH-CTAHR (University of Hawaii - College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources) has decided adopt it as their model to promote backyard chicken-raising! We're a little dazed at all the attention, but hey, if it helps, that's cool. And it is nice to be recognized for a good idea when one rolls around. ;-)

A few days ago, several of us got together to buy the materials and construct a 12'x12' display model of the coop. We put together the panels that will be assembled later at the Food Resilience Project in Kohala at the beginning of February. We'll be making another whole set-up for the Cho Global Natural Farm Seminar coming at the end of Feb.

UH-CTAHR is printing up a brochure with plans for distribution at both venues. I think they will also be available at the CTAHR offices after these events.

For those interested in learning about Natural Farming and Indigenous Micro-Organisms, here's a link to our local group's website, Natural Farming Hawaii.

So now you know what's been occupying so much of our time these days. I'd say our new year is off to a great start!