Going Into Winter

Aloha One & All~
I have a few minutes while the brownies are baking (for the beach day potluck) to get you caught up with the latest. After a long bout of the flu and subsequent sinus infection, I'm feeling much better these days, almost back to my normal amount of energy. The winter season is definitely here with our nighttime temperatures dipping down to - don't sip anything hot - 60*. I know, I know, but it really does feel chilly! With the humidity up to 97% at night, it gets to us. I guess we're thoroughly acclimatized.

Last week we attended a very interesting talk at the Lyman Museum in Hilo, 'Growing Vanilla in Hawaii'. Actually, the speaker went into various cultivation methods that he's seen around the world. He and his wife (who was sitting right behind us) run a good-sized vanilla farm up north in the Hamakua mauka (upcountry) area. They are also a homeschooling family, so we had fun talking to them about that as well. It's amazing how much time goes in to vanilla production! For example, did you know that a vanilla flower only blooms for 4 hours, during which time it must be fertilized by hand? It takes 9 months to grow a vanilla bean from the time it's fertilized,and another 9 months for the curing process. So although vanilla is productive year-round, it's no wonder the cost for the real stuff is so high. And well worth it too, in my opinion, since the imitation product is made from wood pulp - yech!

I'm taking a Hawaiian Herbal Medicine course, taught by David Bruce Leonard who wrote the book Medicine at Your Feet. This class is just what I've been looking for! I am finally learning who all these green growing things are and what they can be used for. He takes us on herb-walks, too, and forest hikes, as well as classroom time. And the emphasis is not just on endemic plants or just on Polynesian introductions, but on everything that grows here which makes so much more sense from a food and herbal perspective. So I'm finally recognizing some of the 'weeds' in the yard and finding uses for them which, of course, brings them out of the weed category. And I'm finding some cool new places to hike!

Our chickens are all growing fast. Haven't lost a single one which is something of a minor miracle in these parts from what we've heard. Mike's mongoose-proof fencing is working like a charm, and we often hear very frustrated mongoose swearing at us from the jungle! We can see where they've tried to dig through the cinder to get under the fence, but with that extra skirting around it, they can't get through. Every few days, Mike will chop a coconut in half and lay it out in the chicken yard; chickens love coconut! And they've learned that the greens we toss in are not going to attack them after all but actually taste pretty good. Silly birds. Fresh eggs are still months away - sigh. But fresh produce from the screenhouse is ongoing! We've had 4 pickings of green beans already, and loads of lettuce, mizuna and cucumbers for salads. A few stray strawberries now and then. The bok choi is all done and the peas have yet to bloom. I declare this screenhouse experiment a complete success!

Pahoa had its annual Christmas Parade yesterday. This brought home to us the fact that we've lived here for over a year now. Events are starting to repeat themselves. Picture of last year's parade are on my Picasa page; I didn't bring a camera this time. But here is a wonderful little local news video of the parade: http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/puna/20081206pahoaparade.htm
(You can see us standing in the background once in a while! We're leaning against the yellow building across the street from the judge's stand, along with good friend Willow. At the very end is the easiest to see us.)

Oh, the brownies are done - time to get ready for Beach Day! Gotta smear on the sunscreen, fold up the beach chairs, and sort out the snorkel gear. I don't miss the snow one bit!

Aloha,
Liz