What I Did Last Summer

Lots of good times this summer, and therefore LOTS of photos!  (You have been warned!!)
 
First, there was plenty of work on the piggery, our biggest on-going project.  Pen #3 was built, filled, and finished.  Pen #4 as well.  The last two pens are underway now... the end is in sight!  And the first litters of piglets were raised and sold off successfully, with much demand for more.  At the request of our UH-Hilo Ag Extension Agent, I started a blog (yes, another blog!) all about the piggery.  You can see it here to read all about that aspect of the farm:   http://hubbellshogheaven.blogspot.com/

In other farm-related news, I started a new flock of 13 young chickens, and added more to the laying flock as well.  We acquired a beautiful and well-behaved rooster, Apollo, to watch over the 27 layers.  He's huge!  And Mike designed and built a new coop/yard for the newer birds.  Consider it the revised edition of the Hubbell Bubble; he just used what we had lying around.

The gardens are growing well, providing us with more and more tropical foodstuffs, some of which is becoming familiar to our tastebuds:  cassava, moringa, white and purple sweetpotatoes, taro, plantain, tamarillo...  We are planting more food every day: ulu (breadfruit), gourds, more bananas, more pineapple, more cassava & taro & pineapple, and another variety of liliko'i (passionfruit).  And of course, there are orchids!  We have the perfect climate for them to grow outdoors with almost no care.  Gotta take advantage of that!

By far the biggest and best thing I did this past summer was my solo two-week trip to the mainland.  I managed to see both my sisters, two of my kids, two of my grandkiddos, several old friends, AND attend the Daybreak School reunion!  It was a whirlwind trip, and so very much worth it.

I started the California portion with a too-brief visit with each sister.  We packed as much visiting as we could into just a few short days, with the Daybreak reunion sandwiched in the middle.  There was another reunion of sorts during this time too, with our long-time friends, the Livingston brothers, or at least two of them!  And the Daybreak reunion was extended in a way by staying with my highschool friend, Jan.

Then on to Idaho! It was nice to stay with our longtime friends and neighbors, Karen & Weezil, and to be back in the woods and mountains I know and love so well. The best part was that I got to spend every day with Chris & Katie and their wonderful kiddos, Jimmy & Kirsi. We did lots of hiking, picked wild raspberries and huckleberries, had barbecues, played in the water, and just generally enjoyed each other's company in the height of a Boundary County summertime.

After that, it was on to Port Orchard to visit Kerry in her new home, tucked away behind an old apple grove.  While she was at work in Seattle, I read or wandered about, enjoying the quiet days, the beaches and the views... and I took advantage of the ferry dock, only a 5-minute walk away, in order to explore a little further afield.

And finally, back home I flew, back to the island and the humidity and the gentle warm air.  It felt so good to be home again, as it usually does after traveling.  I have always loved to wander and explore, but I love to come home again, too.

Newbies!

Here's how we spent our Independence Day: monitoring and helping our sow Suey with her first litter!

One little piglet needed assistance, and two others needed help breaking free of the sac, but Suey did just fine. The babies eventually figured out the whole business of nursing, and how to nap while a half-dozen siblings clambered on top. The runt of the litter is a little scrapper, and since he survived his first night, there is a good chance he will make it. Time will tell.

After spending the entire afternoon in the piggery, from 12:30 to 7:00pm, we at last turned in, filthy and exhausted, but feeling quite pleased with a healthy litter of ten.

But Suey had a surprise for us... two, in fact...

When Mike got up to check during the night, there was an 'extra' piglet... he counted several times just to be sure. And later, on his second check, yet another!! I guess this isn't all that unusual for the pig birthing process, but it sure caught us off-guard. This brings the total piglet count to 12!

 They are some of the cutest little critters ever, but no, we are not naming them. We don't name our food.


Edited to add: We were just told by our U-H Ag Extension agent that this is the very first CGNF-raised litter of pigs in the entire USA!! There are other piggeries using the Natural Farm method, based on master Cho's teachings, but they aren't doing the breeding aspect of pig-raising. I hadn't realized quite how cutting edge we were!! ;-)

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.)

Hubbell's Hog Heaven!

 I'm sitting here at my desk, windows wide open to let in the warm breezes... and finally, I have a chance to catch you all up with all the doings on our little farmlet. Those of you on Facebook have been seeing the progress as it happens, or pretty close anyway, but for the rest of you, I know what you're thinking: It's about time!!

We've had more of our 'lot next door' cleared, but left a buffer of jungly growth along the street for now.  
There is now a perimeter fence of woven wire enclosing everything that wasn't already behind the chainlink fence that came with the house when we bought the place. Enormously big, huge thank-yous to our friends who came to help with that project!








Every single post hole had to be drilled with a rock drill, then the metal post pounded in place. With all the help, it only took a few hours to do what would have taken Mike and I a week, at least.

   









Since putting up the fence, no roaming dogs have gotten in (as they had twice before), and the wild pigs have left their mark on the outside of the fence, where they belong. So far, so good.










Our driveway has been regraded, and graveled this time, as opposed to cindered. Makes a nice hard surface that the rains can still soak through, so no slippy mud puddles any more. The new driveway gate is something we're still getting used to.



Next up: The piggery, which has been named Hubbell's Hog Heaven, which was built over the past few months...

and the first pen was completed and filled just last week.











Some of our fellow Natural Farmers came to help with that. It took some preparation and arranging to get all the inputs needed for this Korean Natural Farm method of creating the 3-foot deep bedding, but it's worth it since this is the only way to raise pigs without any odor and almost no flies! And of course, it had a Hawaiian twist since we utilized the different materials available here.

A layer of logs sets over 6 inches of soil.

Palm fronds, shredded coconut husks, and wood chips cover the logs.

Layers of sawdust and cinder soil fill up the pen...

... and get spread around.

Various inputs are spread over each layer: IMO4, sea salt, biochar. This is what makes the Natural Farm method work!

The finished pen with its fencing installed. Mike's adding the door.

A large area behind the piggery was also cleared and cindered deeply to create an area to grow food crops for the pigs, chickens, and ourselves. We already have cassava starts, moringa tree seedlings, kalo (taro), kabocha squash, and pineapples planted back there.










Soon to go in the ground are sugar cane, bananas, sweetpotato, papaya, and another ulu (breadfruit) tree or two. This combination will give the animals a complete feed and we won't have to buy the pelleted variety from the feed store any more... but it'll take a while to get to that point.




The biggest news is: we now have pigs!! Lola and Suey arrived on our farm just a few days ago. Both are 5-6 month old Chester White cross, just about ready to be bred. They had been raised on a concrete slab in their own poop, not quite the industrial farm thing but not far enough from it. Mike and I felt like we were doing an animal rescue in bringing these two gilts out of that environment.


They had never been on dirt before and as soon as we could coax them out of the travel cage and into their new home, they were indeed in hog heaven. Dirt to root in! And to roll in! And to just bury one's snout in!! Their curly piggy tails wag with happiness! And I swear I can see them smile.








They are still both pretty skittish, but are calming down considerably already. Both will now come over to the fence when I talk to them, will take treats of sweet potato vines, and let me touch their ears and noses.

Mike has been doing their morning feeding, and this morning he was able to give them a few pets and do some raking inside the pen while they ate. It takes time, but gentle ways work wonders. We hear their happy grunts and soft snuffling snorts all day long, so I know we are on the right path.

Aloha!

PS: (Please excuse the crazy configuration of this post... I've been working on it for hours. That's what happens when they go and 'improve' the blog site. arrgh)

Introducing the Newest Member of Our Family

Acacia Rose arrived home a few days after her birth. I know the kids were so glad to finally be back in their own nest, and to be able to settle down to being a family. Shadow-cat was full of curiosity, but he quickly learned to behave himself around little Acacia.



I think she is totally gorgeous... and I am not one bit prejudiced about that! I couldn't get enough of holding this precious little bundle in my arms.



Gazing at her, I wonder: What do the newly born think of? How does the world look to them? What is really important in this life?



Baby feet amaze me: they have never been walked on and are as soft as the rest of baby's skin. I just love tiny baby toes!



This is the smile that can make all your problems just melt away, and fill your heart with such joy! She was only 4 days old. Admit it - you're smiling now, too. :-)



Three generations... a circle of love.
I am so very blessed to have had this time with my daughter. Thank you, Lori & Dave, for allowing me to share it with you. And to Mike, for arranging for me to be able to go.