January In Puna - Things to Eat in My Garden Now

[JayJay]

I've wanted to do this for awhile so here goes. Perhaps this can end up being a compendium of what we can expect to have available in our gardens through the months. If anyone has additions please include them.

@ 950 ft.


Ok it's late january and in my garden at 900 ft I have
pipinola,lots, white and green
passion fruit,lots, yellow and purple
basil,lots, make sure to keep pinching off the rosettes to keep the leaf production up.
naranja,some
bread fruit, Samoan, a few
kabota squash,some
leeks,some,
ohelo berry
egg plant,some
garlic chives,some
avacado,some
Hawaiian peppers,lots
bell pepper, a few
tapioca,some
sweet potato,some
Samoan spinach, this is year round
lemon, some
grapfruit, a few
naval orange,some
tangerines,lots
and my neighbor has a row of corn which is three feet tall and doing well.






JayJay

[janeadams]

JayJay,

What variety of corn is your neighbor using? Last spring I planted the variety from Aina Ola seed co, and it got to about a foot high and tasselled. We're at 1050' elevation, have a nice sunny spot, use raised beds, and would like to get fresh corn! Day length is an issue with corn, I think.

Jane

[JayJay]

Jane, I'll drive by and talk to him today on my way to town if he's home. I'm interested in knowing too because I've had trouble with the plant also. Check back and I'll find out asap.

JayJay

[JayJay]

Talked to him briefly. The strain is called the 'University Strain' and is associated with the university in Hilo. It's called 'Super Sweet,' and he says it's the only kind he can get to do well. He also said you can get it through the university 'outlet,' and perhaps in Hilo and suggested you try 'Hilo Garden Center' on Keawe Street. If you find a source will you please let me know here in this thread? Good-luck.

JayJay

[Hotzcatz]

Yeah, getting the seeds directly from CTAHR is about half the cost - even mailed! - than from a retail outlet.

Ohelo berries seem a bit odd to be ripe in January? Aren't they usually a summer crop? Is that poha berry instead of ohelo berry? Ohelo usually likes a much higher elevation, too, doesn't it?

We have: (things with an asterisk were planted in mid-October)
* radishes - cherry belle - almost done need to replant.
* pole beans - almost done need to replant
* tomatoes - just starting to become ripe
* lima beans - very vigorous growth and at edible pod stage
* beets - almost done, need to replant
* dill - no seeds, but leafy tips are available
* carrots - just starting to become ripe
* lettuce - manoa, the only type to survive the rains
strawberries - almost ripe
bananas - ripe ones and loads of green ones
basil - two types, both doing well
oranges - first year so very few
avocadoes - the round green ones at this time
coffee - some ripe, some in flower
papaya - some ripe, some in flower
rosemary - in bloom
sage - one type, doing well

The basic garden vegetables were planted in mid-October so they have been pretty slow. Things should ripen faster now we have more sun.

[james weatherford]

GardenGreen @ HPP 6th <=Makuu.
elevation ~<30m.

avocado (last of the last now on tree)
papaya (daily)
basil anytime (great for the aroma in the house)
banana (lots of varieties)
the odd off-season pineapple (by the 4th of July, plenty)
green onion
tangelo
orange
lemon
lime
(young citrus planted across 5 years or less, with first crop)
chili peppers
pikake, puakinekine, quai fah ('sweet olive'); a few almost daily -- love that scent!
eggs (a few, just getting the year started with long days)


James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park

[JayJay]

I've been calling the raspberry 'ohelo berries' and if I'm wrong I stand corrected. Anyway I've still got a few of the raspberries.

JayJay

[Rumi in Hawaii]

Please everyone, list your elevation (James, I don't "do" metric....LOL! But I do know where 6th is in HPP, so you're pretty close to sea level).... anyhow, it makes such a difference to know the elevation, so please, list it when you post on this topic! 'Cause us newbies are trying like the dickens to get stuff to grow, and it doesn't help to know that someone can grow corn without knowing their altitude!!!! PLEASE!! I'm desperate here!! LOL!

So...up here in Eden Roc (approx. 1800' elevation) and just starting things as of October, I have:

mizuna
tatsoi
Black seeded Simpson lettuce (just a few plants survived the rains, but these are amazingly doing rather well...but I did start some Manoa seedlings, too...hope they do better than the BSS)
broccoli (the plants are pretty tall, but no heads yet)
carrots (not yet, but doing well)
one wimpy tomato plant (of course, no tomatoes yet)
parsley (doing great)
rosemary
basil (struggling with those walking stick bugs and caterpillars)

What croaked was:

asparagus beans
pole beans
snow peas
kabocha squash
oriental cucumber

What's still alive (amazingly with all the rain we've gotten) but not yet producing:

orange tree
lemon tree
lime tree
mountain apple tree
avocado tree
Norway pine (hey, it'll produce Christmas tree-lets!!)
longan tree
tangerine
pua kenikeni (I can hope, can't I?)
purple passionfruit vine (getting HUGE!!)

This is a great thread... helps to know what you all are growing and what's doing well! Thanks, JayJay... oh, btw, how long does it take for lilikoi seeds to germinate (they may have given up the ghost?)...? I tried both kinds (purple and yellow) and was told that at this elevation, only the purple would survive anyway. I seem to have trouble getting some seeds to germinate...maybe too cool.

Katie




Wherever you go, there you are.

[JayJay]

Make sure the lilikoi seeds are well dried before you plant them. They will take longer of course in the winter to emerge and always best to stagger seed planting when you self produce, so at some point you're sure to end up with viable plants. Also, and this is true when selecting any seed for plants, always make sure to use the best fruit. I would think that your seed would come up within four to eight weeks unless it's just to cold up where you are. This is an important crop since the plant's fruit is high in anti-occidents and produces year after year. I have a yellow which is going on fifteen years and still producing fine fruit but not as much as it once did. They love to sprawl up trees but need good soil and even a well broken-down pile of leaves mixed with some soil can produce explosive vine growth if the plant is inserted in the spring with fruit appearing the following year.
Don't forget to try cabbage in Eden Rock. I've seen some fine heads produced up that way and even much higher.

JayJay

[Liz]

This thread is so helpful to all us newbies attempting to garden in Puna! I came here knowing I could grow things pretty much year-round (unlike North Idaho where we had only a 3-month growing season). But what to plant and when is a whole 'nother ballgame.

At the moment I'm harvesting from my garden at 400' elevation in Pahoa:
lots of basil
just enough parsley
plenty of fuzzy oregano
rosemary
had a couple handfuls of green beans; second crop climbing the fence
fingerling carrots
wee baby beets
the last few avocaodos
sunburst squashes are setting fruits
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and guavas now & then from the jungle next door!



aloha, Liz

"The best things in life aren't things."