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Aloha,
From what i've grown in puna in the past i've been successful growing many different herbs, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, chilis, green beans, zucchini, bell peppers, lettuce, bok choy, taro....
Any body try other interesting vegetables that would work well in the area?
Noel
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hi carey,
what is moringa? what part of the kava do you use?
tx
noel
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Aloha Carey,
thanks for the description on those...i'll have to ask the owner at the filipino restaurant in pahoa if she uses moringa and what dishes....actually i should ask my mom who is filipina and cooks alot of fiipino food....not as often for me since i don't get to visit her as often as i would like.
noel
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What I've seen on the informational boards at the kava booths at Hawaiian cultural events (e.g., Pu'uhonua O Honaunau, Kahuku Ranch unit of HVNP) is that the leaves of 'awa (the Hawaiian name for kava) contain a toxic component. The Permacopia Book I notes that people with liver problems should be careful of over-indulgence. Roots are ground into a pulp. It's mixed with water to a tea-like consistency. The ground root is also sold as a dried powder. Some say that they prefer the moist pulp compared to the powder. It may be fresher tasting or produce a more mellow feeling. It could also be perception. It's not classed as a controlled substance and is legal.
I recall that long ago a friend told me about living in Fiji with village folk where he would partake of kava with them in the evenings. He said that they would prepare their kava by having everyone in the group chewing on the roots and spitting the resulting pulp into a community bowl. They would stir it and pass the bowl for everyone to drink. I guess this engendered a sense of community, too....
Edited by - Les C on 05/24/2007 19:37:12
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Carey, just don't let anyone chew your kava for you...
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Kava still tastes like dirt no matter who chews it. We have the same sort of kava growing in our backyard - one that is growing well and not being cut.
There isn't an official vegetable garden yet, one of these years it would be nice to get one built, but until it gets planted there are a variety of fruit trees and vines scattered around the yard. At the moment, the grapes are doing well and setting lots of clusters. These are some sort of old seeded concord grape variety, it is from a cutting taken from an old cane house garden before the house and garden were razed.
The peaches are getting ripe, although we've lost several of them to ants eating out the insides. Arrgh! Last year it was birds eating them. The pineapples are setting out really cute little pineapples but none of them are anywhere close to being ready to eat yet. The coffee is setting loads of cherries, but it will be awhile before it is ready to pick.
It has been really dry and I've been out watering things in the evenings for the past several weeks. This evening a fairly large sized banana plant - one about nine feet tall was really wobbly. Between the wind and the dryness, it was almost blown over. A small push and it went over so I used this as an opportunity to move it somewhere a bit more protected from the wind. It will be interesting to see if it reroots in the new location, I don't think I've ever transplanted a banana plant of this size before.
The bees are really happy. They finally got their hive weedwhacked around so now they can fly to and fro easier.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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hotkatz,
what is your elevation and what type of peaches do you grow...here in sonoma, we have six peach trees and when they fruit from august to september, its almost better than a ripe mango, the flavors are really intense. i'm surprised you can get table grapes to grow in your area?
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quote:
The peaches are getting ripe
Boy, do I have a lot to learn! I thought that the deciduous "mainland" fruit trees like peaches, pears, apples, and apricots cannot grow in tropical climates. Something about these needing a cold, dormant period.
Am I wrong?
Jimmy
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Aloha Noel & Jimmy,
They are "Florida Prince" and "Eva's Pride" peach varieties. Special low chill variety. They are about three-quarter the size of grocery store peaches, seem to have extra fuzz on them and taste much better than grocery store peaches.
There's a nursery in California, Dave Wilson Nurseries
http://www.davewilson.com/ which specializes in low chill varieties of plants. The Eva's Pride peach tree and the lilac bush are from there.
I'm not sure if these are "table grapes" or not, they are really purple, have seeds and taste very grapey when they are ripe. It is probably some sort of concord variety and the folks around here seem to think they are "the kind of grapes they used to use to make wine with". It was from a cutting from an old grape vine in an old abandoned cane camp garden. They were getting ready to bulldoze the place and I got cuttings and starts from the lot of the plants before they were dozed over. There may be enough grapes this year to make jelly, I dunno about wine.
There is also a small red apple that grows here, although my tree is only about three feet tall so far. I should air layer it and start another tree or two. It also came from an old camp house garden.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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Thanks, all! The davewilson.com website is very helpful.
Jimmy
