Everything is growing fast after the recent heavy rains saturated the ground. Getting tired of waiting to hear about chickens, I called the hatchery and they said they finally had eggs in. The first hatch would be occuring on July 1st and I was at the top of the list for two Browns. One catch: we are going to be on the mainland for much of July. I had her move me back to the list for the first August hatch, which should be happening on the 10th. Yay!
I'm still looking for grapevines. Gaia Yoga had no idea if anyone was trying to cultivate grapes in Hawaii, and suggested that if they would be successful, people would already be growing them. I'm doggedly persisting anyway. Like Don Quixote. I sent an email to Volcano Winery (their conditions are much different and I want table grapes, but I'm getting desperate).
Here are some pictures from this morning:
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| I should put the zinnias out of their misery, I know, but it's the kids' project and they aren't ready to let go. The blooms, at least, look pretty from the street, and if you squint you can't really see all the browning foliage. They appear to have a fungal infection which temporarily responded to an application of rosemary oil. |
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| The pumpkin vine sure is getting pretty. |
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| My "bean tee-pee". The foil is supposed to deter aphids. I've only had a small problem with them so far, which responded to an application of insecticidal soap and neem oil. |
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| A bumper crop seems to be shaping up with the Healani tomatoes. This is a special hybrid for Hawaii. The cilantro seems to be happy in the partial shade offered here - this is my third attempt at growing it. That's sweet potato vine on the right and an eggplant (waimanalo long, like the skinny Japanese eggplants) in the pot. The plant doesn't look to healthy but it has yielded a few fruits before maturity. |
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| A volunteer something-in-the-squash-family. I should pull it but I'm curious. |
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| I guess we should harvest this thing already! |
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| The newest addition is a Kaffir lime tree, already producing fruit! This tree is usually cultivated for its leaves in Thai cooking (I wish this was a scratch and smell picture, their fragrance is divine) but we like the juice of the limes too. |
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| The much smaller and fruitless Cara Cara Navel orange. |
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| Plumbago, one of my favorite ornamentals and tough as nails. I still almost managed to kill it. |
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| Work in progress... |
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| Red ginger. |
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| I built this border entirely from rocks we dug out of the yard (and those are just the big ones). I'm out of rocks, so I guess it's time to dig some more. |
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| Peanut plants! Seem to be doing well, so if all else fails I can at least have a peanut butter garden, and there's always barter. |
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| Pumpkin blossom. |
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| The tortoise likes catnip. |
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| Stitch says it's potent catnip. The buds seem stronger than the leaves, much like another mood-altering herb. Ahem. |
