That's so Vanilla

Ever wonder how they get vanilla beans? A lot of hard work. Last night we piled the family in the Jeep and ventured into the jungle around Mililani. There, in an unlikely gated community which felt more "Heart of Darkness" than "McMansion housing development", we met up with a lovely German gentleman who sold us two meter-long vanilla vines and gave us detailed instructions on where to place them and how to hand-pollinate the flowers, should we be lucky enough to get flowers.

This project is going to be Chris's baby. In, oh, five years, we should have homegrown vanilla extract...if it works, anyway. Vanilla is an epiphytic plant in the orchid family. The ever-evolving plan is currently to grow the vines on a trellis behind some coffee trees for the required dappled shade, with misters to provide the needed humidity (note that we do not live in the jungle). For now, however, the naked vines are sitting on top of a dead microwave in the garage, which I am assured is OK.