The past few days we have had lots of showers during the night and mornings but mostly nice with an occasional shower in the afternoon. The temperatures are about 68 at night and up to the low 80's in the afternoons. I'm nearly always wearing short sleeved shirt but tend to wear long pants in the mornings and shorts in the afternoon. We bicycle or walk nearly everyday but don't have the time yet for any trips as we are still working on the house and garden. I did get to visit with the neighbors a couple hours and heard more stories of the local history. I've also talked with people I've met on walks or bike rides and with the postmistress. We will attend a neighborhood potluck on the 26th.
Last Sunday we took a bike ride to the old Hakalau sugar mill, a distance of only about 2 1/2 miles but the last half mile is very steep grade down a paved but rough road. This mill and many of the workers' houses and school were destroyed by a tsunami in (I think) '57 so now it is a public beach for swimming in the river or surfing and picknicing. Several extended families were there doing just that. The foundations and sea wall of the old mill are still there and the old tramway for bringing down the cane from the warehouses at the top of the grade is a popular hike. Looking at the waves crashing against the sea wall makes it hard to believe that the partially processed sugar was transported from the mill in small boats out to the waiting cargo ships even on the calmer days. How could sugar be worth that risk?
From the mill site, however, the dominant man made feature is the bridge structure for the Hawaiian Belt Highway, or Highway 19. But it is so high, about 120', that the roar of the ocean usually surpasses that of the traffic. And playing in the mouth of the river, while being careful to not get out to where the undertow gets strong, we certainly forgot about the highway.
Bicycling back up the grade was difficult. I barley made it without stopping and Myrna walked part of the way. We both rested at the top and enjoyed the sunbathed view of that steep jungle covered canyon with the little river that was swollen from the rains that we could see were still falling in the mountains above.
When we continued home on the more gentle grade we enjoyed passing different kinds of flowers or fruit and 'tasting' their smell as we pedaled past. In fact I'd have to list the luscious smells as a defining feature of this neighborhood we now call home. Even the decomposition smells under the thick parts of jungle are more attractive than cities to me.
Another aromatic feature here is the fruit bowl in our kitchen. Except for those first couple days here, we've always had bananas in that bowl from our own yard even though we eat at least 4 @ per day. But we also bring home fruit from our walks or bike rides that has either fallen on the right-of-way or was growing on public land. These have included the very aromatic passion fruit, mango, guava and Monstera. Monstera is probably one you've never tasted so I'll describe it.
Monstera is a vine that can grow up trees 30 feet or more and has leaves up to a foot wide and 1 1/2 feet long that are slotted like breadfruit tree leaves. They are common all over the wet side but are rarely harvested. The fruit is the seed head of a flower spike that is about 2 1/2" in diameter and 7-8" long. They are green and appear to be covered in 3/8" hexagonal tiles. They are picked just before these "tiles" start to become loose. Just as the tiles loosen, which happens from the bottom up, they become very fragrant and are then ready to eat. If you then rub off the tiles and eat the pulp under them the taste is like pineapple pudding. There is one catch that would prevent them from commercial favor; they are apparently high in oxalic acid (as are many tropical greens) as the inside of the lips will get noticeably sore for a couple hours. With greens this is cured by boiling and throwing away the water (and probably most of the vitamins I presume). People with kidney stone problems are urged to avoid plants high in oxalic acid such as lamb quarters spinach or rubarb.
At current count we have 11 different kinds of fruit on our place and the vacant lot next door, not counting the papaya we planted just last month (they will take 18 months to begin producing). We only have two pineapple and I estimate at least one year till they produce. We will plant more after we prune back the jungle a bit.
Happy gardening to you all!
Rico
P. S. I just brought a small stalk of bananas home from my morning walk down the gully and that was all I wanted to carry (I didn’t worry about a property owner intending to harvest these because the gully was too rugged for sending workers into and these already had been started by the birds eating them which is why even if they are in your backyard you always pick them a little before they ripen). It turned out that this clump tastes like Cavendish (the most commonly grown commercial variety) so I’ll still be looking forward to our own which have better flavor.Last Sunday we took a bike ride to the old Hakalau sugar mill, a distance of only about 2 1/2 miles but the last half mile is very steep grade down a paved but rough road. This mill and many of the workers' houses and school were destroyed by a tsunami in (I think) '57 so now it is a public beach for swimming in the river or surfing and picknicing. Several extended families were there doing just that. The foundations and sea wall of the old mill are still there and the old tramway for bringing down the cane from the warehouses at the top of the grade is a popular hike. Looking at the waves crashing against the sea wall makes it hard to believe that the partially processed sugar was transported from the mill in small boats out to the waiting cargo ships even on the calmer days. How could sugar be worth that risk?
From the mill site, however, the dominant man made feature is the bridge structure for the Hawaiian Belt Highway, or Highway 19. But it is so high, about 120', that the roar of the ocean usually surpasses that of the traffic. And playing in the mouth of the river, while being careful to not get out to where the undertow gets strong, we certainly forgot about the highway.
Bicycling back up the grade was difficult. I barley made it without stopping and Myrna walked part of the way. We both rested at the top and enjoyed the sunbathed view of that steep jungle covered canyon with the little river that was swollen from the rains that we could see were still falling in the mountains above.
When we continued home on the more gentle grade we enjoyed passing different kinds of flowers or fruit and 'tasting' their smell as we pedaled past. In fact I'd have to list the luscious smells as a defining feature of this neighborhood we now call home. Even the decomposition smells under the thick parts of jungle are more attractive than cities to me.
Another aromatic feature here is the fruit bowl in our kitchen. Except for those first couple days here, we've always had bananas in that bowl from our own yard even though we eat at least 4 @ per day. But we also bring home fruit from our walks or bike rides that has either fallen on the right-of-way or was growing on public land. These have included the very aromatic passion fruit, mango, guava and Monstera. Monstera is probably one you've never tasted so I'll describe it.
Monstera is a vine that can grow up trees 30 feet or more and has leaves up to a foot wide and 1 1/2 feet long that are slotted like breadfruit tree leaves. They are common all over the wet side but are rarely harvested. The fruit is the seed head of a flower spike that is about 2 1/2" in diameter and 7-8" long. They are green and appear to be covered in 3/8" hexagonal tiles. They are picked just before these "tiles" start to become loose. Just as the tiles loosen, which happens from the bottom up, they become very fragrant and are then ready to eat. If you then rub off the tiles and eat the pulp under them the taste is like pineapple pudding. There is one catch that would prevent them from commercial favor; they are apparently high in oxalic acid (as are many tropical greens) as the inside of the lips will get noticeably sore for a couple hours. With greens this is cured by boiling and throwing away the water (and probably most of the vitamins I presume). People with kidney stone problems are urged to avoid plants high in oxalic acid such as lamb quarters spinach or rubarb.
At current count we have 11 different kinds of fruit on our place and the vacant lot next door, not counting the papaya we planted just last month (they will take 18 months to begin producing). We only have two pineapple and I estimate at least one year till they produce. We will plant more after we prune back the jungle a bit.
Happy gardening to you all!
Rico
Not long after I returned from my hike the cable installer arrived so now we have the fastest internet we’ve ever had and you get this story of my day!
We ate the air potatoes in stir fry. They were good. I later learned that they are not recommended because they are a bit poisonous unless thoroughly cooked. Desert was best though, smoothie made from 3 frozen bananas and one mountain apple (looks like apple, tastes like a mild pear and is related to neither) from our own plant/trees and a papaya from the farmers market in Hilo
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