THE HARVESTS OF SUMMER

Although the seasons don't make so much difference here, summer is still the season people are most likely to travel to places that do have more difference.  Three of our band regulars were gone for most of the summer and others were just too busy so we ended up having only four present for two markets.  But those present included Barbara and Myrna who I have taken to calling my angels singing from heaven so I have always enjoyed accompanying them.  They have learned to harmonize very nicely on many songs.  This Sunday we will play pre-meeting at the annual community association meeting a couple miles down the road at Kolekole County Park.
Myrna and I and Richard and Nancy attended the Hakalau Paka celebration last Saturday where four bands performed short sets.  The youth surfing contest there was a great success again and we were able to talk to our county Mayor and County Council representative who were there for a couple hours.  I lobbied for porta-potties at Veteran's Field where the Tuesday "Food Share" is held.
We then left the Paka early enough to get a quick nap and dinner before heading to Hilo for the last performance of the annual Shakespeare in the Park presentation.  This year it was AS YOU LIKE IT set in the 60's.   Luckily there was no rain, the night was warm, and the performance was great.

Pigs continue to be an intermittent problem for everyone.  One neighbor who has a full perimeter hog wire fence still gets small pigs coming through the wire and then having a hard time getting out.   I finished fencing our south side recently but I am reluctant to do the rest because large falling tree branches would frequently do serious damage on the north side.  A few days ago our dog Taco cornered an adult pig in a "den" under an upturned tree on the vacant lot next door.  Its head was protruding and Taco was right in front of it barking.  I could have gone for a weapon but it was a rainy morning and our freezer is full so I just grabbed a stick and from the top side of the tree trunk I reached over and poked the pig.  The first time it ignored me so I poked harder.  The pig then whipped to the side and bit off the end of the stick.  I poked it a couple times more times till it turned and tried to break through the back of the cave so Taco ran around that way.  As soon as Taco was away from the entrance the pig shot out and ran for the hills.  As far as I can tell it hasn't returned since and that is fine with me.  A well trained dog seems to be the best garden defense for me.

Today, as I sit at the desktop, Myrna is re-arranging some furniture in the next room.  Suddenly she starts talking in an endearing way to some small creature.  It turns out it is a 2" WOOD GECKO that she is encouraging to hurry up and get out of the way.  I am so glad that she is not one of those people who are afraid of or disgusted by small allies sharing our house.  Although it is a nuisance cleaning up after them, lizards in the house keep our place nearly bug free.  When we first moved in the house had just been fumigated with CO2 to kill any termites that may have been present ( that is recommended to be repeated at 7 year intervals here) and that kills anything else also including several house geckos that we found.  Tiny new young geckos moved in very quickly and each staked out a territory and grew quickly.  As I tightened the seals under the doors and around the window screens prey became scarce and the number of house geckos declined.  Now we sometimes see Day Geckos (also know as Madagascar Geckos or Geico Geckos if you wish)  in the house instead but both are rare.  Outside Day geckos are becoming predominant in this area, I think because they will eat anything from nectar to fruit to insects to other kinds of lizards. 


 

 The current harvest at its peak is Lilikoi (passion fruit) and we have a bumper crop.  We make lilikoi butter, lilikoi/pepper jelly, lilikoi cheese cake, lilikoi meringue pie and various drinks.  There are at least five different varieties here and we grow the common yellow fruited type as they are most productive.  The vines will grow to 60 feet and live for years.  We have five vines on our dog pen fence and yesterday we juiced the largest batch yet.  The already expensive shipping rates have just gone up again this year or I would want to send some lilikoi/ pepper jelly to everyone but since I can't, here are some pictures of our processing day.

We have found that lilikoi juice is so vitamin C rich that jars of it in the refrigerator will keep at least 5 months if shaken occasionally but we also can and freeze some of it.  I use the juice in pancake batter, bread or even putting on my cereal.  The vines produce from June to December here.  As you can see there's not a lot of juice per fruit volume but the juice is so strong (think strong lemon juice) that a little goes a long way and that wonderful smell comes through in cooking.

The other fruit in abundance the rest of the year is avocados.  Our own early tree is bad quality but lucky for us, nearby friends have an early tree of excellent quality. 


As it turns out, I've been writing this about one paragraph per day as tropical depression Flossie has been approaching.  Up to the middle of the night it was heading straight for us with winds up to 60 mph.  Now, Monday morning, it is turning north towards Maui and slowing down some but we are still expected to get 8-12" of rain and 30-40 mph winds.  This could result in slides that may close roads or knock out power for awhile but probably will not otherwise affect us.  The winds are just now starting to pick up but the rain has still been light so far.
  

This immature male Jackson Chameleon, native to Kenya, was asleep at night on a fern by the guest house steps.  Even touching it did not awaken it.