ʻTis the Season

Merry Christmas to you all my friends!

Peace

Canadian Students Come for a Visit

Ten students, teachers and guests from Centennial High School, Calgary, Canada came to the farm to visit and listen to Kumu Keala Ching talk story about Hawaiian food culture and myths, and about sustainable farming in Hawaii.

All were blessed to have Kumu talking story and sharing his insights.

 Manono set up a display showing the kukui nut tree and hala treeʻs importance to Hawaii.

Beautiful orchids all about. Mahalos to Ke Akua (higher being) and Kumu.

 Kumu shows a special lomi massage stick fashioned from a guava branch.

 Kumu talking about the star compass, and the ti plant before the students begin planting 32 ti plants around the labyrinth. The plants represent the 7 directional points (x4) and the 4 houses of the star compass.

The star compass is very important to the Hawaiians, aiding in planting and navigation.

Kumu assigned each student a directional point along with the hand sign associated with the name of the directional point. After each quadrant was planted, the students went to the next quadrant and recited their directional name and gave the appropriate hand sign.

 Kirsty is supervising!

 Boys pounding the stakes with the directional names on them.

 Dig hole, add water, add ti plant, add mulch, pound in rebar, pound in stake. Easy-peasy!

Teacher Carter Cox uses a modern tool to dig the hole for the ti plant. Not much soil here, mostly lava rock.

Here he tries a more traditional tool.

 Students learning the directional points and houses via a hand game and chant.

 After the planting, the students were instructed on how to cleanse oneself by walking the labyrinth.
Each student decided which side they needed to work on (male or female), entered the appropriate side, and worked on leaving what needed to be discarded from their life in the labyrinth. Whatever is discarded is absorbed by the land and turned back into good to nurture those living on the farm.

 Students exiting the labyrinth, hopefully without some of the baggage they were trying to get rid of.

Manono showing the students some of the plants they ate for lunch.

 All of the food and tea was from the farm and was prepared by Kirsty, the very talented resident chef! The students were given food to go for dinner later that day as well.

 What is not listed above is the lilikoi bread (gone in a flash), seen to the right of the avocados and the mamaki tea. The food was so ono and the students were very thankful!

 Brandon (one of Kumuʻs students), kept the flies away with his specially crafted ti leaf.

The visitors were very blessed to have Kumu Keala Ching, Chef Kirsty and host Manono to welcome them to the farm and share with them food, tea and stories of Hawaii.

Peace my friends!

House Plants Grow Big on the Farm

This is for Sharry, who will never have seen poinsettias this large. An early Mele Kalikimaka to all!

Peace

Dragon Fruit Flower

The Walking Man was walking to feed the chickens when he spotted this flower on a dragon fruit stalk. The flower itself is about 7 inches wide. Seeing something so beautiful, he thought of his lovely wife, who is presently in Ireland visiting family and friends. Now, as he writes this post, he thinks: why am I writing in the third person? Must be the heat!

Peace my friends!

Snorkeling at Mauna Lani Bay

We went snorkeling at Mauna Lani with Manono and friends John and Vicky. The water wasnʻt all that clear today, but it was cool to swim around in an aquarium.

Kirsty enjoying her first time snorkeling!

 Mauna Lani bay with the Kohala Mountains in the background. It rained for a few minutes, but we didnʻt mind.

 Coral reefs everywhere, not a blade of grass to be found.

 Lots of sea urchins!

 Parrotfish

 Yellow tang.

Butterfly fish?

Very large coral formations.

 I think this is a pufferfish.

Wearing Manonoʻs yellow bandana to attract the tang fish!

Peace my friends!

Holo Holo Honomu

We took a little break from the farm and drove over Hilo side to a small town called Honomu. Things grow a little bigger on Hilo side!

 This is an avocado tree, planted probably in the 40s. The avocados weigh in around 2-3 pounds each. The girth of the tree is amazing!

Huge papayas as well!

 Gerry (the owner) has a few bees.

 And a koi pond.

And bananas, of course!

 These two hibiscus flowers were the size of medium-sized dinner plates!

We drove a short distance to Onomea bay. Nice place at the top!

We also went for a little dip at Richardson Beach in Hilo.

Black sand makes for disappearing slippas!

Peace my friends!

Kirsty Stripping On the Lanai

Easy now, not that kind of stripping! Kirsty is stripping the ohia logs we are going to use to redo her kitchen.

 John and Vicky from down the road were kind enough to give us some ohia logs they harvested from their property. Kirsty is using a machete to strip the bark off.

Nuff said!

Peace my friends!

Pigs

We have plenty of feral pigs just outside the fence. They love the mac nuts and new shoots in the fields. Kirsty would love to have one over for dinner.

Peace!

Bananas

There are about 70 different varieties of bananas in Hawaii. More commonly, the banana plants have a purple flower that hangs down and the bananas grow above the flower.

I found another type on the farm:

 The flower is located very close to the stalk.

 The bananas are inside the flower and are revealed as the flower opens up.

These might be apple bananas, but I'm not sure. Will have to wait until they ripen to be sure.

Peace my friends!