For the birds

Pictured here are the two Bantum chickens. They lay small white eggs that are actually pretty big when you consider the size of the chicken. I took this photo with my phone, and I can see it is not that great.

My son has been updating his blog more often than I have. I think he is doing an outstanding job, and his writing is getting better and better.

Where have I been? I have been going crazy, among other things. Working about 78 hours a week, homeschooling, taking kids to classes, baking bread, taking care of chickens,hiking to Shipman Beach,composting,recycling,sitting at this desk typing on this computer till my carpal tunnel acts up, and being on film for Operation Christmas Child.(We are going to be on the show Living In Paradise!)

My house is a mess. Something has to give right?

Bananas and chocolate

Tis another before and after photo blog. Before is a box of apple bananas that are on the verge of being too ripe, and no good for anything except chicken food and compost.
I saved the day by peeling and trimming them all, dipping them in fresh lemon juice,and dehydrating them. Then I did what seemed the most reasonable thing to do, I dipped them in chocolate. Semi-sweet chocolate. I like them, but I think next time I will dip them in dark chocolate.

before and after photos

So, I never got around to weeding,tilling,adding compost, and manure to my garden until August. (That is the before photo.) The after photos are the sunflowers,papayas,tomatoes, and tomatillos 3 months later. Thank you Ko family for the papayas!
Maybe I will make papaya salsa.

Cilantro with Cockscomb Amaranth

I am growing cilantro and cocks comb amaranth from seed as you can see here. I am so excited because this is the first time I have gotten cilantro to grow from seed. I usually end up buying seedlings. Even better is the fact that these are from seeds I collected, and everything is organic.

Ode to the Compost Worm

You live in darkness moist and dirty,
eating things that are not perty.Compost worm.
Mango peels, and moldy bread, coffee grounds, and a carrot end,
anything rotten is your friend.Compost worm.
You like to sleep upon some poop, and there are maggots in your soup.Compost worm.
Dirt and filth, slime and germ, these are all delicious to the compost worm

Recycle Hawaii!

I just realized that the way I dispose of my garbage is really borderline obsessive. A friend was talking about taking garbage to to dump in her old car so she won't get her new van dirty. For some reason, I started to tell her how I sort and dispose of my garbage, and I think I opened a window on my personal life that maybe I should have kept secret?

I have two compost bins, and two composting worm bins. I have my plastic,glass, metal, and my paper garbage.Some paper garbage we burn in our yard, and some of it I feed to my compost worms. I also separate kitchen scraps that are meat products, and keep them in my freezer in a ziplock bag(which was recycled). Leftover dairy products are fed to the chickens.

Recycling is not mandatory in Hawaii, but it also does not have to be as complicated as I have made it. Genesis 1:28 says we should "replenish" the earth, not fill it with plastic.

There is a floating vortex of garbage the size of Texas here in the Pacific ocean.Ok, stop, and re-read that last sentence. Yes,there is a garbage patch the size of Texas floating in my ocean, and I am not happy about it.

I am not going to accept any guilt for it, and please don't get me wrong, I am not saying you should feel guilty either. I am just doing my part. I am doing my best to be a good citizen of the beautiful earth that God gave for me to enjoy.

If you live in Hawaii, you don't have to recycle, you have the freedom to choose. Please use your freedom wisely.
Mahalo!

Summer gardening fun, Starbucks, and Caroll Spinney aka Big Bird

The kids were actually excited when I said they could each have their own garden plot, and they picked out their own seeds. So far we have 3 piles of compost(with coffee grounds from Star bucks),and the seeds are not planted yet.
Yes, I know it is the middle of June, but that is OK because this is Hawaii. We will be planting soon.

Can I just say that I am a little paranoid when I go to Starbucks and ask for coffee grounds for my garden? Every time I go, no matter which store I go into, I seem to get the same response to my request for grounds. "Oh, I am sorry, we just gave them all away." When I am feeling extra pushy, I ask them to just check the machines in case there is a little I may please have? Any that is hiding and they may have missed? Even if it is just a little, I would be happy to take it.*smile* Then behold,when they check for me, there are actually grounds! Can you believe it?

Wow, who would have thought there would be coffee grounds at the most famous coffee shop in the world where people are constantly purchasing coffee? So I am guessing the first day on the job at Starbucks, the barista inside scoop includes telling those pesky Grounds for Gardens people, "Oh, sorry, we just gave them all away." I came in one time around 1:30 and was actually told "Oh sorry, we gave them all away this morning." I did not have the energy to beg for scraps that time so I just ordered my tall skinny decaf vanilla latte and left it at that.
The good news is, I made a friend at Starbucks, and now if I come in when she is there, there always seems to be grounds at the cafe.Amazing.

On the front page of Yahoo news today was Big Bird, and the man who does his voice, Caroll Spinney.
When Mr. Spinney aka Big Bird came to Hawaii a number of years ago to buy property, my dad aka Bob Riley was his Realtor. So, BIG Bird owns property on the BIG Island.heh.

Mr. Spinney is also an artist, who draws and paints, and gave my dad a couple of signed prints he brought with him. One of them hangs in the kids bathroom today. He was an all around nice bird, I mean guy. Good to see he is still going strong at 74. Groovy.

Compost Gardening

Kealani picked these Heirloom Orange tomatoes from our organic "garden"
My garden is in terrible shape actually. These grew out of my compost pile, and I was too lazy to transplant them. They are sooo sweet, and juicy and full of flavor, like real tomatoes should be !