May Becomes June Ah Now July!

I guess it means I am getting pretty comfortable here, that the days slide into one another and I barely notice another month has gone by. There are really no seasons that I can discern, so far, and this is somewhat disorienting as to noting the passage of time. This is supposedly summer and it is exactly like winter... okay maybe the nights are a little warmer. We haven't thrown off the covers in a swelter of heat though, it still can be just a bit nippy (nippy is not even the right word ... you can want a long-sleeved shirt, is all) of an evening. The major difference is it is light much earlier, and stays light later. Also the sun has arced around to a whole new side of the house that I never would have expected. It is just as rainy, which has interfered with house building, but then does give me time finally to send this update off!

Major developments are - house footings and walls are poured, and waterproofed! The cement pours were a ton of work - many tons - I think we had overall 8 truckloads? The framing will have to wait until we get back from our Olympia/Woods Hole visit. Currently Dan is sorting gravel to get ready to backfill the walls.

The framework for pouring the footing.

David, Nick and Dan pouring a wall.


We also now have a cesspool for the new house, and much of the other infrastructure (drainage, roadways) all improving, and - big news - the perimeter fence is almost up, as well. The purpose is to keep pigs and other wandering creatures out of our gardens, so we can freely plant taro and trees without discovering one morning that they have been thoroughly mucked up.

The community garden is coming along nicely. Thanks to weekly garden work parties with all on the land participating, we have really got a nice garden going. Some things are a struggle, some things are a snap, and that's what this year is all about, experimenting and trying to grow lots of things. I have been harvesting lettuce, fennel, tsoi sim, arugula, radish seed pods (to stir fry), radishes, basil, tomatoes, bok choy and flowers (I like to eat them, so do the chicks), peas, two kinds of beans, cherry tomatoes, a little broccoli, and various herbs. Compare this picture with the one of the work party we had April 3rd.

Garden in June.


The blue corn is looking great, already has big ears, we'll be tasting it soon! Although it is more grown for cooking than fresh eating, still exciting. And we'll see if Sophie can eat this truly heirloom variety - brought to us from a friend who got it from Central American indigenous people - without her throat swelling up and getting asthma, which is what happens with the faintest bit of regular corn, even from buying deli food in those compostable containers made of corn.

The chickens - 31 down to 26 due to mongoose and possibly hawks - have been a major occupier of time.





Sophie and Ariel. Was so lovely to have Ariel visit!


Getting some taro.


We're coming to Olympia July 20th to see family, friends, do a million practical things, and then Ariel and I go to Woods Hole from July 30th-August 12th, and Dan and I return to Hawaii August 14th. Still working on whether Jason and Dan will join us to Woods Hole. Sophie is there now, so she and Nick will tend things for us here in Hawaii while we are gone.



Aloha for now, enjoy your days :)
Rachel