Between rain showers I captured promises from the garden, avoiding the happy honey bees.
Passion flower and fruit:
Passion fruit
Sweet potato tops for a veggie:
Sweet potato leaf shoots
Red hibiscus for tea:
Noni flowers for salad:
Figs:
Figs
It’s rewarding to to grow our own food.
~ Rebekah
Maʻafala
Manna from heaven, or, I should say, Maʻafala from heaven! We picked breadfruit today just as it stopped raining avocados in the garden. It is the Samoan variety cultivated on the Island of Kauaʻi, and it grew from a potted plant into this magnificent tree. They are smaller than the Hawaiian ulu.
Maʻafala tree is bearing fruit
I am guessing the bountiful year is the effect of the climate change on our planet. Happily we have shared for weeks now beautiful avocados with neighbors and friends, made lots of guacamole, and froze batches of the same. Mashed or cut-up avocado freezes well and doesn’t discolor if you combine it with lemon or lime juice.
Morning count on the porch railing. One day nine had fallen to the ground from the night before.
Mahalo e Ke Akua for the abundance.
~ Rebekah
Red ginger
While in coronavirus lockdown until September 24 (according to latest Hawai’i report), travel without a mask is limited to my garden. It’s not exclusively my garden, as family and neighbors are on the lookout for its fruits and flowers. Here’s this morning’s tour:
Papaya volunteer
Ti
Avocado in between red hibiscus cuttings
Avocado close up
Avocado split from its fall from above
Ti
Panax
Kukui nut
Donkey tail in a hanging basket
Ti
Lilikoʻi (passipn fruit)
Red ginger
Maʻafala breadfruit
More Maʻafala breadfruit
Pele’s hair — hinahina
Maʻafala breadfruit. I’m waiting for more latex sap to ooze out and onto a smooth skin, indicating the breadfruit is ready to harvest.
Fallen breadfruit leaf. I’ve used the shape in my art work.
Heliconia variety
Be well. Please stay home during coronavirus season—six months and counting!
~Rebekah
Like many of you self isolating at home from the COVID-19 pandemic, for four months now since mid March, our family has returned to home cooking, saving gasoline and money that would have been paid to restaurants. For health reasons I should avoid eating sugar, but I love to bake. So what the heck?
Have a virtual taste of my pie, Dutch baby pancake, scones, and malasadas!
~ Rebekah
JJAnother dog picture, but hey, my dog seems to be the only constant during the current pandemic while we all stay at home. You are staying home, right?
Or at least assigning your trips “off campus” to the same one person per household. For our family that person is Pete.
He took advantage for a brief time of the order-and-pick-up service from Kualoa Ranch just five minutes down the road. Other times he went to Windward Mall in Kaneohe for the weekly farmers market.
The mangoes came from Ewa, the lady said. Yummy, and a good find because our tree isn’t bearing this year.
Coffee cake is topped with fresh mango slices and cinnamon sugar, then baked.
What a beauty!~ Rebekah
JJ the dog likes to go for rides
We took time out today for a short road trip down the highway to Kualoa Ranch to pick up the order of groceries we placed on Monday. It was a chance to take the dog for a ride.
To help the community during this period of staying home to guard against the coronavirus, the Ranch initiated this service. Kualoa Ranch, in addition to raising cattle, normally operates varied and numerous recreational and retail activities spread out across its properties for off-island visitors and residents alike. One example is the providing of Kaaawa Valley, that the Ranch owns, for movie locations.
Now it has consolidated its employees to operate a well organized food distribution program for the public.
How it works:
First ask to be put on an email list for Kualoa Grown. The product list is sent out on Monday for Friday pick up. Place your order online. To be added to Kualoa Grown email list please email Terra at tmcginnis@kualoa.com 🤙🏽
On Friday afternoon, drive to the Ranch where you are directed to a pop-up tent to pay. Happy people will place a numbered card on the windshield. Everyone wears protective masks.
Today we picked up orders for two families.
Follow the green traffic cones up the hill to where more happy people will deliver packages straight into your vehicle. Just roll down the window. No need to get out of your car at all.
Today we got apple bananas, beef chili, and fresh string beans. Last week we indulged in a dark chocolate bar, pricey but excellent and worth the money. Sometimes we need to treat ourselves. And go for a ride.
Be well.
– Rebekah
Hibiscus
Rocky of Ohana Tree Service and his crew of six gave the yard a haircut that should last for two years, he said. Except for the vegetable and flower boxes that I’m now encouraged to renew myself, the place looks very tidy. The kou, Maʻafala breadfruit, and avocado tree on the ma uka side are pruned back. The kou lost a huge limb in the recent wind storm.
Kou
Avocado
While they were at it, the crew shortened the height of the panax hedge and red hibiscus bushes, and they raked up all the debris. I took the opportunity to cut many tall ti leaf stalks for others to decorate Iolani Palace today, the 127th anniversary of the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani. The property is more airy and I can see and hear the surf on the reef as a result. The neighbors are happy!
Panax
~ Rebekah
P.S. — The calamansi is bearing again. More marmalade soon! RL
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