Squash and Awe
the pursuit of pumpkin
Non-GMO legislation passed on Hawaii Island
I haven’t mentioned this on the site as of yet, but it is important to do so. After much debate, the Mayor passed the legislation on behalf of the farmers, the Native Hawaiians, and the many concerned citizens of the state and beyond. It is hard to sum up the importance of this legislation for […]
MoreSecond Chance in the Composting Beds
Here is an example of a new “tropical composting bed method” that I am trying to invent. Will it work? For sure…well with enough time, all composting works if you add a big range of materials. Here are the zero-waste salvage materials found on the farm, and donated by Redwater Cafe. Border walls: basalt growing […]
MoreFish Emulsion Underway
So there are three buckets of varying sizes, all draped in cotton t-shirt material, sitting in the far back corner of the work shed. The scent is slightly warf-esque, but not too bad. This is week two. I am using a modification of Korean Natural Farming’s fish emulsion (natural fertilizer) method of layering fish with […]
MoreEvery Creature is Loved at the Farm
When walking the Ironwood lined path behind the squash vines, this tiny man was found working his way home. Beautiful and independent, I let him go again so that he could return to his tall tree home.
MoreZero Waste Farming
A venti Starbuck’s cup had a second life on the farm as a fruit fly lure. Here in the foreground, a male Oriental Fruitfly (one of 4 species of fruit fly here in Hawaii) floats in a mild soap solution after being lured by the Methyl Eugenol drops that were placed on the suspended cotton […]
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Organic no-till, sheet mulching, lasagna gardening
It takes a lot of time up front in the collection of mulch materials, but the big gain is that your squash plants can feed for months on the rich nutrients that you have made for them. I plant when the bed is new. That is not ideal, but it allows me to hit production […]
MoreDream Keeper- A new Hawaii grown variety
Dark green, with light green and gold freckles, Dream Keeper is a new organic squash that I created by cross-pollinating two strong C. Moschata strains. The result…a beauty that is virtually mildew and bug proof without sprays. On the inside she is as gorgeous as a Hawaiian sunset.
MoreSometime in my lifetime, many farmers forgot how to build soil
For hundreds of years, farmers built the soil as a foundation for the food that fed their families. A foundation for their future. A built-in daily vitamin for themselves that would be harvested in the months ahead. Then something happened when I was still measured in relation to my Gandpa’s knee. There were better ways, […]
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