My first garden             .

Most people think that living in Hawaii means it is easy to grow anything all year around.  They are right about one thing… you can grow food all 12 months of the year.  But like anywhere else, not everything will thrive in every season and in some cases, will not grow at all.  The summers here have intense sun and the winters are very, very rainy (at least where I am in my back-valley micro-climate).  The result is that the cilantro fries in summers’ heat and the parsley drowns in winters’ downpours.  On top of that, there is no cold season to reduce pest and disease populations and the jungle is always growing in –and don’t get me started on the very tenacious invasive species that out compete everything.  In spite of all that, I must say, it is very nice to garden here.

7 week old chicken            .

My first garden manifested about 3 years ago and it has been growing ever since and now includes many small plots all around the house.   Our small flock of laying hens has also been here 3 years and the new youngsters are rapidly growing.  My 2 small dogs, Penny and Bagel, have found their true calling in life as the rat and mouse patrol in the chicken coop and compost bins.  We have expanded so much that my husband recently declared us a “farmlette”, somewhere in between serious gardeners and a sporadic mini farm.  The experience has been one of learning, fun, and lots of hard work.

I enjoy sharing what knowledge I have gained, telling stories about life, learning from others, and passing on a sense of what it is like living on our farmlette in the back of a lush green valley on the beautiful island of Oahu.