Su Ba

Paul Canosa, I wouldn’t worry about that pebbled yard. Those stones would act as a mulch, helping to retain soil moisture. By carefully setting aside the pebbles, planting a veggie plant (say an eggplant for example), then returning the pebbles in place—- you’re good to go.  

My concern living way out in the middle of the ocean is not just "what if food prices rise 10X? …. but what if shipping to Hawaii gets interrupted?  The State of Hawaii currently imports around 90% of its food. And the overwhelming majority of the population doesn’t have a clue about growing food.

Personally, I’ll be fine. My diet will surely change quite a bit, but I won’t go hungry. Now my husband will find himself in a sad situation, because he’s not fond of sweet potatoes, taro, breadfruit, pumpkins, green papayas, and edible gourds. I guess he will have to learn to eat them because those would become our staples.

I foresee two other problems that would develop if the price of food went up tenfold. ….
…. Theft. People will be trying to steal from my farm. And my livestock would be at risk. Since my farm is fully fenced, I suppose I could go to animal control and adopt a dozen dogs to run loose on the farm to prevent theft.
…. Availability of seed.  It’s happened before that seed suppliers restricted who could buy seed. Luckily I’m already recognized as a farmer and have access to seed, but home gardeners may find themselves restricted or cut off from seed.

I also foresee that I could do very well selling my excess at our local farmers market.

No need for long term storage here in Hawaii. Plus the ground temperature doesn’t get very cool. And no need to protect against a freeze.

Having said this, I had a root cellar before I moved to Hawaii.

Another tactic you may wish to consider……..

Living in the wet tropics, I’ve got lots of mosquitos. The best steps I’ve taken are:

1- create breeding ponds and stock them with guppies. The fish will eat the mosquito larvae, thus eliminating future generations of thousands of mosquitos. About every 50’ apart I’ve set up half barrels (you could use other things) with a few guppies in them. If it is in the sun, I put water plants in to provide shade for the fish so that the water doesn’t get too warm.

2- eliminate any potential water collection spots. Store old tires inside a shed or under a tarp. Keep tarps taunt to avoid water pooling. Pick up or protect any tools….or trash….that could collect water.  Etc.

3- use “dunk granules" (bt for killing mosquito larvae) in plants that gather water. I have my driveway rock wall covered with bromeliads which hold water. A couple of the granules into each appears sufficient to stop the mosquito life cycle.

4- encourage bats.

Super job, guys!!!     Fantastic!  

I’ve used ivermectin successfully for ear mites in the past. I’ve also had good results with fipronil (aka- Frontline).

Ivermectin treats a variety of parasites, both internal and external. Not all types of course, but quite a few. I use it routinely for scabies (aka-sarcoptic mange), which is quite common in my area.

I was raised using cloth hankies. Then switched to Kleenex because I hated that wet snot ladened hankie in my back pocket. It’s just a thing with me, I guess.

I now use the finger-on-the-side-of-the-nose-blow method (I’m usually not out in public, I’m on a farm by myself) then follow up with toilet paper. I fold up a few pre-made squares of toilet paper and put them in my back pocket. I’ll pull out one when I need it, then since I’m invariably working on the farm, I’ll use a square and then bury it in the soil for the worms and soil microbes to "compost" it for me. If not on the farm, I politely just use the toilet paper and replace it into the opposite back pocket for later disposal.

Your meals look great!

Just chiming in with a "me too".  

We grow and sell dragon tongue beans for our community farmers market. When we first started with them, very little sold. We ended up donating 20 pounds of them to the local soup kitchen each week. So we changed tactics and made up a bunch of little baggies of them to give away as samplers. We now have enough re-buyers to sell those 20 pounds a week.  

My personal favorite way of eating them is as a salad or snack. I steam them until they are tender though still somewhat firm. Cool them in cold water, then put them into the frig. For a dinner salad , I chop them into bite sized pieces and toss them with a little sesame salad dressing.  Great cold salad!  

A fairy tale—-  once open a time, in a different world far, far, away, there was a farm girl who loved to fly and visit others’ farms and botanical gardens. She so much enjoyed these adventures that she would usually fly to neighboring islands once every month, and to the far away countries once a year. Oh how she loved it, bringing home special prizes of exotic seeds and plants (of course, abiding by import and quarantine rules). She gladly spent her time between trips saving money for her next trip by happily selling her vegetables & fruits, eggs, lambs, goats, and rabbits.

But things began to change. Seats got smaller and uncomfortable. More passengers got crammed into the airplane. Carry on luggage got more restrictive. She had to pay for her checked in bags. Free meals and snacks on the plane disappeared, and what was offered at high prices was essentially crap. She couldn’t even take her own sodas or juice through the check in process for drinking on the plane. And the check-in process could take 3 hours to get through the lines. The fun was gradually being squeezed out of flying. Soon she found herself just flying locally from island to island because the fun had died.

Then an evilness descended……COVID. She watched so many of her friends return from trips, suffering from Covid. Being elderly and with pre-existing health problems, she was concerned. Was it worth taking the risk, and possibly end up with a long hospital stay? Even possibly end up with distressing "long Covid", or even possibly die?   So she restricted her trips to one neighboring island, using an airline with small prop planes and small passenger numbers to reduce the risk.

Then along came 2023. Absolute heart wrenching disaster!  Lahaina burned!!!  Lahaina was her Maui Island "home away from home" for 10 of her trips a year. Watching what happened, having friends lose not only their homes and businesses but also people that they knew, watching while it all was destroyed just broke the farm girl’s spirit. Knowing that she would never enjoy those businesses again, never see the old feeble guy who would ride the rickety bike to the wharf, never watch the crazy guy talking to invisible  people, never buy an ice cream cone for the elderly bag lady, never invite the hotel resident cat into her room at night, never again….never again….never again. The farm girl’s heart was permanently broken beyond mending.

So……….. I have not flown since June 2023.