Su Ba

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.

Frankly, there’s not one single best book for me. Over the decades I bought lots of gardening books of all sorts, including old time  farming and food production, old time skills….in addition to more modern stuff. There was no way of googling something or searching YouTube. So I read everything that pertained to food production, picking out and applying the "gems" to my own efforts.

Lovely ladies!  Great photo!

I’ve found that populated areas where people had to depend upon walking, settlements tended to be about 2-3 miles apart. From what I’ve learned about my own region of Ka’u Hawaii, that tends to be true, though individual houses were also scattered between "villages". So using 3 miles from my home as the basis for my observations, here’s the skills/trades I’ve find :

Herdsmen (sheep)
Rancher (cattle)
Orchard man (macadamia nuts)
Coffee farmer
Commercial electrician
Welder
Machinery operator (backhoe, excavator, tractor, etc)
Beekeeper
Baker
Aviator (helicopters)
National Park ranger
Poultryman
Artist
Quilter
Florist
Acupuncturist
Physical therapist
Farmer
Fisherman
Hunter
Guy who’s really good at figuring out what’s wrong with your cellphone or computer, and fix it if possible. And he helps us do things on the internet.
And me ,who is retired from veterinary medicine and now  into homesteading.

I know all almost all the neighbors within 1 mile, but after that, it’s hit n miss. So I’m missing a lot of skills that might be out there.

Being rural, my immediate area contains lots of folks who have what I’ll call "seat of the pants" skills’. Most of them have built at least part of their own houses, barns & shed, and furniture.  We put up our own fencing. Paint our own houses. Lay down tile floors. Put on a new roof. Do basic plumbing and electrical. Install a wood stove. Do minor car and appliance repairs. Chainsaw trees. Maintain the solar and water catchment systems. Butcher out an animal. Make a farm gate.  And the neighbors are very willing to help other neighbors with these tasks.

Bob, I eat the tender, lush, young dandelion leaves. Older leaves are not only tough, but very bitter.  Young lush leaves have a bitterness too, but not overwhelming. Wilted with a hot bacon vinegarette, I find the combination enjoyable.

A friend just told me of a thing I do that people think is totally odd—-  I’m purposely growing dandelions in my greenhouse.  When I lived on the Eastcoast, dandelions were a weed that everybody spent plenty of effort to get rid of. Now here I am growing them. By forcing them to grow rapidly and luxuriously in a greenhouse, they make excellent greens for a salad. Served with a hot bacon dressing (that wilts the greens). They are really yummy.

I’m sitting here by myself and started chuckling out loud. Wow. A lot of the stuff I do people often find odd. Like…..

…grow (or hunt) all my own food for 1 year, then afterward keep at it , though lessening the ceiling to 90%. .
…wear bright, odd colored clothing (I’m an old lady)
…water down my drinks, be they milk, fruit juice, whatever. Fill glass 1/3, then top off with water.
…cook over a fire outdoors. Yup, I have a propane stove in my kitchen, so I have options other than wood.
…wear men’s shorts (hey, they got real pockets!)
…eat pickle sandwiches
…spend my free time doing community volunteering
…give away much of my excess produce to our local soup kitchen, rather than sell it
…I always have a snap-off bladed box cutter in my pocket. I’ve had to give a number to TSA over the years because I forgot it was there. Luckily I’ve not had a problem when I’m very apologetic and embarrassed.
…I like to add a splash of coffee to my hot chocolate.
…I love snakes. Alas, I had to give up my pet snake when I moved to Hawaii.
…sing and dance in my gardens

Being poor back then and somewhat rural, I cooked on a wood stove every winter for 20 years. We just had a simple steel box stove (used for house heating) that we had removed the protective lid off the top. So pots could be right on the steel top, or above it by using trivets. I didn’t mind cooking this way, and often wished I could have afforded a proper wood cook stove. Even though I have no use for one now, I often cast loving eyes upon one when we I see a wood burning kitchen cook stove someplace.

I wanted to let you know that you inspired me to try eating pumpkin leaves. So we tried them today, and they were just fine. Thank you for opening my eyes to another food source!  

My favorite meals? Hummmm.

If I don’t mind spending a fortune, I’d say prime rib with baked potato. Or lobster stew. But that’s just an infrequent treat for us. And these are not something I make at home.

If I don’t mind eating commercial food, then I guess it’s orange chicken — breaded chicken nuggets baked then slathered in Chinese orange sauce. Totally unhealthy and only indulged in a couple times a year.

Now for healthy, homegrown food—- it’s got to be our breakfast smoothies. We’ve been eating them for years and haven’t tired of them, maybe because they are always different.  I blend up a variety of fruits and veggies. No set recipe, just what’s in season. For example, this morning was guavas, a banana, steamed greens (Chinese cabbage, lettuces, pipinola (chayote) shoots, cholesterol spinach leaves, and (for the first time to try them) pumpkin leaves, cooked soybeans, a small piece of cooked pumpkin, one hard boiled egg, and enough homemade pineapple/sugar cane juice to make the ingredients blendable. As I’ve said, every day is different ingredients, but I aim to include fruit, greens, a protein source, and other veggies. The liquid might be fruit juice, veggie juice, or milk (sheep, goat, or cow depending upon what’s available).  Breakfast is normally our main meal. Lunch and dinner are usually just snack or small sized meals. So breakfast is a hot cup of coffee and a jumbo smoothie.

Get me into a good restaurant, and it’s prime rib, steak, or lobster for sure. My hubby opts for pork chops.

Do I love comfort meals? Of course! But they are not our normal fare. So anytime I wrap myself around a plate of French toast or gravy over rice, hubby knows that I’m stressed out.