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Summary
part 1 of a 2 part podcast
Paul talks to Katie about living in Hawaii
Apparently people keep saying they're going to go do permaculture in some good place, like Hawaii or Costa Rica or some other tropical place.
Katie lives in Hawaii so Paul is getting the low-down on what it's actually like. Katie moved there as the climate was good. She used to live in Seattle, but Hawaii is warm and you never get frosts.
There are various issues with Hawaii though, which Paul brings up. These include a lot of mold and fungus, the place is full of
ants and there's this thing you can get called rat lungworm which if you're unlucky can be a lifetime debilitating disease. Most people who go there to try doing permaculture are back on the mainland within a few months or a year. Katie says she know people who won't make friends with anyone who hasn't been there a couple of years. She reckons at least 90% leave again within 2 years - the cost of living is high, and there aren't that many well paid jobs.
Katie agrees with most of the points Paul raises, but there's more to it than that.
The islands have a wetter side and a drier side due to prevailing winds and if you live on the wet side, the fungus is worse due to the high humidity. On the dry side, it's manageable.
The ants are varied; the only ones you really don't want are fire ants but those aren't everywhere. Due to the ants and the humidity you need good storage for your food.
The rat lungworm is an issue when it comes to raw veg and salad, as it's spread via snails and slugs. The best course really is not to try to grow those. Stuff that you cook is OK.
There's also an issue about soil. Some places are just bare rock, others are a jungle with amazing soil. But the cheap places are mostly rocky. There's also an historic issue where large corporations bought up what used to be
sustainable farmland and put monocultures of sugar cane and pineapples there. Then when Hawaii became a state and labor laws applied, they moved on leaving essentially a desert.
Relevant Threads
Trpical climate forum
Pacifica forum
Diatomaceous Earth (food grade): bug killer you can eat!
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This podcast was made possible thanks to:
Dr. Hugh Gill Kultur
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