Our Spring 2021 Hawaii Homestead Update – So far 2021 has given us many opportunities to learn new skills and develop others. Our glass has been more than half full. We’ve added to our homestead family – two lop eared rabbits – Ms. Flopsy and Mr. Dill Pickle. We have harvested our first crops of Kona coffee and Cassava root. We are still in the process of learning the best ways how to process and preserve these harvests. One of my goals for 2021 was to diversify our diet by eating 200 different plants during the year. As of today, we have consumed over 120 different plants. This has inspired me to continue to learn about different wild edible plants and grow new ones too!
What’s Growing On?
The garden has been abundantly full of so many greens: six different varieties of kale, mustards, Moringa, Malabar spinach, Moluccan spinach, New Zealand Spinach, Manoa and butter lettuces, Tricolor and green amaranths, nasturtium greens and flowers, bok choy, and sweet potato greens. All together with okra, green beans, asparagus, gandules/pigeon pea, guava, papaya, mango and sweet potato, it’s been a winter full of variety. The pineapples are forming beautifully and should be ready to harvest in the coming months.
I added some new plants to the gardens: bele, chaya, Ali Baba watermelon, borage and roselle. When choosing plants, I choose plants that thrive and are not difficult the cultivate in our zone. Being flexible to grow new varieties heightens my chances of success. We are developing a taste for new plants in the process and broadening our diets.
The majority of our plants and seeds have a been acquired through the local, sharing economy. There are so many willing, generous gardeners who are eager to share their knowledge and seeds with others. In fact, the children and I have been saving our seeds and contributing them to local free seed stores established around our Island. Click here to view a list of free seed stores around Oahu published by Eating In Public. When we share our abundance with others, it makes us happy. Instead of thinking, “How much can I get?” we shift our thinking to, “How much can I give?” By looking out for others interests and working what is good toward all fosters such beautiful relationships.
Who can you help to smile today?
