Busy, Busy, Busy

Easter day at Anini Beach (north shore) for Azure's birthday party

Mom and dad, sorry for the lack of posts. I love you and think of you often. If things turn out well for us (meaning we are making money) we are planning on coming to visit you and Dan's family over Christmas. I hesitate to tell you incase it doesn't work out but I did so you know we are thinking of you and missing everyone!

Dan and I are very busy creating new lives! So many things going on, so many possibilities, so much fun. We are meeting with Jillian tomorrow about designing her website, after hers is done we will do her husband Gary's. He owns a solar company. My neighbor Simone and her friend Roxanna are trying to get me a catering job with Roxanna's company. They are having an employee appreciation party in June for 45 people, so I put a bid in for that last Friday. There is a banana grove that needs thinning on Bill Kreutzmann's girlfriends 22 acre farm, that's about 3 weeks of work for Dan. Friday, Jillian had a pot luck and movie night at the farm and Dan had to provide the cable and computer so they could project the DVD on a screen. He went to town to get the cable and got work instead. The store is almost desperate for someone to teach classes, maintain a realtor website, partition off drives for computer time rentals,  and provide consultations as well as make house calls. AJ (the private chef) said he is leaving to San Francisco for his birthday but is trying to figure out a way to get me into his regular family that he cooks for. He wants to live here and SF so I may end up picking up some of his clients. I would love to work with him, I could learn a lot! I have been approached to write for a Hawaii travel website. Through Jillian, Dan may get a part time job with Papaya's (Kauai's Vitamin Cottage) as a produce manager. The lady who owns the store has been asking Jillian if she knows any one who could do it. Papaya's wants to bring in local produce. The person would have to be organized and detailed oriented and would go around to local farmers and bring in their produce. Jillian said she would have recommended me for the job but she wants me for herself. She and I have big ideas for the co-op and if we can generate more income for the farm I would take over the CSA and maybe be the farm manager. Right now she is doing it all herself with the part time help of Eileen, the field manager. I don't want to get into the details but, the kitchen is going to become a commercial kitchen and she asked me to design it, whatever I want!!! Plus, we are creating farm tours and dinners and are going to try to include local celebrities and the mayor. Would you come to a farm dinner if Laird Hamilton, Bill Kreutzmann, Ben Stiller, the mayor of Kauai, Pierce Brosnan, or Alice Waters were there? Between Jillian and I we have big dreams, she has a fantastic farm but needs help marketing it, I have the passion to market it, so it could be win win.

On the home front, Dan talked to our landlord, the roof leaks into our bathroom, so Dan is going to patch it and Jimmy (the landlord) will pay for his labor and supplies. We never got a call back from the house we are checking out, so that's out. We are driving to the north shore 4 to 5 times a week so we decided to stay put, save money (once it starts coming in) and move when the time is right. In the meantime, we are going to plant a garden, put up a 20'x20' canopy for the jeep, moped and a garage work shop. I want a pavilion/enclosed tent thing for me to do yoga and us to hang out in. Read, draw, play games, just be outside. I want to put a futon in so if anyone comes to visit (Susan) they can stay there. I have to get to my homework done (a diagram of a flower labeling it's parts - for seed saving purposes - and a conceptual dream 4000 SF garden) so this post isn't as detailed and polished as usual. Here are some pictures to show you what else we've been up to!

Spring Equinox in Kapa'a

Lots of local goodies

A new friend (moved to Kauai with his wife 20 years ago) sells beautiful jewelry

Gold!! My favorite! I must wait for it!

Majorica pearls in Kauai!

He let me try them on, the bracelet and ring are his, the necklace is what Dan bought me when we were here in June for our anniversary.

There was music and food (of course)

Kauai Fungi mushrooms. This farm is on the same property as Jillian's and we got some mushrooms with our CSA order.

Kauai Fungi mushrooms about to be eaten! And Jillian's baby beet greens (that I harvested) tossed in a vinaigrette

Our laptops are paying for themselves creating websites, flyers and business cards

Na Keiki O Ka Aina (The Children of the Land) celebration. Phil passes tradition on to the children. Jillian and I set up the free salad station and box to get more CSA clients.

Close up of Jillian's box

Phil sets up a drum circle for the kids

beautiful music

More beautiful music

Back at home, a just hatched Gecko hangs out

Dan took out the ti plants, double dug a trench, added compost (from Jillian) and planted a rosemary I got at the farmers market and lemon grass we got at the farm

He replanted the baby ti's here

at the end of this row (behind the papayas) that needs to be cleaned up

One of the many spiders that, it seems, only Dan and I freak out on

Faith, Jillian's daughter helping out in the greenhouse

We thinned out some carrots (did you know if you eat the carrot tops they taste just like carrots) and found this one, Dan and I in carrot form!

Then Baxter, my compositor, ate it!

This is just wrong on so many levels!

Azure tuns 3 on Easter and the family celebrates with friends at the beach. Turtle's Teepee is on the right.  They set up after Na Keiki O Ka Aina and he spent the night in his teepee.

fun for the kids

ocean view

Local boys (from the south side) come up to play

Shene Wo, a former black panther and friend of the farm, plays drums

Dan looks for cool shells

Sage fills his squirt gun with Perrier water so it stings when he squirts people in the eyes! He got Dan and then conveniently disappeared when Dan was looking for paybacks, a head dunk in the ocean!

Jillian made Azure's cake. Carrot cake with ginger cream cheese frosting. Delicious!

Everyone sings happy birthday

all the candles get blown out

and everyone claps

the cake was served on banana leaves

the band had castanets 

and someone brought popcorn (plus pork slow cooked in the ground and all manner of side dishes)

Beans were harvested for this weeks CSA boxes. Afterwards the beans were pulled. Steve, a former student (in the hat) dug a ditch. I helped put the bean plants into the ditch and Steve covered them up. This green compost provides all the nutrients the plants need, next week will plant on top of them.

The radishes we direct sown (from seeds not seedlings), the seeds we put right into the ground 2 weeks ago. My job this harvest week, thinning out the baby radishes. This is the before shot

After. I harvested 3 1/2 pounds of them. After harvesting we cultivate (loosen up the soil) and feed the plants. Radish are short term/light feeders meaning they go from seed to harvest in 45 days or less and get crumbles for food (as opposed to compost which breaks down and feeds plants at a slower rate). Crumbles break down and become food pretty fast.

Back at home they get washed

and put into a chipotle hummus and carrot wrap

The day before we harvested onions. We started with 6 harvest bins and after cleaning we had 1 harvest bin or 63 pounds!

We set them out in the greenhouse to dry for next week's CSA boxes

An Emu. A pit in the ground for slow cooking whole pig. This is what Phil used to roast his pig for Na Keiki O Ka Aina, but never returned to clean it!

The week we learned about seed saving. This is what it looks like when broccoli goes to seed and the flowers taste like broccoli

This broccoli has gone to seed. The narrow pods hold approximately 10 tiny seeds

Ok, time for homework!