First Two New Lambs

It was pouring rain last night. There were two rain shelters for the sheep, so I was worried about the pregnant ewes. Besides, the first delivery shouldn't be until next week some time. Wrong! Wrong on the timing, but I didn't need to worry any.

Checking on the sheep this morning, I saw two new babies. Wow! I smiled and glowed all over as though I was the proud parent myself!-------well, not really. I would have hated being pregnant and them being stuck with a kid. But that's just me. Checking things out, I saw that both lambs were born out in the open....in the rain. But both did well, both having good mothers. 

Both lambs were robust, nursing, and doing just fine. The white one was normal size, and a little girl. The black one was a super jumbo, and a boy. You'd swear he was a few days older because he is really huge. I had thought that this ewe was carrying twins, but it turned out to be just one large singlet. I like singlets, so that's fine. But how I wish he had been born a female. I don't need anymore rams. So he is destined to become either somebody's pet, or a freezer denizen.

Got this photo just as he was falling over. You can see that all his weight is on his right legs. Oops, over he went. 

An Addendum to my Planting Post

Before everyone starts asking, let me explain something about my last post, the one where I've listed what I've planted to date this year. Yes, I've planted stuff this year but it surely doesn't look like I've planted our entire food needs (unless of course we are eating a dozen bananas each every day!) There are reasons for this. 

... Perennials. We have an already established food base. The perennials and "almost perennials" continue to provide food even though they don't need constant replanting. Things like: 

          Pumpkins, jicama, chaya, pineapples, pipinolas, sweet potatoes, Okinawan spinach, cholesterol spinach, green onions, various herbs, bananas, citrus trees, guavas, pineapples, mamaki, coffee, macadamia nuts, avocado. 

          Should I count chickens, sheep, and goats as "meat perennials"? Hahaha. Well established on this farm, they provide an abundance of eggs, milk, and meat without me having to constantly bring more animals to the farm. 

... Stored foods. Not having had a good handle on exactly how much food I felt comfortable having stored, I over did it by a longshot. So this year we are eating up our excess. Between the freezer and our dehydrator, we managed to accumulate an abundance of all sorts of foods, including meats, veggies, and fruits. I not only learned that I had too much stored food, but it also takes quite a while for us to eat down the freezer....and that I really don't need that many dried peas, beans, and other dehydrated veggies for making soups. 

... Trade-barter-gifting-foraging system. I have a nice system established. Every week I engage in trading or gifting. Plus I still actively forage. And every month I'm always involved with some sort of bartering. So I become the recipient of all sorts of foods......honey, kombucha, breads and other baked goods, fruits and veggies, fish, meats, jams, soups, lettuce, coffee, etc. So even though I'm not replanting such a wide assortment of foods, I am receiving them one way or the other. 

A benefit of having a goodly stockpile of food is that I haven't needed to spend so much time in the gardens tending my growing crops. Instead I've been able to devote more time to creating more gardens and planting crops for the future. I've had time to experiment with my various projects, such as the greenhouses and woodworking. Having food abundance frees up my time for other things......besides freeing up my money for other things to spend it on......like a prime rib dinner out at the local restaurant on Saturday night....yum. 

What I've Planted To Date

I last reported on July 6th. Since then I've added: 

Pineapples - 221

Green beans (assorted colors)- 10 pallet boxes (36 plants per box) 

Peas, snap- 8 foot row

Taro- 67

Peppermint- 2 six inch clumps

Chocolate mint- 4 six inch clumps

Tree, Finger lime- 1

Tree, Brazil plum- 1

Turmeric- 55 ft row

Potatoes- 6 pallet boxes (averaging 20 plants per box= 120 plants) 

Tomatoes - 8

Gourd- 1

Pipinola- 2

Pumpkins- 4

Sweet peppers- 24

Eggplant- 3

Lilikoi- 1

Plus I recently started seeds, which are now baby seedlings in the mini greenhouses. Soon these will get planted out into various garden beds. The numbers I've listed are the projected number of seedlings I plan to plant out. Any unplanted seedlings will be used to sell or trade. 

Broccoli- 24

Onions- 50

Basil- 12

Dill- 8

Bok choy- 24

Ground cherry- 12

Tomatoes- 12

Papaya- 20

Beets- 40

Chard- 12

So year to date planting totals.......

Banana trees - 4

Basil- 12

Beans for seed production - 10 foot row

Beans for eating - 10 pallet boxes (36 plants per box) 

Beets- 40

Bok choy- 24

Broccoli- 24

Chard- 12

Chaya - 32 cuttings

Chocolate mint- 4 six inch clumps

Cholesterol spinach - 400 square feet

Cucumbers - 18 plants

Dill- 8

Eggplant- 3

Gourd- 1

Ground cherry- 12

Lilikoi- 1

Lima beans - 40' row plus 5 individual seeds

Onions- 50

Papaya- 20

Peas, snap - 8 foot row

Peppermint- 2 six inch clumps

Pineapples - 239

Pipinolas - 21

Potatoes - 448 plants

Pumpkins- 4

Summer squash - 8 plants

Sweet peppers- 24

Taro - 97 plants

Tomatoes - 40 plants 

Tree, finger lime - 1

Tree, Brazil plum- 1

Turmeric- 55 foot row

Winged beans - 15 plants

And I'm not done yet for this year! Yikes! Looking at the number of pineapples I've put in, I'm either going to make some money selling pineapples or else my chickens and sheep are going to be very happy. 

Garden Walkways

"G" just asked me for the best way to make his garden walkways. He was thinking of using cardboard, or possibly old carpet. He also thought about using a permanent wooden boardwalk or stepping stone path. I really couldn't tell him "the best" walkway to make, but I did mention a few of my own experiences. Since "G" lives not too far from me, my experiences might help him decide what to do. 

1- cardboard or newspaper. Yes, thick layers do keep the weeds down. But those layers can get real slick and slippery with all the rain we've been getting. Plus there's the problem with wind. Unless held down with dirt or rocks, the paper will eventually blow around. I've tried both, but now won't use either. After taking a couple bad falls on slippery paper, I won't dare let the stuff in my walkways. Not worth getting a broken wrist or hip, or worse. 

2- carpet. I've vetoed carpet for a couple of reasons. First of all, the chemicals. Repeated rains will leach the various chemicals out and into the soil, where the plants could take them up. No one has done research about this, so heaven alone knows what might get into the food you pick. Most carpeting has anti-fire chemicals which have been found to be very persistent in the environment, including in our own bodies. Nasty stuff. Plus they often contain anti-stain chemicals, anti-fade chemicals, glues, and who knows what else. 

     Second, the carpeting degrades in the tropical sun. Before long you will end up with a mass of shredded carpet strings with grass growing up through it. Try to pick them up will be a nightmare. They'll be well imbedded in the soil and intertwined in plant roots. Been there, done that, never will do it again. 

3- thick grass clippings or tree leaves.  Just like the wet cardboard, this stuff can get real slick. Because most people don't want to have to reapply a mulch every week, they will pile the stuff on thick. Big mistake. It gets to be real dangerous walking on it. It's the thickness that is the problem. 

4- I've seen cement blocks used successfully for garden paths, though they wouldn't work well for my own gardening methods. I use a cultivating tiller which kicks the soil about. Thus the cement blocks would get soil all over them every time I worked the garden beds. I suppose I could just resign myself to having the broom it off each time, but I hate wasting the time. The same problem would occur when I use mulch. The wind would tend to blown it onto the cement blocks. Though this method wouldn't please me, it might work perfectly fine for other gardeners. If using hand tools instead of a tiller, if using heavy woodchip mulch instead of fluffy grass, the cement blocks might be perfect. A plus would be that no weeds would grow in the walkways. You'd have a non-slippery, solid surface to walk on. The downside would be the expense, plus the work to install it. 

5- a permanent boardwalk. The same can be said for a wooden pathway as for the cement blocks. Eventually the wood would rot, but if you were willing to live with that, then it would be fine....and pretty. I don't know how slippery it might get over time in a wet environment. I've never tried it. As with the cement blocks, it would be expensive and require labor to install. 

6- wood chips. I've seen wood chips used in garden pathways and it seemed quite nice. Looked good. They would need to be applied thickly to stop most weeds, though some would still grow through. And though they would last a lot longer than grass clippings, they would need to be replenished occasionally. The downsides are #1- slugs would hide underneath them, and #2- most people would have to go out and purchase them. 

7- cinder or gravel. Both can be had in Hawaii. Both can be used successfully. Like wood chips, they would need to be refreshed regularly because you'd eventually walk them into the soil. And like wood chips, most people would have to purchase them. In my own gardens they wouldn't work because they would quickly be covered in soil or mulch. But I could see them doing ok in other situations. 

8- weed cloth. I'm really anti weed cloth, especially the lightweight stuff you can buy in Home Depot, Walmart, etc. Weeds, especially grass, grow right up through it. It gets "glued" to the ground, making it a nightmare to remove. If one is considering using weedblock cloth, I'd suggest going with the heavyweight professional grade stuff. You'd have to figure out a method to hold it down, such as using metal pins. 

In my own gardens I use grass clippings. I apply lightly and frequently. That way I don't end up with a wet slippery mass. They may not be as pretty as some other things, but for me they're readily available. A side benefit is that they will gradually decompose, supplying nutrients to the nearby plants.  

     

Why Make Compost Piles?

I'm often asked all sorts of questions about composting. How? When? Why? And lots of littler details. "Why" is a very important question and I'd like to talk a little about it. 

When I ask people, "Why should you make compost?" I get all sorts of answers. 

... To utilize green waste. 

... To keep organic waste out of the dump. 

... To get rid of my garbage.

... To be good for the environment. 

... To make fertilizer for my garden. 

These are all good answers. But I'd like to back up one more step and ask, "Why make compost piles instead of simply digging in organic material into my soil?" Yes. Think about it. I have thought about it in depth. Just what is the reason to make a pile? Is it just a waste of time? Is there something simpler? 

So what do I do? I compost and don't compost. How's that for an answer? Here's what I do when not making a compost pile: 

1- I often dig organic material right into the garden soil. I'll make a trench along a garden row, fill it with garbage and trash fruits, then cover it over with soil. (note: don't do this too close to the plants' roots because this material might heat up, thus killing the garden plants.) 

2- I'll often spread a layer of chopped greenery and garbage atop the soil then lightly till it in, incorporating it into the top few inches, or at least getting dirt mixed in with it. 

3- I'll dig a hole and bury a small dead animal, or some slaughter waste, or perhaps a pot of kitchen garbage. Then cover it over with soil. 

4- I'll till in the old mulch from the last crop harvested. 

5- I'll top dress the soil with garbage then cover it over with a layer of grass clippings. 

In my location I can get away with doing this. I don't have to worry about the garbage or material sitting around for weeks, slowly rotting and smelling bad, for in the tropics this organic waste decomposes rapidly. I also don't have to worry about drawing in bears and other unwanted wildlife. 

On the other hand, I also make compost piles. So why bother? Composting via a pile is for 2 reasons. 

1- to use excess organic material that I don't need immediately in the garden. I often find myself with a glut of green waste. Rather than turn it away, I'll make a compost pile. I will use the compost eventually, but not during a particular week or month. So I see it as a means of storing green waste for future use.

2- to grow soil microbes. Many soil microbes grow abundantly in a hot or warm compost pile. Since I want to increase the soil life in my gardens, this is a way to get vast amounts of soil microbes in a hurry. 

Another thought......plants can benefit from compost faster than from non-composted greenery tilled into the soil. Why? Compost has already partially decomposed. Uncomposted material needs to go through initial rotting processes. Depending upon the material, this may actually rob nutrients initially from the soil rather than providing them for your garden plants. With composted material, I don't see this problem. Plus composted material has a host of soil microbes ready to go to work in my garden soil. 

Since I tend to do what works. I don't stick with just one method. Trenching in the fresh material often works just fine. Composting excess material to be used later also works. 

Hot compost piles also have other benefits. They reduce the number of viable weed seeds. They help reduce the number of pathogens associated with manures. They are a quick, low odor way to process dead animals. 

One of the many things I like about being in the tropics is that I can make compost year around. Plus I can dig organic material into the soil year around and it decomposes without drawing those pesky bears, opossums, raccoons, skunks, etc. Of course we have feral pigs here, but a proper fence (or a good farm dog) keeps them out. 

Bamboo Trellis & Lilikoi

I bought a purple lilikoi vine the other day and want to add it to the main garden area. Lilikoi (aka- passionfruit) grows as a climbing vine, so it needs support of some sort. I have yellow lilikoi growing up a dead tree. But I'm out of dead trees that could be used for another trellis, so I'm making one instead. I thought that entering into the main garden area through a lilikoi tunnel could be cool. So that's where I built the trellis. 

Trellis at the mauka entrance of the main garden. 

Trellises can be built out of all sorts of materials, and in all sorts of ways. For this project, I chose bamboo. I have a bunch readily available. It's easy to work with so I'm told, and it's rot resistant. The bamboo clump I targeted has stems ranging from 1" to 3' in diameter. Just the right size. Picking out the 3+ year old pieces, a chainsaw quickly cuts them down. I didn't trim off all the side branches flush with the trunk because they will add support for the lilikoi vine as it grows. 

Trellis at the makai entrance to the main garden. 

Not knowing exactly what I'm doing, this being my first bamboo project, I had David help put the pieces together. And besides, this bamboo proved to be heavy. We assembled the uprights atop the soil, using t-posts driven into the ground for stability. Rather than screwing it all together right away, we wired it. This way we could make changes as we went along. Once I'm happy with the results, I'll 
go back and screw things in place. 

Both fat and thin bamboo was used. 

While the lilikoi vine is young, it will share the trellis with other temporary crops. Perhaps beans, or maybe peas.

Simple wire temporarily holding things in place. 

Sheep Mamas

I'll be getting ready for new lambs soon. Several of the mature ewes are pregnant, and a couple look big enough to be holding twins. Personally I prefer singlets, but as long as it's twins and not triplets, it should be ok. Soon I'll have to decide if I'll be bottle feeding some babies. I prefer bottle fed ewes when they grow up. But it's a pain in the butt to bottle feed a lamb for 2 months or more. I'll have to give it some thought, but there's not much time. They should be lambing by the beginning of December.

Twins?

One big baby?

Big, big, big. Hopefully just twins. 

Small baby bump. 

Stacy, my old ewe. Looks to be pregnant with one.