Cooking from the garden

Katie here. I just made a pot of Portuguese bean soup, a very popular dish here, and it turned out so well, I thought I'd give out the approximate recipe. The original recipe (actually, it's a compilation of 3 recipes from local cookbooks) called for kale and/or cabbage, but I used broccoli raab and Swiss chard from our garden, and I also used celery and Chinese celery from the garden, and it turned out very tasty! Basically, this is a soup sort of like minestrone, but the spices are very different. Enjoy!


Portuguese Bean Soup ala Katie


1 lb. pinto beans, soaked overnight
2 ham hocks
1 small can diced tomatoes
1 onion
3 stalks of celery including leaves
3 peeled potatoes, diced
3 carrots, sliced
small bunch of Swiss chard and/or broccoli raab
1-2 Portuguese sausages, sliced (or any link sausage if you can't find the Portuguese)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 c. sherry
salt and pepper to taste

*** spices to put into cheesecloth:
1 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
5 whole peppercorns
2 whole cloves

Drain presoaked beans, and add fresh water, about 4 inches above the level of the beans. Add ham hocks and boil for about an hour. Put your spices in the cheesecloth and immerse in the soup (remove before serving). Saute the onion and celery in the olive oil until the onion is translucent, then add to the soup. Add the rest of the ingredients, and let simmer for several more hours.

Bamboo Propagation

Nani Mau Gardens, Hilo

Both of us really like the look and feel of bamboo, and it makes the most incredible sounds when the wind is blowing. There are lots of places to buy bamboo starts here, but it can be expensive...$50 to $350 depending on the size and species. After doing some research on propagation techniques, we decided to try our luck using culm cuttings that were donated by two friends, George and Linnette. Linnette had a beautiful stand of wamin (Buddha belly), and George had some very old gold/green-stripe specimens.

I constructed a couple of beds using scrap lumber and filled them with a 50/50 mixture of cinders and soil. The culms, ranging from one to two inches in diameter, were pruned and cut into lengths with three nodes, and then were placed in trenches about six inches deep. Here you can see the wamin, which was planted about a month ago, at the back (note shoots), and the green-stripe in the foreground.

We were thrilled to see these new shoots erupting about two weeks after planting. Apparently, the success rate for propagation varies greatly among species, but the wamin seems to be growing well, although we have no idea whether or not roots are forming as well. Several of these shoots are almost two feet tall now.

I also tried planting some culm cuttings vertically, and they are growing in a very different way producing true leaves on the branch nodes. Again, I don't know if roots are forming as well.

So far, this seems to be a successful experiment. We are watching the green-stripe plantings for signs of growth, and will report back later.

We're Back!!

Well, I'm not sure when or where to start. My last post was April 23, and here it is December! It's not like we haven't been busy...but we both spent the summer months off the Big Island. In early May I returned to my cottage on Afton Lake in Prince Edward Island, Canada, and Katie spent much of the spring and summer with her sons in Arizona and Colorado. We managed to have some time together in P.E.I. during July and August...Katie returned to Hawaii in early September and I followed in early October! So...that explains at least some of our blogging silence. We had a lot to do here...especially in the garden. Scott and Sarah (our neighbors across the street) did their best to keep the weeds at bay and to water during the occasional droughts, but it was amazing to see how quickly the plantings seemed to respond to Katie's nurturing and TLC. Below are two photos taken in October.



As you can see, the cindered area has flourished. The lilikoi vine that is climbing the lanai is producing fruit, and I've started clearing the uluhe fern surrounding the site. Not visible in the pictures are the tangerines, lemons, limes, guavas, bananas, and numerous veggies that are now producing real food! What? You say there's been an economic meltdown?

So...rather than a great long post, we've decided to breakdown our activities...successes, failures, and pure entertainment...into subsequent posts. There are almost 100 photos waiting to be uploaded; all we have to do is get organized and DO IT. Check back on a daily basis...I hope to have at least one new post per day for the next week or so.

Gecko Fight!

You never know what you may see next here. As I was going down the stairs one morning, these two male geckos were facing off against each other on the railing...obviously a territorial issue. I ran up to get my camera and started shooting, but there was no rush. These two kept at it for almost half-an-hour. Ultimately, each went his own way with no apparent damage done.

Again, I'll provide a link to my web album site which seems to handle these multiple images the best. Just click on the photo...when the album comes up, click on "Slideshow."

Gecko Fight

Humpback Whales

These photos were taken some weeks ago during a trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. At the end of Chain of Craters Drive near the coast, this cow and calf were just offshore. I have heard some opinions that this "tail bashing" is either to communicate with the calf...or to ward off would-be threats. In any event, it was quite a show!

Whales

I'o - The Hawaiian Hawk

It is amazing to see how quickly Nature starts to reclaim her own. We have been on-site for just five months...living in the house full-time for just three months...and we are witness to many signs that we are being "assimilated." From new sprouts of hapu'u tree ferns to flocks of birds at our feeder and geckos on our lanai, we are surrounded by the rain forest re-asserting its authority.

One of the most thrilling examples has been the presence of Hawaiian hawks known locally as I'o. While the adult pair has been our very noisy neighbors since Day 1, an immature (but very large) hawk has become bolder and bolder over the past few weeks. I have been lucky enough to have my camera nearby and have gotten some great shots just standing on the deck.

These hawks are endemic to Hawaii, meaning that they evolved here and are found nowhere else...quite a treat since there are so many instances of extinctions and exotics here. I will include one photo here, but invite you to visit our web album

Hawaiian Hawk (I'o)

to see more. Just click on the photo!

Halema'uma'u Eruption

Hawaii is the home to some of the world's most active volcanoes, and Madam Pele is doin' her thing! Since we arrived in October, 2007, we have been witness to several "plate-shakers" in the earthquake category; a new lava flow out of the eastern rift (which just reached the ocean a few weeks ago); and now there is a new eruption at Halema'uma'u Crater in the National Park. This was preceded by several weeks of very high sulfur dioxide levels and an explosion on March 19 that scattered rocks and lava over a 75-acre area. We had been walking along the crater rim less than two months ago!

Rather than post new photos of the eruption which I took today, I will provide a link to my web album on Google. http://picasaweb.google.com/moonoverhawaii/HalemaumauEruption
You can also see live webcam coverage at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cam3/

Our New Home

October 1, 2007
March 1, 2008

This is our new home as it appeared in early March after passing final inspection just four months after we started construction. Although the house is fully functional, much of the finish work will be done by us over the next few months...or years! Cabinetry, flooring, window treatments, and trim work head the list of "to do's." If you want to see the construction process in detail, go to http://www.moonoverhawaii.blogspot.com/

This blog will document some of the finish work, but will expand to include gardening, social and cultural activities, travels around the islands, amateur photography and slideshows, and comments and observations on living on the Big Island of Hawaii.

To get things started, I thought I would feature a short slide show of one of the first visitors to our new house. He arrived one afternoon while I was reading on the lanai. He is called the Gold Dust Day Gecko, and he signifies good luck for the homes he frequents. Different from most geckos, he is most active during the day, feeding on a variety of bugs and other pests.

Next....a close-up look at Hawaii's latest lava flow!