Summary Introduction to Homesteading Hawaii

So far our herb garden is flourishing.  We included a strawberry patch in this location as well.  Out at the main garden our 2 feet by 6 feet garden rows are currently featuring cherry tomatoes, asparagus, purple green beans, sugar snap peas, basil, peppers, beets, radishes and cilantro.  We are patiently awaiting the sprouting of zucchini, summer squash, watermelon and lavender in our starter trays.  Those will move out to new rows in the garden, this time trying 3 feet wide rows. In addition we plan on planting rows of Marigolds (edible as well as a bug deterrent and sunflowers).  We also have additional giant herb/flower pots right outside of the house. Our fruit trees (now little to no maintenance) are flourishing with Papayas and Bananas right now and the avocado season is beginning as well.  The lilikoi vines along the fence are going off and a soon to be endeavor with them will be lilikoi jam.

The cherry tomatoes are doing very well and we are attempting to not tie up the beans or tomatoes to see how they do without the support.  We have had failed attempts with the larger tomatoes outside of a green house.  They all seem to get stung before ripening.  The purple green beans are producing like mad and are a beautiful vibrant purple.  This adds an exotic appeal to salads, though if cooked they turn to green.  Our herb garden does well with the herbs that are planted, however it gets half a day of sun unlike the full day of sun our larger garden gets, so we do not plant any additional produce in this area.  Underneath the intense shade of the  large monkey pod trees I've place two vanilla orchid plants in hopes to find the right spot for them to thrive. I'm experiencing difficulty making them completely happy but haven't failed as of yet.  Black ants seem to be a problem with the vanilla orchids. 

We homestead completely organic from every bit of produce to the feed for our chickens.  The eight surviving now teenage chickens are doing very well.  They are an exotic variety and it has been fun to watch their features develop.  Our initial flock was twice as many as we combated chicks dying from disease, each other and mongoose.  We purchased 14 new chicks and have only 8 left of this batch now as well.  They are still young and we are trying hard not to lose any more.  We have been changing the water frequently and adding apple cider vinegar to it to combat diseases from eating their own fecal matter.

It is so hard to watch the little guys not make it as I carry a baby of my own.  I feel very prepared for birth in less than three months.  My final task was obtaining enough and the right kind of cloth diapers for us.  I narrowed it down to two brands (fuzzy buns and bum genius) and stocked up on about 25 diapers.  I will start with this initial goal and then attempt to use the cloth wipes I've also stocked up on.  In the future I plan on making purees from the fruits and vegetables we grow for the baby.  But for awhile, it will just be breastfeeding.  There is a great website I'd like to refer those who are interested to for information on baby products, what is in them, what to watch for and which products are using the healthiest and best ingredients: http://www.gimmethegoodstuff.org/

Being the initial entry to this blog I feel as though I am word throw-upping a very brief and incomplete re-cap of what we currently have going on, but I assure you that the projects will be completely covered in the future, from what to grow, how to grow it and where, bug and disease control (organically), raising laying hens, making jams, garden to kitchen recipes, bread and butter making, baby puree recipes, cloth diapering, composting, worm farms, rain barrels and more!  Thank you for reading this summmary introduction and I look forward to delving into projects on an individual and thurough level in the future as we learn together how to homestead on a small piece of property in Hawaii.