Garden Journal - The First Week
We have started thinking about the new little garden as ‘our recycled garden’
As I mentioned before, the beds are enclosed in recycled wooden window slats; the bottoms covered with recycled newspapers; the mulch is recycled green waste; the tomato climbing screens are made from sections of an old dog pen; some of the pots we are placing around the garden area are being brought in from our front yard, including an old wheelbarrow where I had planted some herbs; and we will be using pieces of bamboo recycled from another area where we are thinning it to make plant supports. The little paper cups being used to sprout some seedlings in the beds are some we couldn't use due to their being too small for the cup dispenser we already had....so they have been put to another use.
Bed #1 detail of dog pen screening on left - this is the tomatoes and basil bed - garlic cloves and garlic chives have also been planted here. (Click on each photo for larger versions)
We will be using some more sections of the old dog pen screening as supports for climbing beans and chayote squash but this will be done in a few weeks. In the meantime, we have been busy adding to what we already started.
Day 6 - Thursday, September 7, 2006
Would you believe there is already green coming up in bed #3 - the lettuces and greens and in Bed #8 the snap peas and bush beans?…. We just planted these on Day 3! 
Bed #8 on right with the bush beans and snap peas already coming up!
On this day we picked up the plants we had reserved at the garden store plus added a few more to our stash.
Late afternoon Anthony started cleaning up the weeds and junk growing all around the already established banana plants. We have 4 Brazilian Dwarf bananas (2 of them are bearing racks of bananas and one is 'throwing out' a bloom!) and are surrounded by little banana keiki (baby volunteer plants) and we also have one Cuban Red banana which has been planted for 4 years and hasn’t done anything yet. Read an article I wrote about bananas and try the delicious banana bread pudding recipe
Day 7 - Friday, September 8, 2006
Bed # 6 - We planted 3 eggplants - the varieties are called Long Green Japanese, Round Green and Millionaire. We have no idea what color, shape or size is this last one, but the name sounded interesting!
In the same bed we planted two varieties of parsley - Italian and curly leaf. Later we will add something else low growing to this bed.
Bed #1 - We planted 2 Roma tomatoes and cuttings from grape and cherry tomatoes. I also planted 2 Italian basil and cuttings from an already established lemon basil located somewhere else in the yard.
Bed #7 on right - Anthony planted a zucchini and 2 red bell peppers
. We will be planting other low growing herbs here later. You can see a bit of Bed #6 beyond this bed, where the Mexican tarragon, eggplants and parsleys have been planted
I planted several garlic chives and two heads of garlic cloves in different beds throughout the garden.
We also moved over one of the potted Hawaiian chile peppers to this garden site and planted some spearmint in a clay container to give it room to grow without letting it take over in any of the other beds.
On left is the Hawaiian chile peppers in a pot and the pot of speamint sitting below, next to the spearmint you can see a small pot of varigated Cuban (sometimes also called Caribbean) oregano which will be divided and planted in the bare area right behind the chile pepper pot.. The long, scraggly green plants you see in the back to the left are the pineapple tops, waiting to be trimmed and planted in the new pineapple bed.
Spearmint is called Yerbabuena (good herb) in Spanish and it's a key ingredient for Cuban mojito drinks. If no spearmint is available, regular mint can be substituted.
Classic Cuban Mojito
Sugar, lime juice, Spearmint (Yerbabuena), white rum, sparkling soda water and ice cubes.
Using a tall highball glass, crush a generous sprig of spearmint with the sugar and lime juice. Add the rum, ice cubes and fill the glass with sparkling soda water. Add a fresh sprig of spearmint as garnish. Cool, refreshing and wonderful on a hot day!
Close-up detail of Hawaiian Chile Peppers on right
Day 8 - Saturday, September 9, 2006
A week today since we started the garden and already you can see progress and changes.
Bed #2 - Anthony planted carrots, beets and onions. These carrots are supposed to be short and stubby. This is the bed where I had planted a row of regular chives on Monday. Later on I had to trim them all down to about 1 inch above the soil line to give them a spurt of encouragement.
He also started a seedling tray with several varieties of seeds. These will be transplanted into the garden beds later on if they do ok.
I mentioned last week about offering the Surinam cherry keiki (seedlings) from under our tree at the Freecycle site and had a few people come and dig up quite a bit of them. It’s always fun to get to meet other plant people. One person brought us three delicious avocados from her own trees…. I will share what I did with some of them next week!
I have posted a request for plantain keiki at FreecycleBigIsland….I hope someone can share with us!
After reading last week's blog entry one of our friends contacted me about how to find the FreecycleBigIsland group. I have highlighted it above for those of you who live in Hawaii and for those everywhere else you can find a local group by clicking Freecycle.org
……….and that is how my garden grows today!
Sonia,
When I seen your photo of the Hawaiian Chili Pepper tree, I thought about all the wonderful things growing in mom's backyard, including that.
Your journal about gardening inspired me yesterday to take some photos of what we've got growing and post about it today. You can check it out here: http://tastyisland.wordpress.com/2006/10/24/whats-growing-out-back/
It's interesting how you build and organize each variety in its own wood-framed bed with newspaper on the bottom.
Are you "addicted" to watering your garden? My mother is. lol It's like relaxation therapy for her. She'll stay out and water the yard for over an hour every morning and evening like clockwork.
Your garden journal is very inspirational in encouraging folks to grow their own crops. Mahalo!
Posted by: Pomai | October 23, 2006 at 03:32 PM
Aloha Pomai!
Great job on your blog entry about your garden!! I loved the OutBack play on words.
I too make the Hawaii chile pepper water and the chile pepper jelly!
A friend gave me another recipe for the peppers using liliko'i, which I tried not too long ago. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures, but will next time.
As you know, I live just north of Hilo so we get more rain than your mom does.......but yes, when we go a day or so without rain, I love going out there and watering....it is therapy of sorts!
Mahalo for dropping by again and commenting!
Posted by: Sonia | October 23, 2006 at 03:56 PM
Ahh, that's right. You're on the rainy side of the BI. Hawaii Kai is very dry and you NEED to water or many plants wouldn't survive.
As for the macro shots, does your (digital?) camera have a macro mode? Most do. It's usually that button or menu item selection with the FLOWER (Tulip) icon. Get in close and wait for the camera's autofocus to lock then snap. Usually you have to press the shutter half way for the focus to lock. Also, turn off the flash; in most cases it gets over-exposed with the flash on. I always take several shots of the subject then choose the best one to post-edit in Photoshop. Sometimes what I see in the camera's LCD preview screen doesn't look how it appears full-size on the computer monitor.
Colorful and highly detailed subjects such as flowers and general garden greenery usually do well in macro (close-up) shots.
I usually keep my web photos no larger than 700 pixels wide (with most at 400 pixels) to conserve on server space (I host my own).
I believe photography is equally as important as the journalism when it comes to telling a story or blogging in general.
I think your blog photos look great! I like the presentation touch with the hibiscus flower on the poi dish.
BTW, my mother is originally from Kohala and my dad from Hilo. They both graduated from Hilo High, then moved to Oahu.
Posted by: Pomai | October 23, 2006 at 04:30 PM