if you could smell me now

a slice of a portrait of the day :

I hope my clothes (and only towel) will soon be dry. The only remaining garments I have I am wearing: swim trunks and a beautiful nepali shirt, both of which have been spattered by an effective microorganism (EM) mix that I just foliar sprayed on hundreds of plants, especially the mango orchards, citrus orchards of lime, orange, tangerine, grapefruit and pomelo, also various other plants and bushes including breadfruit, dragonfruit (a twisting cactus) and the nitrogen fixing trees (leucania, gliricidia) that they are being trained to trellis up, surinam and acerola cherry, guavas, coconut palms, mulberries, kukui nuts, pigeon pea, cassava, hibiscus... the wind is supposedly 90% from the east, but I discovered that it likes to go in all directions this afternoon. the mix is a lactobacilis starter culture mixed with water, molasses, fish emulsion and kelp meal, allowed to ferment anaerobically for several days. great for the plants to take in through their leaves, supplementing their diet of co2 and sunshine, and I'm sure my epidermis is glowing.

...in the twilight. the sunset was orange through purple, the sky thick with fluffy clouds, the winds perpetual. a good day for clothes to dry, though I just got them on the line an hour and a half before dark.. . still I shouldn't count out the potential for rapid clothes drying in the sub tropics, even in late march, at the tail end of the rainy season.

...and this morning it drizzled and cold air rippled through the tents of the waimea farmers market, where I hung out with the uluwehi farmers and friends selling citrus (that I harvested
on thursday), carrots, beets, salad, basil, avocadoes... I got a ride from a fellow who makes kombucha, fills up beer kegs with it and sells it by the jar (today the flavor is jamaican liliqoi).
I spoke to, in little segments, between the rushing waves of her familiar by name enthusiastic customers, a woman who, with her partner, practices a form of no-till farming , using only a subsoil plow to cut narrow trenches within a cover cropped bed, just big enough to drop in seed. at least thats what I picture. she sold me 3 daikon radishes, each 2-3 feet long, the diameter of my ankles and weighing several pounds... she also sells lots of cabbage and has never made kim chee or sauerkraut. ...

which I've started to go at again. I made a great batch of dinosaur kale, garlic and coriander that was well appreicated my many mouths and bellies. and now there's a red cabbage/onion/ginger/garlic mix bubbling up (the first foamy escapees got on my fancy skirt that was the only available cloth at the time to throw over the top of the fermenting jar... the odor now blends with the EM spray the wind (and my own hand) brought upon me, to remind me that if I try to bike to a party some fellow interns are dj ing at that I hope my towel and clothes are dry so that I can stand under the outdoor solar-heated shower, and uncover some more socially acceptable odors hiding out underneath the dressings.) I hope to arrange a visit this mid week and bring some kim chee to these farmers which they will like and offer to supply me with veggies if I ferment them and split the earnings of the sales a/o hire me to work at their no-till farm.

I try to meditate this weekend, at a mostly empty farm (the interns have all split or are away until monday). it was great to zig zag a path between all the trees, spraying them insidciminant of size or type with invisible microbes that insist, 'thrive, thou, thrive'. I discovered some cherry tomatoes growing around a couple young guava trees. what a treat ( and a good idea to interplant viney goodies amongst trees in your orchard.) it was peaceful to just walk around with a simple gift, observing so many living greenies doing their thing.
I fed the remaining pregnant goat, Cedar, a bouquet of haole koa, pigeon pea and moringa. she was into it...

I meditate on what am I doing next. I begin to transition out of this uluwehi place, just as I begin to feel I know it a little. I seek out paying work gigs, I try to understand if it's my place around here in the north/north west region of the island or if I take off for Puna. .. or if my exploration here is done and its time to return home and apply what I've learned, to return stronger and reborn to the evolution of my work in the northwest, still in progress, dormant, yet able to wake and any moment and be hungry for guidance. ....

I day dream about designing homesteads on acreage and urban lots, of growing daikon and fava beans and siberian pea shrubs, oats, blueberries, and mulberries. of michorhyzzials, bokashi balls (EM) and nettle tea. treehouses, and well insulated greenhouses. ...

the mosquitoes sneak into this little computer/library building and get my knees and root-tops (the parts peeking out from my soil-feet)
I've got some leftover miso soup and quinoa and hopefully some dry clean clothes to change into.

back to the old blog-posting-block

I've just completed a weekend of serving children at 'camp mana', a gathering filled with art, music, nature walks and gardening. I found out about it from its key organizor and envisioner, a woman named Vanessa, who picked me up hitchhiking.

the main emphasis of the camp is LOVE. the children are all honored and respected fully and never spoken down to. it was like a mini power of hope camp for little kids (age 4-12) and there were some really inspiring projects, including a senses-opening nature walk, and a garden-planting, followed by painting and collage art designs of each childs envisioned garden. also, capoeira (afro-brazilian martial arts dance), yoga, drumming and dancing and great food.
I co-facilitated music workshops today, at first feeling underprepared and out of control, losing confidence and focus, then making appropriate changes based on the observations and feedback, and eventually pulling it together to hold a space that was flexibile to momentary needs and accomplished some great explorations and sharing....it was a reminder of the importance of balancing the work and craft of preparation and building a skill base with willingness to surrender to the moment, to be authentic and present. and a re-inspriation to return to more of this work in the future. I was greatly appreciative of the more experienced teachers and humble, gracious leaders all around, and the children are all so full of life, wellsprings of creativity and curiosity...
(amalafoundation.org for more info...)
this all happened at starseed ranch which is adjactent to the niulii farm (over towards pololu, the offshoot of uluwehi). I stayed there the last few days, saw the pig fence finally get put up, helped install some photovoltaic solar panels so that the interns over there can have lights and a refigerator (lets see... amps x volts = watts.... more volts normally means less amps.... the 'solar system' we installed was 12 v direct current (meaning the current only runs one way, in a loop; whereas power lines use 110 v a.c. (alternating current), in which the current reverses rhythmically.. its starting to make a little sense...))

also I hiked down through some magically lush jungle to the site of a 100 + year old Loi (taro field) that is being restored to bring it back into use. I helped clear the channel by which the river will eventually fork to irrigate the field. one of the people working on it is a native hawaiian youth volunteer whos great great grandfather worked the the taro ("kalo" as the hawaiians say) loi. its great to hang out with him and the other youth (who are there as part of a youth / organic ag. program that Dash and Erica (the niulii farm managers) are hosting)... they are into working outside with reverence for the land...

had a great bonfire the other night with music and good company. reminder of the connection I feel to fire. we busted up limps of ancient mango trees to burn and people wanted to hear neil young songs. (of course I could help accomidate...) and there was some freestyling, beatboxing and much rejoicing.

Over the last weeks there has been the birth of 11 baby muscovy ducks hatched by a very hard working mother (whom we would feed chunks of coconut when she ventured away from her nest to feed frantically). Very sweet and fuzzy babies. Muscovy ducks are cool animals to have around: they are part canine, I think, with slight claws, wagging tails, and a mellow, hang out, lounge around presense / (when they're not humping each other)... they beg for food by making both bleating and wheezing noises...
Also, one of the 2 goats died, very suddenly, probably from complications of her pregnancy (she probably had twins, and we got to her too late to try and save them). This was very sad, and a reminder of how quickly a life can pass. we buried her under a huge pile of soil, where something special will be planted in the future. meanwhile, the other goat, Cedar, seems as healthy as can be. it took her a while to adjust to being alone. she really likes company, to be pet or really just to have someone there present with her.
and the calf was born on the other farm just a week ago, running away her first or second day out. they located her through some sort of psychic location skills. her mother pumps out 3-4 gallons a day, and that baby is a huge baby.

I've missed home a lot lately and wondered just why am I here and not there.
I'm not going to move out here. In case that was still a possibility in any of your minds, I would like to lay it to rest (here in cyber-ink). This is way to far away from the friends and family and land that I love. I have come to see more clearly that the pacific northwest is my home, and I look forward to being back.

My brother may fly out here to visit for a week or so, very soon. I really hope he does. we'll cruise around the island, camp, hike, swim, snorkel, sunbathe, hang with turtles and volcanoes, etc. if he doesn't, then I'll probably do that on my own,
then venture either over to the puna region, or to waipio valley (to forage and work with 'coconut chris' , a wild raw -vegan foraging master)...
and maybe I'll return earlier than planned depending on how things go. I havent been very driven to find work here on top of the farm work I'm already doing, but I'll find some here and there. ...

I miss you, loved ones. I'm thinking of you, imagining sharing with you more closely when we, smiling, meet again.

je je

It has been a dynamic week.
monday, I helped build a picnic table,
tuesday, I prepped beds and planted out sweet potatoes; later, attended a talk on coppicing and keyline design given by some folks from vermont, who teach intermittently at the school Rae is starting up her classes with tomorrow (Yestermorrow, that is). This provided some interesting history for me...

on wednesday, we had the day off and the sky poured rain all night, all morning, all day.
on thursday, I helped haul thick heavy poles of kiawe wood, a thorny tree that grows a rot resistant hardwood. 2 truckloads, one of the trucks a huge dumptruck. most of them will be used for fencing (they can be stuck directly into the ground and wont begin to rot for 40+ years, so they say). a big pig fence is going up around the gardens at Niulii, so that production can continue, un-rutted by swine.
friday, after weeding with a hula hoe / hoop hoe, I learned a propigation technique called 'air-layering'. a 1-2 inch section of bark and cambium are removed from a (smaller than your pinky) branch of a young tree or bush, this section is wrapped in wet sphagnum moss and sealed tightly in a plastic bag or cellophane to keep all the moisture in. the sphagnum moss is used because mold won't grow in it. after some time, 3-6 months, the tree roots into the moss and you clip the branch off and stick it in a pot, and you have a clone of the tree. this is happening here with surinam cherry, guava, lychee, olive and hibiscus, amongst others.

this weekend I met some folks who are managing land elsewhere on the island, and also connected with a guy who's been on the island for some time and is really into fermented foods. he was selling kombucha out of beer kegs at the waimea farmers market. he gifted me some awesome lactic cultures called Viili (one I had in olympia) and Erik. I bought some crunchy brassicas at the market, so I was able to start batches of both kim chee and cheese yesterday.

Yesterday evening I went on a fishing expedition in the midst of strong wind and waves in the tide pools just to the north of here. with hand crafted poles of bamboo (with hook, line & sinker) 3 of us tried to get some bites, occasionally needing to retreat from our perches to dodge huge waves. I got soaked from above the belt line down twice. the largest fish we saw were maybe 3 inches long, but it was lovely to be close to the power of the ocean and to observe the details of the ebb and flow. also we had to make it across the pastures of curious cattle ( a bit intimidating to have a whole herd coming over to check us out ) that live and graze ocean side.
I am inspired to learn about shellfishing and seaweed gathering opportunities on the island...so far all I've seen are some tiny whelks, limpets and snails.

I'm beginning to make the connections I need to find some paying work here on the island.

I've been talking to Rae about what lies ahead, waiting for us. in June, the village bilding convergence in Portland and then perhaps a cross country trek to vermont, via michigan and possibly arizona/n.mexico...

I've begun to delve into a great book by David Holmgren, called Permaculture, principles and pathways beyond sustainability... it's very cerebral..this seems to work in combination with my hands on and observational experiences

overall, I have been participating in many parts of the process of homestead and food-relations...

working on my coconut-husking skills,
setting healthy boundaries (as to how much I will work...)
finding ispiration to communicate and germinate permaculture principles in the lives of my family, friends and homeland. ...
feeling inspired to participate in activites that shed the veils of mediation.... gathering food, saving seed, fishing, constructing, designing, planting trees, reforesting, managing water, facilitating self-regultating systems .... between one living entity and another.

many things continue to connect...