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...