I am currently sitting inside my shack underneath a grey sky that has decided to drizzle some warm rain upon my world. I would like to take some time and go into a little more depth as to what I have been doing around here for work as well as a few other miscellaneous details that I find intriguing. So far I have created an area to plant a few herbs,
cut down a banana tree,
done a ton of weeding, removed the ever present rocks from the lawn that scatter the property, built a small rock wall, and crushed thousands of Kukui nuts. Now, Kukui nuts are quite interesting. There used to be a ton of Kukui nut trees on the property, but they were removed to make room for other plant organisms. We spent a considerable amount of time digging in the soil to gather the thousands of old fallen nuts that had found temporary homes in every square inch across this property. The reason so much effort was put into finding all the nuts is because a crushed Kukui nut (when strategically placed on the soil) is beneficial in many ways. Here are a few uses.
1) When used as a border they protect plants from slugs because the slugs don’t like to crawl over their sharp edges.
2) They block weeds from growing so people like me dont have to spend as many hours pulling the little green strands of life from the ground.
3) The nuts leach nutrients into the soil for the plants that they surround.
As for work, the Kukui nuts were very labor intensive as each nut needs to be crushed individually. However, 6 hours of crushing nuts with a hammer isn’t so bad…not when birds are singing and remixes of classic Beatles songs are vibrating through the speakers! I have come to feel a deep affection for Organic farming. There is something about kneeling down and taking the time to maintain and love the land, one weed at a time. I think its gods way of getting you to kneel down, enjoy and take care of the land as if it were your life blood. With that said, don’t expect me to come over to your house and weed your front yard all day (okay ma & pa…).
A really neat thing about living here is observing the literal community of family that my host Bert has around him. His parents, and siblings all live on the same acreage with him! It is a fairly big piece of land so that they are not within striking distance of each other, but it is a very intimate and lovely arrangement none the less. I would like to describe what his sister has on her piece of land. Although I have never met her, I really appreciate what she has done for the local sickly wildlife… Here is a picture of a diseased calf that she took in because a big ol’ farmer was going to terminate him.
Here is a picture of a cow that she took in some time ago. This cow lives in her front yard with the calf. However, it thinks it is a dog as it was raised by a pack of jumping, energetic and slobbering canines.
Here is the sickly calf’s matriarch. In no time at all she will be strong just like this creature of love and joy.
I love this place, and these creatures are some of the reasons why.
Lastly, here is a Google earth photo of where I am. The captions are as follows. “Bert’s Place…” is where I am staying. “Black Sands Beach” is a gorgeous secluded beach where I have never seen another soul, no matter what time of day. “Happy Cows…” is where a select group of very lucky cows live. These cows belong to Hana Ranch and are not pets in someones front yard… just to clarify.
I wish all of you a love and fondness for your special place in the world that is sustaining you.
Take care,
Zach.
P.S. As always, feel free to leave suggestions for future posts in the comments section.
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Thank-you Zach as always I appreciate your warm way of appreciating the world, your humorous writing style. I can tell why you love this place. It feels very special. Thank-you for sharing it.
Love,
Mom
Oh Zach, you are such a (organic vegetarian) ham! You make me laugh. I can provide you with even more fun with much bigger rocks!
Love Dad
Love the story-line.
Zach,
your posts never seem to neglect the senses, especially your sixth sense (humour!) Although it’s unfortunate I did not join you on this trip, I am very satisfied knowing you are in a place of purpose and discovery. Your appreciation of working on the land reminds me of an idea in Life of Pi. In the novel, the protagonist talks about the Islam and how he loves bowing down and praying with his whole body as a fluid motion. I can only see how fitting this is with your love for and connection with Mother Earth.
Black Sands Beach looks amazing from the bird’s eye, I can only imagine how enriching it would be to experience it first-hand as you have. Do you know if it is the original “Black Sands?” I am curious because my dad walked that beach when he traveled around Hawaii with his friend and he heard that the one he walked was hit by a lava flow. Answer me if you can, otherwise I will forget myself in your pictures :).
Keep on truckin’
Isaac
you receive an A+ on ur blogging abilities mon ami, and an A++ for your love of life.
Hi Zach,
Thanks for the absolutely gorgeous postcard. Your home was certainly a paradise! Ethan wanted us to thank you for the kind words and to tell you that he wants to help you crush Kukui nuts sometime.
We would love to see you when you get back!
All our love,
Nathan, Renee and Ethan