Clementine.... You are planted in my garden, sweet and jui-cy Clementine. Yesterday was a beautiful day. (Hey, one day out of every three weeks ain't bad, right?) So, we planted a few fruit trees. One was a Clementine tangarine tree. Another, a yellow grapefruit. The third, a Grey Abiu. A what, you ask? We did too. About two weeks ago, we went to the twice-a-year fruit tree sale at Plant It. It's a place renowned for its quality, grafted trees. They usually only sell wholesale to commercial growers. But twice a year, they open to the public. Anyway, there was a tree there, the Abiu, that was all but sold out when we got there. They'd had a run on them, so we figured they must be either very pretty or very tasty. We were assured they were both and that the tree would grow at our altitude in our rain. We bought the second to the last one. We also bought a cinnamon tree, a clove tree, a star fruit and a dwarf banana, which we have yet to plant. That'll happen in about three weeks, when I anticipate the next sunny day.
I've learned a few things this week. The most obvious is that planting fruit trees in water-logged soil is a chore. Digging a whole in wet, compacted dirt is hard work. The good news is that we have that dirt. Not everyone on this island is so lucky. This district is a mixture recent lava flows and not so recent. So some people have nothing but rock below them, while others have deep, rich, volcanic soil. When you see cheap land prices advertised in the Puna District of Hawaii Island, you can be confident it is little more than solid rock. Still, if your not looking to grow much or can afford to truck in some topsoil,it might be OK. If, that is, you are willing to risk the possibility (or should I say probability) of another lava flow.
The second thing I learned is that a really good pharmacist can make tuna flavored antibiotics for a cat. Poor Mr. Sox has been struggling with a nasty eye infection, so the vet changed antibiotics and sent me home with a bottle and a syringe to feed him. I was either suppose to mix it with his food or inject it down his throat. Oddly, it was strawberry flavored. The smell was so strong and sweet I could hardly stand it, so I knew he would hate it. Sure enough, he wouldn't touch it in his food and, after being force fed the stuff three times, wouldn't come near me. I don't blame him. No self-respecting cat is going to even entertain the idea of consuming strawberry flavored anything. So we appealed to the vet for something different. They called the hospital pharmacy and viola! Tuna flavored, concentrated medicine. Now he gobbles it up in his food. We joked with the pharmacist about how we dote over and spoil our pets and he assured us we are not alone. He said he's made beef and chicken flavored medicine and even oat and molasses flavoring for a horse. Cool.
Ron is whipping up a batch of sweet bread french toast for breakfast and it is smelling good. So,gotta go. Wikiwiki. Aloha!
I've learned a few things this week. The most obvious is that planting fruit trees in water-logged soil is a chore. Digging a whole in wet, compacted dirt is hard work. The good news is that we have that dirt. Not everyone on this island is so lucky. This district is a mixture recent lava flows and not so recent. So some people have nothing but rock below them, while others have deep, rich, volcanic soil. When you see cheap land prices advertised in the Puna District of Hawaii Island, you can be confident it is little more than solid rock. Still, if your not looking to grow much or can afford to truck in some topsoil,it might be OK. If, that is, you are willing to risk the possibility (or should I say probability) of another lava flow.
The second thing I learned is that a really good pharmacist can make tuna flavored antibiotics for a cat. Poor Mr. Sox has been struggling with a nasty eye infection, so the vet changed antibiotics and sent me home with a bottle and a syringe to feed him. I was either suppose to mix it with his food or inject it down his throat. Oddly, it was strawberry flavored. The smell was so strong and sweet I could hardly stand it, so I knew he would hate it. Sure enough, he wouldn't touch it in his food and, after being force fed the stuff three times, wouldn't come near me. I don't blame him. No self-respecting cat is going to even entertain the idea of consuming strawberry flavored anything. So we appealed to the vet for something different. They called the hospital pharmacy and viola! Tuna flavored, concentrated medicine. Now he gobbles it up in his food. We joked with the pharmacist about how we dote over and spoil our pets and he assured us we are not alone. He said he's made beef and chicken flavored medicine and even oat and molasses flavoring for a horse. Cool.
Ron is whipping up a batch of sweet bread french toast for breakfast and it is smelling good. So,gotta go. Wikiwiki. Aloha!
Comments