The good weather lasted all week, which I am incredibly grateful for.
Tuesday we unloaded the pressure vessel, which treated the bamboo over the weekend. The poles are heavy, and often required two people to carry them. We leaned the majority in tubs against more bamboo in the quonset, but some were too tall and needed to go outside. We set them there to drain in order to recapture the solution, which can be reused as long as you can accumulate it. Afterwards, we went to set up the cow fence up the mountain. The cows get moved about every two weeks or so and are mostly used for mowing the lawn. We drove back through the bamboo plantation to double check that all the new poles were marked. In the afternoon we got a head start on the next day’s projects by propagating Hiruse bamboo plants.
On Wednesday, I weeded the nursery and patched an area of shade cloth that had a giant tear in it. Then I help propagate more bamboo plants and made coconut mulch, which involved breaking up the coconut peat blocks. In the afternoon we moved the cows, tempting them with ti leaves. The trick with cows is to not look them in the eyes and to be gentle and calm. Then we went back to the nursery, moving bamboo plants outside and composting dead ones.
Thursday we spent the whole day preparing and planting the turmeric bed. We raked grass from the freshly mown field next to it to be used as mulch. Ryan tilled the bed and some of us went in front and behind the tractor collecting large rocks. Others dug the rows for the turmeric and then we went back and amended them with sand and compost. Then some people planted the turmeric while others mulched the berms in between rows to prevent grass and weeds growing.
I worked two extra days this week again. Friday I spent weeding and mulching and fertilizing small trees and pineapples. On Saturday I mulched the ginger and planted vetiver on the gulch-edge of the garden and around the turmeric bed.
I cannot believe how fast this quarter went! I’m heartbroken to leave Maui and trying to savor these last two weeks as much as possible. Mahalo!