Holiday for Gardeners

My brother gave me a terrific Christmas gift – an ACE gift card! Of course, now I have to decide how to spend it! Do I need new cedar chips for a walkway? Do I want new tools, more cinder, mulch, or soil? Maybe lumber for more shelves in my shed?

Gift cards are great for the giver, but when you have a problem with making decisions like I do, the burden of shopping now shifts to the receiver. Gift cards might not always a good idea in this economy, since so many stores are going out of business, but ACE should be around forever.

Thanks, Bro! I think I’m able to handle the challenge! Besides, this gives me a segue into the topic for this post.

Most of you have probably completed your holiday shopping. On the off chance that you are still wondering what to get for that gardener on your list (or even for yourself), here are a few suggestions.

Gift cards of any kind are generally a good idea. We don’t know what the other person really needs or wants, so it gives them the opportunity to make their own choices. Save yourself the gas and the mailing costs. For your gardener, you might look at ACE, or check with Home Depot or Lowe’s, or any store where the gardener shops regularly.

Start with an Amazon Gift Card. Just click on this and shop! I was amazed at the variety of garden and patio products you can purchase through Amazon, and mostly at a discount.



And of course Amazon has books for the gardener. Check out the list of just a few of my favorites on the right-hand side of this page under "Useful Books." There are garden books on everything you could ever imagine, from beginner to expert.



You might browse through one of the local garden shops or hardware stores. Pick up a sturdy basket or 4-wheeled cart like the one above, then begin to pile in various small garden tools, seed packets, books, and more. Tie a big red bow on the top for a flourish. A friend gave me one of these carts for my birthday and I absolutely love it!

If you live near a college or university that offers horticulture courses, you might even pay for a special friend to take a class. That happened for me in the early 70s at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I took a course in landscaping designed for the home owner who was an amateur. It was such an exciting thing that I ended up taking horticulture courses for the next three years!

One of my favorite gifts from friends who live locally is a cutting (or a dozen cuttings) that I can put out in my own yard. It’s a constant reminder of that person every time I water or weed. Recently I had one of those friends stop by and he was amazed at how certain plants had grown that he and his wife had given me in exchange for eggs.

I’m not at a point of being able to give cuttings out of my yard yet, but some day I hope to do that. I can, however, pick up potted plants at the nursery to take. These plants can look nice in the home for a while, later to be planted outside in a more permanent home. Our local garden club meets the Saturday after Christmas. We’re bringing pupus and a plant for the gift exchange.

Finally, there is nothing like a personal gift of time. Coerce your favorite gardener into sitting down for a chat with you over a cup of tea and your homemade cookies. Walk around the place with your gardener and let her/him show you around. As bleak as we may think our garden is, we are always still proud to show our accomplishments.

You’ll think of other gifts, and who knows? You might even get the gardening bug yourself, if you haven’t already been bitten.

This is Lava Lily, with a wish for all of my readers to have a super bloomin’ holiday!

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Madam Pele's Art Work

This blog began as a way for me to document my life on an acre of lava. In a way, I was partly joking about it. What in the world could I grow on an acre of nothing but lava rocks? My friends know that I have lived on good California, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Alaska, Arizona, Illinois soils, where I could grow almost anything , given the local climate.

Neither my knowledge nor experience were much good here, but I love living in Hawai`i too much to leave, so I had to learn how to make the best of it.

Several times in the past, in addition to the resistant lava, I have mentioned “vog.” In this post, I will describe the two types of lava we have here and also talk about the vog that destroys plants and lungs. There will be quite a few links in this article, so please go check them out. They say much more than I can.

The picture above is one of my early experiences with lava. At the time, I had a 2004 Miata, hot red as you can see. Since then, I have gotten rid of it and now use a older Mazda Tribute that can haul a little more lumber than the Miata!

One day I was backing up to unload some bags of soil from our local Ace Hardware. I misjudged where the path turned and ended up sitting on top of this lava heap. A good friend and neighbor came with his SUV and a sturdy tow rope to pull me off. That was the day I began to think about getting rid of the Miata!

That picture also shows one of the two types of lava, what the Hawai`ians call a’a. You pronounce it like ah-ah, with a quick pause at the hyphen. It is primarily rocks of various sizes. It will wear out the fingers of garden gloves very quickly. My fingers have toughened up a little bit, but it can still cut.

Last week I talked about the progress of my patio. Here’s another shot of that spot before we started work on it, and it gives another good idea of the a’a lava.



This picture of one of my coffee trees shows how I need to plant anything. I dig a hole, pour in lots of soil, either bagged from Ace or made at home with pig dirt and manure my lovely chickens provide for me. Then I pile rocks around it to help keep the soil contained. It still filters down through the rocks underneath.



Here is a view up the driveway from my house. You can see the spread of lava in what I jokingly call “my front yard.” I’ve put triangle palms along each side of the drive, and there are a few other scattered plants. I have four more ready to plant.



Since a’a is the only kind of volcanic rock I have in my yard, I am including pictures I took on a hike over the volcano at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. These shots will show you the other type of lava, pahoehoe, roughly pronounced as pah-hoy-hoy. It is the Hawai`ian term for basaltic lava and it looks like big swirls of melted black chocolate. Yum!

Here you can see the path we took with the volcano in the distance. People were always on the path to get in to watch the live volcano flow. There are warning signs all over about what kind of shoes to wear (and not wear), the sort of protective clothing, and the like.

A flashlight is always recommended in case you are hiking at night, or if you get lost and end up there at night unintentionally. There are barricades along the sides of the path, but they end after a certain distance and you need to rely on your eyes to know where to go. If you plan to go, please read this link.



Here’s another view along our hike. You can see how easily you could lose your way, once the barricades end.



At last, we see a live lava flow! This is where you need to use caution. We seem to lose people every year who get too close to take pictures, and the “bench” breaks off beneath them. Not exactly the way I’d like to go to HELL, even though I may be going there someday! The molten lava reaches a temperature somewhere around 700 to 1,200 degrees C (1,300 to 2,200 degrees F). That’s HOT!



Here is another shot. I stayed back far enough not to fall in, of course, but the heat was still almost unbearable. I was about five feet away from this. Most of the flow was beneath the surface.



This shot was taken recently as I was driving on Highway 11 toward the park not far from my house. You can see how much the vog affects the visibility.



So what is VOG? Here are several websites with good descriptions and excellent pictures.

• http://www.konaweb.com/vog/index.shtml - good one for visitors


• http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs169-97/ - probably the best one


• http://lavainfo.us/ gives us updated information on the status of vog. There is also a brochure in pdf format that excellent, giving the color codes for the vog level. I keep one handy on my desk.


• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vog - good description and explanation of vog


• http://hawaii.gov/gov/vog - this is ok – sent out by HI gov't


• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24471365/ - about the newest outbreak at Halemaumau


• http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~nat_haz/volcanoes/vog.php - good one on coping with the vog, which we all need to observe. There was actually an evacuation warning given to Ocean View one day, but I was already on my way up to Kealakekua to teach for the day, so I didn't have to do their evacuation.


• http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/hazards/FAQ_SO2-Vog-Ash/ - questions and answers about vog

I apologize for giving so many websites, but these can give you much more accurate information than I can. Also, if you plan to visit this area of Hawai`i, you will need to know.

As you approach the park, even before you are actually inside the park itself, you will see “steam vents” popping up all over the place. Here is a shot I took just inside the park. You can see them off in the distance.



I will end this post with a couple more websites that will be of value to anyone wanting to know more. This first site shows a good picture of a’a and pahoehoe side by side.

Of course, what would we do without Wikipedia? Here is a fairly complete description with great pictures of lava, both solid and molten.

Madam Pele is the Hawaiian Goddess of the Volcano, and while I have a hard time working in her garden, She has also given me an exercise in patience, love, and reward.

Until next Sunday, Lava Lily says “Happy hiking and gardening!”

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A Couple of Oddballs

I’ve recently been given a couple of plants that deserve a blog all their own. They aren’t the usual run-of-the-mill herbs that people put into their herb gardens.

The first one I’ll tell you about is Turmeric. I discovered that I’d been saying and spelling it incorrectly all these years. Not only that, but I’d never used it in cooking.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa), is also known as "Indian Saffron." It is not a true saffron, but often used in place of the more expensive real saffron. It is a perennial herbaceous spice of the ginger family and is not related to saffron at all.

The part of the plant that is used is the rhizome in a process that takes several hours or even days. This process consists of lengthy boiling, drying and grinding. It is used not only for curries and other spicy dishes, but for dyeing and coloring mustard.

I don’t think I’ll be trying to produce my own turmeric anytime soon, but I may buy some and try a recipe or two. Curry is probably one of the most popular culinary uses for turmeric. Remember that curry is not “a” spice, but a combination of spices. For a list of some of the spice mixes, look here.

For an excellent simple recipe complete with a lively video demo, go here. This looks like something I might even try! By the way, this blog by Rob Klause has some great stuff on a regular basis.

In other countries, turmeric is used as an antiseptic and antibacterial agent. Some use it as a tea to help with everything from Alzheimer’s to cancer to stomach ailments, to liver problems. The National Institutes of Health are running clinical trials to see if the claims are valid.

Turmeric is also used in some sun screens. There are other cosmetic uses and beliefs. And since it is known to deter ants, I will keep the plant (see above) in my garden.


The other plant I was given is Wild Oregano - the picture above. It smells strongly like the typical oregano on our kitchen shelf, but after reading about it, I find it’s not one I would use in my Greek or Italian cuisine.

It is a perennial herb, propagated by dividing the roots in the fall. Mine were cuttings and seem to be doing fine after I stuck them into the ground with a lot of soil. At least they haven’t died yet.

The name “oregano” (or origanum) comes from two Greek words. Oros is the Greek word for mountain and ganos means joy, thus it represents “mountain of joy.” I hope it spreads all over my yard to give me that “joy.”

If not for food, then what good is Wild Oregano, other than as decoration in your yard? It is made into an oil that can be used both internally and externally, and is known for curing all manner of ills.

The Consumer Health Organization of Canada has a very interesting article about the studies that are being conducted, and the uses for which oil of oregano has value. It sounds like a “cure-all.”

Some vitamin supply houses sell it as “Colon Essentials” in capsule form. Other sources sell it mixed with a solvent. I’m not giving you the links for this because I wouldn’t know which one is most trustworthy. You can Google “oil of oregano” and decide for yourself. One-ounce bottles seem to be selling for around $27-30. Capsules are much lower in price.

This is another of those items I’ll NOT try to produce out of my own garden, but it’s always fascinating to me what uses can be made of these off-beat herbs and spices. I have always suspected that our ancestors knew far more about health than we do. On the other hand, if they did know so much more, why was their life expectancy so much shorter than ours today?

I’m a bit of a skeptic on these issues, although I do know many people have had amazing health results. What I do love is how pretty they look growing in my lava. I’ll buy turmeric at the store, pick from my own Greek oregano plant, and continue to see my local physician for medical help.

Until next time, "Lava Lily" says Aloha!

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My Philosophy of Compost

As we move closer to the need for self-sufficiency with food, more people are making their own soil, i.e., keeping a compost pile. Those of us who live on lava can’t afford to avoid it. I have several small areas that I devote to composting so I can keep them going for my land.

The problem comes with deciding what will go into the compost pile and what I’ll save to feed my hens. My decision is based somewhat on food quality. For example, coffee grounds and onions go into the compost; fruit rinds and weeds go to the hens.

I had a tiny little compost pile near the back door and eventually decided to start another one. When I took the wooden frame away, I ended up with a nice planting area close to the back door. This will be spread around a bit and I’ll put in seeds.



I’ve been reading about “lasagna gardening,” so I wanted to play around with that idea.



What I ended up with in this spot is similar to the lasagna gardening, and I’ve decided to try doing the same thing in other places. Using the same wooden frame from the original pile, I will place a small compost in various places to create growing spots. You can see that this is just barely started. But soon I’ll have another planting area.



Lasagna gardening has been called a “no-till, no dig” type of gardening. It’s also called “sheet composting.” You simply layer the same things you use in any compost pile. The one ingredient I haven’t used yet, but plan to, is wet newspaper or cardboard as one or more of the layers. That also helps to feed the worms you put into the pile.

Another article is written by the woman who originally came up with the idea of lasagna gardening, and is worth the time to read it. There are many great articles on this topic online. Just google “lasagna gardening.”

Because of the chickens, I have a lot of good chicken manure. So I created a place near their coop to put all the shoveled manure and leaf litter. A friend suggested that I put a bag of regular garden soil in the coop. As the girls scratch around in it, it would filter out through the floor of the coop and mix with the manure underneath. I suspect I can have a lot of good soil in a short period of time with this method.



Other friends have created compost piles. Here is one my daughter, Inga keeps in Boise, Idaho.



She keeps hers in the alley behind her house. Sometimes she has several going.



You’ve already seen Albert’s garden, but I didn’t show you his several compost bins.







Gordon, a friend on Maui, sent pictures of his compost, a great deal more sophisticated than mine. The picture at the top of this post is one view of his compost. He bought the two bins in California from the County in 1990 for $35 each.



He was very specific about how he handles his compost. His layers consist of thin layers of grass, redwood compost, chicken manure, coffee grounds from Starbucks and water. A thermometer shows that heat usually is generated up to about 140 F, with a covering that is necessary to avoid drying of the heap. His watering can holds two gallons.

These bins of compost are thirty inches on each side and break down into three layers that are ten inches wide. He makes each layer of material about an inch deep, and uses half-a-gallon of water for each layer. Grass is his primary material – something I don’t have here.



My friend Velvet who raises worms for her compost, guided me around so I could take pictures of her “self-made soil.” She created a progression system. One of these containers holds the kitchen scraps and weeds. Another holds mac nut husks that she adds to the green stuff. The third is the combination. As the break-down occurs, she moves it to the next bin.



She did have this tumbler on a wooden mount, but it didn’t last. She will build a new stand for it that is welded together.



When all has matured, she sifts it to get out any mac nut husks left and other larger pieces that didn’t break down.



So how do you start a compost pile? Other people might have a different idea, but sometimes when we think we need to do it in a specific way (and we think it must surely be complicated), it’s easy to put it off. As you can see, everyone has a different way of building one – all very effective.

I’m a lot more casual about it, and if you need soil in a place where you want to plant, you might try doing what I’m doing. Put a wooden frame or wall of rocks in a place where you might want to do planting eventually. In the past, I have used all sorts of things, like old wooden pallets and old wood-framed window screens. These are great because they let in air.

You can add your kitchen scraps, any weeds you gather, leaf litter, shredded paper, egg shells, coffee grounds, tea leaves and so much more. For more information, click here or google “compost” for other ideas.

By having several small spots going, I don’t worry about how long it will take, or if I’m doing it “right.” I simply shovel on whatever I think will break down and the chickens won’t eat. A cover of plastic held down by lava rocks keeps it warm and lets it perk.

If I can ever get my head around growing worms I can add their casings to my compost for even richer and faster soil.

I had just finished writing this post when I found an article called “Composting Life” in my email. It is an excerpt from Present Moment, Wonderful Moment by Thich Nhat Hanh. He explains the spiritual aspect of composting, how everything is in transition, and that we need rich compost from our life in order to grow a more beautiful life. I cannot say it nearly as eloquently as he does.



In Hawai`i we say “No rain, no rainbow.” That is what he’s saying, too. We can go through some hard times, but it is like fertilizer for our life, and we can use that to create something richer and fuller. Out of the stinky manure of our lives, exceptional things can take root and grow.

A leaf falls and is put into the compost and ends up helping the soil in which we grow our plants. In the same way, I believe that when we fall, we rise again in another place.

Get started with your composting, and have fun! I’m on my way out to play around with mine!

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Living On the Earth

I can’t remember a time when I was not in love with books. Even before I could read well, my parents made regular trips to the little libraries in whichever town we lived in at the time. I spent many hours looking through the books in my grandfather’s library. They were on a huge revolving stand, and although they were much too deep for me at the time, I would take them out and thumb through the pages.

Kaimana thinks he can read some of my books, too, but I think he just likes the smell of paper.



The first books I actually remember being able to read myself were the Raggedy Ann and Andy books. Then came the Bobbsey Twins, Elsie Dinsmore, Heidi, Nancy Drew - and I was hooked. Whether for personal pleasure or academic reading, my library grew from there. I still have books for math, French, Spanish and literature from my high school years!

But books travel to places unknown, and over the years I’ve lost books because of floods, being stomped on by horses, through two divorces, loaning them to people I’ve forgotten, and numerous moves from state to state.

When I moved from Ali`i Drive o Ocean View, I gave over a thousand books to the Friends Of The Libraries, Kona, plus four grocery bags full of books on gardening to Kona Outdoor Circle. I still have over a thousand books here in my home, plus at least that many in a storage unit in California. This next shot shows part of my attempt to sort out which ones to keep and which to give away.



It was in the early 70s when I read a book that changed the way I lived my life. I was re-structuring my life as a single woman, and although I didn’t embrace everything in the book, it did start me moving toward a more “natural” way of living. It’s one book I’ve kept over the years, and my copy is a bit tattered. I was surprised to find it can still be purchased.



I had three years of Ornamental Horticulture classes at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo under my belt, and I’d always had an interest in gardening. From that point on, I couldn’t get my fill of reading about ways to garden and provide sustenance for myself. If you’ve been reading these posts on a regular basis, you know that I also lived on a 37’ sailboat for 5 years. My gardening slowed considerably during that time, but my interest in gardening never waned.

When I lived in Tucson on the edge of the Sonoran Desert, I found a wonderful book that provided me with ways to use the “Fruits of the Desert.” Many of the author’s recipes and information on those fruits can be extended to some of our own produce. The cover is beautiful, and I’m sorry that Amazon doesn’t have an image of it to show you.



One book I forgot I had until just recently, is Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally, by Robert Kourik. It’s a large and rather detailed book, but full of good information for the gardener who is serious about planning an edible garden.



If you are interested in an adult version of a picture book and dream book, pick up a copy of In a Mexican Garden. I drool over the photos in that book! I would label this book and others like it as “garden porn.”



This should keep you busy for a while, and I will be telling you about more off-the-beaten-track garden books in the future.

In the sidebar of this blog, I have listed books I use on a regular basis for my gardening ideas. If you are interested in buying one of them, please order through this site. It will help support my purchase of more gardening books.

Is this an addiction that I want to cure? I think it’s too late!

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Hawai`i Ocean View Estates Garden Club

On June 28, 2008, the Hawai`i Ocean View Estates (HOVE), or known by many of us here as “The View,” started another garden club. Years ago, Ocean View had a garden club, but gradually people got busy with other things. We meet at 1:00 pm on the fourth Saturday of each month. On alternating months, we plan to visit home gardens. The August 23 meeting was hosted by Carole Baker and her daughter, Heather.




“Wow!” is the only word I have for what they’ve done with their two acres. Carole’s space is full of color, critters, and imagination.

The welcome sign above greets visitors pulling into the driveway. The first clue about the fun you have in store are several dozen birdhouses. Here is just a sampling of this incredible village for birds.






At the entry is a pond that Carole calls her “mosquito control.” The guppies and algae eaters help to take care of the mosquito larvae, and the moving water gives a soothing sound as you stroll through their entry. There is a beautiful stand of horsetail reed.



The ground is covered with gravel for ease of walking around, and a creative path is our guide into the backyard area.



Many of Carole’s plants were “I don’t know” plants, the kind many of us acquire. In our desire to have something – anything – growing, we take cuttings that friends give us, stick them in the ground and hope they grow.

So, rather than worry about the names of many of her plants, I focused on the creative critters and yard sculptures. Here are a few of my favorites.









I brought home some of the seeds of this lovely lilac shade of cosmos. I love all her cats. She ordered them from online, but they were all black, so she painted them in bright seductive colors.



Scattered around the yard are more critters.






Lady bugs are a welcome addition to any garden.






Garden sculptures add to the three dimensional effect and add interest to the plants.











The back fence helps to define the space, and it provides a wall for more garden art.



At one end of this fence, Carole has transitioned to a chicken wire fence covered with plants, which effectively hides her water tank.

Even the shed has a bit of whimsy.



Hazel and Charles, recent arrivals to “The View,” admire the mistletoe vine.



Velvet and I each took a cutting from this, but no one seems sure what it is. (Note: Heather sent me an email and said it is a "dauphine violet.")



Oh, yes! There are plants as well as sculptures and critters in this garden space. There is a thick jade vine growing up over an arch.



A typical piece of fantasy is this artificial flower with a full yellow bougainvillea.



There are little patches of Johnny Jump-ups scattered about.



Carole’s husband was enamored with bonsai, which I also learned how to make in Japan. I’m inspired to start again.



I am impressed with this miniaturization of an enormous spreading banyan tree into bonsai.



After an hour of cruising around Carole’s garden, the garden club members gather before heading home with bags of seeds and cuttings.



I thought this secluded swing in the shade was a good idea, a perfect place to relax after a day’s work in the yard.



There is no doubt we were all welcome to this fantasyland.

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