Rainy Day Wine Making

We all know that there's really nothing better than enjoying a fine wine along with a good meal. So as Terri reminded me, if you want to be truly sustainable, it's important to understand how to make your own alcohol. Plus as our economy continues to go crazy and prices rise, making your own wine is an extremely economical way to go. Terri explained to me that you can pretty much make wine out of any fruit you desire from mango to blackberry. However what typically drives Bob and Terri to embark on a new batch is an abundance of a particular fruit on the farm.

At last (not that we had to wait long) a good overcast rainy day came our way and we decided it was the perfect time to make some wine. Our prime candidates for fruit were starfruit and bananas since they had been going off like nuts over the past few weeks, and they sell for such low prices at the market. I was soon to learn that wine making was easier than I imagined, however it is necessary to have all the right equipment before you get started.

The first step in our process was bottling the last batch Terri had made a few months back so we could re-use the gallon jugs. Terri and Bob save all their old glass beer, liquor and wine bottles to re-use in bottling their wine (not only is this economical, but it's also nice to have different size bottles since sometimes you only want to enjoy a glass or two of wine). The first step in the process is sterilization of the bottles, then we get to work on siphoning the wine into the bottles careful not to get any of the nasty sediment in the batch. One of Terri's hot tips was to add a tablespoon of sugar to the bottle before you put the stopper in to add an extra effervescence and essentially a second mini fermentation for the wine once it's bottled. We bottled up Jackfruit, Mamey Sapote, Mountain Apple, Mead and Lilikoi wine- and the best part was sampling each and every one before we stuck them in the bottles and labeled them.

On to the fun part- making a new batch of wines! We made two gallons of starfruit, one gallon of banana and 1 gallon of lemon wine. I've listed the steps we followed in their simplest form, as well as included a mini version of an article Terri wrote last year on how to make your own starfruit wine.

1. Prepare the wine making produce by cutting up larger fruit, busting skins on smaller fruit, and removing any pits or seeds. It is also important to understand that you can over-process the produce- so don't mash or blend fruit with blenders, just use your hands!

2. Siphon juice and mashed fruit into gallon jugs, then add approximately 4 quarts of water and 1 quart of organic honey and shake it all up until honey is dissolved. Activate yeast (Terri likes to use champagne yeast to add an extra effervesence to her wine) in warm water, then add an equal portion to each jug.

3. Immediately cover jugs with airtight stoppers and wait! Allow this mixture (must) to ferment for 5 to 7 days. You should start to see some foaming activity within 24 hours of adding the yeast. Typically, 70% of the fermentation activity will occur during this 5 to 7 day period.

4. After 5 to 7 days remove the pulp from the jug and discard. Siphon the wine into a secondary jug in a careful manner, so as to leave the sediment behind. Bottle immediately, or leave to continue firmentation for as long as you like.

Not only was it awesome to learn the entire process, but the best part was sampling a mead Terri had made 2 years ago (and aged) to accompany our pasta dinner that evening- AMAZING. I would highly recommend trying to make some wine of your own, and I plan on making some more for myself as soon as I return home!

The Seed Exchange

When I first arrived on the farm, I was extremely psyched to learn that I would be around to attend the Island's annual seed exchange. Each year, farmers throughout the island save seeds from some of their most successfully grown plants of the year to exchange with one another. This is an extremely important event for a would-be farmer to a new area since it's most ideal to plant seeds that have been acclimated to growing in a specific region for at least a season or more.

This year Terri had taken time aside throughout the season to save some of her best seeds, so we had quite a plethora of goods to offer at the exchange. The first, and easily the most time consuming task to prepare for the seed exchange was to fold up tiny little "seed saver" envelopes to place the seeds in. I hadn't done that much folding since my college origami class and I swear I will never forget how to fold one of these envelopes. Although she doesn't want to revert to plastic bags like a number of the other farmers do, Terri and I agreed that she needed to seek out some pre-fab biodegradable envelopes for next year's exchange.

The seed exchange fell on a bright, sunny Saturday and was held at a permaculture community known as La'akea. They had a solid turnout of folks, although definitely quite a few more folks looking for seeds rather than providing them. They had a Hawaiian priest come and give a really great blessing to kick off the opening circle. He blessed the exchange and stressed the importance of the exchange of strong, sustainable, non-GMO varieties and the fact that seeds produce the food to sustain each and every one of us. I've added a brief video clip of his blessing.




The exchanging commenced, and Kumu Aina's table was literally ravaged in under 30 minutes. One woman even exclaimed, "This is just like an early Christmas!" Terri had seeds from Kobucha Pumpkins, Christmas Lima Beans, Sun Hemp, Butterfly Milkweed, Long Beans and many many more great varieties that she felt were both easy to grow in this climate and provided a good use whether for food or nitrogen fixing properties. Terri's empty table easily made all of our hard folding work fell very worth while. Now folks had the seeds pre-packaged, labeled and ready to plant!

Don't think Terri walked out empty handed either- she got some Dill, Squash, Ginger and a few other seeds she was after from neighboring farmers. Overall the exchange was an awesome event to experience, and I hope that wherever I get my farm started there is a great community like the one here with fun and useful events like this one to make life easier on a new farmer.

Honing My Green Thumb

Some of my first tasks on the farm were cleaning up the nursery and the greenhouse. While the nursery just needed a little weeding and TLC, we had to completely remove everything from the greenhouse due to an intense bug infestation on last years tomatoes, peppers and beans. So we picked what was left of all the veggies, and went to work removing everything from the greenhouse. With a totally clean slate, Terri and I went about seeding some new little keikis (hawaiian for baby) to grow first in the nursery and then in the greenhouse.

First Terri showed me how it was possible to propagate tomatoes without seeds by using cuttings from the previous years plant. First and foremost it's important to start your new little seedlings with completely fresh clean soil (so you can avoid introducing new weeds). So we mixed up a fresh batch of peat, perlite and water (perlite is like this tiny lightweight rock almost that aerates the soil and aids in containing the moisture- better known as those random white specs you see in the soil or mulch you buy at the store). You then add the soil mixture into a small container, put a finger like hole, dip the root or piece of tomato vine in rootone (a natural hormone powder that helps roots grow faster), cover up the hole, water and place it in the shade to propagate!

Fact: There are 2 types of tomatoes- Determinate which will only grow to a certain height and Indeterminate which will grow on forever.

We also did a few keikis by just planting seeds in the old fashioned manner. Something that I had never really thought about, but Terri and I discussed was the importance of getting seeds locally, whether from local farmers or even local seed banks so that you get a seed variety that is already adjusted tot he climate you will be growing in. It's always good to save seeds from varieties that have grown particularly well so you can use them again in the next season.

If you have a seed of a plant that is of a particularly high value (ganja for example :) you may want to germinate them before you plant them. To germinate this type of seed you can put it in between two damp pieces of paper towels and wait until you see them start to burst open- then go ahead and plant them.

Tip: To tell if a seed is still good or has gone bad- put them in a cup of water overnight and the bad ones will float to the top.

Update: Since the time that we planted all these little guys it's been about 2 weeks, they've grown into perfect little keikis and now we're ready take the next step and transplant them into the greenhouse!

Bacon's trip to Hog Heaven

This past February, Terri and Bob had the good fortune of catching a cute little baby pig in one of the traps they had set up on the property (the island is overrun with wild pigs- they have no real predators other than humans). They decided to keep her, name her Bacon, and put her to work on the farm. Each day Bacon was fed all the delicious farm scraps from leftover fruits and veggies to the errant chicken that one of the dogs took care of. In turn Bacon has provided the farm not only with a signature wafting smell (particularly nasty when you're working in the nursery :), but more importantly with a rich compost to fertilize the gardens and orchard with.

When I first arrived on the farm I learned from Terri and Bob that Bacon's days were numbered, and she would be butchered during my stay. With images of farm fresh pork chops, bacon and kailua pork running through my brain I began to heavily anticipate the big day. With T-2 days to go Bacon was fed her final meal so she could as much as possible out of her system.

Although Bob and Terri have previously butchered a number of different animals on the farm (including pigs), Irish, Rick and I were excited to take part in the dirty deed. Everyone said their last farewells, paid homage to our future meal and then the butchering began. It was extremely important to all of us that we limited Bacon's suffering as much as possible, so a number of different techniques were discussed.

In the end Rick tied a noose, grabbed her by the hind legs and brought her out of the pen. Irish and Bob preceded to hose her off so she was nice and clean, then string her up in a shady spot under the palmello tree. Bacon seemed to calm down and enjoy the bath, and as Bob whispered to her and petted her she was fairly calm throughout the entire process. Although Rick had planned on slitting the throat, when it came down to it Bob had to takeover and put the pig to death. The short movie clip depicts this portion of the slaughter.

After a time all the blood was let out, the head was completely removed and Bacon was flipped and gutted. Irish and Rick were very careful to remove all the organs without contaminating the rest of the meat. Next Bacon was laid out on the table and Terri went to work removing all of the skin, butchering the meat, bagging it up and placing it on ice. We preceded to leave the pig on ice for at least 24 hours in order to get rid of the rigor mortis.....and then she was ready to eat!

Overall I enjoyed the entire experience from beginning to end, and I think it's something that all meat eaters should take the time for. It's so exciting to know that this pig was fattened up on an all natural, all organic diet free of any hormones and chemicals, and now I have the privilege to eat her! And let's be honest, that's what I was most excited for, the eating!

We've been eating pork nonstop ever since the slaughter and it is no joke, absolutely the best pork I've ever tasted in my life. First night Terri prepared delicious ribs with an amazing Mamey Apple BBQ sauce (which I plan to steal the recipe and make a jar for myself and bring it home with me for the rest of you to taste). To go along with the ribs I prepared a banana cream pie (TJ's grandma Bell's recipe) and it was literally the best pie I have ever produced. I used Bacon's pork fat for a real lard crust and it was flakiest crust I've ever baked (and I even baked the pie on the BBQ!). Plus I used fresh bananas from the farm, fresh goats milk, farm fresh eggs and freshly grown vanilla- words cannot describe these flavors!! The following night we had a tasty french onion soup made from the broth that the ribs were parboiled in, and the third night Bob prepared one of my new favorite dishes: Green Papaya Pork. You really can taste a difference in the flavor of freshness in all of this food- and all I can say is THANK YOU BACON!

Makuu Farmers Market

All week I had been eagerly anticipating our first trip to the farmers market. I've always wondered what it would feel like standing on the other side of the booth, and now I would finally get my chance! The year round Sunday Makuu market is where Bob and Terri get the bulk of their income, so we spend a small portion of each day picking and gathering in preparation. Certain fruits like the meme sapote and avocados are picked on Tuesday so that they have a good portion of the week to ripen to perfection for the market. Other fruits need only a few days to ripen, and quite a few must be fresh off the vine so Saturday is also a big day for gathering fruit like the atemoya, abiu, starfruit and papaya.

All the goods are packed and ready to rock out on Saturday night, so all we had to do was wake up at the crack of dawn on Sunday, grab a cup of coffee and jump in the truck. We arrive around 6 am and we have an hour to get the stand all setup as the market doesn't officially open until 7. Bob and Terri pay a weekly fee of $20 for their permanent space in the market, while others who may not vend on a weekly basis must wait in line for a space each week and pay the fee.

Terri showed Irish and I the way she usually likes her space to be set up and in no time we were ready for business. With such a large variety of rare tropical fruits, Terri and Bob are all about samples to lure folks into becoming addicted to their goods. Along with their fresh produce, Bob and Terri cleverly buy 3 other items in bulk to sell at the market: Goji berries, organic sun dried greek olives, and fresh vanilla pods (grown by a neighbor). They have found that these three items are difficult for folks to find, so they can reap a fairly sweet margin off the top. With such great variety, this farm has a pretty large group of regulars who frequent the market for their favorite items each week. It's also no surprise that the durian addicts arrive early, and by 9 am we are all sold out of the stinky fruit.

While I absolutely loved chatting with customers, making transactions and explaining each of the fruits and how I like to prepare and eat them, it was also fun to take some time to walk around and check out what other folks had to offer. Directly across from Kumu Aina's space is the Hari Chrisna's booth. I really enjoyed their slick setup, organization, clear signage, and delicious looking produce. One thing I thought was super clever was that these folks took a commodity carrots (which numerous vendors at the market sell for dirt cheap) and juiced it with ginger before they got to market, then sold it for $4 a pop- what a value add! They also sell home made organic maple doughnuts...I mean who can really beat that? Another fun product I saw at a different booth was a woman that made homemade Kombucha (tea with all that extra good stuff). I asked her how she did it, and it's really such a simple process, costing next to nothing but in the end she sells mason jars of the stuff for $8!

When all is said and done it seems to me that a good chunk of the fun here is getting to know your customer base and socializing with both them and the other vendors each week. Not only can you make trades with other vendors, but you can also buy most of the food you will need for the coming week at amazing prices- when people start to head out at the end of the day farmers will just give up unsold food to other farmers! Our day was done when we sold our last meme sapote, and by that time pretty much everything else was gone as well. On a good day Terri and Bob make around $500 or so at the market, and this day was right up there- my first day at the market was a success!

CocoNUTS!

In Hawaii palm trees are so plentiful that they dominate the landscape, but these trees are more than just good looking, they're good eating too! My first mission was to master the skill of cracking open a coconut. As Irish and Rick are masters of the trade, they gave me a step by step lesson. First up you have to remove them from the tree, so Irish climbed up with the tools of the trade to carefully remove a few bushels of coconuts (as pictured). Next you must take one coconut and crack the outer green shell either with a machete or a hard rock- it's important to smash first on one side then the other till it splits and you can peel it back. Then you use the tip of the same tool to tap around the top of the inside nut until it splits and you can drink the sweet nectar.




Fact: Coconut milk is sterile! So back in the day they not only used it to clean wounds but they could even put it in an IV to rehydrate patients.

Terri and I decided to put these coconuts, along with the first pumpkin she has ever picked from her garden to good use. Terri chopped up and peeled the pumpkin, while I disassembled and shredded the coconut. Then we boiled up the coconut juice, grated coconut and pumpkin, and added some curry, salt, pepper, grated fresh ginger and cinnamon. Last but not least we pureed this goodness all up into a delicious coconut pumpkin curry soup and ate it with dinner!

Fact: Coconuts really are a superfood...you can live off of only the fruit and it's juice longer than any other single naturally occurring food item.

The last time you ordered that hearts of palm salad in a restaurant did you ever really think twice about where that crunchy delicious white morsel came from? I never really did until the other day when Terri and I were cleaning out one of the water catchment tanks and needed to chop down a palm tree that was getting in the way. She told me that we shouldn't let the palm go to waste, but instead we should harvest the "heart" of the palm! So we (mostly Terri) did some quick work of cutting open the numerous layers of the palm until the "heart" was finally revealed (like a GIANT version). Apparently the hearts of palm that we usually eat are harvested from a smaller variety of palm. We chopped them up and put the in container of salt water to bathe and brine, and plan to eat them in a few days. When they were good and ready, I prepared them in a mixed vegetable salad and they were amazing!

Later in the week Terri let me in on another locals only secret: sprouted coconut. If you leave a coconut that has fallen of the tree until it sprouts, then carefully bust open the middle where the juice usually is you will find something completely different inside. The juice has dried and turned into something that has an almost meringue/angel food cake like consistency and tastes just like sweetened shredded coconut. Probably one of the coolest things my taste buds have ever experienced!