I rarely leave the house these days but when I do, 2 out of 3 times it looks like a jungle in the car when I come home.
I planted a cacao tree early this morning and I went to visit the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers nursery in Captain Cook. Although its almost a two hour drive each way, I really enjoy hanging out and listening to Ken’s stories… like, did you know that the first orange tree in Hawaii planted in 1792 is still producing fruits in Kona? And indeed the orange tree (a Valencia) is in his neighborhood and Ken makes a great marmalade with it too! I also enjoy helping out Jack in the orchard. He is the grandson of the Yamagata family that developed their famous avocado variety. People are coming and going, dropping off fruits, snacks, talking story about plants, first time customers that are overwhelmed by the extensive selection of unusual edible plants. Browsing through the nursery is akin to digging through crates of vinyl at a record store.
I found a couple more trees I was looking for and I’m excited to plant them in the coming weeks.
Originally posted on 2021-10-09, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.