Maui in May 2

Back home in Edmonds on my friendly laptop, I've updated the last post to include a couple photos that were referenced but didn't make it into publication. More internet gremlins at work. You can check the earlier post if you are interested.

In this post I'll concentrate on son's gardening efforts. When we were here two years ago, this fig tree was bedraggled and not bearing fruit. A little TLC has made a difference. A couple of the figs ripened during our stay so Iko had a treat.

There were a two papaya trees on the property when they bought it. He has planted several more papayas of three different flavors. I didn't know that papayas come in sexes. This one is a male. The one below is obviously a female. Son says that one male in the area is enough to fertilize many females.

Deer can be a problem for gardeners in the Maui Upcountry area. They come out of the nearby forested areas and into yards, especially during dry spells, looking for greenery. This garden is protected by a six-foot fence to keep hungry deer out. 

This shot looks SE with corn foreground right, lemongrass on the left. Tomatoes in the raised beds were about five feet high and bearing loads of tasty cherry tomatoes when we were here last June. They bear for about six months at a time.

Outside the fence you can see a couple papaya trees and bananas on the left. The big tree in the background is the Macadamia nut tree.

Looking NW, we see several new papaya trees, one old one (blending with the palm), bananas and Plumeria in the pots.

Pineapples in the early stage of growth. The photo below shows some others with young pineapples on them. Son says they will be ready to harvest in a year or less.

This is Lilikoi (passion fruit) growing on the inside of the garden fence. Deer especially like the leaves so fruits are sparse on the outside but you can see a couple here on the inside.

Three Dragonfruit trees (bushes, cacti?) growing in large pots. They are less than a year old but will be having fruits sometime soon.

It turns out that the deer also like citrus leaves. This lemon is protected by the fencing you see. Son also has a mandarin tree and orange tree. 

Mango trees normally grow into quite large trees. This is a semi-dwarf variety that is supposed to have the same quality fruit as the large ones. It also bears fruit at a younger age. I'll have to arrange a trip during mango season in the future.

This view looks pretty much south. Beyond the mango is the orange. On the right are the Dragonfruit cacti. The tree in the distance is the avocado. It now has small fruits that will ripen in November and December.

On the fenced in patio, there are succulents and these water gardens. As you may know, the water lilies go to bed when the sun sets and don't open again until the sun hits them in the daytime.

On one of my walking routes, I've admired the walls of this old building. It has been vacant for the last two years that we've been visiting Pukulani. The roof must leak and the wooden parts are sagging, but those walls are great.

We were scheduled to catch a redeye flight home Wednesday evening so we went to a late lunch in Kula, a town another thousand feet or so upslope from Pukalani. Kula Lodge Restaurant features a wood-fired pizza oven and good fresh food, much of which is locally sourced from the surrounding farms. The pizza wasn't all that good but the fresh greens and veggies were excellent.

In the valley below, Kahului is on the right, Kihei is off to the left and the West Maui mountains are in the background.

Our flight took off about 2230 and arrived in SeaTac about six hours later at 0700 local. Not much sleep was had by the weary travelers, but we're caught up now and looking forward to our next travels.

Maui in May

Last time we were in Maui was last June so we decided to go a little earlier this year. Last Thursday (5/12) we headed for the airport. 

As we boarded our plane at SeaTac, we bid adieu to Seattle's rain and cold. 

Maui greeted us with blue skies, warm temps and no rain! The kids picked us up at OGG and we headed to upcountry Maui. 

In their microclimate, the Macadamia tree starts dropping nuts in late September and continues through the winter. They saved a box for us to crack. 

The cracker works good once the operator learns the right amount of force to apply to the nut. It takes about 300 psi to crack the shell and the trick is to strike hard enough to crack the nut but not so hard as to smash the nut. 

After cracking the box full, we picked up another half box from the bounty remaining under the tree.

 In two sessions, Iko and I cracked over five pounds. As you can see there are many whole nuts but there's a good percentage of those ready to use in baked goods too. 

Saturday I walked up to the local Farmer's Market. Along the way I came across this fire hydrant that has been on Island time.

Some street art caught my eye. Near as I could tell, they were all used masks. Guess it's a comment on the times. 

My Sweetie sporting a freshly picked Plumeria flower.

Left my laptop home this time thinking that I'd post blog entries from my phone thereby saving the extra steps of transferring photos from phone to laptop. After writing most of the best post ever, somehow it disappeared into the never never land of computer gremlins. Now I'm going to break the observations up into shorter sections. 

Spring Changes

While working on a blog post from Hawai'i today, I came upon this draft post that I thought I'd posted a month or so ago. Sorry it's a little out of date.

Here in Edmonds this time of year, we have change. Changes in the weather, in politics, in COVID, and in the economy. For today's post, I think I'll stick to the weather and vegetation. 

Sunday morning we had blustery weather off the water to the west, blustery weather off the mountains to the east, rain falling sideways, sleet, sunshine, and more bluster. In the afternoon, the precip stopped and the sky cleared enough for the sun to promise a little warmth, so I decided to go for a walk.

Striking off south, I passed the Edmonds City Park then turned west following the route ferry traffic takes when it comes southbound through the city. 

 

The traditional "sakura" cherry blossoms finished about a week ago. These double red cherry blossoms are just opening. They are beautiful but leave a mess when the multiple petals fall.

The lilacs were making good progress and would have begun opening by now except the warm spell ended and the cold switch has them in hibernation until the weather changes back to warm in a few days.

There is a large pear tree not far away. The owners haven't pruned it so it has many blossoms and only a few mature pears. It's a grand sight when it blooms.

The city park service encourages native flora (and fauna, for that matter).There are a lot of evergreen trees, so in their shade the wild currant grows leggy but has a nice crop of flowers about now. 

Where Shell Creek crosses under Third Avenue there is a double culvert under the fill that levels the street. On either side the ground drops quickly down to creek level. This Big Leaf Maple reaches up and out over the sidewalk where it posed for this shot. The flower stalk is good to eat. I've had it in maple ice cream and it makes good tempura.

Barberry is common around here.

These youthful grape hyacinth was bidding farewell to the tiring daffodils.

About now my camera twisted my arm to take extra photographs.

 

A Sunday Walk

Yesterday was sunny here in Edmonds so thought I'd take a walk. Please join me on a 3-mile stroll around the downtown area. Actually, we'll mostly avoid downtown, although it will always be close to our route. Heading south on 3rd Avenue I detoured into an alley to see the old gate that is being gobbled up by ivy. 

From there we go west and then north on SR104 with the Edmonds marsh on both sides.

At the Best Western we turn off the sidewalk and pick up the marsh boardwalk. This is looking SW with the Olympic Mountains in the distance

Here we look ESE with the Cascades in the distance but screened by the hills of Edmonds. 

Walking along the waterfront we can see the marina. Whidbey Island is in the distance on the left. 

Continuing north we come to the Edmonds fishing pier. It was a busy place, as was all the waterfront today, with people out for walks in the sunny but cold weather. 

Couldn't resist taking some photos of Mt Baker on this clear day. The fish are part of an art installation on the breakwater. They rotate like wind vanes  

Here comes the Puyallup.

The run to Kingston or back takes about 30 minutes including average time to board and drive off. 

On the way from the fishing pier back our to Railroad Avenue, I saw these anxious green shots looking for sunshine. They found it today but they may be in for more cold weather before spring springs. 

Near the ferry terminal the decorative fruit trees are getting ready to bloom. In the fall they have small red fruits that the birds eat. 

From the waterfront, I walked east up the hill to Second where the post office beckoned. After checking mail, I walked up a block to Third then south four blocks and I was home. 

Although the sun was shining through a high overcast, the temperature was around 45° F. all afternoon. 

It was an interesting walk. Thanks for joining me.