Valerie's Garden
24 June 2007
I make a living as a Kona coffee farmer but I'm not allowed into
our garden. Apparently I have a habit of offering unsolicited
advice that the gardener doesn't care for. So the rule is that
the garden is Valerie's and the rest of the farm is mine. That's
fine with me because the garden is filled with icky stuff like broccoli,
green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, snow peas, kale,
and a bunch of other stuff I don't like. There's not a single
donut, bacon cheeseburger or slice of cheesecake anywhere
in the garden. There are some pretty flowers but that's not
enough to get me near the bell peppers or onions.
We didn't grow up in Hawaii so learning to garden here took a bit of
adjusting. The growing season is great but that is more than
compensated by the insanely huge number of bugs and weeds. The
porous ground is perfect for growing Kona coffee but it drains too
quickly for growing delicate seedlings. The coffee loves the
constant rain too but some garden plants have a difficult time dealing
with fungus, mold and root rot.
The first year the garden was planted, everything was either eaten by
bugs or died for no obvious reason. Nothing could be started from
seed. Green onions and radishes were impossible. Beetles and
cabbage worms flourished. Fruit flies killed the zucchini.
Basically, the garden was a miserable failure.
Valerie decided to step back for awhile and let the chickens in.
Chickens love bugs. They spend all day scratching the ground and
pecking at anything and everything. They didn't bother the larger
plants. I was hoping they'd eat the icky vegetables but they were
too busy digging for bugs.
We considered building a chicken fence in the shape of a moat around
the garden. The idea being that the bugs would have to cross
through the deadly chicken zone in order to get at the garden.
There was no need though because after a few weeks of chickens in the
garden, there weren't any bugs, larvae or weed seeds left.
Valerie headed back to the garden, adding piles of mulch and digging
deep to mix it in with the soil. Then she planted marigolds
everywhere. She refuses to use any kind of chemical
pesticides. Marigolds produce a natural pesticide so she planted
marigolds and more marigolds and a little garlic and some citronella
too. The chickens were kicked out of the garden but still allowed
to wander around outside. Between the mulch, the marigolds and
the chickens, bugs and weeds didn't stand a chance.
This time the garden flourished: thyme, tarragon, mint (chocolate
and regular), sage (purple and regular), basil, oregano, cilantro,
geraniums, two rose bushes, ginger, lavender, rosemary... the list goes
on. We recently cleared out another area for a new garden annex.
We also started construction of a greenhouse. The greenhouse will
help grow plants that need drier conditions. It will also be a
great place to start seeds.
Valerie is going to try artichokes and corn next. They're not
exactly meant for the tropics but with a little care should do
ok. Now her only remaining challenge is to figure out how to make
the rest of the family eat vegetables.
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