Warm greetings fellow plant and garden lovers! 😁🙏💚✨🤙
I've been meaning to post regular plant-and-garden updates from here at GaiaYoga Gardens since I returned back on October 11th. Unfortunately that has not happened with the regularity that I wanted. My last update was for the March Garden Journal, which was at the beginning of the month, so quite a while ago! I've been wanting to post these updates every Friday, but living here in the jungle often has a way of befuddling plans!
In any case, here I am with some snapshots from the end of March, some from the fenced garden, some from the newer planting that I just did a short while ago up on the lava along the path of the Flow House, and a few from other spots on the property. As I mentioned, I live in a 16-acre, off-grid, clothing-optional, food-forest intentional community, way out in the jungle, in Lower Puna, far East Big Island, Hawai'i, so there are so many things I could include here from all over the property. It's actually a bit overwhelming!
Doing gardens out here is a bit more challenge than in many other area, including where I lived in Seaview, from where I did quite a lot of garden updates. It rained a lot less there, and we didn't have to deal with wild pigs too often, or quite as vigorous weeds, we also had really good soil delivered. Gardening there was just easier. While this environment is overflowing with vitality, and many plants grow very well here, in certain ways it's quite harsh. Soils are often quite thin here in many areas, as this whole part of Hawai'i is very new, so the lava hasn't yet broken down into soil yet, or released its vital minerals.
These photos that I took today are by no means complete or comprehensive. They are simply scattered snapshots of a whole wild, living, green, ever-changing, off-grid experiment and exploration.
This first batch of of photos is from the fenced garden. My Rama (Oncimum tenuiflorum - background) and Kapoor (Oncimum africanum - foreground) tulsi/holy basil are doing quite well here, and have all put out some nice growth. A few happy tomato plants and one lone strawberry plant (with fruit) can also be seen.
A bit closer up of the Kapoor tulsi.
Rama tulsi, with cherry tomatoes on the right.
Another view of Rama and Kapoor tulsi, tomatoes (cherry and beefsteak type), and the one little strawberry plant. The strawberry is curious to me, as it's doing well, and producing fruit, but it's not sending out any runners at all!
Here's a mass of poha berry (Physallis peruviana) on the left, and nice plants of Krishna (Oncimum tenuiflorum) and Vana (Oncimum gratissimum) tulsi/holy basil on the right.
I've planted several Cuban cilantro/culantro (Eryngium foetidum) in hopes of creating a whole bed of this wonderful useful plant here.
More young Rama and Krishna tulsi, with one larger Krishna tulsi in the back.
More Rama and Krishna tulsi.
A close up of one of the more vigorous tree tomato plants (Solanum betaceum).
My pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) is growing very well, and is now flowering too!
The iboza (Tetradenia riparia) is also doing really well, and is getting quite large. A young Krishna tulsi can be seen next to it.
Several more Rama and Krishna tulsi, and a chasteberry (Vitex rotumdifolia).
The red cassava (Manihot esculenta) are growing very quickly indeed! Old hala mats are used to keep weeds down. Some taro (Colocasia esculenta) can be seen on the right.
The purple-and-white-variegated edible hibiscus/bele (Abelmoschus manihot 'Aunty Lilly's Pacific Bele') is growing, but not very quickly. I'm still waiting for it to explode with growth, like other bele.
The Salvia divinorum is growing quite well indeed!
The patchouli (Pogostemon cabin) are not growing quickly in this location at all, however!
The cotton plants are doing well, with reasonable growth!
Now on to a few others areas on the property!
This is a tray of red cinder and several seedlings of mamaki (Pipturus albidus) in my nursery. Mamaki is a very important endemic (found nowhere else other than the Hawaiian Islands), arborescent (tree-like), very medicinal, spineless nettle. They are very challenging to propagate, though I noticed that they often appear among open lava areas, so I collected an bunch of fruit, mashed them up in water, then planted them on top of the cinder. My intuitive hunch paid off, as now I have several seedlings which continue to get larger by the day. Soon, when they get big enough, I'll carefully transplant them into individual pots.
Now to take a look at the plants that I put along the Flow House path, up on the lava, three weeks ago!
The Epidendrum radicans ground orchid is flowering! It's happy up on the lava!
A close up of the flowers! Aren't they lovely?
The Aloe vera and Kalanchoe pinnata are still doing well, with the later putting out some good growth!
The plant that I think is a larger form of Callisia navicularis is doing OK, but not great. It might need slightly more fertile soil. A Kalanchoe pinnata can be seen below it.
The variegated Cuban oregano (Coleus amboinicus 'Variegatus') plants are doing quite well up here on the lava.
The normal green Coleus amboinicus haven't growth much, but they're still looking good!
The Agave angustifolia 'Marginata' is quite happy under these conditions!
The Callisia repens and Kalanchoe fedtschankoi haven't grown much, but they're also looking good!
The Callisia repens between the steps is also holding its own, though it hasn't grown very much yet!
These next two photos are actually from the edge of the property, up against the lava wall.
This is my Chinese/Vietnamese weeping banyan (Ficus benjamina) that I planted right next to the lava wall almost two and a half years ago. It's growing very quick indeed, putting on several feet of growth each year! It's already beginning to reach the top of the 15-foot tall wall of lava. This will be a massive tree one day!
There's a happy plant of Chinese rain bells (Strobilanthes Hamiltoniana) growing right next to it, that I planted at the same time.
This is a young plant of mamaki (Pipturus albidus) That self-seeded right on the lava. If all goes well, it will be a lovely small tree in a few years. This is growing near my banyan.
One last location shift!
These are several branch cuttings of one of the large tropical clumping bamboos (Gigantochloa atter), that I put in buckets with water today. I'll plant them in pots tomorrow!
OK, that brings me to the end of this Off-Grid Jungle Garden Update! I truly hope that you found it interesting, engaging, and perhaps even inspiring! Until next time! 😁 🙏 💚 ✨ 🤙
All photos were taken with my Motorola G Power Android Phone.
Thank you all so much who have helped me get to where I am today, and allowing me to share more of the beauty and magic from my life and my world with you, and for your continuous appreciation and support! I am truly deeply grateful! 😁🙏💚✨🤙
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