IASA #3-42

Kai installed a security camera.

 

IASA #3-41

Moʻo the rat catcher!

 

IASA #3-40

Visited Ulu Mau Puanui's garden demonstrating Kohala Field System growing methods.

 

Kohala Field System

Today I went on a huakaʻi arranged by Jaime from State Parks to Ulu Mau Puanui to see the Kohala field system. This is the traditional large-scale agricultural system practiced by Hawaiians several hundred years pre-contact until the early to mid-19th century. Our guide was Kēhaulani, she is the manager of the site. Nā māla (the gardens) at Puanui are all rain-fed, there is no irrigation system. Today was a high wind advisory day, with sustained winds of 30 mph & gusts up to 50 mph, & for the most part it was accurate. Though sometimes it felt like the sustained winds were just as strong as the gusts! Kēhau said she leaves it up to the visiting group as to whether they want to be there under those conditions; she is generally there even when there are high winds though she does not work as long as she does on days with milder winds. We stuck it out & braved the winds, which we were sort of used to from being at Lapakahi! This screen shot from Google Maps shows the proximity of 2 of the māla to the Kohala Mountain Road; I was unable to spot the 3rd māla on Google Maps.

There are 3 māla on the site in the upper, central, & lower portions of the Puanui ahupuaʻa. The top māla (Puanui luna) which is about a half mile makai of the Kohala Mountain Road, has ample rain, sometimes too much. The bottom māla (Puanui lalo) does not get enough rain most times except during Kona storms. And the middle māla (Puanui waena), which is about another 2000 feet makai of the top māla, gets just the right amount of moisture. We started the tour by hiking up to the viewpoint where Kēhau gave us background information about the leeward Kohala field system & pointed out features visible from our vantage point.

We follow Kēhau to māla (structure to left of Kēhua's truck); (L to R) Jaime & Greg.

Kēhau points out features to Jaime as we hike through pasture; viewpoint is on hillside above Jaime.

From viewpoint; Puanui waena is brownish triangle near center of far edge of pasture.

Since the Hawaiians did not have a written language & much of the ʻike (knowledge) was lost when about 80% of the population died after being exposed to diseases brought in by foreign explorers, much of what is happening at Puanui is experimenting to find out what works. There is archaeological evidence of the rock structures along the edges of the fields, the mounds in the fields, & other things. And there are historical accounts of how large the system was & drawings of what they looked like shortly after western contact. But details on what was planted where & exactly when & exactly how was lost. The māla that we were able to examine closely was the Puanui luna māla, where we got to see some of the experiments they are doing to determine how the field system worked in this area. Basically, the taller kō (sugar cane) is planted upwind of the ʻuala (sweet potato); moisture from the daily mists is captured by the kō & then falls downwind on to the ʻuala providing the water for growing.

Kēhau (L) explains to Jaime & us about these experimental beds.

Over the years they have discovered optimal distance between beds of kō & ʻuala is 8-10 feet, about height of kō.

Kēhau said rocks covering soil around ʻuala hampers non-native turkeys from eating tubers.

Here are some diagrams I found online about the Kohala field system. The portion we viewed today is part of the leeward field system northwesterly of Puʻu Kehena seen on the map below. There is a portion on the windward side of Kohala that is also a field system. I live in one of those areas; obviously we have a lot more rainfall than the leeward field system. The 2nd diagram shows the leeward field system in red.

I live in Hanaʻula ahupuaʻa. (From https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/kohala-field-system/)

I live in area that gets 41-50" annual rainfall. (From https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/kohala-field-system/)

As we were on the road going to Ulu Mau Puanui this morning, I received a Civil Defense wind advisory notice. The advisory said there would be sustained winds of at least 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. The wind helped push us in the direction of the viewpoint but coming back was hard work. I also had to be careful when taking a step that the gusts did not blow my foot towards a hole, unstable rock, or cow pie!

At sunrise the weather was misty as it frequently is here where I live. About 12 hours later when I was on my way to the CDP Growth Management group meeting, it was misting again. This is what we also experienced when we were at Puanui this morning, it is the mist that waters the plants in their māla & my yard.

At sunrise!

About 12 hours later.

We went to lunch at Pomaikaʻi Café in Kapaʻau. I had my favorite Furikake Salmon Salad but when I went to pay I found out that they now prefer cash or Venmo; I was still able to pay with my credit card though. Towards the end of our lunch Peter came over to provide us with his "business card"; it was a used to go box that he had decorated & written his contact information on. We took photos of it & left it with him, which he did not appear to be too happy about. But I was not about to carry someone's garbage around just for their contact information!

I was able to check Kai in for his flight tomorrow with no problems. So it looks like the Federal government shut down & the administration's decision to cut the number of flights by 10% has not affected his flight so far. We shall have to see how it has affected things on the ground at Sea-Tac Airport tomorrow.

The window for the next episode of the eruption at  Kīlauea has now been identified. The forecast is for it to occur some time between the 22nd & the 30th. Hopefully it will be earlier than the current forecast since our current plan is to go to Oʻahu on the 22nd; I will have to talk to Kai to see if he would like to delay our flight so he has a possibility of seeing the eruption. 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Carolyn, Kai, & Nancy! Yes, today is Kai's birthday!

IASA #3-39

Had Motek's Uncle Yosef breakfast special on deck with Barb.

 

Breakfast with Barb

Barb & her family arrived last night & are staying in timeshare condos at Waikōloa Beach. This morning she met me at Motek Bakery for their Uncle Yosef breakfast special. She also bought a loaf of ʻUlu ʻŌlena Sourdough Bread; I got an Almond Bostock to try. We took everything back to the house & ate on the deck. Later we walked around the yard so she could see all the fruiting plants.

We also had dragonfruit with the Uncle Yosef.

Motek Bakery has updated their outside sign. It looks very festive now!

Mom would have loved the sunflowers on their sign!

At sunrise it looked a little overcast but it cleared up & was mainly sunny for most of the day. The Tesla power generation graphic concurred. Today is the end of Daylight Savings Time on the continent; there is now only a 2 hour time difference.

One minute before sunrise.

Hedge Woman was out again today. She did not get as close to the hedge as she usually does. She seemed like it was making her anxious to be too close to the hedge today.

The cats blocked the gate again this evening. It's a good thing the floor is so smooth! I can easily nudge them along with my foot & slide them out of the way.

Today was the Duolingo league promotion day which ends at 5 pm. I checked in about 3 pm & found I was still in 1st place. But when I checked an hour or so later, I had been overtaken by 9 XP & was in 2nd place. I spent the next half hour or so doing more lessons & moved back up to 1st place with a 100+XP lead hoping that would thwart another takeover. With about 15 minutes left, the person in 2nd place was actively trying to overtake me so I started doing more lessons. I managed to keep ahead & retain 1st place, I have now been promoted to the next league up. 

... Pearl League!

The next episode of the eruption at Kīlauea is still predicted to begin some time soon with November 5th through 7th being the most likely time period. I checked the V1 cam live feed this evening & saw the glow of the magma as it neared the top of the north vent. 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Thi! 

Just One Myna Problem

Moʻo caught another bird; a Common Myna fledgling (Acridotheres tristis). It sort of does this hopping flapping thing but can't get itself off the ground. While Moʻo seems to "catch" a lot of birds, I think what's really happening is that she is finding them on the ground since only 1 of them has been an adult. (She tried to get an adult chicken but it was fortunate enough to be able to get under the house where Moʻo couldn't get her.)

I dropped the Myna off at Trudy's house. Already this year I have also given her a Northern Cardinal & a House Sparrow that Moʻo caught. Though for those 2 it was not that hard; they did not have any flight feathers. Trudy is tentatively calling the young Myna "Mozart"; their old Myna is Beethoven. But I have created a small problem for Trudy; she has run out of space on the window counter for bird cages!

Beethoven (L) & Mozart.

At sunrise it was a little hazy but that soon burned off & it was a sunny, pleasant day with a light breeze. There was only a short shower late last night but no drizzle this morning. The solar energy graph on the Tesla app seemed to reflect that. 

One minute before sunrise.

Jeremiah came by later in the day with a big Penske moving truck rental; Moʻo barked ferociously at it as he was coming down the driveway. After he got out of the truck & came to say Hi!, she calmed down. Until he brought his pet piglet out; then she started barking again! But this time it was her Pig! bark, not her Intruder! bark.

The next episode of the eruption at Kīlauea is predicted to occur some time between the 4th & the 8th with the 5th through 7th being the most probable.  

A glow could be seen last night around 7:30.