Good Bye, Avocado!

As mentioned in previous posts, the big old avocado tree was rotten in the center so it was hazardous to have around. And a new tree was already coming up to replace it. Today Kai and James worked on taking the avocado tree down safely. They started by rigging up a line to help lower the pieces down to the ground in a controlled manner; they didn't want to damage the lychee, orange, or mountain apple trees or the new replacement avocado tree. Then they put a line up to keep Kai safe while he was cutting the branches off.

These are modified potato cannons for shooting the weighted line in to the top of the tree.

Kai shoots the weighted line.

Once all the lines were set, Kai got in to his tree climbing gear. Which also included tools for cutting off the branches.

Kai in his tree climbing gear.

Each branch was first tied off to the rope for James to control the branch as it came down. Then Kai positioned himself to safely cut the branch off. Once it was loose, James would lower it. If necessary, Kai would come down out of the tree to help guide the branch to the clear space.

Tying the line to the branch to be cut.

James (R) keeps tension on the branch while Kai (L) gets set to start the cutting.

Kai (L) works the cut branch around to get it into the clear area while James (R) keeps it suspended.

Ready to land!

I had to leave about 10 a.m. to visit with Mrs. Ohta, Joy, & Arelene. Here's what it looked like as I left.

I returned about 2 hours later. Kai and James were gone on lunch break. This is what it looked like after 2 hours of cutting. Only one trunk left standing.


After it was topped, the last section of trunk was the most difficult. Since there was no weight at the top, there was no pressure on the trunk to make it lean towards the notch and break off. So they had to tie a rope on to it and pull it over with the truck.

Kai making the notch cut.

Using the truck to pull the trunk over.

Here's the rotted center in the trunk. You can see in the next photo after this one that rot had extended up in to the branches as well.

On the top of the pile near the center is the rotted piece that was visible. Note the rot in many of the branches.

Today Kai and James also took down the panax & trimmed up the macadamia. Tomorrow they will finish pruning the persimmon, jaboticaba, & old citrus tree. They will leave the mountain apple and replacement avocado alone this time and watch how they respond to the additional light. I plan on having an annual contract with Aikane to have them come in and prune the trees at the proper time of the year to train them for good fruit production.

How it looked yesterday.

Today's look, without panax.

Kai saved this bunch of panax for me because of the Tillandsias; he said the panax cold be trained as a screen from the neighbors.

Another team from Aikane Nursery will be back with James on Friday to chip up all the woody material. (Kai will be off island for a few days.) Then Kai and James will be back on Monday to clean up the remaining debris & work with someone on a small back hoe to dig out the banana stumps (so more bananas don't replace the ones they just took out!). A different team will then come in to put up the fence to keep the wild pigs out. Maybe when everyone is here for Obon there will be more lawn under the trees.

Part of the chip pile.

I had a great visit with the Ohtas! Mrs. Ohta appears to be doing well for almost 94 years old, especially since she has picked up a cold. She was rcalling us going down with their family to Kapanaia Beach. Joy & Arlene said the road is still bad, onl passable by jeep or ATV. We talked about other old fishing and swimming places, as well as new activities in the area like ziplining, fluming, and ATVs; all of which are very close to them.

I said Good Bye to Uncle Kazu this evening since I will need to leave Kohala by about 11 tomorrow morning in order to meet cousin Leilani for lunch in Waimea. Since I have to close up the house as well as make a run to dump trash at the transfer station, I decided to visit Uncle Kazu tonight in case I don't have time tomorrow.

On the way back I stopped at Holy Smokes BBQ; this is the first time I have ever seen it open! I got a plate of ribs to go with sides of baked beans and coleslaw. They say it's "Southern BBQ Hawaiian Style." I tasted a hint of pineapple in the barbecue sauce and the ribs were served with Japanese rice; that must be the Hawaiian style.

The mountain apples are an addition to the meal.

I decided I can pack up the rest of the kitchen on the next visit since Chris won't be able to get to the project until after our Obon visit since he can't finish the kitchen in that amount of time. This gives me more time to get the bedrooms and bathroom set up for the Obon visit.

The one thing I definitely need to do tonight is pack my suitcase! There are a bunch of towels that look like they need to be washed. They came out of the old towel cabinet so they really aren't dirty, just musty smelling and dusty.

Happy Birthday to Marcia, Kip, Evelyn, Gloria, & Peter!