Updates, we must have updates

Updates, we must have updates was Originally Posted on April 10, 2005 by lavarock

Speaking of dates… I don’t have dates here on the farm, but I DO have lots of other fruits.

Just outside the door are a few mango trees and they are laden with mangos. When they drop, they will rot and the fruit flies will swarm near the house. Sigh.. someone was not thinking when they planted them that close.

On the far end of the property are a few avocado trees and, yes, they are laden with avodados; perhaps a hundred avocados? I’m not sure of the type, but am sure they are not sharwill. There appear to be so many varieties here that I really have to pick a few and take them around to experts. I personally don’t eat avocados but rather than give them away, I will try to sell them to someone at the farmers market. These things sell for something like $1 a pound in the stores. Of course, there is lots of competition.

I attended a new farmers workshop on Saturday. ALthough some of the information was familiar to me, it was a great introduction for the new farmer and review for a more seasoned farmer. It covered starting a farm and how to pick a site. It went over the pros and cons to planting seeds or seedlings and how to ensure success. There were discussions about fertilizing and pruning.

On a side note, a future class will be held about what information is needed on a coffee label. NOW they tell us [frequent readers will get the joke].

We are trying to determine where to hold the second Cream of the Crop competition. Last year it was at the Kona Village Resort, but this year they are remodeling somewhat and that forces us to relocate.

I have placed my farm income and expenses in the hands of a tax guy this year. Over the years I have done my own taxes, but this year opted to let an expert do it. Part of the reason is that I have changed to a leasehold property and now must depreciate items for the farm.

One item the tax guy needed to know was how may macadamia trees I have. It seems that they started planting mac trees in rows but I’m also finding there appear to be rows missing and other trees doubled up. Some of those extra trees may be ones which grew from dropped nuts. Why is difficult to count the trees? Well, there are OTHER trees in the way and parts of the property are almost a jungle (that will soon be fixed). My best guess at mac trees is 10 per rom and 50 rows for a total of 500 trees. That is more than I had first guessed.

My yield on mac trees has been good considering that they had not been cared for by the previous owner, but 3 days caring for the trees and having the nuts harvested ends up turning into 7 days of not doing planting of coffee.

I have my weed mat down and am ready to order dirt to start the seedlings. I also heard the county will be offering free mulch and the free mulch includes free delivery… You have to love that!

I am about ready to buy a refrigerator and stove but had hoped to have had the kitchen remodeled by now. For some reason I just don’t feel the need to push things along too quickly now that I live here. I am content enough to just sit home, mainly because every time I go into town I end up shopping and that costs me

I replaced the spark plugs in my truck and it looks as though I just gained a few miles per gallon of gas. With our gas prices here, that can be a great savings. That is the same reasoning that will help me save on electric costs with the refrigerator. Here I will not buy the cheapest unit, rather I will buy the one which has the best efficiency.

Yesterday I took some photos of coffee products at my neighbors farm. I have vbeen working on her website for here and it is just about ready to go live.

I have a friend coming to visit at the end of the month and am doing a bit of painting.

That is all for now. Not exciting, but certainly not dull.