Welcome to Garden Green!!

Upon arrival in Hilo, our
hosts Libby and James
grabbed us from the
airport and gave us a tour of our new home.

The house is located on an acre of land in
Paradise Park, a subdivision (this term should be taken lightly) sandwiched
between Ke'eau and Pahoa villages.
Aptly named, 'Punatics' live in this region of Puna on a kind of eastern horn of the Big Island. We are probably about a half-mile from the
coastline, which is rocky and beautiful.


The next day, we began working on their plot.
They have several ducks that follow you, quacking,
in the hopes of food. Michael likes the ducks. You can't tell from where you're sitting, but in the picture Mike is pointing at the ducks. He has his in a row. On the contrary, I can't seem to do the same.


A lot of our first big task is weeding. It rains A LOT in the tropics (as you might imagine), and unfortunately the plants you don't want to cultivate benefit just as much as the ones you want, so we started by clearing out the pineapple beds of all their unfriendly neighbors. The phrase "choked with weeds" has never held more significance!

This last pic is of Michael standing next to the shit recycler. Yes...that green container is filled with our poo! James and Libby live a truly green and sustainable lifestyle. You may not believe it, but there is a company that produces recycling toilets. It takes a while, but this will actually remove any harmful pathogens in order to use the poo as compost. Which, in a round about way, will sooner or later be eaten in the form of a delicious coconut, banana, papaya, or any number of tropical treats.