Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Wondering Why

It's probably a matter of perception, but it seems that is always sunny when I am work, but rarely when I am home.  It rained the entire Spring Break, for example. 

It might not, actually, be a matter of perception as much as it is the fact that work is lower down the mountain.  Our house is in this weird spot where the rain just catches - a little higher up and it's drier.  A little lower down and it's drier. 

On Oahu, the windward side is wetter, because the wind blows the moisture in from the ocean and it catches on the mountains, but the topography is different on the Big Island.   

My personal topography has the water flowing into one corner of one sheep stall and then overflowing into a small, shallow swamp in the other stall.  Before my husband built the sheep stalls, it was one corner of the horse stall, so I guess there are silver linings.  The sheep seem to handle wet feet a lot more than at least one of the horses. 

The rain also hits one corner of our house more than the others.  We have a small coffee deck off our bedroom - the deck is coated with fiberglass because we knew it would be hit by rain, and it is often covered with green algae which needs to be scrubbed - like I need one more thing to scrub.  The deck on the bottom needs a few boards replaced after this extremely wet winter we've had. 

When it is sunny, but before the winds shift to the south and bring the vog, my area is really incredibly beautiful (so, yeah, about 10 days a year, and most of them to be on days I am at work).  There are times of the year when all the different kinds of ginger are blooming and they all smell so wonderful. 

None of these gingers are edible, but they make really lovely lei.  I would love to grow pink shell ginger, which is edible, but I haven't had any luck propagating the roots from the Farmer's Market.  I guess I need to do more research - because ginger can be invasive and annoying, so it can't be that hard to grow....

3 comments:

Leigh said...

We have a weather phenomena like that at our place too, though it has to do with goat barns. Interesting about the ginger. I never think of more than the kind I buy for cooking. Would love to see mine flower!

Anne said...

Lovely blog; I'm a new follower!
Best,
Anne ♥♥

NancyDe said...

Welcome, Anne!

Leigh, you might be able to grow it in a pot, but before you stick it in a pot, let it sit out - if some shoots start growing along the root, you may have a chance. I think it must need a fairly big sized pot. Two varieties grow like weeds up here - white and yellow. We have some red ginger, which is more rare, but it took a looooong time to begin to thrive.