Autumn is here

There are really only two seasons in Hawaii, a wet season and a dry season.  The wet season generally includes spring and summer, and the dry includes fall and winter.  Of course there are variations depending on where in the state you are.  For us, down here by the water in South Kona, the transition from wet to dry is accompanied by many familiar shifts. 

We’ve been smelling coffee roasting next door at the big mill, and the fragrant smoke from the macadamia nut hulls that are burned to roast the beans.  It is a familiar, beautiful scent that reminds us coffee processing season has arrived.  The days are hotter and dryer, the ocean gets rougher, and the Trade winds pick up.  The red cardinals move down from the hills, and the citrus trees and some varieties of avocado begin to blossom.  Beautiful athletes descend upon Kailua to acclimate before the Iron Man triathlon.  Crowds amass and excitement crescendos as the race day draws near.

There will be a slight dip in tourism in November around Thanksgiving time, when many mainland people travel to family homes rather than to Hawaii, crowds are down and ticket prices drop temporarily to reflect this.  The days are hot and clear and bright, and the gentle rains that arrived so diligently each evening over the summer will subside.  We may be gifted with a thunder storm now and again, and watch with excitement as dark tropical clouds rush ominously over the ocean.  The ocean water will be colder, the whales will come.  It is a beautiful time of year, but then, it is always beautiful here.

The Drought is done, Kona Snow has come

Last year the island suffered a drought that left many trees and plants dead.  Normally there is a wet season that spans late spring to early fall. This manifests differently across the island.  For us here down by the water, this means sunny days followed by a late afternoon or evening shower – perfect irrigation.  Last year we had month after month of dry sunny weather which was great as far as our guests were concerned, but very difficult for island plants and trees.  Each time the sky darkened and seemed to threaten rain residents would get excited and hopeful.  One afternoon while I was in Choice Mart it began to rain and the excitement in the air in the store was palpable.  A buzz of happy voices surrounded me and I overheard “it’s a blessing” echoed excitedly and with relief multiple times.  This is a farming island, after all, and adequate rainfall is critical.
I’ve been taking long walks out Painted Church Road and have been watching the coffee plants.  Many have looked brown and skeletal, with cherries that have gone from ripe-red to shriveled black on the tree.  However, over the last few weeks we have begun to receive soft evening showers, and the plant life has suddenly swung back to life.  So far this spring we have been experiencing a more normal weather pattern, and the land is become green again.  Last week as I walked I smelled the familiar, seductive jasmine-scent of coffee blossoms on the soft air, and was happy to see that the coffee plants are in bloom.  Spring has come, and with it, the soft, warm, nurturing island rains.

Farming

The Big Island is a farming island.  Due to the island's diverse micro-climates a variety of crops can be grown year-round.  Kona is famous for being one of the world's excellent coffee-growing regions, but the Big Island produces many other major crops including macadamia nuts, papaya, bananas, and flowers such as orchids, anthurium, and protea.  At a single meal you may have delicate local lettuce and juicy tomatoes and cucumbers grown in the cool moist Waimea uplands, beef and milk from local cattle raised on the Hilo-side, mushrooms from the damp Hamakua area, marlin caught off the Kona coast, poi from Waipio valley, and passionfruit from the Hawi area. 

Right in our neighborhood we have: a plumeria farm, a large coffee farm (although most people also grow a few plants on their property), a huge coffee roastery, a macadamia nut processing plant, a queen bee farm, a honey processing plant, a plumeria farm, and a large orchid farm next door.  In addition to these large operations, everyone we know grows some food on their property.  Papayas grow like weeds here and just about everyone in our neighborhood has some papaya trees, as well as citrus which does great down here near the ocean in the sun and heat. Here at the Inn we grow green figs, tangerines, starfruit, white pineapple (a local delicacy), mangoes, and coconuts.  We also rotate various vegetables and herbs like lemongrass, sweet potatoes, kale, citronella, and amaranth.  (We also just added a Tahitian lime and a Meyer lemon and will continue to add more food-trees each year.)  Our neighbors produce oranges, limes, lemons, avocados, pummelos, bananas, tangelos, lychee, surinam cherry, and jaboticaba, among others.  We often share and/or exchange fruit since it is so plentiful, different things are ready at different times, and we all grow different varieties.  It is a wonderful luxury to live in a place with so much local food and such a strong sense of pride in the land.