"Three Wheelbarrows"

We are a 3-wheelbarrow family!  There's the traditional one Phil likes best, my garden cart, and the old rusted one with the flat tire; each is appreciated for their perfect uses. 

Here Phil is hauling a load of soil (from the pile at the far front* of the property) to add to our compost -- at the far back, near the orchard.  In the foreground is Lunel's favorite -- one that's sturdy enough to haul chunks of lava -- and we sure have a lot of that!

The old rusty one is not shown, but is always full of rain water and comes in extremely handy for a variety of uses.  It's an easy place to wash of the dirt off your hands (or feet),  you can toss cuttings into it for days until you are ready to plant them (and, considering the prep involved, sometimes it takes a week.)  Finally, we keep a bucket in it to have on hand for easy hand watering of new plantings.

Photo on the right is the patch of pineapples.  You will notice the piles of lava as well as the yellow handled pick axe.  We use the axe to dig out the bigger chunks. The "red" stuff is cinder mixed with soil -- a great growing medium.  We add a shovel full of Phil's amazing compost to everything we plant.

Today we went down to Sea View, a few blocks from the ocean, where we bought loaves of homemade bread, english muffins, oatmeal and date bars (instead of birthday** cake), and amazing juice.  We drove around on some back roads for a while, enjoyed the views and hues of blues at MacKenzie Park, and came home for a little gardening, reading, nap and ... just one more bite of those amazing oatmeal date bars -- thank you Noel!


* You might not think an acre has a "far front" or "far back" until you have hauled 100 wheelbarrow loads of lava out and soil and cinder from one end to the other.

** Yes, it was Phil's birthday today!