25th February

Our classroom doubles as the crew lunchroom, the lights have fused out from the damp, the overhead fan doesn’t, it’s more of a ceiling ornament at the moment. So about 9 o’clock this morning I gave up tying to see everyone in the gloom inside, it wasn’t till some of the darker skinned people smiled I could see them, and we went and sat on the river bank discussing soil types, sub surface strata, sand, silt, clay, gravel, composting.

It’s hard to describe clay here, there isn’t any locally. The land is too new to have developed clay sub strata, and once you dig through the top layers, you hit coral reef. It was funny watching the group, the girls actually dig into the silt/sand etc, feel the texture and get an understanding, the guys tend to try to keep their hands clean. It’s a good way of having class here, sitting in the shade of the trees, feet in the cool water, actually looking at what we’re discussing, and how the layers of soil build up over time.

6pm, and the power just went out. Thunder and lightning, heavy rain, Lovely!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ll shut this off and wait a while, then continue with the battery if the power doesn’t come back.

Wasn’t too bad, only an hour and a half without lights. And fan. The native bush houses win out in that respect. Being made out of woven palm leaves, there is always a breeze coming through, ok, plus the occasional malaria mosquitos. And spiders. Geckos. Centipedes. Perhaps I’ll reconsider that.

Getting back to what I started today with, we’ve been talking about ideal mixes for propagating plants, I’ve mentioned Jennifer and Imelda making the decision to try the river gravel for cuttings, which are doing well, today the girls that went to the nursery for the afternoon with Jennifer and Imelda really blew me away.

We had been discussing ideal propagating mix, 50% peat, 25% soil, 25% sand, and the whys and wherefores of the various constituents. I went over to the nursery about 1.30, and found Doris, Annie, and Imelda busily rubbing coconut husks through our 10mm wire mesh sieve, Kennedy had been sent to the river to get some coarse sand and gravel, and they were mixing up a bagging mix to try with the soil. We’ve got a large heap of rotting husks, and the girls spent a good two hours rubbing the husks through the sieve, they ended up with a good couple of wheelbarrows full, which they mixed with the sand, and soil, and set about bagging the rooted cuttings.

It’s such a joy to work with people that want to learn, and put into practise what they learn.

I’ve mentioned Honiara as the perfect hell for all those OSH Inspectors before. Our tree cutting and pruning gang would be banned in any other country that I know of. We’ve got a few trees here at the Ba’hai Centre to fell, they are in a dangerous condition, one was dead with a large, about 600mm thick branch over the roadway, and they started with that one. I caught up with them just as they were starting to trim the top branches.

Andrew, barefoot, shorts and t-shirt, bandanna and chainsaw holding onto the main trunk with one hand, 20’ up, cutting branches one handed. Then straddling the branches and cutting through them. All the time with a face splitting grin. OK, the red betel nut stained teeth gave him a bit of a piratical appearance, all four of the crew clamber up and down trees with chainsaws and bush knives, hacking and cutting till all there is left is a short stub in the ground. I’ve got pics, but film only, till that gets developed I’ll have to wait to post pics.

One of the trees we have to fell is huge. There is no way our little chainsaw will cope with it. And we’ll need a rope and the truck to pull one of the branches away from the house it is over. I think a digital movie camera would be better sometimes. It is going to be interesting watching how they remove it.

I spent most of the afternoon calculating what size water pump or pumps I’d be needing for my grandiose waterfall. The smallest I can get away with is 4 x 550gpm pumps, feeding the header trough, to give me sufficient water flow for 60’ of waterfall, 30’ front and back. I’ll email a few suppliers in Australia and New Zealand tomorrow with the size of the waterfall and see what they recommend. So far, everyone thinks it is a great idea, I’m beginning to think I should never have opened my mouth about it. I’m meeting up with the wood carver tomorrow or Friday to discuss the carvings, well, to talk about the size, he can use whatever tribal pattern he likes. I may make it into 5 x 2m wide panels, with framing in between, getting timber in long lengths may be difficult.

The 2 pawpaw I bought Sunday, one is finished, the other was still green when I bought it, it ripened very well on the kitchen bench, so with luck it may last me another day. Huge pawpaw, about 350mm (a bit over 12”) long, and about 200mm(8”) thick. Not bad for a few dollars. SBD $5 , NZ$1

Checked my little garden earlier, in the rain. I’m going to be eating well soon. All the cucumbers are up, the courgettes and 2 rows of beans. I’m sure my neighbours have doubts about the mad palangi next door, wandering around in the rain in a sarong, laughing. Just you wait till I corner the market in fresh beans and courgettes, capsicums and chillies!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are a few stalls with peppers at Kukum, but I’d feel embarrassed offering anything for sale that looked like they do. Tiny little things, and they want $4 - $5 each. No excuses, I have to grow better ones.

I’ll pick up some bamboo at the markets once my tomatoes and apple cucumbers are growing and build a trellis for them. Rattan cane ties, and bamboo poles. I’ve only got a small patch of ground that doesn’t flood when it rains, all the rest is a river of mud and stones.

I got bitten the other day when I was rummaging through the bush, tiny little ants, about 3mm long, they pack a huge whallop with their bite, it must be pure formic acid. Anyway, one bite turned a bit nasty looking, I noticed it yesterday, so dug out the med kit, and dosed myself up with antibiotics, and put antibiotic cream and plaster over it. It appears to be healing up nicely now. Last thing I feel like doing is going to the hospital. Tiffanys husband is still in there, a few problems with his arm still, she goes in each day with his lunch. The ceiling fans aren’t working, no air conditioning, and they turn the lights off in the daytime to save costs. So it’s dark, humid, and a bit of a gloomy place.

It’s not the place for arachnophobes, like me, some of the spiders are large, and don’t look friendly, either they have long legs, bright colours on their bodies, or short legs, and large bodies. I’m sure the short legged ones are a variety of wolf spider, they have the jaws and head up display when you get near them, and they hop rather than run.

We’ve got landcrabs burrowing into the soil around the lily pond, only small, the holes are only a few inches wide, and I think all the coconut crabs that used to be around Honiara are now all well cooked and eaten a long time ago.
Pic of a spider on a helliconia leaf for today