Land
Grow your Own: Great Gardening for the whole family
(1-2 weekends to create)
Kids: Planting a garden together takes some preparation. Start with a list of your favorite veggies. Tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and herbs are great beginner veggies that grow well in Hawaii. Next, decide on the garden’s location- somewhere with plenty of sunlight and rain. Even a big pot can make a beautiful garden home.
Parents: Clear this space of debris and measure the area. Take a trip to the local gardening center to pick up the necessary seeds or starter plants, as well as top soil and organic fertilizers, tools and equipment.
All Together: Back at home, begin by preparing he soil by removing grass, tilling, watering, adding topsoil and fertilizing. Finally, dig small holes and place seeds inside. Cover and water. In just a few months, harvest your own fresh salad. Wash, toss and serve!
Don’t be Trashy: Recycling: Not all waste can be burned, and our current landfills are ripping at the seams. The best solution is to simply produce less trash. Recycling to the rescue! Each county supports its own recycling programs.
Oahu: www.opala.org
Hawaii Island: www.recyclinghawaii.org
Kauai: www.kauai.gov/recycling
Maui: www.co.maui.hi.us/departments/environmentalMgt/Recycle/index.htm
For More Recycling information check out these helpful websites:
http://www.recyclingcenters.org/Hawaii/
http://hawaii.gov/health/environmental/waste/sw/sw/hi5/redcenters.html
Composting: Is the oldest method for recovering resources through recycling. It is the natural process by which organic matter decays into a dark, rich and crumbly substance called humus, which makes an excellent soil conditioner.
Composting Benefits to you and your community:
- Reduces the amount of solid waste sent to landfills.
- Can reduce the cost of disposing of solid waste.
- Composting contains vital nutrients for plants.
- Can improve the quality soil and water retention.
- Helps raise healthier plants and reduce water consumption
The Process: Composting speeds natural decomposition under semi-controlled conditions. Microorganisms feed on organic materials and churn out humus, a process requiring moisture and oxygen. As microbes work, their activity causes temperatures within the pile to rise as much as 160F, which speeds the process along and kills many disease organisms and weed seeds.
Testing Your Composting Skills:
Anytime of the year is the right time to begin a compost pile.
- A holding Bin will provide an easy way to contain your compost pile.
- The size of your holding bin will depend on specific needs.
- For most people, a 5’ long by 4’ wide by 3’ high bin should suffice.
A simple bin can be built at a relatively low cost using chicken wire, scrap wood and cinder blocks. Place your compost bin in a convenient location and add grass clippings and leaves as they collect. To assist the decay process, we recommend layering with topsoil.
Aerate the pile by turning every month or so with a shovel or pitchfork. This provides ventilation and shifts materials from the outer edges of the pile to the center, where they are better able to be heated and to break down. If needed, wet the pile thoroughly, but not to the point if soaking. This method will produce usable compost in the from six months to 2 years. Quicker system calls for more turning and one or two adjacent bins to shift the compost from one bin to the other.
When the material is uniform in color and texture and crumbly to the touch, you are ready to start gardening with your home-made compost.
Composting Tricks of the Trade:
- Nitrogen is essential to the composting process. Adding fresh grass, fertilizer containing nitrogen, or manure to leaves assists tin rapid decomposition, but not necessary for successful composting.
- Shredding or chopping materials to be composted into small pieces also speeds up the decay process.
- Finished compost may be easier to use if it is first screened through 1” wire mesh to eliminate materials that are not completely decomposed.
- Compost should be applied to soil surface in layers from 1” to 3” in thickness. Then mix it thoroughly into the soil of vegetable gardens and flower beds before planting.
- Covering the compost pile with plastic can help retain moisture and heat. This will also protect pile fro becoming too wet when it rains, which may deplete the material if nitrogen.
- Frequent turning is not recommended in cool weather because it will allow too much heat to escape.
- A pile should be turned immediately if ammonia or offensive odors are detected.
- Allowing proper time is important. Compost that is not fully decomposed may cause nitrogen starvation when used on plants.
- You may also include vegetable kitchen wastes in your compost pile. These must be completely covered by several inches of yard waste or soil. Be sure NOT to include any meat products, grease, or cheese so that rodents and other pests will not be attracted to your yard.
Variations of the Composting Theme:
- Soil Incorporation- Using a posthole digger to bury leaves or yard waste is an easy way to compost them. This should be done in an inactive area of the garden to give the materials time to decompose.
- Mulching- Woody yard wastes, grass clippings and leaves may be used as mulch, which is spread over the surface of soil to suppress weed growth. Do not mix green grass clippings into the soil.
- Grass Clippings- left on the lawn can actually help you maintain a vigorous, durable lawn. You can safely leave clippings on your lawn so long as they are not excessively long or weedy.
For more information on the next Composting Workshop in you county contact your local University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Service
Click here http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/site/extprograms.aspx for a list of extension agents.
Land Lovers: Real Estate and Property in Hawaii
The median sales price for single-family homes again topped $600,000 at $625,000 in October. This was also the median sales price for the first ten months of the year, only 3.7% lower than the same period in 2007. Condominium prices also remained stable with a median sales price in October and for the first ten months of the year at $325,000. This was slightly higher than the median sales price last month and flat compared to the first ten months of 2007.
The median number of days on the market for single family homes dropped slightly in October over September to 52. Median days on the market for condominiums increased slightly from last month to 53. Both statistics are much higher than year ago numbers of 41 and 37, respectively. Most properties that are well priced are selling at or below this norm.
The number of homes on the market has increased approximately 8% from a year ago. There are 2,107 single family homes and 2,663 condominiums available, compared to 1,973 and 2,444 at this time last year.
