Colocasia esculenta is thriving on our farm

Magnus has been steadily clearing and planting a boggy area on our land for the last few years. The ideal crop for this sunny, protected and wet location is a local favorite,  Colocasia esculenta, or Taro.

This amazing plant has been cultivated by humans for over 28,000 years.  Taro is the true Paleolithic Staple  food. 

The starchy root grows quickly and is an ideal permaculture plant.

Our wwoofers, Anjelika and Hannah, helped to weed the area and plant young corms into surrounding land that had been cleared earlier.

Renault took a break in the taro patch to enjoy cool spring water and bask in the shade that these majestic and ancient friends.

According to fitday, "Taro root is often used in a similar fashion to a potato, but in fact has better nutritional qualities than a potato. It has almost three times the dietary fiber, which is important for proper digestive health and regularity. Fiber can also fill you up and make you feel less hungry with fewer calories. Taro root has a low Glycemic Index, as opposed to potato which has a high Glycemic Index. A low GI means that taro effects blood sugar levels slowly, without the peaks and crashes of a high GI, which lead to increased hunger later on. Eating a diet of low GI foods can also help prevent diabetes.  Taro is nutritious, and is an excellent source of potassium, which is an essential mineral for many bodily functions. Taro also contains some calcium, vitamin C, vitamin E and B vitamins, as well as magnesium, manganese and copper."

 Mitra gave Daddy-Magnus a helping hand to harvest these giant corms....

....and lent a hand to clean the corms before processing.

After the outer skin is removed, the taro corms are cut into slices.

The corms are then steamed in our Hydro-Electric powered Slow Cooker for several hours to cook thoroughly.

After being steamed, they can be pan seared in home-rendered lard to make a tasty snack.

All the boys love taro.  Daddy likes to wrap it in garden leaves, but the boys prefer to dip it in ketchup and mayonnaise.

The local Azorean milk adds the protein, along with grass fed Flores beef.

Eating locally is so much fun and tasty too!

Stay tuned for fermented taro (poi).

Natural lactobacillus fermentation

What can you do with red radishes, daikon radishes and other vegetables in your kitchen?

Natural lactobacillus fermentation, with whole mustard seeds, juniper berries, julienned butternut squash, carrots, sliced onions, minced garlic, sliced red mustard leaves, salt, tiny bit of cider vinegar, tiny bit of brown cane sugar.

Turning Jungle into Gardens

Maarten stayed on our farm for a month and had the opportunity e to learn about tree felling and how to correctly handle a 'motor saw'.

Nearly all the trees are down now, including this lovely Acacia.  

After cutting the large trees, the small underbrush was cleared and burnt.

This is a south facing amphitheater that we have been slowly clearing for about five years now.

With the help of Renault and Maarten, we burnt all the undesirable plant material to return to the soil.

The young men enjoyed the opportunity to build massive bonfires that raged into the early morning hours.

On the other side of our valley, alongside our Banana Plantation, we cleared and burnt a large swathe of land that is nearly flat and has a micro-climate that is much warmer than the surrounding lands.

We now have two young ladies from Germany planting the areas with all manner of edible and delicious plants that were started in our greenhouse.

Joists for First Level Flooring Installed

We received the 'shingles' for the outer wall of the clubhouse, now we are waiting for them to dry before installing them.  

They are off-cuts of Cryptomaria Japonica, or Japanese Cedar.  Rot resistant and fragrant, perfect for the wind and rain we get all winter here.

We used Acacia wood for the joists to support the floor.

They are long enough to allow for a porch extension that we had not planned for.

The boards are locally milled from our islands forests.

After the wood dries a bit more, we will finish installing the boards and close the lower level and install windows and doors.

The Last HUGE Tree Behind our House is Down

After eight years of steadily clearing the forest behind our house, we are now free of potential killers.

Read our blog post Tree Felling Adventures for a backstory.

Phase one involved sending Maarten up a tree to fix the lines.

Phase two, Filippo,Maarten and myself strung a steel cable across the valley to attach a winch to a stump to control the falling direction of the ~30 tonne giant.

Working in the jungle is always a challenge!

But after a day of rigging safety lines, the giant came down exactly as planned.

Now our house is finally safe from danger and we can begin building  a solar tracker in the new safe zone!

Reinforced Concrete to Build a Spillway

Maarten, Augosto and myself have been improving the drainage system this week, in the hopes of avoiding farther water damage to our properties and home.

We back-filled the two new tubes with concrete to anchor them in the next flood event.

After covering the tubes with concrete we installed an iron framework and mesh to be contained in the next concrete level.  This should allow large trucks to pass over the tubes without damage and prevent the bridge and tubes from washing away in heavy flooding.

Hard work in the hot sun, but well worth it when the winter rains return.

New Flood Protection Measures Created

After a devastating flood event this winter, we have been installing new drainage systems in anticipation of the next storm.  Initial damages can be seen  at our previous post, Disaster in the Dark of Night

Odin and Mitra are testing the new trench that Maarten and Filippo are digging for us.  

Boat races are great fun in the heat of the day!

We added a third plastic tube to the existing two tubes, as well as an earthen berm reinforced with a stone wall, to keep flood waters from coming down the pathway to our house.

We still need to pour concrete, reinforced with iron mesh, to stabilize the ground when the floods pass over the spillway.

The large boulders used to build the initial structure are holding firm. 

The process of building this part can be seen at Road Building 

Now we wait for the next storm to test our new system!

Sleeping Room of the Clubhouse is Finished

The roof is finished and the top level used for sleeping is closed and being tested by our two wwoofers, Filippo and Maarten.

We added diagonal braces to stabilize the structure.

The remaining job is to close the lower level and install windows and doors, then a kitchen and sitting area.