Plants on the Property
Io's Nest
The property on which Io's Nest sits is former sugar cane land. Decades ago, along wide expanses of the Hamakua Coast, what used to be
native Ohia forest was removed by the sugar industry to make way for the sugar cane crops. When the sugar companies went out of
business on the Big Island, large parcels of this ravaged land went up for sale, and ours was one of these. When
we bought the property, it hosted nothing but shoulder level grass and a lone Eucalyptus tree in the middle of it all.
We didn't know where to start. Planting something on its own seemed like a death sentence, so we started with what we called
"the islands", which are groupings of plants hundled together to offer some mutual shelter from the sun and the wind. Our oldest
islands are directly in front of the house, as shown below:
One day after Todd bought our tractor, he began mowing random paths through the high grass, and these became the delineators of
different growing sectors on the property. Planted within the high grass are sectors of teak, conifers, natives (Ohia, Koa, Manele),
and eucalyptus (Rainbow Bark, Lemon Gum, and Robusta). Todd also mowed certain areas to become orchards. Surrounded by
wind breaks in various stages of maturity, the orchards host coffee, apples, lychee, and many "onesies" of all sorts (we're clueless
on some of them).
Below are some of the plants around the property, many of which were scavenged from the green-waste dump in Hilo (that is forbidden!).
Io's Nest Main Page
