Tree Felling Adventures

After two years of contiuous cutting we are getting our little acre of jungle surrounding our home under control. Magnus used his 12 in guide bar to take down about 100 hardwood trees ranging in diameter from 2 feet - 4 feet. Along the way, he learned the pros and cons of various techniques. Now armed with a 25 inch guide bar and larger motor, we go lumberjacking!



Konswan goes fishing for trees!
Using the fishing pole and light line, we first lasso the tree to be felled.



With a modified slingshot and 80 gram fishing weight, Magnus does his best to shoot the line over the desired branch. Sometimes this can take 10 days to accomplish!

When the line is in place, we use it to pull up a series of heavier lines, until finally a steel cable rated at 3 tons is fixed.



We only have 8 large Eukalyptus trees left to go and then we are done!



Unfortunately they are all located above and behind our house and leaning over the incline!




Here is a group shot of the remaing trees.

When these are done we can finally rest at night when the winter storms howl through our valley.

Next year we begin clearing the other 2 acres of land!!

Autumn Garden Produce

All orgainc and oh so tastey too!

Most of these veggies originated in Central America, but do wonderfully here on Flores.




Here is an island variety of hot pepper, a melon pear and long beans.




Chayote was first domesticated in Mexico, where the fruit is used in both raw and cooked forms. When cooked, chayote is usually handled like summer squash, and it is generally lightly cooked to retain the crisp flavor.



Hungarian Wax peppers and Cayenne.

Capsicum is an awesome winter buzz, plus it clears the sinus passages when allergies stike!





These are Thai style eggplants. Very firm and tastey.

Preserving the Goodness of Summer

Konswan has been hard at work, pickling, stewing and fermenting all manner of vegetables and fruits.



Every year our garden produces more as we learn the seasons of our little valley.




This winter we will be getting all the summer goodies along with the fresh winter veggies!