August 2025 Newsletter

May this newsletter find you in good spirits, good health and in a good frame of mind. I hope your summer is leading you to a good harvest - spiritually, physically and mentally.

I hope you can join us for our BBQ potluck August 16 at 4pm. We will be having our Summer Sale August 15 and 16 from 9am to 3pm. This is a good time to boost your garden, grow your homestead or augment your farm. It is the people of the land who always have enough and share. For more information on the sale, prices and the varieties of trees offered, go to: https://www.bennettfarmandnursery.com/

In addition, we will be giving cassava cuttings and pumpkin squash seeds. Just ask. Our mission here at this farm and nursery is food security in Hawaii. No plants exemplify this more than cassava and

pumpkin. I know you all have YOUR pumpkin recipes, but… Cassava has more starch than a potato, however, because of its toxicity, insects that assault a potato leave the cassava alone. It must be boiled to diminish the toxicity. If fried, it need not be boiled. It is better than potato as a French fry or as hash browns. It can grow in dry conditions and in a pot. For the benefits of cassava, see: https://www.tuasaude.com/en/cassava/

If you plant a tree, consider how it may be connected to other trees. For they are connected below the surface as well as above the surface. From the mycelium that pushes and pulls nutrients where and when it is needed to the sun that gives life and shade that cools, consider where you plant your tree. Make a hole large enough for a foothold. Include biomass, organic matter which may generate worms, worm castings and attract mycelium. Include powdered lime, which contains calcium and magnesium, so that the tree will flower, fruit and hold onto the fruit. And water, water, water. In a few years, you will only have to water little as the shade from one tree to another will retain much of the moisture. But it is work to get there.

In a year or so, we will be offering more varieties of trees. In the nurseries, we are growing a dwarf rootstock for those who may want shorter trees for citrus as well as the regular rootstock. I would like to thank Mike of South Point Road who has planted the many citrus rootstock, a young man who is mature beyond his years. And I would again like to thank Cass Granda, who continues to share new varieties of trees with me, plants and manages the harvest as though he has been forever rooted in the land. Check out the many varieties of trees we have available now.

On Friday, August 29, from 4pm to 6pm, we will continue with our Mural Painting in the basement. It follows the model of the native Medicine Wheel, honoring the archetypal journey of Spirit, mind and body here on the sacred space of the Big Island. Come and join us as we move from background colors to shapes and forms led by Maria Singleton, our art teacher. The finished product of the mural is a group that honors the highest aspirations of the other as well as the self.

“I delight to do Your will, my God; Your Law is written within my heart.” Psalm 40:8