Time Passes Unnoticed?

We see the ranch everyday. It is nice to be able to compare what it looked like 3 years ago and go Wow.

Posted by Carroll Guava Ranch on Saturday, January 23, 2016

Ranch Hands Feb 2015

This last month our sheep made life WAY more interesting at the ranch!! 

So far this season we have 16 very energetic lambs....  still four new mom's to go too.  But this large group is learning lessons from each other at a scary rate...  they are breaching our electric fences & even climbing lava rocks to eat the trees inside the fences!!!  Truly a season of first's here!!!

When we got our first sheep in 2012, the old guy gave us great advice...  one was "Have a plan for when they get loose!"  I thought "Yeah right, not us!"  Well late in January one of our "chow hound" moms pushed on a gate & the whole flock was suddenly eating new stuff all over the ranch!!!  An exciting two hours and all were back in their pasture.....  Never say Never.

December to April is Hawaii's traditional wet season....  not this year!  Our last regular hard rain was December 22nd....  since then we have had rain on only 2 days... record setting dry spell, which isn't good for sheep who luv grass... now we're even adding hay to the flock's diet on top of what we harvest & feed them.

Sheep on the Loose

I had quite a busy day planned today but the sheep had other ideas. 

Somehow, one of the paddock gates was not closed properly and the sheep decided the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. So, out they went. I was lucky enough to run out and close the front gate before they went out on the road and fortunate enough to keep them away from the dog. They had about an hour to munch all sorts of things (none of which was grass) before Mike came home to help me put them back in. I tried by myself but they were not convinced that I was serious and kept slipping by me. 

Here are some pictures of their destruction. 

The Ti plants took the biggest hit. 

And my poor poinsettias. Hopefully they won't make them sick. 

A rather hectic morning. Back to all the stuff I wanted to do today. 

Ranch Hands January 2015

This year the flock had 13 pregnant sheep going into the winter, so far we have 14 new lambs 'pronking' and playing in the pasture with 5 more pregnant moms to deliver!! All healthy & only one delivery we had to help with (a HUGE lamb!!).  The store that sells our lamb is in Hilo and is now getting monthly deliveries from us.  It quickly sells out, so they are even happier about the new arrivals!

Leslie's Christmas wish was for a hot tub to help shoulder and back pain....  so the Bunk House now has one & Mike's next big goal is finishing the drywall, painting & wiring it for cable, TV & Wifi....  he agrees it helps sore muscles!!!

So our Xmas card foto this year is Eggnog, the first lamb born this season.... our task is tracking the sheep & managing them for health matters....  an unexpected challenge was naming all those we'll keep and breed....  this season 12 of the 14 lambs are ewe's (females) so we needed lots of names, guys just get a letter!!

Boars: XXVI

Mongeese: CCXV

Ranch Hands October/November 2014

A two month "catch up" issue as September was a blur of work for this year's Oktoberfest... Mike volunteered to "help"...  October was full of big happenings on da' Island!!

The project to clear more land for the sheep is at the stage Mike is dropping the BIG trees....  Leslie & Buddy volunteer to stand next to each to estimate the height, then get to watch the crash when it comes down!! 

Yes, the hot topic here is the pace of the current lava flow from Kilueau... moving thru the outskirts of a quaint, old sugar plantation town...  it also has our daily, after work "watering hole"!!!  No, the CGR is not involved, we are on the slopes of Mauna Loa volcano...  it's not extinct, but has been "sleeping" for three decades.

Mike joined the Rotary Club to meet the town's business leaders.  The day he joined their big annual fundraising Oktoberfest was only 6 weeks away and the chairman had an accident....  so Mike and a doctor teamed up to pull it together.....  hard work, but a great event. We hosted many of our island friends, especially those threatened by the lava!! 

Juicing Lilikoi (Passion Fruit)

The following steps are how I juice my lilikoi. I have tried to streamline the process and be as efficient as possible because lilikoi is time consuming to juice. But trust me, the effort is worth it. 

First, I wash all the fruits. Then I use a bread knife to cut off the top. Using a bread knife allows me to cut the hard shell without having the knife skip and cause cuts. 

I try to not cut into the white membrane. Many folks just cut them in half. But, when the membrane is not cut into, no juice runs out until I am ready for it to. I then place the topless fruit into a large pan. I do this for all the fruit, kinda in an assembly line but with only me. 

I then use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and juice into another pan. Sometimes the whole white membrane comes out, that is okay. 

What I am left with is a totally clean shell, not a single drop of juice left. 

After scooping out all of the pulp, the pan that was holding the topped fruit is almost totally clean. 

Then I get out my Roma fruit strainer. I use the tomato/apple strainer. Some people I know use a fine mesh sieve and then press the pulp against the mesh to separate the seeds/pulp from the juice. I find using the fruit strainer is easier and I get more juice out of the pulp. I've tried using an applesauce sieve/press before I started using the fruit strainer. I always felt I was throwing away some juice when using the old methods. 

If I see too much juice in the seed output, I will run the seeds through the strainer again. I can usually get 10-12 cups of juice from one 5-gallon bucket of fruit - a lot more than I use to get. 

What do I do with all of this juice?  I make lilikoi daiquiris. Here is my recipe:

2 cups lilikoi juice

2 cups fresh lime juice (don't use the packaged lime juice [full of nasty ingredients as well as tastes nasty]). I have tried leaving this ingredient out but the daiquiri just doesn't taste right. 

2 cups simple sugar

2 cups rum

Mix well and serve over ice. 

Enjoy!

Ranch Hands September 2014

August saw Hurricane Iselle come ashore & a new lava flow turn inland....   never a dull time on a tropical volcanic island!!

Our island's first full hurricane on over 20 years made landfall and devastated many areas, but the CGR did well.  We had dropped every tree that could hit a building or cable line as we built, so nothing hurt on the ranch.  Many of our friends weren't so lucky.  Our sole issue was 4 days without power but we had a generator.

At a happy hour staff call about what the ranch really needs for vehicles, we decided to donate our small convertible & sports car to PBS and re-equip with the right ones for 'ranching'...  well they arrived on the ship in August.  So now we've got trailer hauling SUV's and a do everything pick up truck.

The only trees the hurricane dropped out back were one's we had in the plan to drop for a new pasture....... so it proved time to upgrade from a small "mainland size" chainsaw to a bigger & a 'way bigger' one to cut up the large trees.  Yes, I sang the Monty Python Lumber Jack song on the ride home!!

Hurricane Iselle

Some misc photos after Iselle. 

Tree came uprooted in the back of the property. We were going to have to cut that tree down eventually. 

Couple more damaged trees from the back. 

A couple of our canopies blew over despite being tied down. 

39th street is flooded from all the rain. This torrent of water ends up in the back of our property - about 600 feet behind the house. 

There was a tree down on Pohaku Dr (our street) and we cut it up to clear the road. We also helped a neighbor by calling the electric company and letting them know he had downed power lines in his yard. 

After seeing a whole telephone pole broken off down the street, we realize it will be days not hours before we get electricity back. 

And another good note was the hatching of the cutest chick on the ranch. I have christened her Iselle. Way to go Mom!

Ranch Hands August 2014

July marked the 3 year anniversary of our first attempts to "beat back the jungle".... that anniversary helps to show how things grow in the tropics!

In July 2011 we started to blaze a trail into the overgrown old guava orchard we'd bought.  In Hawaiian tradition Leslie planted an "Ulu" or breadfruit tree at the site of a family's home.  After defending it from marauding boars, dozer operators to clear rocks & the power company running cables you can now gauge how fast things grow here in the tropics!!

That same tree is big enuf that we had to protect it from the grazing sheep. So we installed a small electric fence & warned them not to touch the ulu!!

July's trophy boar was 168 pounds & allowed us to test out the new smokehouse for several kinds of sausage & smoked meat.  Leslie is becoming a regular supplier of friends in a small local town for eggs, sausages & lamb.  We had to register with the state as we are making enuf in this sideline to be a business!!

Ranch Hands July 2014

June saw some new first's....  Leslie got a huge boar out back, went to the new Hilo Brewfest and ended the month staying in the cabin Ike used up on the volcano in 1946, way cool!!

The boars continue to explore the back future pasture as Mike keeps clearing trees and brush.  Leslie even set the record for the CGR with a 185 pounder.  The new smokehouse is getting broken in well!!

Hilo is now hosting it's own Brewfest, so we got to attend with VIP passes...  the site is an awesome restored sugar plantation compound with the best view of the bay.  Of course we tested all the island's best brews!!!

General Eisenhower stayed in Kilauea Military Camp in '46 after touring the Pacific.  We got a chance to stay in the same cabin with friends to end the month...  the "I like Ike" slogan was back in use!

Ranch Hands June 2014

May was a blur....  clearing our back property brought several "sounders" of wild boars to tear it up...  so boars have been going into sausage & our freezer, so Les got a new BIG smokehouse & Mike got a cement mixer to pour the concrete pad for it!!!

The gradual clearing of trees out back has now crossed several game trails...  now the early morning sees about three different family groups of wild boars (called sounders) come tear up our cleared area, and that's not right....  yup, they've been taking casualties, which go on the menu at the CGR.

Leslie is experimenting with various kinds of sausages & cheeses but wanted a smokehouse....   we found a dude who made a stainless steel one!  Heck, it's bigger than a Porta John!!!

Okay, a big smokehouse needs to be secured to a big concrete pad, so for Leslie's birthday Mike got her a powered cement mixer!!!  Yup, and a pallet of cement too, June is expected to be a very slurry month!!