I'm dilly-dallying on doing a small (bug annoying) water repair, so I'm sharing what I've been doing the last few days: clearing a large area of this ding dang vine.

It covers everything, grows in 0 soil, chokes other plants, crawls *under* other plants, puts down roots at every node, breaks very easily (so you can't really tug on it and get the whole string), the root breaks easily (I've started using my garden knife to get the roots out), has a pretty strong root given how delicate the vine is, comes back from a single node, every node can put out vines in multiple directions, and if you leave it in a pile, it'll grow back.

And the worst part? I introduced it myself 😭😭😭😭. I've been battling it for years, and every time I clear an area, i have to stay on top of it because there are inevitably pieces I missed.

It's a nitrogen fixer, so you'd think it would be acceptable, but it is not. I have other aggressive vines that are extremely difficult to kill, but this one is the most sneaky and annoying.

Pic 1: kitten with a patch of vine

Pic 2: baby vine growing from bean

Pic 3: example of it's robust root

Pic 4: this is me gently tugging on a vibe to see where it connects to the ground. This goes into a pile of rotting coconuts that is being used for planting. This is almost certainly how I introduced the vine - from truckloads of these old coconuts I got from a former friend's place several years ago. The vines love to put their roots into the rotting parts of the coconuts. And that's why you should always be very careful about what plant material you bring to your place! I was ignorant and I brought an entirely new pest to my place.

#plants #weeds #gardening #VineGang #hawaii

Here's a lovely orange epidendrum orchid high up in a dracaena tree.

Pic 1: the flowers

Pic 2: zoomed out view showing how high up the orchid is in the tree

Pic 3: the epidendrum 's root clump. The roots are completely exposed to the air, and the plant is happy.

This giant dracaena patch was filled with these orchids. I imagine their seeds get blown around and settle in different parts of the dracaena.

Seeing plants like this reminds me to always look up into the trees when I'm in a climate zone that's hospitable to orchids.

#plants #orchids #flowers #hawaii #bloomscrolling

Dear solarpunks, hackers, and off-grid nerds of all stripes, i have a solar related question for you:

a friend has a 24V solar setup with an mppt charge controller and inverter. unfortunately the batteries regularly go down to 24 (and overnight, sometimes even below that 😭 ). the inverter only gives a screaming alert when it's way below 24 and generally the people who use the system don't have a way to know if the batteries are getting too low.

do any of you have suggestions for how we might set up an alert for when the batteries are around 24.2? ideally it would send a text or something, but if it makes a really loud sound, that might be ok as well.

the inverter does make a sound when the system is too low, but that's when the batteries are way lower than 24 and we don't have a way to set any options for it.

the charge controller is a victron and there's a victron app, but i haven't seen an option in the victron app that's like... "alert if battery voltage hits x value."

anyway, our budget is limited, but any ideas you all might have would be most appreciated 🙏 🌞 ⚡

#solarpunk #solar #offgrid #diy #tech #SolarPower #hack

"I want the food plants that grow like weeds and that I can cut back if they grow too much." - Wade Bauer, food forest farmer

I'm attending a presentation + tour of his food forest farm

#farm #garden #gardening #permaculture #agroforestry #hawaii #food

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgu3wwp6kyqpq494rtg3ygq4cqawymgs0q3mcj6hucvu4kmadv03s5ey2sg32df5st2nc9c nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgu3wwp6kyqpq6ftrj4t0k670h9jgwh062ec2tepfxfvwddrr7kswj3exn6d08wsqnvlwka that's wild

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgu3wwp6kyqpqnshq4pcyzdmnewg4h8yu6tsuh5t72whzkz5x4wj7t0c0cy7yyrfqutfthg nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgu3wwp6kyqpq6ftrj4t0k670h9jgwh062ec2tepfxfvwddrr7kswj3exn6d08wsqnvlwka nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgu3wwp6kyqpq494rtg3ygq4cqawymgs0q3mcj6hucvu4kmadv03s5ey2sg32df5st2nc9c in my area, it's quite rural and if I wanted to get connected to the grid, I would have to pay $1,000 for a pole to get installed.

Plus, the power goes out pretty frequently around here but it doesn't affect me 🤷

I also have low electricity needs, so a fairly small system is enough for me.

Does anyone have suggestions for a wooden cutting board that won't grow moldy? I have an outdoor kitchen in a tropical wet climate and every wooden board I've ever used becomes a mold palace pretty quickly.

I use a plastic board now, but I want to eat fewer micro plastics. So if anyone has suggestions (maybe for a particular kind of wood to look for?), I'd be most grateful.

#offgrid #homestead #cooking #food #hawaii #tropical