I Missed a Week of POSTING!!!

Wow, didn't think it would happen! But I missed my Artistic Tuesday post and MG class summaries for the week. And class was so interesting! Today I am studying for our first test scheduled for Tuesday!

We started the MG week with soils. On Hawaii Island (the Big Island) there are many types of soils and they have been mapped by the state. I live in the Puna District and our house is built on 350-500 year old pahoehoe lava with some soil from decomposed ironwood needles. The biggest problem with soils in Hawaii is acidity and the active Kilauea Volcano continues to adds to the problem.

We brought in some cinder soils (volcanic cinder and soil mix) to our landscape because we are on rock! The trick is to gardening on rock is to find the deeper "pukas" (holes) and fill them with soils.  I am sure I have at least thee different types of soils and will have to manage them differently.  My first step is to test the PH levels.  Has anyone out there used the home soil test kits?

We covered entomology on Thursday and it is a fascinating science!  The Professor brought in an electron microscope and you would not believe the little critters we saw crawling around!!!  Currently the rose beetle is feeding on  many of my leafy pants.  I am not happy :(