Bleed Out In The Jungle
“I’m letting them bleed out in the jungle”, I never thought I’d hear Tim utter those words but there he was, sitting on a tractor with a saws-all in one hand and a smile on his face.
Tim and his saws-all
He had just cut down a few stalks of bananas and was letting the “banana blood” leak out and dry before picking them up. The liquid looks harmless enough, it’s clear when you get it on your clothes but when it dries, it’s the colour of dried blood and you’ll never be able to get it out.
This is just one of the things we’ve learned since we’ve started housesitting on Maui a month and a half ago.
Other things we’ve learned:
– How to tell when a hard skinned avocado is ripe (stick a chopstick into the stem hole. It should slide in like a sharp knife into a boiled potato). If you wait until the skin is soft it’s too late.
– The fact that there is such a thing as a hard skinned avocado.
– Roasted jackfruit seeds taste like chestnuts.
– When to cut down banana stalks (when you see one yellow banana). Our largest stock harvested was 54.55 lbs!
– How to eat exotic fruit like soursop, jackfruit and different types of passion fruit (post to come).
– What it takes to run a B&B, you don’t run it, you live it.
Fresh off the plane and pale as a ghost
– How adaptable we are, within a few weeks we had become farmers, taking care of a combined 8 acres of land, picking and selling fruit, caring for 70+ chickens, 2 cats and a dog.
Other things I never thought I’d hear myself (or Tim) say:
– I hope the Imu is hot enough (Tim)
– Pass the Hawaiian chili water (both of us)
Hawaiian Chili Water
– There’s a chicken eating the dog food again (both of us)
– Did you pick the lilikoi this morning? (Tim to Nat)
– There’s a chicken on the bananas! (both of us)
– There’s a rat’s nest in the bananas! (both of us, to each other, at the same time)
– Avocado cheesecake, with no cheese (Nat to Tim)
Avocado cheesecake
– I just saw 3 huge wild pigs in the yard (Tim)
– I think I’m a cat person (Tim)
– There’s a f*&^%$g chicken on the bananas again! (both of us)
– I just helped 2 local guys drag a dead pig with the tractor and load it onto their truck (Tim)
– More Spam! (both of us)
– I just picked 6 pounds of pohole (Nat)
Pohole
And so ends the first part of our Maui house sitting adventure. After lounging poolside and oceanside for a week in Lahaina, we are off to our next house sitting gig.
Lahaina
Mahalo Hana and Kipahulu for your warm aloha. A hui kaua.
“I think I’m a cat person (Tim)”. Way to go Tim!!!
I knew he would turn 🙂
Thank you for the introduction to Hawaiian chill water, I’m definitely going to try and create my own when I have the chance. Best of luck at your next gig!
Always a pleasure to help people discover new foods.
Please sing along with me: spam spam spam spam … 😉
We know you love the Spam 🙂
Whoa! Roasted Jack Fruit? Sweet!
Love this tip: “Other things we’ve learned: – How to tell when a hard skinned avocado is ripe (stick a chopstick into the stem hole. It should slide in like a sharp knife into a boiled potato). If you wait until the skin is soft it’s too late.”
Roasted jackfruit seeds Maria, they taste like chestnuts.
Very interesting post. I didn’t know bananas can “bleed”
it comes more from the stalk than the actual fruit. The person who invents a cleaner to take out banana blood will no doubt become an instant millionaire.
First of all – l.o.v.e. your little “chef hat” favicon – adorable!
That said, a most wonderful assortment of anecdotes – sounds like you two learned a “bunch” (pun intended) 😉
And finally – that “Avocado cheesecake” (even w/o any cheese) looks delish!
Thanks for stopping by Dyanne
What an adventure! I had no idea Maui was such a wild frontier. Good tip on the avocado!
Thanks Michele, yes it definitely can be a jungle out there.
I didn’t know about banana blood! I do known I love those Hawaiian apple bananas. Yum, yum.
apple bananas are pretty good, so are the red bananas.
OMG! All those things are not things I’d necessarily associate with tourists visiting Hawaii! What a great adventure~
It’s all about living like a local and finding the true essence of a place. Not much lounging poolside with umbrella drinks 🙂
Sounds like heaven! I often daydream about running away and living off the land in Hawaii 😉 I have a photo of a chicken and cat sharing a plate of cat food which I love! Enjoy 🙂
Hi Michelle, it seems like being self sufficient is doable here. If you have the money to establish yourself, go for it!
We just finished three months living in Honolulu where my husband did a sabbatical. We certainly had a different experience living in a Waikiki high rise. Yours Maui sojourn sounds like it was more fun—-except for the rats and the wild boars. Did you also run the B&B or just take care of the farm and animals?
Hi Suzanne, thanks for stopping by. We did take care of the guests as well as the animals and fruit harvesting. It’s definitely a unique experience.