Post by macmex on May 25, 2021 7:52:42 GMT -6
Jerreth and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary last week by spending it with our son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter and our youngest daughter, in Hawaii. We'd never been there before and frankly, I'm kind of a home body. However, the family really wanted to do this and, I have to admit, the best way to get me undistracted is to get me away from chores, etc. (etc. is a pretty big topic).
Everyone's unique, and one of my special interests is garden tools. Our first day on the big island, while waiting for the rest of the family to arrive, we visited Ace Hardware in Kailua, Kona, Hawaii. Jerreth wanted to investigate craft materials and while there, I drifted over to the garden area. I was quite impressed with this Ace Hardware Store. For one thing, though they didn't have a huge stock of plants and seeds, they did have some of both. It was obvious that whoever ran the gardening dept was in contact with the needs and desires of the local gardening community and, knowledgeable about gardening in a tropical environment. They had transplants (I am not a big fan of transplants, but, hey, they'll do to get started.) of long beans, winged beans, kabocha squash (which seemed very popular) and, this:
Sandy's Pumpkin
There was only one of these squash plants and try as I might, I couldn't find any description of it. But I strongly suspect it's a local version of the calabaza (tropical pumpkin, grown throughout Cuba, Central America and Mexico. I saw many of these, later, when we visited the Hilo Farmer's market. All weighed about 3-5 lb, were round, green, green/tan mottled and slightly ribbed. It's obvious, looking at the leaves of this squash, that it's a c. moschata, always a good choice for hot climates. I didn't purchase it, as I'd have to baby sit the plant for a whole week and then hand carry it for two days of airport travel. I couldn't even be sure it would be able to travel to the mainland, on account of the soil, though I suspect it would make it. Just don't try carrying such a thing from the mainland to Hawaii. I'm sure that would not be allowed.
This Ace Hardware had the entire center aisle of the store FILLED with canning jars! This tells me that in this region there is great interest in preserving food. I think this is a great idea. Hawaiian food prices are extremely high. I understand they import a lot of their food. Yet the climate would lend itself well to gardening. Every grocery store and other similar shop, selling foodstuff, also, at the very least, carried a few packets of garden seed. This is encouraging.
Finally, I went over to the area with garden tools... WOW! I couldn't believe my eyes! I attributed their wonderful selection to the Asian influence in the community. In my opinion, traditional Asian hand tools are the very best. I've never before seen an entire rack of hand sickles! It made me want to pinch myself to make sure it was real. Instead I took pictures.
On an adjacent wall I ran across this tool. It's called the "Soil Ripper." I LIKED it. Of course we were thousands of miles from home and going to be riding in rental cars and sight seeing for a week. I didn't really "need" anything, but I LIKED what I saw. Silly me, the Kailua, Kona Ace Hardware Store probably excited me more than anything else that morning!
Jerreth found what she wanted and I mentioned to her what a wonderful gardening dept this store had. We walked over and I showed her. As if in a dream... I heard Jerreth say, "Happy anniversary! Why don't you pick out whatever you'd like?" I objected that I didn't really "need" anything, and "How will we transport tools?" She said, "It's our anniversary. We'll figure it out. Pick!" So... I did. I picked out two hand sickles which I didn't already have. Later I'll deal with them individually. I suspect that a person doesn't at all need every style of hand sickle out there but it's fun to find out what advantage goes with each style.
Jerreth's then said, "Well, we aren't having another 40th, so pick out some more." I didn't pick out any more hand sickles and I didn't care to buy most of the other tools. Many were too light for my tastes and beside, "it's OUR money," even if it was our anniversary.
My eyes lingered on that soil ripper.
Jerreth said, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" I responded, "Yes, I'd love to try that out, but it's too big. It wouldn't fit in our bags. She encouraged me to get it anyway. We'd check it as an extra bag. We bought it and carried it around all week. Our kids joked that I looked like some kind of medieval knight drawing my weapon from the trunk of the rental car, when we got to the Air BNB rental where we were staying (over in Pahoa, on the other side of the island.) During the week, I found myself hefting it and resisting the urge to tear up some lawn at the rental
When it was time to start the long journey home we traveled back to Kailua, Kona and spent the night in a hotel. Then early in the morning we went to the airport. Everything went well until we got to the baggage counter. We placed our bags on the scales, along with the soil ripper.
I'd swear the lady behind the counter startled and took an initial step backwards. She seemed offended and told me it couldn't/wouldn't fly. I asked, "Don't people fly with golf clubs? To which she responded, "Yes, but they're in a case. I'll call my supervisor." The supervisor came about 1/2 hour later and confirmed that I couldn't bring it home. There was no way, in the time remaining, that we could find the materials and make a case for it. I had paid an additional $40 baggage fee (online) to carry it. Fortunately they refunded me that money. We texted our daughter, who was still in the vicinity, and she agreed to come and pick it up. I found my sales receipt and the airline folk taped it to the handle, promising to give it to her when she arrived. The next day my $40 was back in my account.
Yesterday I took time during lunch to look up Ace Hardware, online. Low and behold, they sell the Vaughan Groundbreakers Iron Mattock Tiller 36 in. Hickory Handle online! (Note March 22, 2022: Apparently Ace Hardware has discontinued it. Here's another link where it can be presently found. It was cheaper than in Hawaii too. I ordered one. Shipping was much less than $40. Hopefully it will be delivered to our home by the end of the week. I'll report on how it works.
Everyone's unique, and one of my special interests is garden tools. Our first day on the big island, while waiting for the rest of the family to arrive, we visited Ace Hardware in Kailua, Kona, Hawaii. Jerreth wanted to investigate craft materials and while there, I drifted over to the garden area. I was quite impressed with this Ace Hardware Store. For one thing, though they didn't have a huge stock of plants and seeds, they did have some of both. It was obvious that whoever ran the gardening dept was in contact with the needs and desires of the local gardening community and, knowledgeable about gardening in a tropical environment. They had transplants (I am not a big fan of transplants, but, hey, they'll do to get started.) of long beans, winged beans, kabocha squash (which seemed very popular) and, this:
Sandy's Pumpkin
There was only one of these squash plants and try as I might, I couldn't find any description of it. But I strongly suspect it's a local version of the calabaza (tropical pumpkin, grown throughout Cuba, Central America and Mexico. I saw many of these, later, when we visited the Hilo Farmer's market. All weighed about 3-5 lb, were round, green, green/tan mottled and slightly ribbed. It's obvious, looking at the leaves of this squash, that it's a c. moschata, always a good choice for hot climates. I didn't purchase it, as I'd have to baby sit the plant for a whole week and then hand carry it for two days of airport travel. I couldn't even be sure it would be able to travel to the mainland, on account of the soil, though I suspect it would make it. Just don't try carrying such a thing from the mainland to Hawaii. I'm sure that would not be allowed.
This Ace Hardware had the entire center aisle of the store FILLED with canning jars! This tells me that in this region there is great interest in preserving food. I think this is a great idea. Hawaiian food prices are extremely high. I understand they import a lot of their food. Yet the climate would lend itself well to gardening. Every grocery store and other similar shop, selling foodstuff, also, at the very least, carried a few packets of garden seed. This is encouraging.
Finally, I went over to the area with garden tools... WOW! I couldn't believe my eyes! I attributed their wonderful selection to the Asian influence in the community. In my opinion, traditional Asian hand tools are the very best. I've never before seen an entire rack of hand sickles! It made me want to pinch myself to make sure it was real. Instead I took pictures.
On an adjacent wall I ran across this tool. It's called the "Soil Ripper." I LIKED it. Of course we were thousands of miles from home and going to be riding in rental cars and sight seeing for a week. I didn't really "need" anything, but I LIKED what I saw. Silly me, the Kailua, Kona Ace Hardware Store probably excited me more than anything else that morning!
Jerreth found what she wanted and I mentioned to her what a wonderful gardening dept this store had. We walked over and I showed her. As if in a dream... I heard Jerreth say, "Happy anniversary! Why don't you pick out whatever you'd like?" I objected that I didn't really "need" anything, and "How will we transport tools?" She said, "It's our anniversary. We'll figure it out. Pick!" So... I did. I picked out two hand sickles which I didn't already have. Later I'll deal with them individually. I suspect that a person doesn't at all need every style of hand sickle out there but it's fun to find out what advantage goes with each style.
Jerreth's then said, "Well, we aren't having another 40th, so pick out some more." I didn't pick out any more hand sickles and I didn't care to buy most of the other tools. Many were too light for my tastes and beside, "it's OUR money," even if it was our anniversary.
My eyes lingered on that soil ripper.
Jerreth said, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" I responded, "Yes, I'd love to try that out, but it's too big. It wouldn't fit in our bags. She encouraged me to get it anyway. We'd check it as an extra bag. We bought it and carried it around all week. Our kids joked that I looked like some kind of medieval knight drawing my weapon from the trunk of the rental car, when we got to the Air BNB rental where we were staying (over in Pahoa, on the other side of the island.) During the week, I found myself hefting it and resisting the urge to tear up some lawn at the rental
When it was time to start the long journey home we traveled back to Kailua, Kona and spent the night in a hotel. Then early in the morning we went to the airport. Everything went well until we got to the baggage counter. We placed our bags on the scales, along with the soil ripper.
I'd swear the lady behind the counter startled and took an initial step backwards. She seemed offended and told me it couldn't/wouldn't fly. I asked, "Don't people fly with golf clubs? To which she responded, "Yes, but they're in a case. I'll call my supervisor." The supervisor came about 1/2 hour later and confirmed that I couldn't bring it home. There was no way, in the time remaining, that we could find the materials and make a case for it. I had paid an additional $40 baggage fee (online) to carry it. Fortunately they refunded me that money. We texted our daughter, who was still in the vicinity, and she agreed to come and pick it up. I found my sales receipt and the airline folk taped it to the handle, promising to give it to her when she arrived. The next day my $40 was back in my account.
Yesterday I took time during lunch to look up Ace Hardware, online. Low and behold, they sell the Vaughan Groundbreakers Iron Mattock Tiller 36 in. Hickory Handle online! (Note March 22, 2022: Apparently Ace Hardware has discontinued it. Here's another link where it can be presently found. It was cheaper than in Hawaii too. I ordered one. Shipping was much less than $40. Hopefully it will be delivered to our home by the end of the week. I'll report on how it works.
