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The Perfect Turkey

11/29/2013

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This is how we do it on Akua Lani LLC.

 Organic Turkey & 3 Day Herb Brine Soak is the Key

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Yumm. 

Things You'll need.   Organic Turkey,  Herbs,  Bread,  Butter,  Carrots, Onion,  Garlic,  Sea Salt,  Large canning Pot to Brine the Turkey, Turkey Tin  and  *Turkey Bag.
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Make your herb salt brine mix.  I used Garlic, Rosemary, Basil, Hawaiian Sea Salt, and one bottle of Akua Lani LLC Hawaiian Lava H20 TM.

Brine Your Organic Turkey for Thee Days

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I put my Frozen Organic Turkey in this Canning Pot and let it unthaw in the Herb Brine Water for thee days in the refrigerator.

Three days are up and now it time to take the brining turkey out and let it get to room temperature.  About the same time you are done making stuffing from scratch, the turkey should be ready to stuff.
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Take The bird out its stuffing time

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Turkey stuffed and stitched closed in a heart shape with Lemon Grass.
:)

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Turkeys in the bag decorated with Kefir Lime Leaves, Rosemary, Garlic, Butter and a Sprinkle of Cane Sugar.  Also Cloves of Garlic, Ginger wedges and a few hot peppers have been inserted under the skin.

                      Oven Time

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 Fires going for the rest of the cooking.  

Potatoes cooking and turkey neck gravy in the works.

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    Brining takes away about an hour off of oven use

Feast Time

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Hope you enjoy :)
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Happy  Thanksgiving     Keep on thanks Living

*Turkey Bag.  Not the greenest thing to use.  You can achieve the same results with foil on top with a few holes. You have to baste it several times during the cooking.  We use the turkey bag because our oven isn't the best. The propane runs hot and the handle is missing on the oven, we have to use needle nose pliers to turn it and guess the temperature. The bag makes it so I don't have to keep my eye on the bird as much and from opening the oven a lot.  When I get an oven upgrade, I will end the bag.
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Friendship Pins are Back In

11/28/2013

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Black Friday Do it yourself gift Idea

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    Simple and Creative
Show your friends you care with a          
       handmade Friendship Pin
          Easy and Fun to Make

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Here's my stuff.

Things you'll need.

Safety Pins, Beads, Round Nose Jewelry Plier and Flat Nose Pier : )
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Get your safety pin out and open it.

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Take your round nose pliers. Do like you see in the pic and with the other hand start to straighten the safety pin.

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You got this!

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Now take you flat nose pliers and try and make the pin as straight as you can.

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Getting closer

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         Now for the fun part

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Start putting Beads on!

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Put beads on untill you reach the bent part of the pin.

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Take your round nose pliers, put them as tight and close to the last bead.

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Wrap the metal around the plier towards the closer end until it looks like this.

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Way to go!  Don't stop now Keep going!

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   Get Creative      Happy ThanksGiving

            Keep on Thanks Living!!!

Akua Lani LLC
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   Orgone Generator Rainmaker

11/24/2013

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Drought Stopper

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For the last past 8 years, South Kona Hawaii has been in Drought. A year ago it was at its peak. It was so sad looking at all the trees dying for water.  Akua Lani LLC is located down a mile long really crazy 4x4 wheel drive road, with no county water. We need the rain to fill up our Water Catchment tanks.  During the drought we had to cut down on the amount of garden beds we had.  Also trimmed the fruit trees back so the tap roots could keep the trees alive.

In Total Despair

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There was nothing I could do. Drilling a well would cost about $250,000, just for the drilling.  Paving my road to get water truck deliveries, was going to be about $40,000.  Not so ready for that.

One day we were discussing the above options and I remembered hearing about Orgone generators bringing rain.


I went online and looked up Orgone Rainmaker…….

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What I found was this piece of glass with sacred geometry printed on it.  Ok.  It says it's a organ generator capable of making it rain among other things.

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I was desperate, the drought was making us all weak.  Besides, a $100.00 to make it rain.  I'm running out of options, I'm about to look up Shaman Rainmakers.

           Now for the rainmaking

      The Orgone Generator arrives

They have these funny directions that make you feel a little silly.  I did read the reviews and other people said this worked.  
Good thing I'm an artist, doing funny things that make you feel silly, is kinda normal for me.


During the waxing moon before the full Moon, walk in a large figure eight, with the organ generator, clockwise 30 times.

             Sounds like magic

 Well its been working!!  This is the greenest I've seen it here in years! Normally this time of year we have to trim everything back.  I'm seeing fruit on vines that I never have before.

Today was a very hot day and it seriously started raining when I started typing this Blog.

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Team Neem

11/16/2013

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A Blog on my Love for the Neem Tree

  In India the Neem tree is called “the village pharmacy”. 
 It's also know as the "Sacred Tree," "Heal All," and "Nature's Drugstore,".

    In My Top 5 must haves for Organic Gardening or Farming.  

                Endemic to the Indian Subcontinent, the Neem Tree has many Amazing Uses.
                            In this Blog I'm mostly going to focus on Neem Cake Fertilizer.

     Neem Cake  Fertilizer   My  All time  #1  Favorite   Organic Fertilizer and  Pesticide

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Neem Cake Fertilizer is the by-product of making Neem Oil from the trees fruits and seeds.

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 Neem Cake Fertilizer is a vegan fertilizer, pest repellent, that helps  protect crops against parasitic nematodes and is amazing soil conditioner. It also seems to keep cats out of my beds too. Neem has a strong Curry like smell.
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Here's a photo of a Neem Tree we have growing on the farm.  Hopefully I can make my own Neem Oil and Cake one day.

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Peppers with and without Neem Cake Fertilizer.  Also we can't even grow peppers unless we use a Neem Oil soap spray mix.

In Hawaii we have every single insect in the world. Well.. Almost.  We do have loads and more arriving everyday in tourist suitcases,  imported plants and other shipments that weren't inspected properly. Plus with our two Seasons "Grow and Grow Faster", there is never a time when the bugs die off.  With that being said, gardening and farming can be way more difficult than you would think in Hawaii.  In fact most plants that grow amazing in the mainland with barely any care, we can't grow at all. Unless we use some form of pesticides. Plants such as Tomatoes, Zucchini and all Peppers are some of the hardest things to grow in Hawaii, thanks to The Oriental Fruit Fly (Bactrocera dorsalis). This fly also attacks all of our fruit by laying inside them. I hear the fly has made it to some parts of the mainland. So please arm yourself with Neem Oil, add warm organic soap water, mix and spray on your fruit trees and plants.

                 Neem is the best

Neem is an Eco-friendly fertilizer and pesticides. Unlike commercial pesticides, you won't food poison  birds, toads and lizards. You want to keep and encourage pests natural enemies.  Neem protects crops from pests, is non-toxic to Us, birds, animals and earthworms :)

Plus no toxic residue in our food. 

If you are looking for an Amazing Organic Fertilizer and Pesticide, thats been around for thousands of years.   I highly Recommend Neem Cake Fertilizer and Neem Oil.

For more info on the History, and other uses of Neem Tree.


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Play with your food

11/11/2013

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A fun way for kids to eat veggies

Edible Art soup 
& smootie mix 

  sustainable &  Edible

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This is a great project for Homeschoolers, Community Garden Teachers and Anyone who loves, art, kids and good food.

  what you'll need 
      for art food

Organic Bright Colored Vegetables,  Organic Bright Colored Fruit, Organic Milk or Milk substitute, Dehydrator with fine mesh screens, cooking pots, blender, coffee grinder, small jelly jars, small glass bottles with corks and skewer sticks.

Organic Pumpkin  organic Beet are a must for soups

Organic blueberries art a must for smoothies

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Start by making your soups or smoothies. Don't add salt or sugar! You might have to use some at the end when you are using the coffee grinder.
I make the strong, bright batch 1st. This is organic Kobocha pumpkin we grew here on Akua Lani LLC.  Make a large batch of this soup for your base color, save some to dehydrate.  Then you add some Organic Milk or Organic Milk Substitute. Don't add to much. Save some of this batch for the dehydrator. You'll need to do this at least one more time.

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After you have your at least 3 different shades of the same color, its time to Dehydrate! 
Make sure your soup and smoothie mix is thick enough to not pour over the sides of your fine mesh dehydration sheets.  Start prepping more color soups and store them in the fridge or freezer. Dehydrating takes a while.  Nice to have the next batch ready, prepping a bunch of soups takes time too.

Getting closer to   goodness  : )

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Now You have a nice collection of Dehydrated flavor colors! Next You'll want to get a clean coffee grinder. Make sure your colors are really dry. Grind away! Turn it into power or sand. This is when you can add a little sugar or salt to help with grinding.

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Get your jelly jars and fill them with the colors. Keep them dry.  Next get your food art bottles and skewer sticks. Same Idea as sand art at the fair. Now Bring the Kids and play with your food!! Cork the bottles, best stored in the fridge.  Take them out and admire your colorful food art! Rehydrate and enjoy your flavor art meal or snack!

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 Try   making   these   organic  soups   and   smooties

soup Flavor colors

Organic Beet: 
Makes deep Fuchsia.  Add Organic Milk or Milk Sub. to get different shades of pink.

Organic Tomato: 
Dark Red.

Organic Pumpkin: 
Bright Orange.  Add Organic Milk or Milk Sub. to get different shades of Yellow.

Organic Leafy Greens:
Makes Green. Lol. Add Organic Milk or Milk Sub. to get different shades of light green.

Organic Blueberries: Make a savory Organic Cream sauce, add a few Blueberries and Dehydrate for a light sky blue.

Smootie Flavor Colors

Organic Raspberries:
Dark Red.  Add Organic Milk or Milk Substitute, protein powder or bananas to get different shades of pink.

Organic Mangos:
Bright Yellow.  Add Organic Milk or Milk Substitute, protein powder or bananas to get different shades of yellow.

Organic Spirulina Powder:
Dark Green.  Add Organic Powdered Milk or Milk Substitute or protein powder to get different shades of green.

Organic Blueberries:Dark Blue. Add Organic Milk or Milk Substitute, protein powder or bananas to get different shades of blue.
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These are the ingredients I used for the photo above above. 

Organic Kabocha Pumpkin, Beet and Vegetable Soup Mix.
Edible Colors grown on Akua Lani Farm.
These one of a kind salt art soup mixes are made with Aloha from the finest organic vegetables grown and dehydrated here at Akua Lani LLC, Farm and Sustainable Sanctuary.

Landscape ingredients:

Hawaiian Sea Salt, *Kabocha Pumpkin, *Beet, *Kale, *Collards, *Chard, *Leeks, and......

"Hawaiian Grown Gourmet Herbs & Tropical Fruit, Spicy With Sea Salt"
Ingredients: Dehydrated GMO free *MANGO, *FIG, *ROSE APPLE, *ROSEMARY, *CELERY, *HOLY BASIL, *THAI BASIL, *MINT, *GREEN ONION, *KEFIR LIME LEAVES, *CAYENNE PEPPER, HAWAIIAN SEA SALT & *ALOHA 
Mixed with 
AKUA LANI VEGGY CHIPS: ORGANIC *KALE, *CHARD, *COLLARDS, RUBBED AND DEHYDRATED WITH AKUA LANI ORIGINAL HAWAIIAN LAVA SAUCE TM. : *HAWAIIAN CHILI PEPPERS, APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, *SOLAR STEAM DISTILLED HAWAIIAN RAIN WATER, GARLIC, GINGER, *GREEN ONION, HAWAIIAN CANE SUGAR, HAWAIIAN SEA SALT, *ALOHA AND XANTHAN GUM

* Ingredients GROWN on SUSTAINABLE FARM & SANCTUARY, AKUA LANI LLC

We use no Chemicals, only the best organic fertilizers and collected rainwater.
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diatomaceous earth

11/10/2013

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Food Grade Diatomaceous earth has got to be one of my favorite things ever! It's an organic destroyer of my Not Favorite things, Bugs! Powder Crushed Fossilized hard-shelled algae aka diatoms Rule!  

Living in the jungle in Hawaii sounds really romantic.  But you see, we have two seasons Grow and Grow faster.  Meaning lots of yard work and bugs all year round.
When I first moved to this land it had so many cockroaches, It sounded like it was raining at night.  I went outside to check out the rain, I looked up and saw the Milky Way, I looked down and the ground was moving with roaches! 
The next day I went to a farm and garden store and bought 200 lbs. of Diatomaceous earth. They were shocked too, 200 lbs.!?  Did I mention I don't like bugs, I also live down a crazy 4x4 wheel drive road an hour from anything.  Gotta stock up. Lol. I placed black tarps on the ground to kill weeds and hopefully make roach traps.  I found the roaches loved staying dry under the tarps. I got a five gallon bucket of D Earth and a sifter, lifted up the ends of the tarps and powdered thousands of roaches! After a month of doing this every morning, the amount of roaches decreased daily. One morning I got up lifted the tarp to toss more D Earth on roaches and nothing, not one roach!  Now I use a 50 lb. bag every month on about 3 acres Garden, Orchard and living areas.  When It's diatomaceous earth day on the sanctuary, we say make it look like Christmas.

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Afraid of the light

11/9/2013

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Recently we planted a baby Jaboticaba tree in the orchard.  Normally I like putting trees in when they're a lot bigger. 

But we already had some holes pre dug.  A big deal living on a volcano.  The holes were made  with a Backhoe a while back and already had irrigation to the spot.  I also had some really amazing organic homemade goat, deer repellant I made, ready to spray the small tree.  Our goat DJ is an incredible escape artist, gotta spray the ones I love and she wants.  I'll make a blog on how to make the repellant soon. Stay focused….  

Ok, trees young but in the ground with repellant, and other yummy tree stuff.  

Thought everything was great and it was for a month.  Then the attack of the Chinese rose beetle, Adoretus sinicus Burmeister!  The cute baby tree got turned into a skeleton.  

I remembered hearing that those beetles come out at night.  We put rechargeable solar lights around the tree and look at all the new green leaves!!!  

If you are having Chinese rose beetle problems I recommend Rechargeable Solar Lights.  I used 3 around this tiny tree and it did wonders!


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    Author:  Carmen,  Artist  Farmer and owner of Akua Lani LLC.
     
    Sustainable Living, Gardening and  Art have been my passion as long as I can remember.
    Before moving to Hawaii in 2002 to live on a sustainable farm.  I was part of several non profit groups, such as   The Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Center and Toledo Grows. These Groups have created many beautiful community gardens and have amazing volunteers flourishing today!
    Be prepared for some interesting Blog topics.  From Solar Power,  Organic Gardening,  Art,  what to do when your goat is sick and more.


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