By James (JJ Rocks) Johnston

Dorothy with her giant avocados and sugar apple

Many people think that because we live in paradise we should just be able to throw seeds on the ground and anything will grow. Now there are some places on the island where that may be true, but not everywhere. Some pieces of land have a lot of small rocks mixed into the soil (kalechi), and some are just dryer than others. We just happened to have a place with many rocks.

Some people with that type of land will bring in some top soil from other spots on the island when they want to plant. But we do our yard on a smaller scale where I just dig a hole big enough for a baby tree, and Dorothy pushes in the dirt that we bought at the local store. But that’s just the beginning. It’s not just planting, watering, and waiting. Well, at least not for Dorothy.

She goes out in the yard each day and talks to the fruit trees, and what ever else is growing at the time. I used to think it was just something cute that she liked to do. But when the results came in, people were blown away, and she was the one with the last laugh.
- JJ Rocks

February, 2010