TAVEUNI "Backyard" -- BUSH FARM

Cooking bananas -- Vudi  -- can be boiled or fried, or eaten raw when ripe.

i don't know the name of this flower, but it has a strong nut-like fragrance and very common in the bush around Taveuni.

One of the boys of Naselesele, going off to his nearby farm.

Sour-sop fruit...tart, yet sweet when very ripe -- touted as having anti-cancer properties.

We usually pass by this giant mango tree on the way to the farm, checking the ground for fallen ripe mangoes.  When i'm with Vili, he will expertly throw sticks to bring down the fruits that are higher up in the branches or even climb up the tree to pick the fruit(s) himself.

Hawaiian pink papayas...

These are truly sweet when ripe!

Bushy indeedY is our bush farm!

"Pechay" or Chinese cabbage, and "Uvi" (a root vegetable) climbing up that branch.

Passion fruits, strung like CHRISTmas lights...

Everywhere my eyes land, i see GOD's hand -- such abundant provision!

Green, green green...in all shades!  Only our Creator can mix and match such subtleties in color and variety of design.

These mangoes are directly next to our house in Naselesele. This year, our mango tree is a late bloomer...kind of like me!

View from toilet window...

Alexio, with that O-so-delicious mango!

Even the butterfly knew which one was sweet and ripe -- ready to eat!

Rain-catcher, for those seasonal draughts...

Karolo and Vili, doing their best to make headway in this very bushy bush-farm!

Mika's horse...a great help to us when he carries four big bags of firewood.

Very delicate bloom, lasting only a few hours.As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
(Psalm 103:15, NKJV)

BACKYARD BUSH FARM

From the bush farm -- papayas are everywhere...almost every neighbor's backyard farm has a papaya tree, abundant with fruit!

Our produce -- French beans...always good for a quick stir-fry.

Capsicum (bell peppers) -- one of the plants that aren't overwhelmed by those little orange critters!

These pretty French beans are now producing abundant fruit...but picking them in the hot tropical sun is a "do-it-as-fast-as-i -can" job -- and still, i end up sweating up a storm!

Little Kani, posing with "Maia's capsicum" -- seeds mailed all the way from San Diego, now bearing fruit in Naselesele!

Searing heat and too much rain made it a short growing season for the cucumbers...but the French beans and tomatoes are doing well.

"Maia's cucumbers" -- short and fat...and delicious!

Typical farm scenics in Taveuni...

My backyard, closer to home...a view of the mango tree, treehouse and Ana's laundry from the house window...

Cooking up a lovo -- underground oven -- for what occasion, i've forgotten...au sa qase!

San Diego BACKYARD - Summer Visit

The sayote was a welcome sight to come home to -- Mom's and Uncle's summer garden is like a bit of Taveuni... green, green, green!

Traditional CHRISTmas colors of red and green -- displayed in summertime. The two gardeners harvest something almost every day... which ends up in Mom's cooking pot, and i get to be the blessed recipient of tasty Filipino dishes! Paksiw with veges, diningding, tinolang upo, pinakbet...

Being surrounded by all this (ampalaya and sayote vegetables; impatience, stargazer, spider plants) is like being immersed in a green cave...

Kalamansi is still bearing fruit... year-round it seems!

Not-so-spicy chiles... just right for me, but too tame for my Fijian and Mexican friends.

i just munch on these right off the vine... can't get any fresher!

Summer squash -- or upo/tabugaw, in Filipino -- great any way you cook them!

Uncle Ric's handiwork -- my favorite area in the garden, where i sometimes bring my breakfast, coffee, or lunch -- just absorbing the chlorophyll (hah!)...

Mom's watery pets... they rush to her whenever she comes around!

Priceless sight...

The gardeners -- Rosita and Ricardo -- whom GOD blessed with green thumbs.

Then the LORD GOD planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there He placed the man He had made. (Genesis 2:8) GOD -- the first and ultimate Gardener... and Creator of man.

My BACKYARD Fun...AND Mangoes!

My private space... when the sun is scorching hot and the humidity makes one melt like ice-cream under the sun -- my treehouse is a cool place to catch the Taveuni Island breezes.

Mango blooms, with a mango still hangin' in there -- not yet "attacked" by bats.

Baby mangoes...

Still very green... two more months to go!

"The Three Muskeeters" -- Kani, Jo, Mersiale -- just havin' a good time...

Sa oca sara ga from too much kidding around! Finally, my moment of quiet as they took their after-school nap...Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from Him. (Psalm 127:3)

P.S. i am again raising funds for the Naselesele Village school children in Taveuni, Fiji. Your charitable donation of any amount is deeply and heartfully appreciated! GOD bless your loving heart!

My "NEW" Backyard TREEHOUSE

Brightly colored plants just planted to cover muddy eyesore...

"Japanese table" painted two years ago recycled as treehouse floor, with a vakaViti Bible verse all around...

My picnic lunch (uto, cassava, fried egg, boiled vudi) in the ice-cream container, passion fruit juice, water for vuluvulu, and a borrowed Bible (NT Recovery Bible by Witness Lee) makes a lovely lunch! (Only one fly came uninvited!)

Kani trying his best (or charming his way) to get up the tree... but no can do!

View of other backyards... and scenic tropics in the background.

Vili-built treehouse... especially for moi!