We’re a couple of months into the harvest by now, and the beans are coming in strong.
Full Article…The 2022 Harvest Season is Looking Great!
Category: Vanilla Cultivation
Potting Up Vanilla Seedlings
A few weeks ago, when I was in the vanillery doing a general prune, I came across several seedling deep under a dense section of vines. I took note of the location with the intention of moving the seedlings to pots so they can get a bit bigger before I plant them out in the new vanillery.
Full Article…It’s the Peak of the Vanilla Flowering Season
Lisa and I spent a good part of the morning out in the vanillery pollinating the flowers. We’ve been out there every morning for several weeks already, but today was different. It seemed like the entire place was ablaze with the pale blossoms: everywhere you looked, flowers beckoned as if to say “come taste my sweet nectar” but of course, we were not there for that. Pollinating a vanilla flower takes delicacy, a steady hand and a familiarity with the anatomy of the orchid’s bloom. After a while, you can do it quickly, which is good, because there are several hundred of them ready to go today. There’s no waiting for these flowers, they’ll be closed for business by noon…it’s like… (read)
Full Article…Harvesting & The Vanillery is Getting Ready to Flower
Out in the vanillery, we’re starting to see the fresh flower buds emerging on the mature vines. Always an exciting time of the year as we anticipate the beginning of a new cycle. These little guys will be sprouting flowers in a couple of weeks!
Full Article…First Harvest of the 2021 Season!
The cycle begins anew! This week we pulled our first harvest out of the vanillery, officially starting the 2021 harvest season. This year is slightly later than most , typically we see our first harvest in the first week or two of January. The harvest season typically goes until late April, so it’s a full 4 months of going into the vanillery to harvest 3 times a week. This year we are expecting a smaller harvest than last year. There were not as many flowers…not sure why but the crowding in the vanillery could be one factor.
Full Article…The New Vanillery has been Built and Planted
We’ve been working on getting this new vanillery (located on the northwest corner of our property) built for a couple of years now. This bit of land was not in use, and several very large “weed” trees were in the way and needed to be removed. No point in planting under a tree you’re going to cut down, so we had to wait until we had the help we needed to get the trees down. The story of getting rid of those trees is long and convoluted, it took several tries to get the job done…but thanks to lots of able help (mahalo: Jonathan, Tim, Christopher, Freddy) and sheer perseverance, we got it done. Once the trees were cleared, we needed… (read)
Full Article…Morning Pollination in the Vanillery
Enjoy a calming video of vanilla flowers getting pollinated. Video by Jaime MacIntosh.
Full Article…2019 Harvest Season Begins!
Went out to the vanillery and was greeted with the sight of ripening beans! You get used to the beans growing for months, then all of a sudden…they’re turning. This year seems a bit earlier than usual, but that could have been expected since the 2018 flowering season also started early. The flowering season in Hawaii starts in January and extends through June. April and May are the peak normally, but trips to the vanillery every morning need to happen for a full 6 months! Picking the Ripe Beans When the beans ripen they need to be picked right away because they develop quickly once the yellowing starts. We search the vanillery for ripened beans every 3 days or so to… (read)
Full Article…Ripe Green Vanilla Pods
We are at the peak of the harvest season, and during this time, we are harvesting about a hundred beans out of the vanillery every two to three days. Choosing which beans to take requires some pretty sharp observation: the color change can be hard to see in the shady tangle of vines. The beans were pollinated almost a year ago, and a lot of vine growth has taken place since then, burying many of the brooms deep within the growth. In the dim light, it’s easy to mistake the gentle lightening that takes place as the bean matures for the clear signal of true ripeness. Choosing the moment to harvest any one bean is a bit of a game… (read)
Full Article…A Natural Vanilla Nursery
In the first season of fruit in the vanillery, I let a couple of beans ripen naturally, as I sometimes do when they’re too small or overripe. When they ripen on the vine, they split open, turn black and eventually the tiny, tiny seeds come out. I guess if things are just right where those seeds fall, they will germinate and grow into new vines. This is, in my experience, pretty unusual. Most of the time none of those seeds sprout, and the little vines that emerge aren’t tough like full-grown vanilla, they’re extremely delicate. It wouldn’t take much going wrong for that sprout to not survive. Near one of the bamboo posts in the vanillery, it looks like the conditions were just… (read)
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