Cleaning Up and Not!

Cleaning Up and Not! was Originally Posted on December 13, 2004 by lavarock

An ongoing issue on Oahu is the cleanup of the University of Hawaii’s Library. Holloween Eve they had a massive mudslide because of heavy rain. The buildings are still being cleaned as I write this! The damages and cleanup will top over $100 million dollars! Links are at: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Dec/13/ln/ln03p.html and http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Nov/01/br/br05p.html

Speaking of cleaning up, I bought a mower; a small one, but a mower non-the-less. People who have seen the farm here might wonder why I need a mower. 99% of the property is rocks!

There is a small area near the garage which has very tall grass. In that area, I’m going to build my nursery to grow up to 5,000 coffee seedlings. I’m doing my best to clear the area quickly.

I am also looking at a catchment system to help conserve water. Being on an island, conservation is more than a good idea, it is a requirement to continue enjoying the land. That catchment tank would fit in this same area. If I can work out the timing, perhaps this area can serve to grow my plants, then be the permanent location of the catchment tank.

On Saturday I packed the car and drove up to Kailua-Kona to try a different type of sales. I decided that I would try my hand at “direct to the public” sales. This involved packing up coffee, making a sign and heading to a spot near COSTCO. I set up along the road between a guy selling plants and a woman selling hot boiled peanuts. It was a nice day and time went by quickly, however I really didn’t sell much coffee. Many people drove by but few stopped. My “neighbors” told me that they also experienced slow sales that day. It was not a big deal, but I probably will not be sitting there every weekas I did not “clean up” on these sales

Speaking of coffee sales, I decided to offer a nice discount on many products on the website. I sent out a note to customers letting them know that Tuesday Noon is the cutoff time to place an order to guarantee delivery by Christmas. We expect it will take at least 5 business days to make deliveries to the east coast. In an emergency I guess I could overnight an order, but am hoping not to have to. I expect a lull in the business during the holidays and there will be a delay if I get many orders while the roaster is closed for the holidays. I’m not a roaster and prefer to let experts handle that part of my business