Aunty Helens - February 10th, 2011

This post is long overdue. In February, we visited Auny Helen in Kilauea.


Some notes from the meeting:
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Cacao Farming

The seed pods can be opened and the seeds placed directly in top soil to grow. Use a large aluminum pan to grow many seeds together. When about 2 inches tall move them to plastic bags with dirt.  When one to two feet tall move to the ground. When transplanting to the ground don't disturb the main root. 

When planting in the ground you can mix the natural soil with potting soil.  Chicken manure is potent and can burn the roots. If fertilizing with chicken manure do it lightly and leave a bout 2 foot radius from the trunk.

The leaves from the cacao and the pods make a great fertilizer. Don't rake around the tree.  fertilize with a bucket of mixed nitrogen (one bucket per tree).  The fruit grows all year. The fruit is pollinated by the bull nat.

The fruit can be harvested when the pod is large, and when scraped with your finger nail it turns yellow. They also have a distinct thump noise to them.

The tree doesn't need to be pruned. It will naturally thin its own fruit. The tree will not let go of the pods when they are ripe. It will hold onto them and let them rot (to prevent competition on the floor).

They need wind shade, and prefer shade as keikis but require full sun when older.  Planting is about 6 feet apart.Maturity is 3 or 4 years.  Full maturity is 6 or 7 years. 

When the fruit is harvested it must be processed within one to two days. The process to harvest is to cut the fruit. Remove the seeds and pulp. Use the sun or warm air to dry and ferment. The fermentation takes place for 7 or 8 days at 115degrees. A clear liquid will ooze out that can be made into cider. The fermentation process requires oxygen which is achieved by fermenting in a certain type of wooden box (type?). The fermented seeds are stirred once a day.  After 8 days the seeds are washed and then dried.

Selling price < $20 per pound of processed and fermented seeds.  Rest of the process from what I can recollect is adding butter, melting, cooling, heating and cooling, and sweetening (with sugar and nuts).
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