no illussions of becoming a farmer here, not going to happen in my old age so just for fun gardening. I can see only the hardiest of plants/trees make it outside. veggies are the most labor intensive and need special care to be successful. best for you to eat and most expensive and that is why we don't get them much from plate lunches and the like, only get the cheapest most worthless food/starches. they could put 3 scoops of mac salad on the plate and I wouldn't eat more than half a scoop. where's the beef indeed. so avg lunch now close to if not $10 even fast food. that just trips me out.
had the house painted. bok choy ruined as didn't move the box. que sera sera.
This is why I moved away from vegetables (aside from the hardiest, drought tolerant and nutrient dense varieties) and shifted my focus to agroforestry.
I got to speak to one of the world's leading experts on permaculture in tropical environments, and he stated that while vegetables can and should be grown in the tropics to an extent, the focus should be on tree crops. He went on to explain that because we have no true winter, biological processes, decomposition and pests are a constant throughout the year, which does not allow the adequate building of soil. It takes 2-4x as long for tropical areas to build soil as it does in temperate climates, unless manual processes are introduced in order to build the soil.
He also stated that because of the lack of soils, most of the nutrients found in the soil tend to be absorbed and held in by the trees, with Hawaii serving as a perfect example.
Trees are much easier to deal with than vegetable crops, though the downside is that they take years to get to fruiting stage, and tend to only have one particular part of the year that they provide their crops, unless they are those that flower and fruit throughout the year.
I think this is why Hawaiians focused on the staple crops of sweet potato, breadfruit and kalo, as these three crops do not need good soil to grow in, especially with regards to the breadfruit.