Back in April of 2025, a coworker brought in some hot peppers to share that were different than anything I had ever seen before. They were jet black and shiny, and my coworker claimed that they were the offspring of a Hawaiian Chile but they grew on a plant with soft, fuzzy leaves. When fully ripe, the fruits were bright red like a Hawaiian Chile. I was intrigued, and brought a few fruit home to plant the seeds and grow them out. Off the top of my head, the only type of pepper with pubescent (hairy) leaves was Capsicum pubescens, the Manzanillo pepper. But all the pubescens peppers I had seen were thick walled, round peppers and these were thin walled and pointed, like a Hawaiian chile. Maybe these were some type of hybrid? I was excited to see if the seeds of these grew into plants that were variable or consistent and to see how they segregated. 

Fast forward to September 2025, and the dozen or so pepper plants I grew out from that lot are now fruiting. They all have fuzzy leaves, and so far they all have upright, narrow black fruits. Some of the individual plants look like they have fruit that are wider than others but it is hard to tell at this point if it is really due to any genetic variation between them. It could just be some differences in the way the fruit developed due to the weather or the condition of the plant. 

A quick google search indicated that C. pubescens was the only cultivated pepper with fuzzy leaves, but crosses between C. pubescens and most other cultivated species ( including Hawaiian Chile, C. frutescens) were extremely difficult if not impossible to make. OK... this was clearly not just a normal hawaiian chile or pubescens, but if they can't cross, how did this come to be?

I went on a deeper dive and downloaded the latest monograph on pepper taxonomy: " Monograph of wild and cultivated chili peppers by Barboza et al. (Barboza GE, García CC, Bianchetti LB, Romero MV, Scaldaferro M (2022) Monograph of wild and cultivated chili peppers (Capsicum L., Solanaceae). PhytoKeys 200: 1-423. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.200.71667). 

I found myself scrutinizing the flowers of the various chile species in my garden. Who knew that Hawaiian chiles have purple anthers whereas bell peppers and Jalapeno anthers are blue green? Or that the throats of Bishop's Hat peppers (C. baccatum) have yellow brown speckles in the throat of the corolla? Nature is cool.

As I went into more depth into the key and species descriptions in the monograph, it became clear that C. pubescens was probably not the unknown parent of the mystery black fruited pepper. C. pubescens flowers have purple petals that are a very different shape from the mystery pepper. And the purple anthers on the mystery pepper most closely resembled the Hawaiian chile, C. frutescens. Digging further, I found out that there actually are some Capsicum annuum types with hairy leaves. The leaves of a Capsicum annum subspecies, C. annum var glabriusculum (commonly known as chiltepin or bird pepper) can be quite hairy. All signs were now pointing to the idea that this was a hybrid between Hawaiian Chile (frutescens) and chiltepin (glabriusculum). In the process of trying to find out what type of chiltepin this might have come from, I stumbled across some Capsicum annuum varieties such as 'Black Cobra' that look remarkably like my mystery pepper. 

Is it truly a hybrid between Hawaiian Chile and some type of chiltepin? I am not in touch with the coworker that I got the seed from any more, but they were quite certain that the seeds came from a Hawaiian Chile plant. Is it possible that they harvested the seeds from a plant that had only red, ripe fruit and mistook a 'Black Cobra' plant for a Hawaiian Chile. Possible, but this coworker remarked on how unusual the fuzzy leaves of this black fruited plant are in comparison to a Hawaiian Chile. Maybe someday I will get the chance to DNA test this plant or get a hold of some 'Black Cobra' seed for comparison. In the meantime, I am calling this pepper 'Raven'. It will make a beautiful ornamental or addition to a spicy Pico de Gallo. 

One thing I knew when I moved to the farm last year was that I would eventually be adding raised beds to the landscape. 

We are located on the east side of Hawai’i, in an area known as Puna. According to Google AI, Puna was mostly covered with lava about 600 years ago, in the ‘Ailā'au eruption. The 'Ailā'au eruption was the largest subaerial (above sea level) lava flow from Kīlauea. It began in the early 15th century and lasted for about 60 years. This eruption covered much of the Puna District with pahoehoe lava, created extensive lava tubes, and was followed by the collapse of Kīlauea's present-day caldera. The name 'Ailā'au means "forest-eater" in Hawaiian, potentially inspiring the ancient Hawaiian myth of 'Ailā'au, an elemental force associated with volcanic activity before the arrival of Pele.
This means we lack a key element most farms have copious amounts of-soil. Don’t get me wrong, there are pockets of soil here and there where Peter has successfully planted many fruit trees. That said, trying to create 100 foot rows of beautifully manicured crops in our rocky “soil’ would be a fool’s errand. Raised beds seemed like a logical solution to our lack of dirt. 

I scoured Amazon for raised garden beds, researched constructing our own with various lumber, and started piling up large lava rocks around the property with the intention of forming beds with what we have here in the ground already. 
I have built up several beds over the last year with those lava rocks I collected, but, I ultimately decided things needed to happen a little more quickly and last month I took the plunge, ordering 13 galvanized metal raised beds off Amazon. 

They arrived quickly, and I was ready! We already had a load of soil delivered that week in anticipation, and I had plants looking like they were ready for a more permanent location. 

The beds have so far been relatively simple to put together. To fill, I started with cardboard on the bottom, which I then topped with a layer of finely chopped sticks. I then rotated topsoil, and lawn clippings, over and over, and lastly topped with bio char (from our last cooking/camp fire). 

The final product looks great! I planted some of the flowers we are trialing for cut flowers- cosmos, gomphrena, cornflower, and ammi ‘Green Mist’. The flower starts are interplanted with sprouting broccoli, dandelion greens, vegetable amaranth, flat leaf parsley, and shisho. 

It was a monumental moment in my mind, marking the beginning of many great things to come here at Mountain Sol Farm. We are looking forward to sharing them all with you!

Visitors to our farm often ask what it's like to live without seasons. Despite the moderate temperatures and minimal change in daylength here in Hawai'i, we experience seasons quite strongly, however. I have always been fascinated by the little lines you can see at the top of an eggplant near the stem- rings that mark the growth of each day. Rings that fade to uniform purple after a few days of exposure to the sun. The signs of time passing are all around, but their imprint fades into memory eventually. 

Lately, there is a subtle stillness in the mornings. The hue of the sunrises are a little more purple. There are a few pineapples left in the field but lychee seem like a distant memory. The mulberry tree is laden with fruit, much to the birds' delight. We are harvesting a few Jamaican lilikoi (Passiflora laurifolia) and planting their seeds. 

Coffee picking has begun in earnest and we are harvesting the first heads of a lettuce variety from Johnny's that is new to us, a red butterhead called 'Skyphos'. The seeds of a weedy cherry tomato that we planted from our friend Cassidy have turned into sprawling bushes, heavy with developing fruit. 

Our jackfruit tree (a grandchild of 'Berry', the variety from Australia) is ripening another round of fruits and Jill is drying some of the fruit for snacking along with mulberries and slices of Shikuwasa citrus to add to tea blend. 

The row of roselle planted in May are in early flower and we added a second wire to the trellis. My favorite bonsai that I repotted a few weeks ago is flushing with new leaves, ready for our plant sale next week. The echinacea is past full bloom and we will be harvesting seeds soon.

It feels like a good time to pause and take stock. The rapid growth of the summer is coming to a close, don't forget to savor it. 

I feel summer winding down. We have made it over the crescendo of peak growing season. As it’s my first full year here on the farm, I do not have a lot to compare for reference. But, I feel it. The mornings are a little cooler. The days are ever so shorter. The avocados are almost ripe! Here at Mountain Sol Farm, we grow several well known and some lesser known varieties. They include- Sharwill, Fujikawa, Kahaluu, Hass, San Miguel, and Greengold. I think avocados are their best served cold, cool, or at room temperature. In other words, do not cook avocados! It’s doing a disservice to this amazing fruit.

Towards the end of last year’s avocado season, I wondered what to do with so many avocado pits. We can only plant so many to use as rootstock for grafts. The chickens, who typically eat anything and everything tossed into their coop, completely ignore them. Homemade avocado oil perhaps? 
​
I recently read about Amish avocado pit liniment, a folk remedy made by steeping grated avocado pits in rubbing alcohol or white vinegar. To make, take your extra avocado pits, grate into a small mason jar or similar vessel (be careful-they can be very slippery!), cover with the liquid, pop the lid on and shake vigorously 1-2 x day for about two weeks. No worries if it sits longer. The resulting strained liquid is said to create an anti-inflammatory tincture for topical use on muscle pain, joint discomfort, or spasms. I will be trying it out this avocado season! 

​To be continued. . . .

Come take a walk through our nursery as we get ready for the BIAN Plant Sale at Edith K. Stadium on September 5-6..

This week we are bringing five pounds of our organically grown young ginger to Abundant Life Natural Foods in Hilo. Young ginger is the same species as regular ginger, just harvested before the plants go dormant. You can use it in any of the applications you would use regular ginger, but it is more sweet and tender. Because it lacks the fiber and tough skin of normal ginger it is a treat to work with. Our favorite way to use young ginger is pickled, to make Gari, the ginger pickle served alongside sushi. A basic brine of 1 cup rice vinegar, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1.5 teaspoons of sea salt is all you need. Stir rice vinegar and sugar and salt together in a sauce pan over low heat until sugar dissolves, and allow to cool. You can adjust the sweetness of the brine to your taste. Slice about 8 oz of peeled young ginger very thin with a knife or mandolin, cover with the brine, and refrigerate. You can start using it in a week or so and it will keep for many months. 

Once again, we will be selling plants at the Labor Day Plant Sale in Hilo! At the Edith K Stadium in Hilo, map below