Two and a half years ago the Kona County Farm Bureau launched the Keauhou Farmer`s market with six local farmers. Today, the market is humming from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays with 28 farmer-vendors and lots of folks shopping for fresh local produce. All of the farmers at the market are members of the Kona County Farm Bureau. All are selling their harvest of crops including fruits, vegetables, organic greens, plants, cut flowers, eggs, fish, 100 percent Kona coffee, macadamia nuts and honey. Many are also creating and selling interesting products from their locally grown produce.
Recently, market manager Nancy Miller wrote a grant proposal to the Hawaii Tourism Authority to fund her brainstorm to couple a local farmer with a local chef to create recipes using the farmer`s produce. The chef would then prepare the recipe at the market and offer a tasting. Funds, distributed by Hawaii County, are running the Keauhou farmer-chef program the last Saturday of each month in 2008.
"Meet the Farmer, Meet the Chef" offers an opportunity to learn how the featured crop is grown, see the chef prepare it and taste the results, all for free. The program focuses on our interesting agricultural products providing ideas for using them creatively. Merging the knowledge of farmer and chef, new ideas flourish. Regional chefs learn about local products to feature on their menus and our community learns about eating locally grown food.
In January, farmer Ken Love of Love Family Farms and Chef Devin Lowder of Makalii Catering were featured. The collaboration yielded an avocado cheesecake with jaboticaba cream topping and a Kona lime dressing on organic salad greens. Any of the more than 200 varieties of avocados grown on the island could be used in the recipe. The Kona (formerly Rangpur) lime has naturalized in Kona and is often mistaken for a very sour mandarin orange, though it is truly a lime. Lowder also offered printed recipes for his chicken avocado soup and Kona lime and honey dressing. Ribs marinated in Kona lime juice are now available weekly from Lowder at the market.
For February, Deb and Paul Sims of Sweet Spirit Farms awed the crowd with their giant lilikoi and Tahitian squash. Sous chefs Art Mangayayum and Maui Akeo, of the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort, prepared Tahitian squash ravioli with curry coconut sauce, a giant lilikoi mousse and lilikoi dressing for fresh vegetables. Squash ravioli is now on the menu at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort.
The program on Saturday will feature cacao. Alicia Morrier, of Anuenue Chocolates, will offer her produce and pastry chef Steven Arakaki, of the Cake Rack of Kona, will share ways to use the chocolate Morrier makes by hand from local cacao pods. Hawaiian cacao is only offered by a few growers and even fewer chocolate producers. Morrier`s raw chocolate is dehydrated, rather than roasted, which helps to maintain the nutritional integrity of the cacao beans. After husking and conching, Morrier mixes in naturally grown flavors from around the island including lilikoi, lavender and jasmine. Arakaki will offer ideas for using cacao as well as free tastes of the product.
The farmer-chef program is featured at 10 a.m. on the last Saturday of each month at the market in the parking lot in front of the movie theater at Keauhou Shopping Center. Ongoing sponsorship of the market comes from the Kona County Farm Bureau and Keauhou Resort with many hours of volunteer support from ACF-Kona Kohala Chef de Cuisine and the Keauhou Farmers Market farmers.
Information for this column was provided by Miller.
Duff is an organic farmer, the education director at the Kona Outdoor Circle and Tropical Gardening coordinator.
Tropical Gardener helpline
Marcia asks: I want to grow some vegetables in planter boxes on my lanai. What would you recommend?
Answer: As we all are thinking more about sustainability for Hawaii, growing food in our own backyards is a great idea.
Many vegetables are suitable to lanai container growing. If you have a small space or shallow (less than 12 inches) containers you should consider growing greens and herbs. Most lettuces as well as mizuna, arugula, kale and chard will do fine in small containers. Herbs like mints, basils, chervil, cilantro and chives will probably do fine in small planter boxes as well. Parsley has a deeper taproot and may require a deeper pot.
If you want to grow eggplant, peppers or tomatoes, you`ll need larger containers, at least 18 inches deep and probably 18 inches or more across. You will probably have to stake or cage these as well to keep them upright and contained.
Root vegetables, like carrots, beets or turnips, require deep loose soil. If you want to grow them in containers, mix in sand and use lots of organic matter to keep the soil loose.
Use healthy starter plants or reputable seeds suitable to your area for best results. Pot using native soil (if your have any) or potting soil. Add some cured compost or a little chicken or cow manure and top dress with mulch. Keep the soil moist (not soggy) until the plant starts putting out new leaves then allow the soil to dry some between waterings.
Once established, a deep watering twice a week should be enough. Within a few months you should be able to eat the fruits of your labor.
Sweet Spirit Home
