More than 25 years ago, Johnny Gordines and his wife Theresa switched from raising farm animals to growing flowers on their two acres in Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i. They were inspired by their neighbor, Howard Yamamoto, one of the pioneers in raising tropical flowers in Hawai‘i, who said that flowers would be the next big thing. Today, […]
“The mushrooms were controlling me,” says Keith Silva of Lawai Valley Mushrooms, nestled in the cool valley of south Kaua‘i. “Mushrooms don’t take days off.” Silva is resetting his mushroom farm, which he began researching in 2012 after attending a mushroom growing workshop by Philly White, a mycologist and owner of Kaua‘i Fungus. White was
Peter Merriman is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was a student of political science before he did a three-year American Culinary Federation apprenticeship that launched his career as a chef and restaurateur. He came to Hawai‘i in 1983 to work at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows on Hawai‘i Island. Five years later he
At the cozy corner bar and kitchen The Local Kauai, the laminated menu reads like a greatest hits list from your favorite country diner: fried chicken, deviled eggs, mixed green salad, chocolate cake. Although familiar, these scratch-made creations are anything but ordinary. A showcase of the seasonality of foods sourced from Hawai‘i, The Local serves
James Reddekopp’s quest to grow vanilla, the seed pod of a delicate climbing orchid, led him to exotic places—Mexico, vanilla’s birthplace, Micronesia and Haiti, as well as the not-so-exotic: New Jersey, home of “some of the latest technology in vanilla research at Rutgers University,” Reddekopp says. In the beginning of his research, he found very
On the slopes of HaleakalĀ, on Pūlehuiki Road in Kula, Clark Hashimoto is girding for the persimmon harvest. Nearly 500 trees on Hashimoto Persimmon Farm’s five loamy acres are loaded with fruit, their branches supported by neat rows of wooden scaffolding. Fuyu, maru, hachiya—most of the trees are just about 100 years old now, planted
Locally grown Christmas trees are a great option this holiday season. Here is a list of farms throughout the state where local trees are available from November through December. O‘ahuHelemano Farms in Wahiawā offers several different varieties including Norfolk pine and Leyland Cypress evergreens. Pick your tree and they will cut it down for you.
With the holidays just around the corner, consider baking a local kabocha pie like the Nakamuras of Hilo. Instead of the standard can of pumpkin puree, the Nakamura family has been making pumpkin pies using Japanese kabocha pumpkin for three generations. It takes a bit more prep time, but the end result is a delicious,
“People don’t graduate from high school saying they want to be hog farmers,” says Valerie Kaneshiro of Kaneshiro Farms in Koloa, Kauai. She herself married into the family legacy that started in 1920, and both her husband and father-in-law took every job they could to avoid the farm, only to find themselves back in hog
The story of Aloun Farms begins in 1977, when Aloun Sou and his family of six immigrated to Hawaii by way of a refugee camp on the border of Laos and Thailand. Equipped with a hard work ethic and limited English speaking skills, the family settled in Waianae and started a farm on a five-acre
We asked farmers two questions: where they like to eat when dining out and where they like to eat the food they grow. The result is recommendations from mom-and-pop Mexican to Roy’s, saimin spots to the Grand Wailea. It turns out, while farmers’ products make their way to the finest of fine-dining tables, farmers’ favorite
Invasive deer—it’s what’s for dinner, thanks to Maui Nui Venison. Deer were originally brought to the Islands by King Kamehameha V in 1888; without natural predators, they multiplied, and today, particularly on Maui, deer trample native ecosystems and leap over fences to feast on ranch land. Kimo Tuyay, who started Maui Nui Venison with Jacob
