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Newsletter 55 - September 2013

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Aloha!

Whether we want to raise our own vegetables, fruits, poultry, or fish, many of us are starting from the beginning in terms of knowledge and experience. Two of this monthʻs articles share experiences of starting new endeavors (raising chickens and pigs). Although the tendency is to start big and bold, that approach often results in very expensive lessons or even failure. Starting small and building upon success is a winning strategy.

 

Learning from others and sharing important lessons learned is essential to strengthening our local food system. If you have learned an important lesson in your local food adventures that you would like to share with our community through the Hawaiʻi Homegrown Food Network newsletter, please let us know.

Craig Elevitch and Pedro Tama
for the Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network
http://hawaiihomegrown.net
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Breadfruit tree in South Kona.


Events

Saturday, September 7 to Saturday, October 5, 2013, 01:00 pm - 05:00 pm, Hamakua
Beginning Organic Beekeeping

Sunday, September 15, 2013, 09:00am - 03:00pm, Kaua’i
Breadfruit Festival Takes Root

Monday, September 16 to Tuesday, September 17, 2013, 07:30am - 5:00pm, North Kona
Principles of Food Protection

Saturday, September 21, 2013, 09:00am - 2:00pm, Puna
East Side Seed Exchange and Harvest Festival

Friday, September 27 to Friday, October 04, 2013, All Islands
23rd Annual Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Conference

Sunday, September 29, 2013, 02:00-05:00pm, Hilo
Let’s Grow Hilo Edible Landscaping Beautification Day

Friday, October 04, 2013, 06:00pm - 08:00pm, South Kohala
Mealani's Taste of the Hawaiian Range

From Saturday, October 12 to Sunday, December 15, 2013, Puna
Permaculture Design Course: Designing For Sustainability and Food Security

Saturday, November 9, 2013, 08:30am - 12:00pm, South Kona
Breadfruit—from Tree to Table Workshop

Saturday, November 23, 2013, 11:00am – 05:00pm, Hilo
3rd Annual Honey Festival and Honey Challenge

Every Tuesday. 09:00am - 12:00pm, Puna
Hands in the Earth Practicum

Every Thursday. 09:00am - 12:00pm, Puna
Permaculture Classroom & Field Studies  

View events calendar


Reports

Honopua Farm

HonopuaFarmKenRoenHuffordCElevitchKen and Roen Hufford at their farm in Waimea.Honopua Farm was started as a commercial flower farm more than 30 years ago by Bill and Marie McDonald. Marie, who has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as a living treasure, is an outstanding authority on Hawaiian flowers and lei making and has authored several books on the subject. The name of the farm, Honopua, means "a gathering of flowers."

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Learning from Scratch: Take Small Steps

Chickens on the run at Maui chicken farm.Chickens on the run at Maui chicken farm.Homesteading is overwhelming, and all the more so if you have high ideals about living lightly and are trying to do things in new ways. Let's see, since coming to Hawai'i we have studied up on and/or are trying to: make fish fertilizer and vermicompost, raise soldier fly larvae, make biochar and Natural Farming amendments, start up aquaponics for fish and greens, install solar and hydropower, create forest gardens and permaculture, grow chicken forage, raise rabbits without purchased feed, and raise as much of our own fruits and vegetables as possible. Maybe we are doing too much at once? Two lessons I have recently learned from other small farmers have reinforced the importance of taking small steps.

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Hubbell's Hog Heaven & Liz's Happy Hens: A Farm Tour -- Book Review

HubbellsHogHeavenbookcoverHubbell's Hog Heaven & Liz's Happy Hens: A Farm Tour by Elizabeth Cannon, self-published in July of this year, is a book about an innovative one-and-a-half acre Natural Farming project near Pāhoa, Puna on Hawai'i Island. Liz and her husband Mike Hubbell had farmed organically on the mainland for over 30 years. But when they retired to Puna six years ago they decided to farm their mostly lava-covered land using Dr. Cho's Korean Natural Farming Method. They attended several Natural Farming presentations and even took a trip to Korea to experience well-established Natural Farming methods first-hand. This gives an idea of how serious they have been about their project.

In addition, Liz and Mike were assisted and encouraged by UH CTAHR Hilo Ag Extension Agent and Hawai'i piggery expert, Mike Dupont. Mike wrote a grant for Liz and Mike's initial piggery and has been instrumental in promoting their pig and chicken projects.

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Large-scale aquaponic lettuce by Kunia Country Farms

Aquaponics operation at Kunia Country Farms, Kunia, Oʻahu.Aquaponics operation at Kunia Country Farms, Kunia, Oʻahu.Kunia Country Farms started operations in 2010, transforming former pineapple land in Kunia into a lettuce farm. The farm utilizes an aquaponics system, where crops are grown in containers that float on water. Fish (which are excluded from the crop area) provide a source of fertilizer. “Aquaponics is 6–8 times more productive than ground cropping,” estimates co-owner Jason Brand, “which can save costs on land, materials, and labor, allowing us to be competitive with mainland lettuce while delivering a product with a much longer shelf life.” The company’s growing, harvesting, and packaging operations are continually being refined. “Our number one cost is labor. Mainland producers achieve a cost-effective economy of scale due to large land areas and mechanization. With our relatively small-scale operation, we have to develop other efficiencies in our growing, harvesting, and packaging methods, which we have done.”

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Farmers' Markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Visit our comprehensive directory of Hawai'i Island farmers' markets and Community Supported Agricuture.

Web Resources

This month's web site listings

Other web resources

Supporting Organizations


Sponsors

Hawai'i People's Fund and the Hawai'i Community Foundation

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Founding sponsors

Hawai'i County Resource Center, a program of the County of Hawai'i Department of Research and Development. Hawaii Agricultural Development Program in partnership with the Big Island RC&D Council.

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Agroforestry Net

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This newsletter is published by:

Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network
PO Box 5
Holualoa, Hawaii  96725  USA
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Web: http://hawaiihomegrown.net

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