Ginger is used throughout the world as a spice or fresh herb in cooking and a variety of other value-added products including flavoring in candies, beverages, liqueurs, ice cream, baked goods, curry powder blends, sauces, and various condiments. Ginger is also used in traditional medicine to treat several ailments including nausea, motion sickness, migraine, dyspepsia, and to reduce flatulence and colic. Young rhizomes that are harvested early are also used in pickles and confectionery.

New project announcement—Your input requested

The Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network is pleased to announce Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu, a project to revitalize 'ulu (breadfruit) as an attractive, delicious, nutritious, abundant, affordable, and culturally appropriate food. Please help us assess the Hawai'i Island community's interest in reviving 'ulu by completing a 5-minute survey by Sunday, September 12, 2010. Your survey response is important to help us get started in the right direction on this essential work (and you could win a prize).

I must say I was more than a little skeptical. I had seen the flyer for the Self-Reliant Home Garden Techniques (June 16-17, 2010, Holualoa, North Kona) workshop with the photograph of the presenter, Tim Lloyd, standing on top of his “garden bench” (isn’t a garden bench something you sit on to enjoy the view and smell the flowers?) made out of a couple of pallets. I thought he might just be talented at balancing himself. And a pallet has lots of gaps between the slats—how would the soil stay in? And if it was lined with, say, plastic, how would it drain? Not to mention that the sides were only 3” high—what can you grow in 3” of soil, other than starts?

For years, any time we passed by the Waimea Homestead Farmers Market site it was usually during a week day and the market was closed. A couple of months ago when we were on our way to the Kohala area on a Saturday, we decided to make a stop and check out the market. Two weeks later, a friend invited us to meet her at the market for breakfast. There is a breakfast tent she recommended and that is where we had a long breakfast while being introduced to some of her friends. The breakfast tent feels like the social hub of the market. Here you will find a bit of everything that is made fresh, including a delicious plate of Eggs Benedict. We have been back three times in the past two months!

Natural Farming with Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO) is a method of farming using naturally occurring soil microorganisms that are deliberately collected and cultured. It has been practiced throughout Asia and Korea for centuries. It enhances soil fertility and plant nutrient uptake through the introduction and proliferation of beneficial soil microbes or mycorrhizae. The originator and founder of Natural Farming, Mr. Han Kyu Cho, has visited Hawaii several times and this practice is taking root, getting attention and support from the county and state as well as from many small-scale and commercial farmers.