Newsletter 36 - February 2012
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Aloha! Celebrations of Spring are important occasions for all cultures. They renew our bond with the natural cycles of birth, growth, and the fruitfulness of the land and sea. They remind us of our utter dependence on healthy soils, rain, forests, air and ocean, and prompt us to act to conserve and replenish them.
Take a quick look at the festivals occurring on Hawai'i Island in the weeks ahead. On February 12 in Hilo is the Annual Hawaiian Reggae & Agricultural Festival (formerly “Bobfest”); on February 18 is the 6th Annual Avocado Festival in North Kona; on February 24 is the 8th Annual Grow Hawaiian Weekend in South Kona; and on March 3 is the Puna ‘Ulu Festival--Celebrating Breadfruit. These are occasions not merely to celebrate the bounty that Hawai’i provides, but to renew the bonds within our communities that connect local gardeners, farmers, fishermen, crafts and trades folk, artists, food producers, sellers and consumers. We are one. Enjoy eating locally & sustainably! Me ke aloha, Craig Elevitch and Pedro Tama EventsEvery Thursday, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm, Puna Saturday, January 28, 2012, 02:00pm, North Kohala Wednesday, February 01, To Wednesday, February 29, 2012, Puna Thursday, February 02, 2012, 09:00am, North Kona Friday, February 03, 2012, 09:00am - 03:00pm, South Kona Friday, February 03, 2012, 09:30am - 04:30pm, Puna Monday, February 06, 2012, 01:30pm - 04:00pm, Puna Thursday, February 09, 2012, 02:30pm - 04:30pm, Puna Friday-Saturday, February 10-11, 2012, 09:00am-05:00pm, Puna Saturday, February 11, 2012, 08:00am - 12:00pm, South Kona Saturday, February 11, 2012, 10:00am - 03:00pm, North Kohala Sunday, February 12, 2012, Hilo Monday, February 13, 2012, 01:30pm - 04:00pm, Puna Thursday, February 16, 2012, 02:30pm - 04:30pm, Puna Saturday, February 18, 2012, 10:00am - 04:00pm, North Kona Saturday, February 18 To Sunday, June 17, 2012, Puna Monday, February 20, 2012, 01:30pm - 04:00pm, Puna Thursday, February 23, 2012, 02:30pm - 04:30pm, Puna Friday, February 24, 2012, 09:00am - 12:00pm, South Kona Friday-Sat, February 24-25, 2012, 12:00pm - 04:00pm, South Kona Monday, February 27, 2012, 01:30pm - 04:00pm, Puna Thursday, March 01, 2012, 09:00am, North Kona Saturday, March 03, 2012, Puna Saturday, March 03 To Monday, March 19, 2012, Puna Saturday, March 10, 2012, 03:00pm, Puna Friday-Tuesday, March 30 – April 3, 2012, Maui View events calendarReportsWritten by Craig Elevitch | 27 January 2012 
Sandor Katz (on right) led a vibrant 2-day live-cuture foods workshop in Holualoa, North Kona on Jan. 21-22, 2012
By eating a variety of live-cultured or “fermented” foods, you promote diversity among microbial cultures in your body. Biodiversity, increasingly recognized as critical to the survival of larger-scale ecosystems, is just as important at the micro level. Call it microbiodiversity. By fermenting foods and drinks with wild microorganisms present in your home environment, you become more interconnected with the life forces of the world around you. Written by Niki Mazaroli | 26 January 2012 
Typical homegarden with coconut, banana, breadfruit, papaya and many other food plants in Suva, Fiji.
What is a Tropical Homegarden?A traditional Tropical Homegarden (THG) of the Pacific Islands differs greatly from the raised bed or vegetable patch image commonly associated with temperate home edible gardens. A THG is a small-scale agroforestry land use system based on cultural traditions of subsistence living. A THG is in close proximity to a place of residence and tended to by the household members. Plants are grown for personal consumption as food, as well as for medicinal, ceremonial and construction purposes. Written by Sonia R. Martinez | 26 January 2012 
A weekly subscribers box.
Big Island Farm Fresh Foods (BIFFF) is a new concept in Consumer Supported Agriculture (CSA). Brittany and Bodhi Anderson, while looking for safe food sources for themselves, had the idea of purchasing the healthiest variety of island grown produce and other food products they could find from small, individual farmers and producers and in turn offer them to subscribers through weekly deliveries. Written by Noel Ramos | 26 January 2012  Over the years, there have been a plethora of outstanding exotic fruit books, starting with the Julia Morton classic Fruits of Warm Climates, Bill Whitman's Five Decades of Tropical Fruits, Harry Lorenzi's Brazilian Fruits and Cultivated Exotics andBryan Brunner and Juan Rivero's Exotic Fruit Trees of Puerto Rico. Now we may have anew member to add to this group of "must have" books, Specialty Crops for Pacific Islands. Although it does not exclusively cover tropical fruits, the chapters for mangosteen, lychee, breadfruit and bananas offer some of the most comprehensive information you will find anywhere.
. . AnnouncementsIn partnership with the Downtown Improvement Association and a continuation of the Let's Grow Hilo project, the community (and especially natural farmers) are invited to come down and get your hands dirty, the plants growing, and the microbes inoculated in the otherwise underutilized parts of the downtown corridor.
Find out how good it feels to be part of the community making a positive impression on all of us. Also, take this opportunity to learn Natural Farming in a practical setting with seasoned experts, then bring it home to your garden to spread the love over vast distances.
I'll see you there this Sunday, January 29 at 2pm, meeting in front of the East Hawai'i Cultural Center (across Kalakaua Park).
Watch "FRESH" the movie for FreeHere at FRESH, we're always looking for ways to build the good food movement and reach a tipping point where sustainable food is the rule, not the exception. So, we'd like to continue spreading the word with an exciting new initiative: FRESH is available for viewing online for FREE! For a limited time (we do need to pay our bills after all), you can access the full-length film from your desktop. The movie will be available for one week, from Thursday, January 26th through Wednesday, February 1st, so don't wait to watch! To access the movie, simply click below. Puna 'Ulu Festival--Celebrate Breadfruit!The Eastside Hawai'i 'Ulu (Breadfruit) Festival will be held at Kua O Ka La charter school on Saturday March 3. For more information, see 'Ulu Festival.Kua O Ka La Public Charter School is currently looking for mature breadfruit. The breadfruit will be lightly processed and frozen for use at the festival the Puna 'Ulu Festival to be held there March 3, 2012. If you are willing to share your bountiful 'ulu harvest for this purpose, please contact Mariposa at 938-7903. Other announcementsFarmers' Markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)Please visit our comprehensive directory of Hawai'i Island farmers' markets and Community Supported Agricuture.
Web ResourcesNew web site listings
Supporting OrganizationsSponsorsHawai'i People's Fund and the Hawai'i Community Foundation
  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.
 Agroforestry Net  New subscribers: Subscriptions to this newsletter are free and welcome from the general public. You can unsubscribe at any time. We will not share your name with anyone without your prior permission. Click here to subscribe This newsletter is published by:Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network
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