With very few shopping days left before Christmas, it is tempting to order last minute gifts online and pay high prices for overnight shipping. Consider instead taking a few hours out of your day today or early this week to
With very few shopping days left before Christmas, it is tempting to order last minute gifts online and pay high prices for overnight shipping. Consider instead taking a few hours out of your day today or early this week to buy something unique, special and locally produced for those still on your holiday gift list.
Buying from a local farmer or producer puts money in the pocket of a resident, which then goes back into our local economy. Buying locally produced items gives twice: once to the gifted party and again to a resident who will spend the money right here. Of course, if the resident buys local goods, your original purchase just keeps on feeding our businesses. This is a good thing for Kona and Hawaii.
OK, you’re convinced and you’ve decided to buy local. It might help to know some of the products that are available and where to find them. Start with the obvious. If you want to gift a taste of Kona, go sample some locally grown coffee at one of the farmers market opportunities that remain before Christmas and select your favorite. One open today and another on Wednesday guarantee local products.
Today, in Captain Cook, the South Kona Green Market is open until 2 p.m. at the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden. In addition to coffee farmers, you’ll also find macadamia nut growers and mac nut products and jams and jellies made locally. Gift someone on your list a jar of lilikoi butter and you’ll have a friend forever. Several local artists also have booths at this market. Wearable art pieces made by West Hawaii artisans offer the chance to give something unique as well as local. You’ll find several Kona farmers are growing and processing cacao these days. Locally produced chocolate bars make a tasty gift and are available at farmers markets ans in many area stores.
If you are a last minute shopper, the new Sunset Farmers Market will be open Christmas Eve in the Kmart parking lot until sundown. It is open from 2 p.m. to sunset Wednesdays in the Makalapua Shopping Center. Stop by if you need a few more items before the big day. You’ll find fresh local produce at this market as well as value-added items. Treat your family and get some oranges to juice and a loaf of cranberry walnut bread to accompany your eggs and Kona coffee for Christmas morning breakfast. Don’t forget flowers for the table as well.
Several locally owned stores carry local products. Island Naturals in Kailua-Kona buys local produce as well as locally made products. Ask them to let you know what’s locally produced. Choice Mart in Captain Cook is another store that buys from local farmers. Its produce can add delightful flavors to your holiday feasts. Its deli also makes party plates and baked goods on site. Many chain stores also buy local. Tell them you want to buy local and they’ll show you what they have available. Your request may even encourage them to support more local farms.
Many other specialty shops carry local products. Kona Stories Book Store in Keauhou Shopping Center is offering an opportunity to get a personal photo with the Grinch any day before Christmas. Go in in the next few days for some holiday fun. If you have a bookworm on your list, select a book by one of the many local authors it features. Also check out he store’s locally made cards, ornaments and fabric items, as well as its collection of Hawaiian music CDs. The store is open until 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Plants make great gifts and our area nurseries are happy to help you select the right ornamental or edible plant for a gardener on your list. Most of the plants they offer are grown locally. Their knowledgeable staff can help you select the best plants to gift and delight someone on your list.
This is just a small sample of the items and places you might want to visit during the final days of your holiday shopping. All of these venues and many others offer local products beyond the holidays. Resolve to continue buying local into 2015.
Tropical
gardening helpline
Bob asks: I live in Waikoloa Village and have an orange tree in my yard that is a prolific producer. In the last few years almost every orange has been attacked by what seems to be an insect. First, I see one or two very small holes in the fruit that evolve into a green spot around the holes. The oranges then seem to rot around the holes and eventually fall prematurely and are completely rotten.What is the problem and what can be done?
Answer: It sounds like your oranges are being attacked by fruit flies. The holes you see are probably made by adult female fruit flies that are laying their eggs in your fruit. The eggs hatch into larvae that feed on the fruit pulp resulting in a soft mushy mess. If you open the fruit shortly after you see the holes you will probably see small, wiggling white larvae. If you see them, that is a pretty clear indication you have a fruit fly problem.
You could also bag the fruit that’s infected and take it in to the Master Gardener desk at the University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Service office between 9 a.m. and noon Thursdays for a diagnosis and discussion of remedies. Sending photos to the master gardener email address, konamg@ctahr.hawaii.edu, could also help with a positive diagnosis.
Sanitation is important in controlling fruit flies. Pick up and bag all the dropped fruit, leaves and debris around the tree, place it all in black trash bags and remove it from the site. Baited traps are another good way to control the fruit fly population. A full explanation of these and other methods of fruit fly control can be found in the UH free publication at www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/IP-4.pdf.
Email plant questions to konamg@ctahr.hawaii.edu.
Diana Duff is a plant adviser, educator and consultant living on an organic farm in Captain Cook.
