Michelle asks: I want to plant a garden but the ground on my property is mostly rock. What do you advise gardeners do, soil-wise?

Some folks on the mainland think macadamia nut trees are native to Hawaii, but here we know it is an Australian tree that we adopted as our own. We use the nut in all kinds of local dishes, especially desserts. We even use the leaves for Christmas decorations instead of holly.

Kona Choral Society artistic director Susan McCreary Duprey leads the group at KCS’ ‘Joy to the World’ concert at Old Kona Airport Park last weekend. (Ken Karagozian/Special to West Hawaii Today)

A manta ray swims in Kailua Bay. (Reiko Sekine/Courtesy Photo)

Hate is a vile habit. It provokes sore feelings and tribal tendencies and war — all best avoided. Yet I admit: I hate powdered sugar.

Editor’s note: The Palamanui Palate is a monthly column by staff in the Hawaii Community College – Palamanui’s culinary arts program.

Panini, sandwiches traditionally cooked in a ridged press, are hard to get wrong, but also surprisingly hard to get just right.

Visitors are often surprised to learn that we have a snow capped mountain here on the Big Island in winter. We delight in telling tales of locals hauling pickup trucks full of snow to the beach for a snowball fight. Most of us, who live at lower elevations, enjoy our warm weather year round but may choose to add snow to our lives by selecting shrubs that imitate snow in appearance. Several are in the genus euphorbia.