Rancher's Lamb and Eating Locally Grown Stuff

A few posts ago, I mentioned some lamb I bought at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Waimea. We were thrilled to be able to buy locally raised lamb, right from the ranchers themselves.  And, it was excellent, I might add.  Should you be interested, the source is Kahua Ranch, (808 882-4646) on Kohala Mountain Rd.  They have meat available at a local Farmers Market, which is usually held on the first Saturday of the month in Waimea, as well as Monday thru Friday at the Ranch.  Call for directions and availability.

And, going along with the concept of locally produced foods, a worker at my favorite, healthy foods store, Island Naturals, was able to put me in touch with people selling fresh, local pork products.  Things are looking up around here.  If you're an omnivore.  And, I am.  Our neighborhood CSA, Ke Ola Farm, is doing more veggies now (not only greens) and I've been really happy with the last boxes....

Growing Your Own

I went on the Hawaii Aquaponics Farm tour last Saturday with my friend, Linda, and grandson, Isaiah, and I'm just now getting to a post on it. Aside from personal and or commercial use, this looks to be a tremendous opportunity for implementing grow-your-own fish and veggies instead of monetary aid in various Third World countries, and even here in poor areas. Any money could go toward start-up costs. A friend came into our office last week with news that a large warehouse had been donated for Community development use in a very beleaguered neighborhood of New Jersey. This could happen, ideally, even in such urban settings.

Simply put, there is a tank with fish, growing them for sale and for fertilizer. The water from that tank then drops down into a bed tank(s) with floating vegetable rafts made of styrofoam. Pesticides are not needed and water consumption is lower than for traditional farming. Sounds great. Linda and Isaiah are going to take the class, starting next week. Then on to bigger things. This system can be scaled up or down, depending on the size needed. For home use only or for a commercial or community project.

I like the idea of keeping my lettuce from drying out so fast here without watering continually and fertilized at the same time. Not to mention having a source of naturally grown protein. At the farm they were raising tilapia and prawns. There were also mosquito fish in the water of the vegetable beds. We didn't get any bites while there.