Garden Kauai » Farmer

New Saturday Kilauea Farmer’s Market

GK — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:08:36 +0000

New time and location for Kilauea’s Saturday Farmer’s Market. Starting today, the market starts at 9am and is located next to Banana Joe’s and Kauai Mini Golf, just off Kuhio Highway. This morning’s event consisted of a dozen or so vendors with a healthy variety of local fruits, vegetables, starter plants and more.

With plenty of parking, a beautiful setting and an earlier starting time, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this market flourish in the coming months.

Help Make a Salad Cost Less than a Big Mac

GK — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:44:12 +0000

Thanks to agricultural subsidies, the least healthy foods are also the cheapest to buy.

From GOOD ….

In 1933, Congress passed a cornerstone of New Deal reform, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which paid farmers to cut the production of commodities like wheat and corn in an effort to lift farms out of the depths of the Great Depression. Since then, government farm programs have evolved into a confusing labyrinth of tax reductions, price supports, and direct payments designed to help farmers deal with fluctuating weather patterns and market prices—all to ensure a stable supply of food.

Just mention subsidies and most people’s eyes glaze over. But government subsidies transfer hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to large farmers who grow just a few types of crops, creating some of the country’s least deserving welfare recipients. Subsidies set price minimums and ensure that corn, soy, wheat, and rice producers get paid regardless of how low prices for their crops are or whether they even need assistance in the first place. These subsidies support the cheap and unhealthy domestic food that shows up in the aisles of the supermarket. And they’re the reason why a salad costs more than a Big Mac.

Build a Chicken Coop, Raise Your Own Chickens

GK — Wed, 19 May 2010 05:05:49 +0000

Like so many DYI trends, building a chicken coop empowers us to produce something we would usually buy, harkening back to a time when folks knew how to provide for themselves. And if you love eggs, you can’t get a more fresh and local source than your backyard.

While there are many factors involved with raising and caring for chickens, one absolute necessity is providing them with a safe, clean, dry place to live.

Here’s a primer on what to keep in mind as you research, plan, and build your coop.

Should We Teach Farming in Schools?

GK — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:02:25 +0000

A high school chemistry teacher has an interesting (and cheesy) open letter to his students in Energy Bulletin. He takes stock of a changing world, and makes some interesting predictions:

“Some of you will grow food. — Probably a lot of you, actually. Even those of you who do other things as your main job. So you should probably start to learn how it’s done. Right now. Because it’s not something you can learn in a year – how to add fertility and prepare the soil, when to plant and harvest, how to store the harvest and save seeds, etc. There’s more to it than you think. And it’s gonna get even trickier when the climate starts its carbonic seizures – droughts, floods, heat, cold, and storms. In no particular pattern. So you better be good.”

People still regard home farming as an elective “green” activity, but might it be a survival skill by the time current teenagers are adults. Should we start retooling home ec classes to start covering agricultural education?

Read this and other GOOD stories …

Source: Siobhan O’Connor, GOOD