Eating Kohala Locavore Style

This did not start out as a blog post. It started out as dinner. I swear.

But as I sat at the table on my lanai, watching the sun drop into the Pacific on the longest day of the year, I felt incredibly grateful to live in a place where I can make dinner out of leftovers and random ingredients from my refrigerator and silently thank, by name, the producers of (almost) each ingredient as I savored each bite.

Mixed Metaphor Fried Rice – courtesy of local friends and farmers in North and South Kohala

Goal: The Kohala Community Will Produce 50% of the Food it Consumes

According to the North Kohala Community Development Plan, adopted eight years ago by the County Council as Ordinance No. 2008-151, our goal is to produce 50% of the food we consume. Iʻm doing my part by eating as a locavore.

Iʻm still not clear why Hawaiʻi doesnʻt produce rice when we are such huge consumers. But letʻs just say my Mixed Metaphor Fried Rice started with turmeric rice left over from the night before, when Iʻd served it with a local lamb and greens curry. Lamb stew meat courtesy of Jan Dean who sells meat and wool products at the Parker School Farmers Market (one of four Saturday markets in Waimea). I first met her at a pasture management seminar sponsored by the Hawaii Sheep and Goat Association. Youʻll definitely want to connect with them if you buy acreage and want to mow it with a few sheep or goats.

Sheep enjoy their ocean view on this 118 acres with subdivision in progress (MLS# 293399)

But I digress.

The refrigerator also held some really ʻono smoked pig, courtesy of a local hunter. Youʻll want to have the name of someone who can trap or shoot the feral pigs that frequent your mac nut orchard or organic garden.

This macadamia nut orchard comes with a home on four acres and a pool (MLS# 288688)

Every fried rice should begin with a scrambled egg or two from free range chickens. Pretty sure mine came from Real Farm (find them on Saturdays at the Paniolo Preservation Society). I can give you a list of properties in Kohala that already have amazing chicken coops.

This really cool chicken coop comes with an authentic plantation-era home and almost 3 acres (MLS# 291836)

In between market days (Tuesday and Saturday under the banyan tree in Hawi; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday in Waimea/Kamuela), I can pick up local produce at Takata Store in Kapaau or Kohala Grown in Hawi. Not sure who grew the green onions, but the cilantro came from Kohala Organic Produce and the sprouts from Lone Palm Farm, all via Takata Store.

So I cheated with the frozen peas and roasted cashews from Costco. But otherwise, there was pretty much a face or a family associated with each element of my Mixed Metaphor Fried Rice.

Horses, sheep or goats? Fully fenced pasture comes with ocean views, home, shop, orchards, and chicken coop (MLS# 289969)

If youʻd like to explore homes on acreage, raw land suitable for farming or ranching, or just living in Kohala and eating well, Iʻll send you some more ideas. I might even have a few extra copies of my article in Hawaii Lifeʻs HL1 magazine laying around. I called it Farm, Boat, and Ranch to Table: Sustainable Life, North Kohala Style.

A hui hou,

Beth Thoma Robinson, R(B)
Direct: 808.443.4588
Email: beth@hawaiilife.com