WE'VE MOVED

We've switched hosts, please find us at our new home:
www.harvestpunamakai.wordpress.com

Mahalo!

5-piece Honey Gift Set in Asper Bamboo

...5 different honeys in quaint 1/4 pint jars...

Made with coconut nectar honey from local Hilo hives

...fun gift for the sweet-teeth in your life...

Once the honey is pau, fill 'em with your favorite herbs and spices!

THE HONEYS.....

::|  RAW ~ INFUSED ~ MEDICINAL  |::

Yellow Ginger & Hawaiian Chili...

**Hot and Spicy**

Inspired by the cold and wet winter months when even the healthiest of us succumb to colds and respiratory illnesses.  The Kapoho-grown Yellow ginger and Hawaiian chili are excellent for the immune system, and are energetically warming.  This is also the perfect combination to cure those over-eating blues after big holiday meals.  Take a teaspoon by itself or mix with warm water or your favorite warm bevie.  

Lavender ~Vanilla~Chamomile

**Floral and Soothing**

Close your eyes and savor the calming, floral essence of lavender and warm, sweet musk of vanilla with the  soothing qualities of chamomile.  Made with locally grown, hand-pollinated and processed vanilla bean,  this tri-fecta of flavor and medicine takes the edge off of long days, stressful moments  and busy minds.

Tangerine Spice

**Cozy and Warming**

Made with locally-grown Citrus peel +locally-grown, hand harvested and processed Allspice + Locally-grown, hand pollinated, harvested and processed Vanilla bean + Clove.   This combination of warming herbs and spices is excellent for the immune system as well as digestion.  Take as tea or enjoy on warm bread.  

::|  NON-INFUSED (but still good for you!) HONEYS  |::

Comb Honey

Made by tireless lady-bees in Koa'e, this comb honey is delicious and fun to eat.  Take bite-sized portions and chew!  The wax will soften and become like a natural gum slowly releasing all it's sweet contents.  Once you've enjoyed all the flavor, you can discard the wax  in your compost or use for something crafty!

Just Honey

No honey is just honey.  Did you know it takes the nectar of 5 million flowers just to make 1 pint of honey?  And honey is medicinal all on it's own.  It is an antibacterial, antiseptic and antimicrobial substance used throughout history.  Put it on scrapes or sores as an ointment or mix with ginger tea to help overcome illness.  

Come visit us at market and see/taste for yourself!

Happy Anniversary!

As of October 29th, we are a one-year-old endeavor!  And we're aging well.  


When we first got this idea, we had no idea what was in store for us.  
We got inspired after a few people in the neighborhood told a few other people in the neighborhood that they would like to send their stuff to market without having to take their stuff market.  So, after some brainstorming with friends I decided I'd give it a try.  This was a great way to satisfy my  craving to get back into the market scene and give something back to my community.  


I called all the farmers that had expressed interest in selling goods at market.  I said I'd pick up, sell and drop-off their goods, but they had to help cover costs and we would keep a portion of their sales to help cover time and labor.  They said, "Great!".  

After a few weeks of this, a few more farms got involved, and our spread grew.  Then our customers started saying, "Hey, we have extra avos, greens, citrus too.  Can we bring them to you to sell?"  We said "Absolutely!"  So we did.  Slowly but surely, the booth continued to expand.  Soon, there were 4-tiers of (somewhat precariously) stacked shelves and baskets filled to the brim with every color, shape and kind of tropical fruit you could imagine and even some you couldn't.  After a few months, there were 2 of us behind the table weighing, pricing, describing, bagging and smiling.  

After exactly one year of this growth and collaboration, we have this to show for ourselves......

================================================================

-  32 different farms/farmers/gardeners/individuals represented through the Co-op

-  5,430 lbs fresh, local, natural food sold

-  2 farmers' markets where we share our bounty

-  101 different items marketed (fruits, veggies, spices, plants, etc)

-  3 mentions/interviews in local publications

-  Hundreds of happy customers

-  Endless potential!

~| TOP 15 FOODS for 2010-2011 |~
(by weight sold)
============================

Avocado...653.35 lbs

Lilikoi...502.15 lbs

Rollinia...452.9 lbs

Oranges...437.95 lbs

Jakfruit...437.41 lbs

Ulu...292.5 lbs

Bananas...287.5 lbs

Papaya...284.75 lbs

Mamay Sapote...282 lbs

Tangerines...228.76 lbs

Champedak...213.92 lbs

Cacao...176.3 lbs

Taro...117.4 lbs

Turmeric...108.15 lbs

Abiu...101.56 lbs

~| Goods sold through the Co-op from Oct 2010 - Oct 2011 |~

Abiu...........................Bamboo containers..............Cacao
Acai juice .................Bananas................................Champedak
Acerola cherry..........Basil.......................................Champejak
Akee..........................Beans.....................................Chayote
Allspice......................Black pepper vine................Chico sapote
Aloe............................Brazilian cherry....................Chives
Arugula.....................................................................Cilantro
Avocado..................................................................Coco frond weavings


Comfrey.....................Dicon...................................Galangal (thai ginger)
CSA shares...............Eggplant..............................Ginger 
Cucumbers................Eggs.....................................Grapefruit 
Curry leaf...................Fennel...................................Honey 
Curry mix...................Fruit vinegar.........................Honey gift set 



Jakfruit..........................Lemon balm......................Lilikoi
Jakfruit seed spread...Lemongrass.....................Limes
Jam...............................Lemons.............................Longan
Key lime.......................Lettuce


Mamey americana.......Oranges (Mandarin)........Peppers (hot) 
Mamey sapote..............Oranges (navel)...............Peppers (Sweet)
Mint.................................Oranges (Valencia)........Pho soup mix
Mountain apple..............Papaya............................Pineapple (slips)
Muffins (ulu)....................Parsley............................Pineapple (white)
Muffins (mamey)...........Pepperoni vine................Pineapple (yellow)


Plantain..........................Rambutan........................Star apple 
Plants (various).............Rollinia.............................Starfruit
Pummelo.......................Salad mix.........................Sunflower sprouts 
Pumpkin........................Sourdough bread............Superfood mix 
Puna Pissers................Soursop...........................Swiss chard 
Purple sweet potatoe.. Squash


Tangelo..........................Tulsi (holy basil)..............Vanilla beans
Tangerines....................Turmeric..........................Vanilla orchid 
Taro................................Turnips............................White sapote
Taro leaves....................Ulu...................................Yam  
Tea mix..........................Ulu (baked)
Tomatoes



So....
Thank you to all our farmers!  Worktraders! Volunteers! Harvesters! Customers! Market managers! Friends! Family! and especially....Da 'Aina!  without which we could not have even begun.  


Mahalo nui loa.

Summer tidings

Summer is here and one look at our booth will verify!

You'll know it's summertime in Puna Makai when you see the Rollinias, Jakfruits, Champadeks and Soursops gracing our tables and baskets beside the summer squash and green beans.

We're just starting to have our Lilikois (Passionfruit) back in season!  There'll be a herd of folks racing each other to get their fill of these tangy sweet treats before we sell out for the day.

We've seen the Mamay sapotes succumb to a change in season and make way for some of what's mentioned above.  The sky seems to be raining avocados, seedlings and grafted alike.  Next market we'll be showcasing our White Pineapples, well, what we don't eat first. :)

Josanna's Organic Fruitstand has been sending extra special treats with their PHO SOUP, TEA and CURRY mixes.  the tea mix is fresh lemon balm, turmeric and Tulsi (Holy Basil) ~the Pho mix (traditional Vietnamese soup) includes chives, cilantro and basil ~ the Curry mix has fresh turmeric fingers, Curry leaves and berries, lemongrass and other fresh herbs.  People continue to enjoy the new and flavorful mixes, as well they should!

We're constantly learning new ways to provide for our farmers and communities alike.  Our prices change depending on the availability of produce and the work involved in the harvest.  We try to compromise with our customers by selling portions of our larger items, like our monster 10 lb squash or 30 lb jakfruits.  Seeing these big beautiful offerings is some of the best advertising we could hope for!

The Koa'e Farmers' Collective is considering expanding our booth because our offerings are beginning to overwhelm the 4-tier booth!

Ah, abundance.

January 29th

Avos (Josanna's and Chitta), Tangerines, Tumeric, Breadfruit (Josanna's) and Lilikoi (Evening Rain Farm)

Taro leaves and Fennel (from Josanna's)

Mamay sapote and tangerines
(from Anne)

Well, as predicted, our sales were a bit lower than last market, but still better than our average.  The most popular items seem to be avocados (particularly the ripe groundlings from Chitta) the Mamey sapotes from Janelle, Clive and Anne, Josanna's soursops and the lilikois from Evening Rain.  This was also a particularly popular day for Ann's vanilla beans.

January 22nd

The Collective enjoyed a buzzing market as S.P.A.C.E. fans came to appreciate the 3rd market after a two week-long holiday break.  This was, by far, the Collective's best market yet.  We doubled our average profits from about $150/market to $300 today!  Our popularity seems to grow each market.  Of course, the last market of the month tends to be a bit less profitable because our EBT sales are minimal.  This I can understand because people have used all/most of their grocery money by this time and will have to wait until the following market to continue to bless our booth.

What a wonderful endeavor we have going here.

December 11th, 2010

Our second month as the Koa'e Farmers' Collective and we keep growing every week!
Saturday's spread at the KFC booth...
(thanks, Raven, for the photos!)

Our contributors/offerings included:

Josanna's Organic Fruit Stand

-Silk Fig bananas

-Tangerines

-Oranges

Beach Road Farm

-Tangelos

-#10 Ulu

-Medicinal Fruit Vinegars

(Fig Wine and Pineapple 'N Parsley)

The Abbotts' Farm

-Salad mix

-Lettuce

-Fresh baby cilantro

-Jakfruit

(fully processed!)

-Apple Bananas

-Green & Red Chilies

Chitta's Very Organic Sustainable Homestead

-Avocados

-Limes

Joyce's Place

-Meyer's Lemons

Evening Rain Farm

-Lilikoi 

(orange, yellow and purple passion fruit)

-Brazilian Cherries

-Raw, Infused, Medicinal Honey 

new! *Tangerine Spice* 

(tangerine peel, clove, allspice, vanilla)

*Yellow Ginger & Hawaiian Chili*

*Hamakua Coffee*

*Rosemary & Garlic*

*Lavender Vanilla Chamomile*

Local ingredients: tangerine, allspice, vanilla, yellow ginger, Hawaiian chili, Hamakua shade-grown coffee, rosemary, HONEY