Sonia Tastes Hawaii

Garden Journal - Summer Update

A few weeks ago I reported on the dreadful condition of the garden and how we started taming it.  I can now say that even though we have been without any rain of consequence for several weeks and needed to water the plants at least twice a day, the garden is now making great progress.

Finally the rains came, a bit here and a bit there, in the last few days, but as of last night we have had a steady, soft, drenching rain and the garden looked very happy this morning!

As we stated in the begining of the Garden Journal, our garden beds are enclosed with recycled wood slats, layered inside with newspapers for weed control and then filled with mulch.  We make pockets in the mulch where we fill with organic soil and then plant our herbs and veggies in the pockets.

Since the garden is organic, we are using lots of Marigolds all over to deter pests and we have been spraying a homemade organic weed control close to the beds and around the new stepping stones.  See recipe below.

Laurel (bay leaf) in the rain... the laurel sits in the middle of the assorted parsley bed.

Pineapple Sage and Golden Marigolds in the back, Sweet Basil in front.  I'm getting ready to trim the basil down so it can bush out and I will be making pesto with the cuttings.

Malabar Spinach, a type of vining spinach, these are almost ready to start climbing the wire frame.  Mizuna greens, Rosemary and more Golden Marigolds.

Gold and Orange Marigolds, Roma Tomatoes and Lemon Basil - the little paper cups around the tomato stems are to discourage pests such as cutworms.

Overview of several beds, include Rosemaries, Orange and Golden Marigolds, Mizuna Greens, Red and Yellow Bell Pepper plants - you can also see a few of the Dwarf Banana plants in the background.

Baby Purple Japanese Eggplant growing in the lower branches and a cluster of blooms at the top of the plant.  Both Purple Japanese Long Eggplants and both of the Japanese Round Green Eggplant plants are blooming.

A future project will be to fill in the paths with creeping Oregano and plant it all around the stepping stones.  I have started the plugs of creeping Oregano in the beds as fillers and will be taking them from there.

Ripening Hawaiian Chile Peppers.

Recipe for the Organic Weed Spray

4 cups white vinegar

1/4 cup salt

2 teaspoons dish detergent

Mix all ingredients well and spray on weeds.  Watch them go Bye Bye!....As the weeds die, I will be pulling them by the roots to make room for the creeping Oregano to take over.

.......and this is how my garden is growing at this moment

Hilo's new Fine Food Emporium

I leave for the mainland for a month and all sorts of things happened while I was gone........one of them was the opening of a fine food store in Hilo!

One day a couple of weeks ago, we were heading towards Hamakua on Kilauea when we passed a place we had never noticed before...out of the corner of his eyes, my son Anthony spotted the words Hilo Bay Fine Food Emporium ....What????  Where?????  Are you kidding me????????

Since we were already through for the day, it was hot and we had perishables in the car, we decided to leave the exploring for the next trip to town...which we did a couple of days later.

A pleasant shop in a not too congested area and within walking distance to the Hilo Farmer's Market......the warm and inviting deep apricot color of the walls embrace you as you come in... First impression...Nice!   Shelves quickly filling up with all kinds of good stuff....our own mini-version of Trader Joe's!

To date, their 'local offerings' are held in just three metro-rack shelving units, but owners Gwendolyn and Kala Alefaio hope to very soon have a large selection of high quality locally made items.

The impression when meeting Gwendolyn the first time is like visiting with someone you already know.  Warm, friendly, open, fun.....and if you can be both friendly, warm and yet a bit reserved, that is Kala.

The store had a 'soft opening' in April to take advantage of the Merrie Monarch crowds, but had their grand opening in mid-May.  Their plans for the not too distant future are very ambitious and exciting.

By mid-July they hope to have an on-line store where people everywhere will be able to find Hawaiian gourmet products, all in one place.  By Fall, they will be adding cookbooks to their offerings and book signing events..., wines and wine tastings...,  food demos and tastings... and their own line of fresh-made-daily sandwiches and salads.

Their newletter is already a reality and their website is impressive!

I ended up dropping a bit of change on my first visit, but felt it was worth it.  Just making my little bit toward making sure this exciting shop stays open! 

Here is the list of what I bought and what I did or hope to do with the items bought...

We don't use salt, but I HAD to buy this one:  Flor de Sal, 100% unprocessed sea salt with hints of mango, pineapple, red crushed chile pepper and clove and no additives.  The product is from Portugal and has won a Slow Food award for defense of biodiversity.   I can't wait to use it as a rub with chicken.

The next item was a jar of Sun Dried Tomato Pesto from Bella Cucina Artful Food - delicious!

I could not resist buying a bottle of A Perfect Pear Balsamic Vinegar from Napa.  The balsamic vinegar is imported from Modena and then infused with essence of pears in California....Absolutely exquisite.

And lastly..... a little loaf of gluten, wheat, dairy free, high in fiber bread.

That evening I prepared some pupus just for the two of us.  I cut the bread slices in squares, toasted them...then drizzled each piece with the pear balsamic, spread some fresh chevre and then topped with the sun-dried tomato pesto.... Need I say anything more?

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 9 am - 6 pm

Address: 168 Kilauea Ave, downtown Hilo, Hawaii (96720)

Phone: 808/930-FOOD

DISCLAIMER: I was not paid for this review....I am just so thrilled to see little 'ole Hilo opening up to gourmet food status and am so enthused over this shop I just HAD to write this and let the world (or the part that reads me) know about it.

To those at Gather: Sorry, but Gather recently set up a system of RSS feed that anytime I post anything in my blog it will publish at my Gather site