KOLOA — Keana Green and her brother Francis enjoyed their final day of school last week. Then on Monday the two Island School students joined their mother Josephine Green and grandfather Mariano Aranda at the Koloa Sunshine Market. “They need
KOLOA — Keana Green and her brother Francis enjoyed their final day of school last week.
Then on Monday the two Island School students joined their mother Josephine Green and grandfather Mariano Aranda at the Koloa Sunshine Market.
“They need to help so when they want something, at least they’ll have some money,” Josephine said of her children. “They’ll be working on the farm for the summer.”
As students enter their summer break, the face of the Sunshine Markets puts on its summer look.
Ula, a duck tolling retriever belonging to Branch Harmony, one of the market vendors, had on her summer attire consisting of Ruffwear booties, a bandana and vest.
“The vest has cells where you can put ice to keep her cool,” Harmony, a longtime vendor at the Koloa market, said. “The road gets too hot for her paws, so she wears booties during the summer.”
The booties came in handy as the summer sun broiled the marketplace set up in the parking lot of the Anne Knudsen Park in Koloa, despite the returning tradewinds.
“The market can’t keep up with what is coming out,” said Steven Ruiz, another longtime vendor, as he lifted the cover of his coolers containing a surplus of European cucumber he grows at his Kalaheo farm. “We ferti-gate, so when it goes off, this is what happens when there’s no markets on Saturday and Sunday.”
Steven’s wife Yvonne piped in that this is only what came to market. There were lots more left out in the fields.
The cucumbers are an addition to Ruiz’s normal lettuce and radish offerings. The European cucumbers were also joined by freshly harvested beets that one lady said she steams with butter.
Ted Javellana, a farmer from across the Wailua River, had just come from spending a weekend in Koke‘e.
“I sell tomatoes by the bag, or for those who want just one, individually,” Javellana said. “I also have sweet onions grown on Kaua‘i. Why go to Maui when we have them here? Only problem is they only come out once a year.”
Ken Yasutake’s pineapples are coming into season and attracted its share of shoppers.
“His prices are really reasonable,” said Larry Feinstein, a county monitor for the Sunshine Markets. “Usually, you pay a lot more for pineapples than the ones he sells.”
Feinstein said overall the Sunshine Markets have been doing well despite the slowdown in the economy.
“Our sales have been holding up well at all the locations,” Feinstein said. “This is good considering how people are struggling in the down economy.”
The county hosts Sunshine Markets in all parts of the island and a complete schedule can be found on its Web site at www.kauai.gov
