PUHI — Melissa McFerrin of the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau said everything is turning red at the Kaua‘i Community Market in the Kaua‘i Community College parking lot. “Valentine’s Day is less than a week away, and a lot of the
PUHI — Melissa McFerrin of the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau said everything is turning red at the Kaua‘i Community Market in the Kaua‘i Community College parking lot.
“Valentine’s Day is less than a week away, and a lot of the vendors are gearing up with specials,” McFerrin said. “We’ve got something for everyone and it’s all supporting our local growers, vendors and agricultural programs.”
Theresa Gordines of Tropical Flower Express said she is already creating mailings of anthuriums with assorted gift items for people who want to send a bit of tropical paradise to friends and relatives on the Mainland.
“The deadline for shipping to get their orders to the Mainland in time for Valentine’s Day is Feb. 8,” Gordines said. “Anything past that, we could use overnight shipping, but that costs extra.”
Turning her attention to Kaua‘i shoppers, Gordines said she will have a special “12 Hearts from Kaua‘i,” a promotion which caught the eye of Lavona Smith of Kenai, Alaska.
“My son Daniel is getting married today and I was thinking about roses, but the anthuriums look like hearts and I think a dozen red hearts from Kaua‘i is a lot better than roses,” Smith said.
Mayette Loseto, normally known for her vegetables, will be offering a red rosette ti leaf lei to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Elvrine Chow of Heavenly Hakus will be demonstrating how to make haku lei as well as taking orders for custom lei.
Another red item is the rambutan which is overflowing from Jude Huber’s truck at Kaua‘i’s sunshine markets and the KCC market.
“You’ll have to wait until 9:30 a.m., but there’s a lot of fruit so start grazing while you wait,” Huber told a group who mingled around her table.
The rambutan started flushing at her Moloa‘a farm about three weeks ago and is in abundant supply.
“You can do all kinds of tricks with this exotic fruit,” Huber said. “There’s the rambutini, a martini with rambutan, or if you leave it in the refrigerator for a couple of days, you can just pop the seed out and insert a chunk of pineapple like they do in Thailand.”
Speaking of pineapple, Huber is working on having pineapple grown on her Moloa‘a farm at the markets on a year-round basis very soon, McFerrin said.
“Aletha Thomas of The Monkeypod Jam demonstrated a couple of Valentine’s Day dishes during the Wednesday Gourmet Market at The Shops at Kukui‘ula,” she said. “It uses some of her products to create dishes to enjoy for Valentine’s Day.”
There was no shortage of red items at Ross Keinberg’s Hanalei Pasta table as she pointed out the tomato spaghettini and tomato radiatore in the red dress she wore when she debuted the items.
Lyn McNutt, also from the Hanalei area with Kaua‘i Nut Roasters, said for those who want something with a kick, she offers “Hot Chocolate,” a special edition of the “Holy Cacao Pecans, Almonds and Macs,” which is a blend of almonds, pecans, macadamias, cacao nibs, vanilla bean, butterscotch and spices.
“This ‘Hot Chocolate’ is for those who like things hot,” McNutt said. “We add some cayenne for the kick.”
For vegetable lovers, there is an abundance of red-leafed lettuce (really red at the KCC Community Gardens table), beets and tomatoes.
“Farmers like to get into the swing of the holidays, too,” McFerrin said. “There is a lot to get excited about before Valentine’s Day. This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
The Kaua‘i Community Market at the KCC parking lot is open 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and accepts EBT.
Visit www.kauaicommunitymarket.com for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
