The secret to shopping at the Hanapepe Farmers Market is to get there early. Just ask Masatoshi Hayashida. He queues up half an hour before the 3 p.m. start time to make sure he gets the best lettuce. The Hanapepe
The secret to shopping at the Hanapepe Farmers Market is to get there early.
Just ask Masatoshi Hayashida. He queues up half an hour before the 3 p.m. start time to make sure he gets the best lettuce.
The Hanapepe Farmers Market, held every Thursday at the Hanapepe Town Park, provides a gathering spot for residents and farmers.
“I’m probably the only grower right now that has lettuce,” local farmer Stephen Ruiz said. “It’s too hot for lettuce production.”
With only two beds of lettuce, Ruiz cannot keep up with the demand. He sold out within 15 minutes of opening.
“I’ll go home (from the Hanapepe farmers market) and plant 1,000 lettuce seedlings,” Ruiz said. “There’s no time to rest.”
Ruiz said the demand for lettuce was not great after Costco opened, but now that their prices are rising, people are again looking to buy at the farmers markets.
He keeps a log of his transactions to track demand. Still, he can’t quite guess when it will be a flower market and when it will be a vegetable market.
To make up for the lack of lettuce, Ruiz also brought soy beans, radishes and cucumbers to sell, all of which grow in his greenhouse in Kalaheo.
Ruiz, a retiree, dedicates his time to farming and selling his produce out of the back of his truck at the markets — something he’s been doing for 25 years. Regulars know where he is parked and make a beeline to his location.
Ruiz recalled that when he started, the market was operated privately by the Hawaiian Church in Hanapepe Town. When the county took over, the market was moved to the Hanapepe Stadium Park, which didn’t turn out to be a suitable spot.
Now customers find it at the park.
Ruiz said there is a waiting list to be able to sell there. He estimates that a quarter of the approximately 20 sellers are old-timers like him, who have their regular spot and a “staple product.”
Ben Ednilao had a table set up in front of her truck filled with papaya and apple banana. She farms 38 acres in Lihu‘e and works long hours every day.
“I enjoy it,” Ednilao said. “I make a good living and I’m my own boss.”
When papaya sales slow down, she plants peanuts, long beans and eggplant. She started farming in the 1980s and began selling at farmers markets in 1984. She also sells to restaurants and hotels.
Alfred Castillo Sr. helps Ednilao at the market. He said papaya is plentiful now, so the prices are dropping. Come October, though, papaya will slow down and prices will go up.
Nemesia Bala came from her work at Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital, as she does every Thursday, to purchase Ednilao’s papaya.
“It’s good papaya,” Bala said. “Real sweet.”
The Hanapepe Farmers Market is part of the county’s Office of Economic Opportunity’s Sunshine Market Program. According to the county’s Web site, www.kauai.gov, the program was intended to reduce cost of fresh produce for residents and provide farmers with a market for their Kaua‘i-grown, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, nuts, flowers and plants.
Sellers must first obtain a permit and pay a $5 one-time fee when there are vacancies.
Cora Asuncion, volunteer coordinator of the Hanapepe market, determines when there are openings, of which there are none at the moment.
“Come and support us,” she said.
• Cynthia Matsuoka is a freelance writer for The Garden Island and former principal of Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School. She can be reached by e-mail at aharju@kauaipubco.com.
