Today we decided that being a sustainable organic farm is simply not enough. Kaleo and I decided to raise the bar and go with environmentally earth friendly packaging for the farm products. We are currently using quick biodegradable bags for customers who don't have canvas bags. The packaging for the fresh pack will now be in Solo Bare 20% Post Consumer 1 PETE plastic containers. Theses food containers can be easily recycled much like water bottles and contain a high percentage of reusable materials. After much research the next step will be to use compostable cornstarch based containers from Styrophobia on O'ahu. While the cost is about 10% more than conventional plastics how can you not go for that option when you live on an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean. By going this route we feel we can truly evolve a business that is based on sensible morals with a reverence for the earth.

First Offical Sale of the Season!

Here is the first official batch of organic white pineapples that Kaiwiki Farms sold to the public this season. It was a total of 39 pounds on orders from library staff at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

32.oz Fresh Pack

Here is my first post to the farm blog. Today I cut up and vacuum sealed 32.oz of white pineapple and took it into my other work for taste samples. I got favorable reviews by everyone who tried it, someone even said it was the best thing ever. Below is what our fresh pack looks like.

Time Spent Wisely

Well, since we didn't go to sell at the farmer's market today, we decided to make use of our time by putting some new plants in the ground. We planted about 400 new pineapples on the hill across the stream behind the yurt. It's always so nice to see new bays of pineapple in the ground. They look so .....weed free. :)

The Long Approach to Farmer's Market

Well, the day has nearly arrived. The official sale of the first pineapple. The hustle and bustle of the open-air marketplace, the smell of the herbs and greens and fruit and other food. The haggling over price with tourists and locals alike.

We are all ready to go (as you can see, we've got a cash box and everything) and we thought we'd be picking today and selling tomorrow. But our good friend and pineapple mentor, Sousa, stopped by, and said we needed to give it at least a week. Maybe two.

He was encouraging, saying that we've got choke on the way, but not enough are quite ripe enough to be worth taking to the market just yet.

As much as I'm really raring to go peddle some pineapple, and with as much fruit that we've sampled that looks just like the ones on the stalks now, we've decided that we need to follow Sousa's advice and wait a little longer.

Keep fingers crossed for next week!