just saying aloha

[mauimommy]

my name is nancy, i will have been married 20 years on the last day of this year. yes we got married on new years>>>everyone celebrates with us! ;o)
he is a fantastic guy, very supportive and gets right in there with things. He is very patient very kind man, and pretty decent example of a dad for all the kids. he is an entrepreneur at heart, always workin' on ideas for business. his current hobby is model t's, yes as in the old cars!
i am a mother to 6 kids: jennifer adele'~23, delane lyn~22, gordon john~18, gavan lee~15, hannah elizabeth~ 5 today!!!, and hudson taylor 5 mos.[who is in my lap feeding!], i am also a grandma to 4, benjamin~6, dominic~4, ally~3, ryan~2, and another grand dd due in august!!!!! i have had 11 pregnancys.........and hang on to your hats.........all c/s's............, i was caught in the era of once a c/s always a c/s.
i have been an ap mom since my 15 yo ds was born. i love kids, i love gardening, i also scrapbook[that's on hold right now], but was a consult in a scrapbooking company, but not any more. i homeschool, i enjoy sewing/quilting, i love to walk, love to take pictures, and lastly but not least i am a christian, been since i was 9 yo, i am 42 my b-day is nov 4th.
oh and i might add i live on the island of maui, in sunny south maui. westerly facing [we get fantastic sunsets in winter!], kihei is a very active town that has 9 miles of some of the best swim beaches on maui. we have been here since dec. '97, moved here from murrieta, ca.
~aloha~

[PM]

Aloha!

There are other mommies from Hawai'i here. I lived in Lanikai (Oahu) for 5 years as a child.

Hope you like it here.

[kama'aina mama]

Hi neighbor!

We were just in Kihei visiting a friend of mine from college last month! I live on O'ahu and my husband and I are from CA also.. He grew up in St Helena.

[mother_sunshine]

Aloha! We live in Hilo on the Big Island. We moved from CA (Pomona/Chino) in '93. :wave

[kama'aina mama]

Wow! I grew up in Pomona! Pomona Catholic '83. Where did you go to HS?

[mother_sunshine]

Cool! I went to Don Lugo ('86) in Chino, my husband went to Claremont H.S. '84 or '85 (they lived on American Ave, right on the Pomona/Claremont border). We were both born in Pomona.

[Malama]

Aloha!

I live in Hakalau, 15 miles north of Hilo on the Big Island.

My honey and I have 2 boys, aged 9 and 5.

We moved here from Arcata Ca in '93 and are here to stay.

I'm also an apprentice midwife here.

It's nice to meet you all!

Aloha,

Karen :)

[kama'aina mama]

Hi malama! Gotta love windward side! When I took a one day tour of Hawaii (which I would NOT recommend!) I liked that area the best. Good luck with your apprenticeship!

mother_sunshine, sorry I didn't see your post before! I think I know someone who went to Lug, but different time. I lived on the OTHER edge of Pomona, almost into Diamond Bar. Do you know Westmont? Across from General Dynamics, at Mission and the 71. You know whats dumb? I still miss the county fair sometimes!

[mother_sunshine]

kama'aina mama, Westmont doesn't ring a bell but I lived in Chino Hills not far off of the 71 and I drove it to work in San Dimas. The last time I was there a few years ago the 71 looked like a freeway, WAY different than how I knew it...made me sad. BTW, I miss the Fair too sometimes!

Karen/Malama, Aloha! We moved here in '93 also, we just bought our 1st home last year (after so many years of renting, ugh) so we are here to stay also. I have a good friend who recently bought a neat home in Hakalau...does the name Pua sound familiar? That's awesome that you are an apprentice midwife here, I wish I knew you when I was pregnant :)

[Malama]

Aloha Mother-Sunshine,
No, I don't know of any Pua's out here in Hakalau- in fact there aren'y very many young people here. But then in the country, people tend to stay to themselves.

Where in Hilo do you live? How old are your kid/kids?

Aloha,
Karen

[mother_sunshine]

My dd's 5yrs and we live in the Kaumana area.

Small World huh?!:love

[mauimommy]

kewl to see a few connections from the islands.
it's a bummer that the water keeps us so far apart.
yeah I like it here, but if I'm led to leave I would.
St Helena <<where is that?
Hey I too miss the county fair [pomona] :crying
but not sure I miss any of the freeways!
mother_sunshine we are in our first home too. what are you growing? planted anything new this spring?
good to hear from you all

[mother_sunshine]

The only veggies I have had luck with so far are cherry tomatoes (yellow, orange and red), dwarf/baby carrots, green beans, 2 bitter lettuces (it figures the bad kinds do well and the sweet ones get eaten) and cilantro year-round. I have some wonderful zucchini squash plants growing right now but experience tells me they will get eaten or rot before ripe. It is SO HARD to grow organic in Hawaii!!:o Especially in rainy Hilo where everything flourishes (except organic veggies!). As soon as we get some extra money dh is building us a green house so I can grow more and be more creative with my techniques to see if I can get more growing. Our natural foods store's produce section is wonderful but so expensive! I'd love to grow our own favorites.

What are you growing/planting, mauimommy?

Is anyone else here having any luck?

[Malama]

Though we don't have a veggie garden going right now:( , we have many times in the past.
What has worked best for us is always basil (lots of that), small tomatoes, like you said, lots of different greens (mizuna is really hardy, so is chard). We've successfully grown peppers (smaller ones), eggplants, sweet potatoes, okra, green onions.
I've never had any luck with zucchini- everytime the plants flowered, tehy'd get all rotten.
I wish i did have a garden right now as the last few days have been great growing days.

I do believe after my 8 years of living here that you can't just have the same kind of garden like mainlanders. It's got to be integrated with other stuff- like our plants have to deal with pouring rain or intense sun from one hour to the next. So it's nice to have a sort of canopy- even partially.

Good luck! PS, my Round Up Happy nieghbors grow lots of stuff :angry , so frustrating!!!

Karen

[kamalani]

Hi everyone :)

I live with my dh, dd (16) and ds (11) on the Windward Side of Oahu. I'd love to talk to someone about gardening since my gardening friends seem to have all moved away. I've had luck in the past with cucumbers, but they won't grow for me anymore. Our soil is heavy clay, and it's either rock hard, or like putty. I've shoveled manure and compost into it for years, but it seems to just eat it up and cry for more. A papaya tree came up on its own, and actually has papayas on it now! I also grow basil, tiny cherry tomatoes, (with tough skins) wild oregano, and impatiens.

We have a pet hen who loves my garden, and I have had to fence her out. She flies over when there's something really worth it, though.

I'd love to get my garden going strong again. Any suggestions? Encouragement?

Oh, yeah, dwarf bananas seem to do well here.


Kamalani


:banana

[kama'aina mama]

Hi!
Another would be gardener in Kailua here. I have virtually no experience but I do have a couple of great books. Which I have misplaced. I will post again when I find them. They talk a lot about climate and soil treatment in Hawai'i. I also have three mango trees getting ripe. PM me if you want to stop by sometime and get a few.

[kama'aina mama]

I found the books!
"Growing Vegetables in Hawai'i" by Kathy Oshiro and
"Growing Fruits in Hawai'i" also by Kathy Oshiro

The fruit book includes herbs, nuts and seeds. Both books talk a great deal about soil conditions, what to look for, how to correct problems, etc.

[kamalani]

Thanks! I'll look for those books and start reading!

:thumb

[mother_sunshine]

Thanks for the info kama'aina mama! I didn't know these books were available, my Organic Gardening book doesn't do me a whole lot of good here so it's nice to know that there are books specifically for those in Hawaii.

Karen/Malama, thanks for the canopy suggestion, that's an excellent idea! :thumb

[kama'aina mama]

I just noticed that mauimommy me where St Helena is and I never answered. It is in the north Napa Valley. He grew up a country boy.

The funniest thing in these books is the introduction to the vegetable book. "Begin planting when all signs of frost are gone and you can work the soil." Yes, I too got tired of reading this advice in gardening books...

Soon as I read that I knew I had found a good book! LOL
edited to ad: Have you all checked out the gardening forum here? Not tropical, but some of the ladies know so much about composting and companion planting to help cut down on pests, etc...

[earthmama007]

Aloha Everyone,
I live on O'ahu LW side and just wanted to meet up with some of you guys if possible. Let me know if your interested. Glad to meet you all.:)

[kama'aina mama]

Hi Earthmama! (I keep looking at the 007 and thinking "Earthmama; Licensed to Kill" and giggling!)

I have met a couple of the windward Mothering moms, but since I have no car my opportunities are limited. I keep thinking one of these days I am just going to plan and announce a 'get to know each other' playdate and hope people can come. I would certainly let you know. How old are your kid(s)? My daughter will be 2 in Aug.

[earthmama007]

This is Nikki, If you are who I think you are. I am laughing:D Let me know. I didn't want to say your name. write back and we can talk even if you aren't who I think you are.....HA HA HA!

[kamalani]

Hi earthmama,

I'm interested. Just today my ds and I had the honor of meeting kama'aina mama and her dd for the first time.

Please send me a PM. What day/time/place is good for you?

kamalani

[kama'aina mama]

Hi Nikki, no I'm not who you think. Look here for your airplane friend (http://mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14126). She and I met up for a short afternoon at the beach a couple weeks ago and she talked about meeting you. We both lack regular use of a car so we haven't hooked up since, but we will. There are actually a fair number of occasional posters here from Kailua, which I find fascinating, since it's not such a big place. Is this where the granolas all end up? :)

[Writermom]

Hi, Everyone,
Just wanted to say hello. I live on the windward side of O'ahu with husband and 2 1/2 year old son. I'm expecting my new baby any time now. We've lived here one year and will probably be here one more year (hubbie is military). I actually met my friend Kama'aina Mama in person first, and she mentioned mothering.com to me. Now I've got an addiction going!
I do have a car, and maybe after some down time after my new little one makes her debut, I can meet more of you Hawaiian mamas.
Take care, all.

[kamalani]

Welcome to Kailua, Writermom.

:p
kamalani

[earthmama007]

Yeah!!! More great mommies to meet....can't wait to get together! By the way, are any of you gals a member of La Leche League?? I am not but wanted to go to the next meeting. If you have any info and/or would like to go let me know.

[kamalani]

I was a member for many years; however, my leader moved away and my kids grew up!

I think kama'aina mama is the one to ask!

kamalani

[kama'aina mama]

Yes.. I am a member of LLL. That is actually where I met Writermom. I think Cammy talked about wanting to catch a meeting as well. There are meetings all over the island, but the windward meeting is 4th Weds of each month (June 26) at 10:00am at the Queen Lilioukuloni (sp?) Women and Childrens Center, near Windward Mall, on Haiku Rd. It would be great to see you there.

[mother_sunshine]

Does anyone here know of any organic & non-gmo food co-ops in Hawaii? This is a new topic to me so I'm not sure exactly how it works. I just heard about it in the Health and Healing Forum http://mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&postid=161978#post161978

I'm just tired of facing growers at the Hilo Farmer's Market who assure me that their produce is organic when I know it's not (except for one farmer's produce, which is limited to mainly oranges and bananas), and the expense of the produce at the natural foods stores which I don't mind paying but it too is mostly grown in other countries and not bought locally. And I'm tired of reading labels and not finding "non-gmo" on most of them so I have to make a risky guess at it (even at the natural foods stores, where I am doing most of my shopping now). I know there is a website that lists non-gmo brands but it is very limited and often hard to find here in Hawaii. It would be nice to have an honest co-op system that sells the basic items and produce that we need. Anyone know of any?

[Malama]

Aloha Mother_Sunshine,
I understand your predicament! It seems like it is virtually impossible to shop GMO-free these days.
I don't trust anyone at the Hilo Farmer's Market who says they are growing organic-- except on rare occasions. But there are some crops that are more likely to contain GMOs- like soybeans, for instance (i don't buy them any more at the market). Papayas are also bad on the GMO front, and so is corn. So I definitely stay away from those.

Basically Hawaii is a big test-site for Monsanto- they work closely with the University of Hawaii to develop new seeds and stuff.

Best thing you can do is grow your own veggies and fruits. It's easier said than done, sometimes, but then you KNOW where the seeds came from, what was used on them, etc...

I rarely shop anywhere else but Island Naturals anymore. But it can be deceptive. My friend brought over some Newman's Organic cookies and all ingredients were organic, except for the Canola Oil-- canola is one of the worst crops as far as GMO's go.

So... do the best you can! Also, you can read more info at
www.organicconsumers.org

Aloha,

Karen

[mother_sunshine]

Aloha Karen, I shop mainly at Island Naturals too, but unfortunately I am finding myself reading the labels more closely than I used to. They have an excellent produce section and their labels are clearly marked organic/green or commercial/black so that does make it much easier. If only they had yet another label/color for non-gmo (if there are any)...

Thanks for the link. I had no idea that Monsanto was connected/working with UH. I am so disappointed to hear this, UH Ag. has/had such a good reputation.

I wish there was some way I could find all the organic farms on the Big Island and work out some kind of co-op with them. I know at least a handful of other Moms who would be thrilled to work together for something like this.

Aloha,
Michelle

[Malama]

Aloha Michelle,
I just started buying organic veggies from a woman in Laupahoehoe (I live out that way). I don't know if she's interested in selling to more people, or if she has enough, but if you are interested I can certainly ask her.

I've only done it once, but for $10, she loaded up a basket full of veggies- carrots, kale, chard, lettuce, cucumbers, basil, parsley... of course, all of those things are pretty easy to grow... but time...

Let me know if you want to and I'll ask her. You'd probably have to come out her way though as it sounds like she rarely comes into Hilo.

Maybe you could run a free ad in the Hawaii Island Journal that you are looking to support a local organic farm by buying veggies and fruits directly... that may work.

BTW, I think it was in the Journal this issue- a letter from an anti-GMO organization thanking the managers of both Safeways on the island for letting them distribute info about GMOs at the stores-- sounds cool, eh?

Aloha,
Karen

[mother_sunshine]

Something like that sounds wonderful, if she is willing then I would be more than happy to make the drive! Of course, I will completely understand if she is not willing or able.

I will also look into posting an ad in the journal. I feel dumb for asking but where can I find the journal (or is that the free newspaper that comes in the mail)? I would post a card in the display cases outside Island Naturals and Abundant Life but that probably wouldn't be too cool of me to do that to them and their business. I'll keep my eyes open for other ideas as well.

That's great that Safeway was receptive to the idea of spreading the info on gmo's....hopefully it did some good. I noticed Safeway has some organics (Horizon, Brown Cow Farm and others, plus some produce that is labelled organic but doesn't look or taste like it) but it's still not enough for me to shop there exclusively. Island Naturals is more expensive but at least the money is going into a small local business...

[Malama]

Aloha,
I'll ask Nicole (the large garden/farm woman) if she has more to share!

THe Hawaii Island Journal is a free paper- it's the more open-minded publication to come off this island. There's a large environmental focus and also just a lot of community stuff. You can find it in one of those regular newspaper delivery things (with the door you pull up)- but it's free. There are places to get it all over- there is one in front of Island Naturals- to the left of the water machine outside. There's also one in front of Abundant Life- to the right of the door. It comes out every two weeks.

Yes, Island Naturals is owned by a local guy with his family. I know that he makes little on the store. I spend a lot there, but try and concentrate on things on sale-- and when there's a good sale for a whole month, i buy a lot of that thing. I also buy things at Cost-U-Less too-- like cheese (if you eat) is way cheaper there and doesn't have rBGH-- also they sell these large bags of garden burgers... just some ideas!

I'll call up Nicole and ask her about the produce.

Much Aloha,

Karen

[kama'aina mama]

Do you know anything about Hawaii Organic Farmers Association (HOFA) (http://www.hawaiiorganicfarmers.org/)? I can't actually get much to work on their website but they have links about their GMO policy, etc... They are based in Hilo
hone: (808) 969-7789 Toll Free: (877) 674-4632 Fax: (808) 969-7759
so maybe you could contact them and get some good info that way. And tell them their web site isn't working right! LOL

[mother_sunshine]

:love :love Mahalo Karen and kama'aina mama :love :love

[rianna]

Aloha all........
I know I am a little late for this thread but... I moved to oahu in nov. I am a mother to.. Aurora who is now 22 weeks and Carina who is 9. I live in kimuki in honolulu. I have been looking for friends and mothers to share the wonderful experience of mothering. I just joined a mommy and baby yoga class and that is going good. I also lived on the Big Island... in Kamuela. I am originaly from Sedona AZ... and moved here from minneapolis. I would love it if some of you replied!

[mother_sunshine]

Aloha Rianna!

Baby & Me Yoga, that sounds neat!

Kamuela is a beautiful little sleepy town:) We're in Hilo.

Nice to see you here:)

[kamalani]

Hi Rianna!

Welcome to Oahu. You are close to U.H. There are excellent classes and activities there. You might want to check it out. I always liked The Silent Dance Center for yoga, Down to Earth and Kokua for natural foods.

We live on the Windward side now.

Aloha,
Kamalani

[rianna]

We are thinking of moving to kiluia.... mabey the beging of the year. I love down to earth... this is our daily outing..... kokua market, and the whole seen down there. I am getting more involved and starting to like it a bit. I take a yoga class on koko head and I just started my own buisness doing massage!

My father has a buisness that just opened up where you are. Its called Adasa.... in conjunction with Paul Brown.

We are warming up to Oahu and feeling better about being here. My dd has a hard time in school and it took my dh 5 months to find a job!!!! But... my new dd was born here and I really like this.
Thanks for your reply..
r~

[kamalani]

Hi Rianna,

It's not easy getting adjusted to living here, is it? I remember calling my mom on the pay phone outside of the dorms at U.H. when I first came, feeling more lonely and far away than ever before. Things here are not the same as they are back there, and they aren't going to change.

What you're looking for is probably here, it's just a matter of finding it, and hoping it doesn't end!

There is a Down to Earth in Kailua, but I prefer the one in town. There's even a Silent Dance Center here for yoga, but it's just too expensive for me!

What kind of business is Adasa? I've seen the new Paul Brown salon; it's very nice.

Write any time if you feel like it.

Aloha,
Kamalani

[BathrobeGoddess]

Mother-sunshine-

FYI anything that is "certified organic" doesn't have any GMO stuff inside. That is both California and Oregon certification.

Now why I am on this board:

Does anyone live in or around Hilo? Planning to move there in about two years time.

Thanks!

[lovinmyboy]

aloha hawaii mamas! my husband, 4yr ds,and i will be flying to maui in 2 days to work and stay on an organic farm off the hana highway. the folks there run a fruit stand off the highway too. we are doing this through a program called wwoof ( willing workers on organic farms) anyone heard of this? we are excited about spending some time on the beautiful island and learning about organic growing. maui mommy, maybe we could get together sometime? we wont have our own car but i know we will find ways to get around and experience all the wonderful beaches! :thumb i am also from southern california and cant wait to leave! when we return we will probably settle somewhere between san luis obispo and arcata.
glad to see you all here;)

[nikirj]

Hi all, just chiming in way late here to introduce myself.

I am in Kaneohe :-).

We've had luck growing some herbs/spices as well as green onion, and strawberries (of all things?) and of course, the ever-weedlike cherry tomato (I swear, we harvested like 200 tomatoes from one plant, it was ridiculous).

Of course, since we live in a little one-bedroom apartment and our 'garden' is a one-foot strip of dirt between our concrete patio and the fence, we are a bit limited :p

And...I really don't have anything important to say, plus it is getting late and my brains have preceeded me into the bedroom.