Hawaiian Kukui Brand Mai Tai made with Koloa Rum. Daniel Lane photo

Koloa Rum Company

Good news from Honolulu magazine!

“Hawaii’s rum industry has blossomed, with four Hawaii brands now sitting on liquor store shelves, and rumors of a fifth in the works. We rounded up a half dozen of our non-teetotaling colleagues, opened four bottles of local light rum and a box of palate-cleansing crackers, conducted a blind taste test and declared a winner: KOLOA RUM CO.’s Kauai White. It’s both distilled and bottled locally (not all of the brands can say that) using Garden Isle water and sugar. Before Kauai’s last sugar plantation folded in 2010, Koloa stockpiled tens of thousands of pounds of its sugar, enough to last, at this point, another three to five years. In the meantime, the distillery has planted its own sugarcane and is experimenting with replacing processed sugar with fresh-pressed cane juice. Our taste testers gave second place to Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, made on Maui. Honorable mentions went to both Old Lahaina Silver Rum (which hinted of rubbing alcohol) and Maui Platinum Rum (with notes of shower curtain and vinyl swimming pool).”

EVENTS:
Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7

Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Kauai

Waimea Theater
Hawaii Islands Land Trust presents a premiere travelling environmental and adventure film festival featuring award- winning films about nature, community activism, adventure, conservation, water, energy, wildlife, environmental justice, agriculture, and indigenous cultures.
This event on Kauai is a satellite event of the main event – Wild & Scenic Film Festival is a collection of films from the annual festival held the third week of January in Nevada City, CA. Now in its 11th year, Wild & Scenic focuses on films that speak to the environmental concerns and celebrations of our planet. “Films featured at Wild & Scenic give people a sense of place,” says Tour Manager, Lori Van Laanen. “In our busy lives, it’s easy to get disconnected from our role in the global ecosystem. When we realize that the change we need in this world begins with us we can start making a difference. Come watch and see!”
This year’s selections in Waimea combine stellar filmmaking, beautiful cinematography, and first-rate storytelling to inform, inspire and ignite solutions for the environmental challenges that confront us locally (Saturday’s theme) and globally (Sunday’s theme).
Sunday, April 7

Tree Care Workshop

Kekaha Community Garden, $5 donation, 3 to 6 p.m.
Kekaha Community Garden is hosting a tree care workshop. Instructor Rich Teter, owner of Kauai Tree Care, has over 14 years of experience on Kauai, and is an expert on tree care, pruning, shaping and maintaining healthy trees.
Workshop Covers:

• Selecting a Healthy Tree
• Tree placement
• Tree Planting
• The Importance of Mulch
• Tree Watering
• Keys to Good Tree Pruning
• Annual Tree Pruning Steps from Planting to Maturity
• How to Identify Pest and Disease Problems

Suggested Donation is $5 minimum for non-members. Donations help support the garden’s efforts to bring professional organic gardeners/farmers from around the island to share their expertise with west-side residents. Beyond growing food, KCG is a community resource and training center.
Reservations are required, email kekahagarden@gmail.com or call 651-5197.
Tuesday, April 9

Webcast: UC Global Food Systems Forum to address challenges of feeding the world

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The University of California, through its Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, will convene some of the world’s leading experts to address how to sustainably feed eight billion people by 2025.
The discussion will bring together people from a dynamic range of disciplines, including farmers, researchers, policymakers, economists, environmentalists and geopolitical experts and we invite you to view the event live by webcast and to join the conversation at #Food2025.
The Global Food Systems Forum will feature two moderated panels and keynote addresses by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and president of the Mary Robinson Foundation — Climate Justice, and Wes Jackson, founder and president of The Land Institute.
Michael Specter, global issues writer for The New Yorker magazine, will moderate the first panel, which will focus on the geopolitical, ethical, economic, environmental and technical challenges facing food systems from a global perspective. Award-winning author and journalist Mark Arax will moderate the second panel, which will address the implications, responsibilities and innovative opportunities from a California perspective.
Click here for the full list of Global Food Systems Forum 2013 panelists.
“As a public research university, we’re a recognized leader in tackling the world’s toughest challenges,” said Barbara Allen-Diaz, UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources. “Building on our expertise in agriculture and finding practical, science-based solutions, it falls to us to convene these sorts of conversations and look far beyond the borders of our campuses. Only through discussions of this nature will people find the common ground to move the world forward on what is a compelling, complex and crucial issue.”
Saturday, April 13

18th Annual Garden Fair

Kauai Community College, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., free
On Saturday morning the Kauai Community College front lawn will spring to life with gardeners, suppliers, garden lovers and consumers there to shop the wide variety of plants, landscape products and equipment, and to find out the latest gardening information and tips. Hosted by Kauai County Farm Bureau and University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources (CTAHR), the annual Kauai Garden Fair is one of the largest gatherings of green thumbs on Kauai and a great way to share the bounty of the island firsthand. Look for:

• Special All Day Farmers Market
• All Day Garden Talks and Demonstrations
• Educational, Government & Non-profit Resources for Your Farm or Home Garden
• Keiki Activities by 4-H and School Gardens
• Ono Local Foods & Plate Lunches all Day

For more information, visit the Kauai Garden Fair website.

Local musicians at Waipa’s Kalo Festival will return this April. Daniel Lane photo

Waipa Music Festival

10 a.m. to 5 p.m., adults $10, keiki 14 and under $1
Join Waipa at the beautiful Halulu Fishpond, along Hanalei Bay, for the first Waipa Music Festival. Relax and enjoy home grown live music, educational displays and demonstrations, hands-on activities, arts & crafts and, of course, amazing food from local chefs. This event is for construction of the Waipa Community Kitchen, Poi Mill & Hale Imu. The Waipa Foundation is a living learning center focused on taking care of our natural resources, practicing Hawaiian culture and values, and inspiring healthy keiki and community.
Sunday, April 14

Nutrition & Health Lecture

Healthy Hut, 5:30 to 6:30, free
Healthy Hut will be offering a free lecture with tea and a light snack for attendees.
Lyle Robinson, a local resident and licensed naturopathic physician, will be speaking on nutrition and health. Robinson believes in, “letting food be thy medicine.” She treats her patients by first looking at their diet and seeing where improvements can be made to mitigate health problems. “Looking at people’s nutritional status is always a good place to start,” she says.

First course on a previous tour. Grilled eggplant with Lebanese dressing and marinated tomatoes. Daniel Lane photo

A Culinary Romp Through Paradise

Various locations in Kapaa, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., $130
Tasting Kauai’s Culinary Tour offers an intimate glimpse into the Garden Island’s culinary scene. We start with a farm tour and learn about exotic fruit grown on Kauai. At the Kauai Marriott Resort, we join executive chef Guy Higa for an outdoor cooking demonstration and gourmet, four-course lunch made with Kauai grown ingredients. Our last stop is at Nani Moon Mead, where we’ll get an exclusive tour of Hawaii’s only meadery, and sample all five honey wines in the Nani Moon Mead collection. Ticket price includes a bottle of mead. You can read what LandingStanding said about this tour, or visit our Kauai Culinary Tours page. We have a Facebook photo album that shows how much fun the tour is, and our 5-Star TripAdvisor reviews. Chef Higa donates proceeds from his portion of the tour to the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen. For a complete list of 2013 dates, check out our Kauai Culinary Tours Calendar. Call 808-635-0257 to make a reservation.

Elvrine Chow of Heavenly Hakus. Daniel Lane photo

Talk Story with Kauai lei-maker Elvrine Chow

Kauai Museum, 10:30 a.m., $10 (museum members free)
Kauai lei-maker Elvrine Chow, who specializes in haku leis that are worn around the forehead, will talk story about her love of leis and why she still enjoys making leis 30 years after she was introduced to the art, Saturday April 20 from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Kauai Museum. After her talk, Chow will give teach the audience how to make a haku lei.
Chow, who sells haku leis at the Kauai Community Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, is often greeted by visitors who tell her that she is the only person they have met who makes leis. “I meet the most amazing people from all over the world. Sometimes there are three or four languages being spoken under my tent at Farmers Market,” she says.
The conversation will be facilitated by Pamela Varma Brown, author of the book Kauai Stories: Life on the Garden Island told by Kauai’s People, a collection of 50 inspiring, touching and humorous stories about island life, available for purchase at the museum.
This talk story event is part of the Kauai Museum’s ongoing “Author Series,” highlighting talented local writers, said Melisa Paterson, the museum’s public relations specialist.
For more information, please call Kauai Museum at 245-6931.

Biochar Workshop

Kauai Nursery & Landscaping, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., free
Learn how to build and use a small biochar maker, as well as how biochar improves gardening and potting soil.

Explore in the Hanalei Valley where endangered birds flourish. Marta Lane photo

A Taste of Old Kauai

Waipa, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., $155
Tasting Kauai’s north shore tour is part agritourism and part ecotourism. We visit Waipa, one of 67 watersheds homesteaded by the first Polynesians, which remains undeveloped. This one-of-a-kind experience was designed by Tasting Kauai and the Waipa Foundation especially for those who wish to learn about traditional agriculture systems, endangered wildlife, and enjoy real Hawaiian food saturated in Kauai’s rugged beauty.
Tucked in a valley and surrounded by towering mountain ranges, our guests learn about Hawaii’s culture and food. Waipa is nestled in the Hanalei Valley which is an is a Wildlife Refuge and endangered birds flourish here. We explore a vast loi (taro garden) fed by auwai, or irrigation system, that supplies water from mountain streams.

Lunch is enjoyed on Hanalei Bay. Marta Lane photo

Next generation farmer, Sky Roversi-Deal. Daniel Lane photo

North Country Farms

Garden Workshop, 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., $40 per person
“Want to get serious about growing food and eating off the land?” Asks Sky Roversi-Deal, of North Country Farms. “Of course you do, and so do we! But in order for our island’s nascent locally-based food movement to survive and thrive, we need to do more than just eat local vegetables, greens, and fruit, while importing beans, rice, and flour from out of state. Every culture has its “staple crops,” those dense plant foods like rice, bread, poi, and beans, rich in the carbohydrates that give us the energy to work and play and the proteins to build strong bodies and recover from injury. In conjunction with lots of fresh vegetables, fruit, meats, dairy, and seafoods, these foods are core components of a real and balanced diet, and need to be a significant part of our local food system as well.
“Whether you have acres of property or just a tiny backyard, years of garden experience or none at all, anyone can grow some of their own staples for food security, resilience, community building, profit, and pleasure. So come on over to North Country Farms and let Farmer Sky show you how. Sky has spent the past several years enthusiastically acquiring seed and plant stocks and learning to grow a number of staple crops through hands-on experience. Attendees will also receive some free, organically grown planting material and seeds to get started!”
 
Topics include:

• 

  North Country Farms. Daniel Lane photo

  
  Introduction to a select few tropical starchy root crops and pulses from around the world–all crops that North Country Farms has grown for years with great success and can highly recommend as easy-to-grow, nutritious, and tasty
• How to propagate and grow these versatile, nutritious staples, with an emphasis on simple, low-input, labor-saving methods
• Harvesting, preparing, and eating, with guidelines and recipe ideas

Advance registration with prepayment is required. To register, email Sky at alwaysbringyourtowel@gmail.com, and send a money order or check payable to Sky Roversi-Deal to P.O. Box 723, Kilauea, HI 96754. You will receive a confirmation and directions to the farm. “Please bring a sunhat and a water bottle and leave the pets at home,” advises Sky. “We look forward to having you join us!”
 
Monday, April 29

The Power of the Indigenous: Native Success in Education and in Life

This event takes place in Honolulu, but I thought I’d post it because there is a lot of interest in this subject. Indigenous Educators, Ku-A-Kanaka and the Native American Alliance for Charter Schools (NAACS) presents The Power of the Indigenous: Native Success in Education and in Life, at the Hawaii Convention Center, in conjunction with Pacific Rim 2013 International Conference on Disabilities and Diversity.
This one-day Indigenous Education Institute brings together Hawaiian-focused and Native American Charter School leaders, as well as other global Indigenous educators to share Best Practices in Indigenous Education.
Topics include:

• Native Values Inform Modern Instruction
• Pedagogy of Place Drives 21st Century Curriculum
• Traditional Practices Shape Modern Assessments
• Local Communities Impart Global Skills and Responsibility

Each of the four 90-minute exchanges will be moderated by a facilitator and involve four, 15-minute speaker presentations, followed by a 15-minute small group discussion on the same topic, with the final 15 minutes to be used for discussion summaries and comments from the audience.
For more information about the Institute, or other information re: PacRim 2013 visit http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu/pacriminfo/pacrim2013/specialevents/indigenous/, or call me at (808) 775-0867.
KU-A-KANAKA – Indigenous Institute for Culture and Language
P.O. Box 1764 Honokaa, Hawaii 96727
808-775-0867
Wednesday, May 1

Princess Cruise Grand Luncheon

11 a.m. to 2 p.m., $75
The Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kauai Community College invites you onboard The Grand Princess cruise ship where you’ll enjoy a elegant buffet luncheon, a fantastic tour of the ship, live music from Mark Rossi, and door prizes. All proceeds go towards the Kauai Community College Culinary Arts Student Scholarship.
There is no parking available at the dock. Shuttle services begin at 10 a.m., from the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center.
RSVP by April 16 by calling Karen Morita Lee at 808-245-0107.
ONGOING:

Daniel Lane photo

Entrepreneurial Apiary Workshop

Kauai Community College

• April 6,13,26,27
• May 3

Jimmy Trujillo offers four comprehensive classes beginning with an Introduction to Honey Harvest. Each class is $25. Register for all four classes at once and get the whole package for $75. Call 808-245-8318 for details.