Dear Friends and Fellow Gardeners,

Barbara and I just returned from a short vacation to the Hawaiian Island of Kauai. I have always been reluctant to visit Hawaii because of a mass of tourists, and all its entrapments. However, Barbara assured me that I would love Kauai because of its incredible plant diversity, hiking trails and remote beaches. She was right. The plant life, the waterfalls, the beaches, and fantastic views when hiking the ridges of this mountainous island were indeed incredibly beautiful. We spent most of our time around the north end of the island on the Napali coastline and Hanalei Bay.

At Hanalei I was surprised to see a few young people imitating 60's and 70's folks with the long hair, dread locks, beards, tyedyes, and long flowing dresses. We were a little surprised to see pot being smoked in public. Although this was probably an isolated incident, they sure were casual about it. First time in years I was addressed as "Bro".

Strawberry and Lemon Guavas were everywhere and the hiking trails were littered with fallen fruit and, although a bit seedy, ripe ones were a real treat.

Another surprise on Kauai were the Farmers Markets. The markets run six days a week in different locations on the island. Barbara and I made it to five of them. We bought, cooked, and ate fruits and vegetables such as breadfruit, long beans, onions, star fruit, apple bananas, pineapple, various Asian veggies, guavas, avocados, atemoyas, tomatoes, miscellaneous greens and lettuce, egg fruit, purple-fleshed sweet potatoes, the best papayas I have ever eaten, and flowers, flowers, flowers; mostly different types of ginger Barbara couldn't resist. Although not allowed to sell fresh fish(what a shame), live fish were being sold out of a tank, I am almost sure they were Talapia (a perch) .

According to Yvonne Ruiz, one of the market sellers and managers, the Markets have been running for the last 10-15 years with the majority of the produce grown by local backyard farmers. It is so popular that people line up at the entrance (at some of the markets no one is allowed in until the bell is rung) and rush to buy the choice fruits and veggies from some 25 to 40 vendors. The buying frenzy is usually over within 20-25 minutes. The prices are considerably cheaper and the produce is of higher quality than the supermarkets. It appeared to us that many of the farmers were Filipino, with Hawaiian and Japanese as well. As we got more savvy to local customs, we learned that most locals showed up a half hour before the markets officially began and picked out the produce they wanted, with the vendors setting aside those selections. When the sale began, those same people then paid for the produce. The vendors would not accept payment until the bell rang.

Rain almost every night, temperature in the mid 80's, rich volcanic soil, verdant green and flowering plants everywhere, beautiful waterfalls Ñ no wonder they call this the Garden Island. What was really incredible was the brilliant red soil. We were amazed that such abundant plant life could spring from such acidic soil. The residents have capitalized on the soil by selling tee shirts dyed in it!

Although we thoroughly enjoyed our adventure to Kauai, we were still happy to return to our home and garden.