Aloha on-line customers:

We want to thank all of you for your continued support and kindness.  Can you believe, we have been operating for an entire year!  Thanks to all of you, we made it happen. It’s been a journey of meeting new people, sharing experiences and having fun.  However, we know we can get better and we need to ‘kick it up a notch’.  So, we’ve decided to take a little break, re-group and implement some changes.

Our next market will be on Saturday, September 18th.  We are going to change the location to the quarry site off of Kalanianaole Hwy., the lot in back of the “Yellow Shrimp Truck” that fronts the highway.  We realize it’s off the road, but we may be able to get more foot traffic from tourists and - hopefully - the Kupuna Housing.  There will be other crafters and vendors selling their products around us so it will create a real ‘market place’ atmosphere.  We will purchase more signs and banners to enhance our visibility from the road.

We will be going over our products for sale and see if we can change a few and add a few.  We welcome any suggestions from you, our most valued customers.

We look forward to starting a new year with renewed enthusiasm and new programs to promote a healthy and happy community that supports our local economy.

Mahalo Nui Loa for your continued support -
The Volunteers of the Waimanalo Market

Aunty Kim says she has some mango and lilikoi for sale - she may even make some lilikoi butter!  If interested, please email me at kehau@waimanalomarket.com and we’ll save some for you.  If not, come early and check it out!

See you at the market!

We will have 10 Hawaiian chili pepper plants for sale at $4.00 each.  As an extra added bonus we’ve got free chili peppers for you to make your favorite chili pepper water, sauces, jams and jellies.   See you at this market this Saturday. 

Chili Pepper Plants for sale

This week we had some awesome new products to introduce to our customers!  Check it out:

Hawaii’s Finest Smoked Meat

(Pua`a Kaula - Pork)

All-Natural Kiawe Smoked Meat (USDA  Approved Pork).  Smoked right here in Waimanalo in a certified kitchen for a minimum of three hours with aged kiawe wood in a specially designed brick oven.  Vacuum packed to seal in freshness and preserve the kiawe smoked taste.  Try it with our fresh veggies (choi sum, bok choi, tat soi, kale) or just by itself for a great pupu!

A One-pound bag for $9.45 available on our website and ready for you to pick-up at our next Market Day.

Also:

Fresh Baked Goods from Lia Bettag

Lia is from the Saddle City Road area and has lived in Waimanalo for the past 6 months.  We are blessed to have such a great baker in our midst.  Her baked goods are made with all natural products and lots of love.  My personal recommendation is the zucchini bread with almonds or pecans.  The peanut butter balls are to die for and her cookies, WOW.

Please check the website to pre-order your freshly baked products to take home on market day.

WELCOME to all of our new members that joined our co-op this past Sunday.  Due to the tsunami alert our market was postponed until Sunday.  Mahalo to all for your understanding.   Our next market day is March 13th.  Happy Shopping!

Aloha Kakou:

Our last ‘market day’ was a true success.  We sold out of our entire stock!  It was very encouraging.  Thanks to the Boy Scouts’ breakfast  and a White Elephant sale at Waimanalo school - the area was buzzing with activity.

Now that our new-comers know who we are and what we sell, we invite you to put your order in on-line.  We are a “virtual” farmer’s market - no need to go early in the morning before everything sells out - just place your order and pick it up at your leisure - before 1:30 p.m.

We are here to serve you, the customer, so please let us know if there is any product that you are not satisfied with. Although we try to get the best and freshest quality, we understand that sometimes that is not possible; in that case a refund is in order.  Communication is important in any relationship and we are open to suggestions and revisions.

Please consider becoming a member of our co-op and being part-owner in our market.  As an owner - you can make this market what you want it to be!  Membership is only $10.00 and we welcome everyone.  For now, please email kehau@waimanalomarket.com to become a member.   We are working on adding a “membership” page to this website where you can join and pay for your membership on-line.

See you at the next market!

Aloha Kakou:

We will be taking a few weeks to concentrate on our cooperative and doing some strategic planning to take us forward.  With the beginning of the new year we want to keep the momentum going by building our membership and incorporating the youth into our business venture.  We will be offering opportunities for youth to volunteer at the market and learn the basics of running a business.

Additionally, we learned that some of our farmers have a very limited supply of products due to the cold weather.  This past market, it was difficult obtaining all of the produce that was ordered, so we decided it best to use the time wisely and concentrate on the other business matters of Waimanalo Market.

Co-op members - don’t forget our annual membership meeting that will be held at the Waimanalo Health Center’s Goebert Hall - This Thursday, January 21st at 6:00 P.M.

Mahalo for your understanding - and we’ll see you at the market on February 13th.

Mahalo to Keoni Wilhelm and Lynn Vasconcellos for helping us obtain the use of Waimanalo School for 2010.  We appreciate your kokua to the market and thank the Department of Education for the use of their land.

As we continue to pursue the access to other land, preferrably - Bellows - we are thankful for the opportunity to use the Waimanalo School grounds for our market in the interim.

Let’s start the year off with a bang!  We look forward to having our first market on Saturday, January 16th.  The specific location is yet to be announced.  We have not obtained proper permission to use the Waimanalo School grounds again but hopefully there will be no problem continuing to use that space.  We will let you know as soon as permission is granted.

We continue to advocate for the use of the land in front of the Bellow’s AFB gate.  In my last conversation with Captain Pelzl he seemed to think that obtaining our non-profit status would help a great deal in having our request granted.

As a priority and a goal this year - we need to secure a permanent place for our market.  We would appreciate any help in attaining our goal as we work toward furthering our commitment to buying local, living healthy and giving back to our community.

On January 21st we will hold our first annual membership meeting.  At the meeting we will be ratifying the amended Articles of Incorporation so that, hopefully, we will be considered a non-profit cooperative.  As we are mission driven, it seems logical that we should be a non-profit.  We also will be electing a Board of Directors to guide our co-op forward.  If you would like to become a member of the co-op please send an email to kehau@waimanalomarket.com

We look forward to seeing you at the market.  Please consider putting your orders in early so that you can be assured your order will be filled.

Mahalo Nui Loa for your continued support!

LAST MARKET DAY OF THE YEAR!

COME GET YOUR FRESH PRODUCE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Radishes from Mr. Otsuji's Farm

Place your orders early to insure that we will have everything you want.  What about dried aku for your family and friends on the mainland?  Or lots of fresh butter lettuce for your salads?

If you would like fish, please put your order in early so that we can have an idea of the quantities to seek the best price.

We appreciate the support that all of you have given us throughout the year.  We look forward to 2010 :  receiving our non-profit status, launching our youth micro-enterprise program, growing our virtual market and obtaining the land that we will need to put up our very own WAIMANALO MARKET!

Please join us for the last maket day of the year - we will have lots of free goodies to eat and of course the freshest produce from our farmers to you.

Lance Kaanoi better known as Jr. Boi the poi man.

Jr. Boi gets his taro from local farmers and does all the hard work for us before filling it into 1 pound tubs for our eating pleasure.  He also gets fresh fish from the local fishermen to prepare awesome poke and dried aku.

He is an extremely resourceful individual as I found out when recently visiting his home off Nakini Street.  His backyard is filled with banana trees, noni and chickens - free range hens that lay beautiful eggs.  His chickens love to eat noni and they are fed flax seed (omega 3 source) assorted grains, fruits and vegetables.

Jr. Boi has made his products available to our market and they have been added to the website for sale.

As an extra added bonus - he will sell you chicks if you wish to have your own fresh eggs!!

See our website for the new products.