Want to get a taste of Volcano-grown products and meet the new breed of entrepreneurs behind the budding agricultural businesses?
Want to get a taste of Volcano-grown products and meet the new breed of entrepreneurs behind the budding agricultural businesses?
Take the Volcano Farm to Table Tour on Jan. 14, 2017, to three different farm-based enterprises that will culminate in a delicious gourmet lunch featuring Big Island products.
Volcano’s cool, wet climate and deep volcanic soils have long made it a popular place for small-scale and niche agricultural products. Fruit trees, vegetable crops, flowers, goats and cattle are still a way of life for many in this small upland community. Newer crops such as grapes and tea are finding their place as well as developing a strong and expanding market.
The tour, sponsored by the nonprofit Volcano Community Foundation, will take participants to three working farms for one-on-one experiences. The first stop will be a tea farm with more than 300 tea plants nestled in a tranquil forest setting. A discussion about how the processing determines whether the tea is green, white, oolong or black will be followed by a tea and pastry tasting.
The second stop will be a flower farm that raises cut orchids that are shipped throughout the world. A greenhouse tour and a demonstration of the right way to separate and repot grown plants will be included.
At the third stop, a vegetable and berry farm, tour participants will be able to tromp through the greenhouses to see a variety of leafy greens, herbs and berries being raised for market and learn what it takes to put together and operate a family-operated farm.
After working up an appetite, participants will sit down to a simple gourmet lunch prepared by chef Audrey Wilson. Wilson, a cookbook author and Tribune-Herald food columnist, has taught cooking since 1974. She advocates using the freshest ingredients not only for health, but to offset the fact an astonishing 80 percent of the food most people in Hawaii eat is imported.
The tour begins with a 9:15 a.m. check-in at Kilauea Lodge. From there, participants will carpool to the various stops. Comfortable walking shoes (it could be a bit muddy) and a rain jacket are recommended. The fee for the event, including lunch, is $45 with advance registration required.
Funds raised from this event support a scholarship that is awarded each year to an outstanding high school senior from Volcano.
To reserve a space, contact volcanocommunity@gmail.com or call 967-7366. Reservations will be confirmed when payment is received.