Art of Trash

"What is this?"

"What is it made out of?" 

"Wow, this is really strange!"

"I would never have thought of that!"

These are the types of comments people make while walking around the Art of Trash exhibit. 

There is sometimes the squeal of recognition as someone figures out what a piece has been made out of, or what it was in a former life. 

Here are a few pieces that caught my eye. I'll be posting more detailed notes on additional pieces in a follow up post.

Elisa Leiahola's lampshade made of water bottle caps and white ribbon. 

Kony Activism Continues

The pillbox mural near Ho'okipa recently got updated, around Earth Day... "One Love" is gone and the stop Kony campaign is back. 

The pillbox near Ho'okipa is a fascinating venue for mural artists or just anyone who has something to share, and has enough paint. I imagine that people climb over the fence and do stealth painting at night? In broad daylight? Or maybe in the wee early morning hours?  Anyhow, this structure is frequently repainted, so keep your eyes open anytime you drive along the Hana Highway between Ho'okipa and Haiku. 

Even in Kihei, I recently spotted this Kony poster.

Kupu Maui and Foodie Envy

I couldn't resist writing a few thoughts about the Kupu Maui feast at Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm this past Saturday.  The feast looked sumptuous and the location is exquisite.  I think I am suffering from foodie envy.


Foodie envy is when there are so many yummy foodie events on Maui that there's no way to possibly go to all of them, especially when they are scheduled at the same time. Foodie envy is when there are great new restaurants, events, festivals celebrating local produce, potlucks, and incredible farm and school garden tours.  Foodie envy has to do with living vicariously and wanting to experience all the flavors of Maui.  It's like stepping off the airplane for the first time to Maui and wanting to sample every activity from every colorful brochure dangling off the airplane rack. Trouble is, if you try to do everything, you wind up exhausted and needing a real vacation.


Kupu Maui is a new endeavor, launching a series of Third Saturday feasts at different farms and scenic venues around Maui. It sounds fantastic. Mahalo to Erik Blair for making a great video!  I love it when other people take videos.









In true foodie envy spirit,
1. I didn't even go to the inaugural feast at Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm, but know several people who attended and got to experience the event vicariously through their videos and pictures. Check out a great post on Kupu Maui by Maui Shop Girl. Her pictures make everything look so ONO (yummy).


2. The Kupu Maui feast was also the same day as the East Maui Taro Festival, another major foodie event.


How many potlucks and food events are there on Maui?


Can anyone count them?


Here's a short list of some monthly, or regularly scheduled, foodie events:


Maui Farmer's Union has an amazing potluck the 4th Tuesday night of each month in Pukalani. Remember, these are farmers and gardeners, so they are also very good cooks. The potluck itself often features more unusual Maui produce like jabocati fruits or different varieties of taro (most that you haven't seen before), chayote, or breadfruit. The potluck itself is free if you bring a dish to share - otherwise it's $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers. Also, bring your own dish and cutlery to help make it easier on the clean up crew.


Slow Food Maui has a foodie Taste Education event the 4th Wednesday of each month in Kahului at the Maui Culinary Academy. The event is $15 for members, and $20 for nonmembers.


Whole Foods Market frequently has food education events and tastings, like their current Celebrity Chef series running the last Monday of the month through June. (Ok, that's the 3rd food event at the end of the month - why is that?)


Down to Earth vegetarian health food store in Kahului is now offering free cooking classes every Tuesday night at 5:30 pm.


Anne Gachuhi's Home Gardening Support Network often includes garden or farm tours with a catered meal.


Grow Some Good is a school garden project based in South Kihei, and they are working with local chefs to create garden to table events.


Temple of Peace has a darshan (chanting) and vegetarian potluck Tuesday nights in Haiku. On Sundays, after their church service, they have another potluck. These are free to the public.


SacredEarth Assembly in Haiku also hosts various community events and festivals.  Some of them are free and some of them are by donation. Often a vegetarian potluck is part of the festivities.


Upcountry Farm Tours is all about food too - although it's a full day farm tour rather than an event you'd go to each month (although you'd certainly be welcome to go every month).


Surfing Goat Dairy also has dairy tours and tastings. 


Maui Happy Hour Club is a social group open to newcomers, and holds happy hours at different restaurants and bars around the island. While not truly a foodie event, sometimes there is really good food available - it just depends where the group is meeting.  Sometimes, it's just about the beer.


I think there should be a guide who organizes a monthly foodie calendar for the rest of us!


This list does not even include festivals or privately held potlucks, such as snorkeling groups or private film screenings... so the longer you are on Maui, the more food events there are. The last couple of years have seen an EXPLOSION of food related events... They just keep growing, kind of like a garden that gets plenty of rain and sunshine. If you are not the only one suffering from foodie envy, or wanting to taste everything wherever it is, well, you're in the right place.

Maui Farmer's Union - Breadfruit Talk

Evan Ryan gave a great talk on breadfruit last month at the Maui Farmer's Union.  The video below is pretty amateur and shaky, but the information is worthwhile. 

Some highlights from Evan's talk:

A single ulu (Hawaiian for breadfruit) tree can last decades and can produce 100-200 fruits/year up to 700/fruits a year (the right variety growing in the right environment).

An average ulu is 3-4 pounds or up to 13 pounds.

• Can eat it green, hard and starchy like a potato. Cook and season it like a potato.
• Can eat it soft and mushy, and it’s sweet and custardy.
• Can put it whole into a fire and roast it.

Kahanu Gardens has about 120 varieties. There used to be 300+ varieties in the world. No one really knows how many there were.

Varieties are incredibly different in texture, taste, etc.

To grow breadfruit, find a tree that you like, whose breadfruit that you’ve eaten.

The main way is to get a root cutting. Often at the base of a breadfruit, there is a little keiki tree. Can pot it and get its root established and then plant in the ground. Or get 6-8 inches of root and plant in a pot.

There are some nurseries Evan mentions in the video.  Evan says he doesn’t want to name specific varieties, because he wants to encourage diversity.

The East Maui Taro Festival also will have information by Kahanu Gardens.

To get fruit, 3-8 years from an air-layered or root cutting OR 10+ years from a tree grown by seed

Breadfruit is high in nutrients and can dig deep in the soil.  

Breadfruit is also used for construction materials: buildings, canoes.

Does well in an agroforestry environment, with other trees.

Not the same as a breadnut, which is full of seeds.

Each breadfruit is a result of 1500+ flowers. 


ALSO, the Farmer's Union is meeting again tomorrow night in Pukalani. Potluck is free if you bring a dish to share. Please bring plate and cutlery to minimize cleanup. 


Here's the agenda:

Tavares Center Pool Room -Pukalani
Tuesday April 24th 6-9pm
Doors open now at 5:30pm
Dinner now at 6:00 pm, meeting begins at 7pm sharp!
  
         LocaVore Potluck:  Come and share the Maui abundance of what you prepare and grow!!! Bring a dish OR Dinner is $5 for Members, $10 for Non Members. Sign up as a member and dinner is on us!

  Schedule:

6:00pm-7:00pm   LocaVore Potluck
6:50pm-7:00pm   Evening Announcements ~ Vincent Mina   
7:00pm-7:10pm   Chefs Corner ~ Jana McMahon-Kahanu Aina Greens 
                          
7:10pm-7:20pm   Farmers Almanac ~ Harriette Witt

7:20pm-7:30pm   Produce Scoop ~Ryan Eareheart-Mango Madness
7:30pm-8:00pm   Lehua Vanderville- MFU "You are the event"8:00pm-8:10pm   Bill Greenleaf-Annual meeting
8:10pm-8:30pm   Seth Raabe- Our experience culturing and using IMO
8:30pm- 9pm       Networking
  
 
Produce Swap: Lets make it abundant!!!
Bring your home grown farm/garden produce, seeds or plant starts to share and swap with others. Place it on the table in the back when you arrive.

Earth Day Festival Schedule

This email is a public service announcement - from emails circulated by Mandala Ethnic Arts in Pa'ia, which has been organizing this year's Earth Day and many previous Earth Day celebrations. Text and photo has been copied and pasted from their announcement.  

Come out on Sunday! Let's co-create the most beautiful Maui Earth Day Festival ever!

Many of us cherish our memories of last year's Festival with so much of our community coming together in support of the vision for a life lived sustainably. How inspiring, nourishing and contagious it is when many of us come together in the spirit of caring for our mother Earth and one another in a co-creative, loving and joyful way. 

This year again many community members will be sharing their passion for a sustainable future by supporting organizations, projects and endeavors to protect and restore our natural resources.

At the magical venue of Ke'Opuolani Park many talented friends will be sharing their creative contributions to the community in the form of live music, dance, art, delicious healthy food and by sharing pertinent information. There will be more Keiki fun than ever including Pony rides, face painting, clowns and more. Bring your keiki, they are free.

The Earth Day Festival is created by volunteers. We would love you on the team. Regardless if you want to offer two, three or more hours on the day before, the day of or the day after, we are grateful for any additional help! The more helping hands we have, the more fun it is. Lisa is looking forward to finding the perfect spot for you.

Volunteers are still needed - contact www.mauiearthday.org.

With Love and Aloha
Bruce & Satya Douglas
Directors of the Maui Earth Day Festival  

9:45		Opening Ceremony-Pua-Anthony-Alalani
10:00		Anthony Natividad
10:45		MaBliss & Spirit Tribe
11:45		Hula Alapai L Maluuluolele
11:00		Sundance
11:35		Exergy 35 Chinese Dance
11:45		Crazy Fingers
12:15		Tahitian Zumba
12:30		Diane Patterson
1:00		Dreaming Bear
1:15		Trouble Makers
2:00		Free Radicals Project
2:45		Divino & Friends
3:30		Youssoupha Sidibe & Charles Neville (of Neville Brothers)
4:10		Sacred Earth Belly Dance
4:20		Maui Underground
5:00		Rich Stillwell
5:30		Jaiia Earthschild
5:45		Nicholas Eyeris
		DOME STAGE (subject to change)
10:00		Kirtan: Satya Om & Ken Sandin
11:00		Rev Kedar & Temple of Peace
12:00		Maui Keiki Kittens
12:20		Keiki Dance Club
12:45		Kalama 8th Grade Ukulele Band
1:15		Koa & Cheyenne
1:45		John Dillon
2:15		Jocelyn Rainbow
2:50		Beloved & Pure Love
3:30		Alexa Sunshine Rose
4:10		Radha Divine
4:40		Harmonic Resonance-Gerit Williams
5:05		Drum and Dance of Passion
5:20		Hummingbird & Earth Song Trinity
5:45		Shoshana B

		ORGANIZATIONS (partial list)
		AHCC / Human Rights Commission
		Assoc. of Maui Intentional Communities
		Bonnie Marsh, ND
		Center for Cultural Interchange
		Chemtrail/Geoengineering Symposium
		Clean Water Information
		Doorway into Light
		Dolphriends.com
		Eco Structures
		GMO-Free Maui
		Green Party HI
		Hospice Maui
		Jungle to Jungle
		Maui Bokashi
		Maui Aloha Aina
		Maui Chem Trail Awareness
		Maui Clean Air Coalition
		Maui Garden Providers
		Maui Humane Society
		Maui Soil & Water Conservation Districts
		OWS Maui
		Ocean Song Ministries
		Pacific Whale Foundation
		Pacifica Indigenous Grandmothers Council
		Pulxaneeks' Fund Raiser
		ROOTS School
		Smart Meters Maui
		Temple of Peace
		Upcountry Sustainability
		FOOD BOOTHS (partial list)
		Alexa Sunshine Rose
		Badua Catering
		Da Local Banana