I ordered a disk drive weeks ago and waited and waited while it was on backorder. One of my systems here was having disk problems so I finally just went to COSTCO and got a disk and fixed my problem. The next day my drive showed up. I knew that might happen, but needed to fox the problem before I could not access anything anymore.

It is still tropical here, but being up at the 1,000 foot altitude, it does get a bit cool at night. So cool that I whimped out and ordered an electric blanket. It is due any day now.

Another order I have placed is to http://WWW.FON.COM which is an organization wanting to put lots of wireless access points around the world. While not non-profit, it is still an interesting idea. I have to admit that you are on the leading (or bleeding edge) of this. There appears to be somewhat limited documentation and router shipments were slow, but the group got totally swamped with people wanting to join up, so most of us just sat back and waited. Things seem to have streamlined a bit now.

I attended a plant sale called Pua Plantasia and manned the Kona Coffee Farmers Association booth, selling coffee and talking about our organization which supports farmers and not the big processors and blenders.

Speaking of blends, we are trying to educate the public to be very careful to read the labels of any Kona Coffee they buy. Kona coffee is a product of perhaps 600 small to medium farms. We don't "blend" coffee from farms together. What the public finds in stores is generally a 10% Kona Blend which turns out to be 10% Kona and 90% foreign coffee. The funny thing is that people think they are saving money by buying a Kona blend. So they pay $8 a pound for 10% Kona when 3 times that price would give them 100%. They could then create their own blend and still save money! I personally don't think anyone can taste 1 bean out of 10 being Kona and suggest everyone buy 100% Kona if you want any Kona at all.

It really has turned sunny today and now I need to decide what I want to do outside. One thing is I'll trim a few trees which kept blowing against the house in the wind yesterday.

Finally, I'll stop by the post office to see what the mail has brought!

We have had road closures and high water. We also have had thunder, lightning, wind and hail. Yes, HAIL!

Because we are in the middle of the Pacific and surrounded by a giant warm water "heat sink" that keeps our temperatures constant. Our daytime and nighttime temperatures vary by just a few degrees a week, if that. Thus, it is rare that a cold front comes along, mixes with the warm air and causes lightning and thunder. When we do get a light show, people here are fascinated.

Today the Big Island got hail and high winds. A neighbor called and asked if she could borrow my chain saw. It seems that high winds had ripped down a number of large avocado trees and were now blocking her driveway. I grabbed my two chainsaws and headed over. There were a number of trees down and avocados and banannas littered the driveway. Some coffee trees were also broken.

Hours later the driveway was clear and I headed home to work on the Kona Coffee Farmers website. I am hoping that the membership section will be completed this weekend; although people have been signing up dispite the notation that we prefer them to wait until we are done!

I had a farm tour the other day and spoke with an expert on water catchment systems. I soon will have up to 80,000 gallons worth of tanks and water here for crops.

In a related development, I had people come and cut down "trash" or garbage trees on my property. These were left over from the previous owner not keeping the land in good shape. Although my property now looks like a tornado hit it, at least I didn't have to put up with the bad weather :-)

A neighbor raises Labrador Retrievers and wanted to be able to put up photos of them and then offer them for sale. Although it seems kinda weird, we added a new category on her website and now besides buying coffee, she is selling puppies! :-)

Until next time....

Two bodies have been found, a man and a woman. They appear to have been swept away by the wall of water when the dam broke.

Although search and rescue crews and the Coast Guard scoured the area, no other bodies have been found. The search was called off.

A flash flood warning is still posted for the island. The Govenor issued an emergency proclamation, thus allowing officials to inspect all dams on the island. Many of them are on private land, thus this allows instant access without having to officially notify people there would be trespassers. In this case I cannot imagine anyone objecting, but the proclamation made it official.

Many of the dams on the island have been partially drained. At least on dam is still in danger of collapsing.

The missing appear to have been gathered at a house, which was in the way of the flood. A member of the ohana (family) issued a statement to the press. I think it speaks for itself and shows the way people handle grief out here. It is a well written and touching statement.

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Fehring Family Releases Statement - The Fehring family has several members missing. The family released a statement to the media on Friday:

"On behalf of the Fehring Ohana, I wish to extend our heartfelt sympathy to the families and friends of those who were staying at our home on Wailapa Road in Kilauea, and who were, along with three members of our immediate family, apparently swept away by the massive wall of water, which resulted from the failure of the Ka Loko Reservoir dam. While our personal loss from this horrific event is devastating, we recognize that it is no greater a tragedy than others are experiencing at this time. We extend our sincere mahalo to those who have surrounded us with their blessings, support and understanding. We especially appreciate the diligence and determination of all those who continue to search for the missing, and the kind assistance of the personnel at Kauai Hospice, for which we will be forever grateful.

This will be our only public announcement, and we ask for the cooperation of all in respecting our privacy at this time and during the trying weeks and months ahead.

Mahalo nui loa, Bruce Fehring"

Timber! It brings forward the thoughts of trees falling down, and why not? Why the heck not?

I was up at a neighbors the other day and saw that she had some workers cutting trees on her farm. The thought struck me. "I have trees I need to have cut", so I hired them to clear out the trash trees on my property. As you remember, I have a guy from Texas helping when he has time, but needed to move forward.

So they came, and in 3 days, were able to cut the rest of my trash trees. I called the USDA for an inspection. I have called a "dozer" guy (a man with a bulldozer) to give me a quote on leveling and prepaaring 5 acres for coffee.

Parts of my property look like a tornado hit it. Tall trees on the ground, in and amongst the macadamia nut trees. I need to get those trees cut and out of there, but many of the trunks may end up as mulch. The dozer guy will need to tell me the best way for him to proceed.

I have an Ebay sale going for some coffee and am packaging up bags for the Pua Plantasia (an experience sponsored by the OutDoor Circle) and we will be selling coffee while most everyone else sells plants.

On a sad note, the neighbor island of Kauai has had major problems because of the recent rains. One dam up near Princeville gave way early yesterday morning. A few houses were destroyed and debris washed out to sea. One person was found dead but it is feared that perhaps 5 or 6 others may have been washed downhill or out to sea. Reports were that there was a 50 foot wall of water than came when the dam broke!

The water crossed the road and it has been closed pending Civil Engineers inspections. Guard rails were gone and it is feared that the road structure has been compromised and it is dangerous. This is the only way to Hanalei and people will be missing flights off the island and many people up there have no water.

In the photos of the roadway, I recognize the areas shown. That is what happens when you visit a place often and that place is rather small. You look at a photo and say "I know right where that is". Even more troubling is that my friends used to live a couple of miles from where the dam was.

Now, to compound the problems on Kauai, a dam at the south end of the island is now feared to be close to collapsing, at least they have warning and can prepare for a disaster.

While this is not a major event such as New Orleans, the size of the island and the closeness of the people, makes this a very difficult time. Kauai's land areas is about 620 square miles and has only 61,000 people. That makes it about 94 people per square mile. Not very populous.

Most islands have a major road circling the island, and few or no alternative ways around. Even on the Big Island, we had the main road closed last night down south of here. To get around that outage would require perhaps a 4 hour detour or more.

I hope that someone finds the lost people over on Kauai, but I am not holding out hope. Kauai is a small and close-knit island. If these people had been off-island, neighbors would have known. If the people had taken shelter elsewhere, word would have gotten around quickly. Instead, the search goes on.

My Mom was here for a nice visit. A friend and co-worker from the salt mines in Atlanta was here and gone. So were a few other friends.

As you might have read, a couple of large producers (businesses) decided that it made sense for them to bring in hundreds of new members to take over the Kona Coffee Council. They immediately stopped supporting some bills, which would require different criteria for calling Kona Coffee blends “Kona Coffee”. What a surprise since they all blend. So they brought in their own rubber-stamp group of Board members and began slowing down promoting 100% Kona Coffee. It is obvious why. Blenders take 10% Kona coffee, mix it with 90% foreign coffee, call it a “KONA blend” (rather than a Columbian blend with 10% Kona) and sell the 10% stuff for 1/3 the cost of 100% Kona. They complain that if they buy so much Kona (and it appears deceive the public so much to buy it) that if they are forced to put any more Kona in the bag, the Kona Coffee industry as we know it, will collapse in a cloud of dust!

A number of us farmers (and I use the term very loosely for myself) have started the Kona Coffee Farmers Association (KCFA) and will continue to fight for the small farmer and NOT for the big bad blenders. We support 100% Kona Coffee and not foreign products. We will continue to find ways for the public to identify the real thing. We have started a new website at http://KonaCoffeeFarmers.Org and will soon have downloadable membership applications and in just days should have online applications with credit card payments. We also will be adding more events we are involved in and much content about coffee and our farms, etc. I hope that you will bookmark the site and visit often.

To ensure that big bad companies cannot take us over, we have made some specific rules about who can become a voting member. They MUST be Kona Coffee Farmers who derive the majority of their coffee-related income from farming the land, NOT from processing coffee from others. Even then, we have limited proxies at times when members can vote. In an organization of some 250 members, it should not be allowed that one person brings in something like 135 new members and votes each proxy for them with a rubber-stamp! THAT is not representing the member’s wishes, but rather the wishes of that company. Boo on them and their gloating! They SAY they are for 100% Kona, but that also includes as little as 10% Kona in a larger bag!

So how does the public know what they are buying? The law says the coffee should be labeled properly. Just because the bag says KONA in big letters, it may be part of their company name. Look for words like “100% Kona Coffee” on the label, not some grand poo like I just saw on a bag “Roasted and packed in Kona”. THAT does not make it Kona Coffee. Also note the word BLEND on any label. Kona Farmers do NOT blend coffee from other farms into one bag, the same as you would not blend red and white wines together. Our group has a seal, which will soon start showing up on bags which ensures you are getting 100% Kona coffee. It is displayed on our website.

Here is an example of why you have to look for 100% Kona. The following is an actual Ebay ad that I attacked. They now use the word “Blend” in the ad because before they did not mention that it was not 100% Kona.

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You are bidding on an auction for one of the most delicious coffees found in the world... Hawaiian Kona Coffee!!

This coffee is known throughout the world for its delicious distinctive flavor. Grown high in the Mountains of Hawaii in the lush tropical climate, these coffee beans have been sun ripened, hand picked, expertly graded and roasted in small batches to insure the highest possible standard of quality.

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So what got was 10% Kona and 90% non-Kona coffee. Oh the 10% was grown here, but see how deceptive the ads can be?

So now how does their ad read?

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This auction is for a 2-pound sealed bag of [company deleted] Kona Whole Bean Coffee - Gourmet Blend. These Kona coffee beans are raised on the Hawaiian volcanic slopes of the island of Hawaii, in Kona. A product of the [deleted] Estate [company] Coffee Plantation - the largest coffee plantation located in Kona. This quality gourmet blend of the Hawaiian Gold Coffee Company is being brought to you at an unbelievable bargain price.

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Please note that this person selling the coffee is a candy company and not the company who makes the coffee. Although their own label has major issues too.

So this company is the largest in the state (so they say) and you are still led to believe that the coffee is all from Kona, which would be legal to call it 100% Kona, yet nowhere they make that actual claim. The coffee also sells for less than ½ the price that real Kona goes for…

So you see? You have to read between the lines, until we farmers can get accurate labeling. The current label laws allow people to slide by.

I have no problem with people blending Kona with other coffees for the cost-conscious consumer. However, call the product what it is, 90% Columbian (or African or whatever country) with 10% Kona. If you went to a store and bought something called “ground sirloin” you would be disheartened if you later found it really was “ground sirloin – contains 90% pork”.

Anyway, you see the problems the farmers have when large companies can squash the ability of the farmers to trademark “Kona Coffee” and then bend and manipulate the laws to sell what many of us consider swill.

So the fight goes on. Aren’t you sorry that you asked? J

As for my farm, I have had one guy cutting trees for the past few weeks, off and on, between his other jobs. Then I recently hired some workers from a neighbor’s farm. The husband and wife team are making a real effort to finish cutting down the trash trees on my farm. Soon the bulldozers will also appear to clean an area for 5 acres of coffee.

I started a few plants on Thanksgiving day, but the planted parchment was a bit too deep and got watered a bit too aggressively, and only 10% sprouted. The full crop of perhaps 3000 plants should fare lots better!

We had quite a bit of a drought going here for a few months, but the last few days have made up for some of the dry weather. Over on Oahu and Kauai they have been drenched; some places receiving 18 inches of rain over a 2 to 3 day period! We were not so unlucky because much of that rain did not have a chance to water crops before washing many of them away.

In any event, I’m still painting parts of the house and trying to make headway outside. The neighborhood was alive with Kona Snow (the white cherry blossoms on the coffee trees). The mac nut trees were in bloom too. Now the mangos are starting to form and on some trees are quite large. I cut down a banana hand and have been enjoying the fruit (technically a berry). I don’t know the variety but think it might be a ladyfinger variety. They are quite pleasant tasting and low acid.

As for other finds, I was at the store the other day and bought a fruit drink (contains 3% fruit) but still quite good. It is a calamansi which is marketed as a sweet lime. It tastes like a cross between a lime and a mandarin orange. Of course, the “sweet” part appears to be due to the sweetness added later in the production J Here is a link to WikiPedia and surprise, a can by the same manufacturer I have been drinking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... and the photo of the actual fruit shows a market’s name in Honolulu.

See what you learn when you stop on by?

Speaking on “stopping on by”, if you want to try a bit of 100% Kona coffee, stop on by http://itskona.com

Thanks and until next time….