Medicinal Plants from the Garden—Lemongrass: A Hawai‘i Island Garden Staple
By Brittany P. Anderson Bowls of creamy red curry teeming with chunks of kabocha squash, eggplant, and green beans quickly leave the kitchen. The cook expertly ladles from an oversized pot, choosing the perfect amount of vegetables and broth while…
Local Food: This Is Tasty! A Recipe for Furikake
By Brittany P. Anderson “Like furikake onda rice?” the question comes over the poke counter. The patron hesitates and looks around quizzically. “Say, ‘yes’,” the local man behind him encourages. Furikake may be Hawai‘i Islandʻs favorite condiment. The basic formula…
Medicinal Plants from the Garden – Calendula: An Herb for Wise Women
By Brittany P. Anderson The midwife holds a clear bag of dried herbs over a large box. The box is filled with supplies in preparation for the impending birth. She explains each item contained within the homebirth kit to the…
Local Food: Magic of Mushrooms, and a Recipe for Mushroom Toast
By Brittany P. Anderson A newly fallen tree haphazardly leans against another, joining its fallen brethren to succumb to the weather and rot. The elder tree lays quietly adorned with rounded shelves of golden orange. These brightly colored frills are…
Medicinal Plants from the Garden: Tulsi, the Queen of Herbs
By Brittany P. Anderson “Ooh, what is this? Is it mint or basil or?” a farm visitor asks after brushing against the mystery herb. “That’s tulsi, holy basil,” I exclaim while rustling the leaves again, sending the perfumey aroma into…
Local Food: Keiki in the Kitchen, and a Recipe for Frozen Yogurt Banana Bites
By Brittany P. Anderson The high-pitched squeals of three enthusiastic little voices filled the kitchen. Three little boys had just come in from the garden, their pockets full of random ripe vegetables they picked—a few golden cherry tomatoes, a red…
Local Food: The Ono Hua Moa (The Delicious Chicken Egg) and a Recipe for Dutch Baby
By Brittany P. Anderson A clamor of loud cackles and squawking erupts from the pasture. The flock of egg-laying hens continue their vocal display for the next 15 minutes letting everyone know that an egg has been laid. Just as…
Medicinal Plants from the Garden: Unlock the Healing and Cleansing Power of Lemon
By Brittany P. Anderson A young boy reaches his hand into a branch of shiny green foliage, palming a bright yellow, slightly oblong fruit. The tree sways as he tugs to release the object of his desire. Bringing his hand…
Medicinal Plants from the Garden: The Comfort of Comfrey
By Brittany P. Anderson Green lance-shaped leaves fall over themselves in compact clusters, with a fuzz about them like a clump of rabbit ears waiting to be pet. The leaves are coarse to the touch, while purple bell flowers dangle…
Local Food: The Secret Life of Pears, and a Recipe for Poached Pears
By Brittany P. Anderson “Just passed a pear tree in Pepe‘ekeo loaded with pears,” read the social media post one sunny morning with an image of a heavily fruiting pear tree. The thread that followed was disbelief, shock, and eager…
Earth Day Meditation on Food: Recipe for Butterfly Pea Lemonade
By Brittany P. Anderson Hawai‘i Island is full of astounding wonders. Plants that grow to incredible heights and animals that are infinitesimally small. Some beasts blend seamlessly with their surroundings while flowers bloom in an array of shocking colors to…
What Lies Beneath: Coral Reef Education Institute
By Brittany P. Anderson On a clear day in Kamuela you can see everything—from the top of Mauna Kea, across the pasture lands, and down to the blue Pacific. Birds glide overhead, as trees bend in the winds of the…
Cool as a Cauliflower, and a Recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Pesto
By Brittany P. Anderson Cauliflower is making a comeback as broccoli’s cooler, more versatile cousin. In supermarkets today, you can find riced cauliflower, cauliflower pizza crusts, even tortillas made from cauliflower. While it is now popping up in unexpected places,…
Local Foods: Family Traditions, and a Recipe for Lomilomi Salmon
By Brittany P. Anderson A holiday wouldn’t be complete without at least one night filled with traditional lū‘au foods. Family favorites are slightly sour fermented poi, slow-roasted kālua pua‘a (pig), squid lū‘au, and lomilomi salmon. Each dish is served in…
Big Impact, Small Footprint: Urban Farming on Hawai‘i Island
By Brittany P. Anderson Most people envision Hawai‘i as a place to get away from city life, slow down, and reconnect with the land. But, according to US Census data, almost 92% of Hawai‘i State’s population lives in urban areas.…
The Playground of Champions: Recipe for Oatmeal Recovery Bar
By Brittany P. Anderson Home to the Ironman World Championships, Hilo to Volcano Ultra Marathon, and the invite-only Ultraman World Championship, Hawai‘i Island is an endurance athleteʻs paradise. The unpredictable weather coupled with unforgiving terrain makes Hawai‘i Island the ultimate…
Local Food: Below the Surface, and a Recipe for Carrot Cake
By Brittany P. Anderson One of the greatest pleasures in life is pulling up a carrot and feeling it release from the ground. Indeed, a lot of faith goes into planting root vegetables because you canʻt quite tell what is…
Welcome to the Lava Zone
By Brittany P. Anderson It’s hard to forget that day—May 3, 2018. The ground shook and cracked open, slowly blanketing land and homes, smothering dreams and spitting out steam. Then, the molten orange lava burst free, weaving a path of…
M. Kalani Souza: Storyteller, Scientist, and Spirit of the World
By Brittany P. Anderson The cobalt blue ocean moves gently across the horizon while an azure sky is dotted with wisps of cotton candy clouds—it is an idyllic day on the Hāmākua Coast. A grounding voice breaks the silence, like…
Banana-rama: A Recipe for Gluten-Free Banana Pancakes
By Brittany P. Anderson With a loud thump, the machete slices through a thick green stalk. The upper half, now severed, leans in near slow motion until its pointed green bounty is reachable by nimble hands. Another swift cut and the…
‘Ōlena: The Dream-Filled Beauty & Golden Milk Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson The sweet song “Pua ‘Ōlena” plays as the rows of turmeric sway in the fields, as if keeping time with the seductive melody. In this field, ‘ōlena, the name for Hawaiian turmeric, grows destined for commercial markets, but…
Dr. Joan Greco Inspires Students while GIving Back to Our Island Community
By Brittany P. Anderson There’s something extraordinary about a woman who rises to the top in a male-dominated field. It takes strength, grace, intellect, fearlessness, and the courage to never accept “no” for an answer. That woman is Dr. Joan…
Flavor of the Earth, with Recipe for Molten Lava Chocolate Cake
By Brittany P. Anderson Hawai‘i Island is well known for its volcanoes. The 2018 eruption saw fountains of lava shooting into the night sky, hurling glowing orange orbs into the heavens like rockets visible from homes and backyards in lower…
Traveling to the Unknown with a Recipe for German-style Fruitcake
By Brittany P. Anderson Much of the year has been spent at home, distanced from loved ones, and separated from friends. It is as if we’ve been on a long voyage without knowing where or when we reach our destination. …
Back to the ‘Āina: Strengthening Hawai‘i Island’s Food System
By Brittany P. Anderson The afternoon heat hangs heavy over the field. Two farmers continue their work seemingly unaffected by the weather. Arms and legs bundled up to avoid being burned by the sun, they pluck beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes…
Embrace the Bitter with Recipe for Stir-Fry Bitter Melon
By Brittany P. Anderson You’ve probably come across bitter melonʻs mass of coiled tendrils, deeply lobed green leaves, and small yellow flowers. Their distinctive warty oblong light green fruits hanging on the vine waiting to be picked. Bitter melon is…
Oh, Honey! With Recipe for Green Bean Salad with Honey Vinaigrette
By Brittany P. Anderson The first honeybees arrived on Hawai‘i Island in 1857. They made the journey from California by boat, after several unsuccessful attempts to bring them around South America from New England. Can you imagine sailing aboard a…
Introducing Broccoli Romanesco with Recipe for the Best Pizza Pie Dough
By Brittany P. Anderson When Alfred Joyce Kilmer wrote, “I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree,” he must not have stared into the head of a broccoli romanesco. You’ve likely seen the striking…
A Garden of Trees: Ulu La‘au, the Waimea Nature Park
By Brittany P. Anderson The sky overhead is pure cobalt blue with low-lying clouds steamrolling across the landscape, their shadows dancing on the bright green grass below. Here, in the heart of downtown Waimea (Kamuela), is Ulu La‘au, the Waimea…
Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden: Restoring and Protecting Hawai‘i Island’s Biodiversity
By Brittany P. Anderson The isolation of Hawai‘i Island, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and born of volcanic lava flows from the ocean’s floor, shaped the biodiversity of the island. Our unique position makes the Island of Hawai‘i one of…
