There is a very fine line between having chickens on our subsistence farm and raising chickens as a business.

We are not chicken farmers. We do not have a chicken farm.

Our hens and roosters choose where they want to be at every moment. They love our front stoop and the barn. They want to be as close to us as they can without us being able to actually touch them (except for our bard rocks, who are friendly and we name them all “Friendly:” “auntie Friendly,” “Friendly’s sister,” or “Friendly’s daughter”). I just call them all Friendly. Lauren, of course knew each hen by sight. She would correct me, “No, mom, that’s not Friendly’s sister, that’s Friendly’s first daughter (but then Lauren had two horses as pets and milked and played with goats since she was 11.)

The Seaview Performing Arts Center for Education (SPACE) is the creation of the Hawai’i Volcano Circus (HVC) where a variety of successful art programs were established. SPACE serves as a hub for many creative endeavors and also has been hosting the farmers market for the last three years. Since then, this colorful market has been attracting between 30 to 50 vendors, depending on the time of year and over 300 patrons every Saturday morning. The SPACE farmers market is located off Highway 137 (Red Road) in lower Puna at the Seaview Performing Art Center for Education, from which it takes the name as an acronym. Once you turn into the Seaview subdivision, the signs are not very obvious and I had to ask someone how to find it.

Just the other day, while I was eating my supper in one of my “doom and gloom” modes, it occurred to me that I have no idea what sort of a safety net exists globally in terms of food supply. How much food is stored up? My answer could have been three months, or three years. I had no clue. So, I went on a few government web sites to look at the official statistics. As it turns out, since 1999, global grain production has consistently fallen short of demand. 2008 was the largest worldwide grain harvest ever, but it failed to break even. So right now we are left with a 59 day buffer. Two months, then we are running on empty (empty bellies, that is).

323 people responded to our 'ulu survey - well beyond our expectations! Please see below for survey highlights. Here are some ways for people to participate in revitalizing breadfruit:

1. Save the date: Saturday, September 24, 2011, we will have a Breadfruit Festival at Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook.
2. We are looking for farmers who are already producing 'ulu to participate in a project to improve management practices and marketing. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Wednesday, November 23, 2010 if you are interested in participating.
3. If you have 'ulu fruit that is going to waste and you would like it to be harvested by skilled professionals and be given to people who want and need it, please click here to participate in a gleaning project to help those who are hungry.