The Agricultural Waiting Game

The Agricultural Waiting Game was Originally Posted on February 27, 2007 by lavarock

About a year ago, the Farm Bureau received a grant to hold a Farmers Market at the Keahou Shopping Center up towards town from me.

It is only Saturday morning with setup at 7am and breakdown at noon. I would set up a tent (canopy), a table, my coffee, some pump pots filled with coffee samples and finally wait for visitors and esidents to stop on by.

I figured I would have to get up at 5am to do this, because making a couple pots of coffee takes 1/2 an hour. This also would keep me from finding a part time job while waiting for the newly planted coffee to come in.

Anyway, after a year I finally decided that the extra income would be helpful and I signed up for the Farm Bureau. That was $96. I was finally able to find a canopy tent at Wal-Mart and did not have to order anything. I found some fabric and a friend made it into a tablecloth for me. I decorated the table, made price lists and had some extra coffee roasted. Then I waited, and waited and waited.

It seems that the powers that be want to review to see if they have enough people selling coffee there. I understand their concern, but come on, of all the products we grow on the island not to mention on this side of the island, coffee is by far the biggest crop.

I could have waited to spend any money, but the last letter I received implied I was ready t ogo, just before they really started dragging their feet. So with $300 invested so far, I still hope they will give me the OK to come on down. I have already told them I am willing to also sell non-coffee-related items and have an agreement with a neighbor to sell local honey.

A while back my neighbor gave me some coconuts that had fallen from his trees. I put a couple on large plastic pots, added some dirt and a bit of fertilizer. Now some are 3 feet tall and guess what? They are an agricultural product and not coffee… the local stores sell them for $25 or more and it would be almost pure profit for me. Although I would not make a lot of money off coffee plants, those little pots with a sprout in them would go for a couple dollars each to locals who wanted to put one on the lanai.

Thern there is the pineapple. I buy Maui pineapples at COSTCO and when I was finished with one, I cut the top off and stuck it in a pot with dirt. Now I have a put with a healthy pineapple plant AND a pineapple growing on the top. The fruit is larger than my fist and you know what, probably worth big bucks too as it will ripen into a really nice pineapple.

So as you can see, while waiting, I am starting to come up with other things to sell, just to make ends meet.

In the meantime I am wondering what to do with this extra roasted coffee…