Chicken pecking and papaya tree growing in front of the Hilo Farmers Market sign. Hilo's market is like a cross between KCC's and Honolulu's Chinatown, with vendors speaking Tagalog, selling both locally-grown produce as well as repackaged mainland produce and Filipino desserts, and more hippie types selling organic lettuces, goat cheese and jams. The abundance of tropical fruits like mangoes, rambutan, pineapples and avocadoes is my favorite part of the market. The presence of mainland produce would have been a disappointment to me if it were the first time I had seen it at a market, but having lived in Hawaii for a few years now, I've somewhat accepted it as a fact of market life here, at least until we can get our agriculture to start meeting demand. Since this market appears to be Hilo's Chinatown equivalent, it seems that offering mainland produce isn't to trick tourists, but to provide a service to people who live there, who can come and talk story in their native languages while picking up groceries.
We missed the avocado festival a few weeks before, but made up for it by bringing back a bag full of Sharwil, butter, Linda, and Haas avocadoes (gathered from the market and the side of the road). We hear Ken Love is making an avocado poster, depicting more than 40 avocado varieties (not even including the experimental varieties)...can't wait to get our hands on it!
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