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Some years back in Waipahu, I recall needing a green bell pepper for a recipe I was building...paid $6.59 per pound! Yeah to say that food is more expensive, would be putting it mildly....in Arizona I can get 'em for 6 for a dollar!
And a lot of veggies are grown on the island....Truck Farming on Oahu
Good Luck
Gemstone1
Last edited by gemstone1; 07-26-2012 at 09:10 AM..
Reason: added link
We were in a two bedroom until about 18 months ago. Our boys have always shared a room up until then. We definitely prefer smaller homes. I wouldn't want a 4 bedroom, or even a three bedroom again really. We're in the three bedroom right now and it's just more house to clean and one more room to collect junk in. The larger the space you have - the larger the utility bills, too. I miss the two bedroom. Also, we've found that now that the boys each have their own room, they seem to be less involved with one another. When they shared a room, they did more things together, and they shared more. I worry that moving them each to their own room has begun to put a distance between them that was never there before. I've also noticed they each sort of become more insular... sort of self-involved. They don't have to think about how what they do in a shared space is going to affect the other person they share the space with anymore. I dunno - I thought giving them their own rooms would be a good thing, but it's kind of up-in-the-air. I really don't know that it's a good thing or not. Autonomy and independance = good. Self-centeredness and self-entitlement = not-so-good.
Anyway - by the time we moved to Hawaii (if we do) the kids would be older, anyway, and my husband and I would certainly allow them to live with us but we wouldn't feel any obligation to provide them with their own room. If we had a two bedroom, we would set up the second bedroom as a guest room with two beds and they would be fine with it. We aren't the kind of parents who intend to coddle our kids. We don't want to make it too cushy or easy for them to be grownups living at home with mom and dad, but we also always want to provide a place to come home to when they want to or need to. I think it's a tricky balance these days especially. If we had a three bedroom, we'd have our bedroom, a home office, and a home gym - with a futon or hide-a-bed in the office and gym they could sleep on. Maybe this sounds harsh, but that's just how we see it.
Some years back in Waipahu, I recall needing a green bell pepper for a recipe I was building...paid $6.59 per pound! Yeah to say that food is more expensive, would be putting it mildly....in Arizona I can get 'em for 6 for a dollar!
And a lot of veggies are grown on the island....Truck Farming on Oahu
Good Luck
Gemstone1
It seems with all that sun a person could grow a good little veggie garden? I guess it helps if you have a yard... perhaps with rents/housing costs so high having a garden is a luxury. Though there is container gardening...
Are there community gardens? In Eugene, we have these community gardens scattered throughout the city where you can rent a plot and grow your own whatever in it. It's great for people who don't have yards.
Wow...if you are in the Willamette Valley, used to all the wonderful produce, fruits and berries that are available there, and are used to the Eugene Downtown Farmers Market....you are not going to like what is available to you on Oahu...or the price at which they are available. Even at Costco and Sams Club, the produce was way more expensive. When I was there, it seemed there was an emphasis on local growing of oriental veggies, which is OK, but how many varieties of oriental egg plant do you really want to consume ? I never did see a community garden, tho' they might turn up with a google search...
If it were me, the way I like to eat fresh, I'd stay in Eugene vs. anywhere on Oahu.
Just in the little research I have done on Hawaii, there seems to be quite a few farmer's markets scattered around the islands plus you have places like Whole Foods as well as little markets. When we visited, we went to grocery stores and little markets to pick up items for picnics and sandwiches, etc. We thought it was great. We even found lychee's and produce that my husband grew up with (he's from overseas) - things we don't see in Eugene or if we do, they are old and not fresh because of the climate here, it's just hard to grow a lot of things. For instance - it's a real challenge to get good lemons and avocados here. (Two things we LOVE.) Just not enough sun. We'd have our own garden, though, we are big gardeners. You can grow a lot of food for yourself if you switch to growing edible plants in your front and back yards and in containers instead of the ornamental/typical landscaping things that just look pretty and take up space but don't actually provide you with any food.
It seems with all that sun a person could grow a good little veggie garden? I guess it helps if you have a yard... perhaps with rents/housing costs so high having a garden is a luxury. Though there is container gardening...
Are there community gardens? In Eugene, we have these community gardens scattered throughout the city where you can rent a plot and grow your own whatever in it. It's great for people who don't have yards.
With all that sun and no frost comes lots & lots of pests. And yes, land is super expensive so not many of us have a place for a garden. I've tried to grow things without any success at all on my very sunny lanai. Either it becomes pest-ridden and non-producing (lilikoi, lime) or the birds eat it (hot peppers) or it just inexplicably dies (everything else).
However, there are lots of farmers who know what they're doing. We have year-round farmers' markets. You can buy local, fresh, amazing tomatos in January.
Produce is more expensive here, but it's very good (and not *that* expensive... certainly I pay a lot less than $6/lb for bell peppers... maybe $2.50 for a bag of 2 or 3 of them) if you shop the farmers' markets.
I don't know of any community gardens. Again, the land is too valuable to use in that way, I suspect. Maybe on the North Shore or out of town? But I live in town and walk around a lot, and I've never seen one.
I don't know of any community gardens. Again, the land is too valuable to use in that way, I suspect. Maybe on the North Shore or out of town? But I live in town and walk around a lot, and I've never seen one.
I lived right down the street from the one on Coolidge St and passed it regularly. I also had a neighbor that sucessfully grew cucumbers, strawberries, and tomatoes in planters in front of his door (he used to bring veggies to me often)
I lived right down the street from the one on Coolidge St and passed it regularly. I also had a neighbor that sucessfully grew cucumbers, strawberries, and tomatoes in planters in front of his door (he used to bring veggies to me often)
Oh, right! I actually did know about the one at Makiki District Park when I used to live over there, but completely forgot. And there's one in Foster Botanical Garden? Good to know.
And sure, I know lots of folks who have successfully grown lots of stuff. But I know lots of folks like me who have failed miserably as well. It's not easy, is all I'm saying. The year-round sun is helpful, but it brings challenges as well as benefits to growing. And if you're used to growing stuff in other climates, there seems to be a steep learning curve here.
I dunno what the deal is with green bell peppers - they are currently supposed to be in season but I just saw some at the store (in Oregon) for $4.99 a pound. ??? The red ones were 49 cents per pound. What's up with that? What makes the green ones so special?
Thank you to everyone who is responding. I'm making notes. So far: small 2 bedroom house or condo, within walking distance of some good produce. I don't even want to live on the beach, actually... just close enough to it so that I could ride my bike or walk there if I wanted to.
I just found some cool CSA's in Hawaii, too. I love this website for finding food: Search - LocalHarvest
I dunno what the deal is with green bell peppers - they are currently supposed to be in season but I just saw some at the store (in Oregon) for $4.99 a pound. ??? The red ones were 49 cents per pound. What's up with that? What makes the green ones so special?
Supply and demand, probably. Economics 101. Green ones, which have the sharper taste and are crunchier, are currently in short supply so they're more expensive. The red ones, they have plenty of, are sweeter and softer, and also ripe... hence they have a shorter shelf life, and they need to sell them quicker, hence the lower price.
Anyway, next time it could be the reverse.
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