Maui County Farm Bureau’s Board of Directors and its Executive Director Warren K. Watanabe gathered to honor Woody and Carmen Goble of Goble’s Flower Farm as MCFB’s 2020 “Maui Legacy Farmers” Award honorees.
MCFB’s “Maui Legacy Farmer” Award was established in 2016 to honor those in the agriculture industry on Maui for their lifetime achievement in Maui agriculture and contributions to our community. Traditionally presented at MCFB’s annual pancake breakfast at the Maui AgFest & 4-H Livestock Fair. The 2020 award was presented at a small dinner held at MauiWine on August 3.
| “Together Woody and Carmen have created a wonderful legacy of many happy customers over many, many years with their flowers which include carnations, proteas, eucalyptus and bird of paradise,” said Carver Wilson, co-owner, Maui Floral. “Their presence at the swap meet and on the Internet has been long-standing. We have purchased flowers from them over the years and continue to this day. We always look forward to seeing them when they come in.” |
| “Honoring our Legacy Farmers is an important tradition and responsibility for Maui County Farm Bureau,” said Watanabe. “Our agricultural industry on Maui would not exist as we know it without the lasting contributions these folks have made.” |
| Past recipients include Buddy Nobriga, Pardee Erdman and Hanako Hashimoto in 2016; Richard “Dick” Cameron, Douglas MacCluer, Peter Baldwin and the late Wilbert Yee of Yee’s Orchard in 2017; Dr. Phil Parvin, Lindy Sutherland and Chuck Boerner in 2018; Keoki Freeland, Arthur DePonte and the late Masaru Uradomo in 2019. For Woody, all it took was seeing one field of carnations in Upcountry Maui more than 30 years ago and he was hooked. The retired Captain W.C USMC has been cultivating, producing, arranging and shipping tropical flowers ever since. Born and raised in New Jersey, Goble graduated from Citadel in South Carolina in 1966 and flew CH46 helicopters in the Vietnam War. In 1970, he met his wife Carmen, who was from Maui but was working as a bank teller at Kaneohe Marine Corps Bank. After visiting an acquaintance’s carnation flower farm on Maui with Carmen, Woody knew he wanted to move to Maui and start his own flower farm. He and Carmen began by growing carnations, baby’s breath and mums on leased land in Upper Kula. In a second wave of flowers, they grew bird of paradise, eucalyptus and protea. Today, the Gobles own eight beautiful acres on Thompson Road. Woody creates his signature flower bouquets by adding flowers from Hawai‘i Island—like anthurium, heliconia and pink and red ginger—to his magnificent Maui-grown flowers. The Gobles have four adult children—Roberta, Gavin, Morgana and Chip—who live on the mainland and visit often; as well as eight grandchildren. Woody knows farming can be a tough business, but he still hopes one of his children will carry on the farm operation. What does Woody love most about being in the flower-growing business? “Selling flowers to people and watching them smile,” he says. |
| Congratulations to Goble’s Flower Farm on being awarded MCFB’s 2020 “Maui Legacy Farmer”! |
Aloha Members,
It was with great disappointment that we had to postpone our MCFB General Meeting and Mixer at MauiWine on August 3rd. After months of not being able to hold an event for our members in-person, we felt the time was right for this get together. The safety of our invitees and the increase in cases led to this rightful decision.
The current number of cases due to the variant should have all of us very concerned. Please take every possible precaution and follow the latest guidelines for your family, friends, and employees. We want to be able to continue to provide local agricultural products for Maui County and the State of Hawai‘i.
The Maui County Farm Bureau and Hawai‘i Farm Bureau annual meetings are scheduled in the next few months. Stay tuned for information on these meetings.
Until next time, be safe and well.
Warren K. Watanabe
Executive Director
Aloha kākou,
Agriculture runs deep in our communities, and as we all know, that legacy runs much deeper than the food on our tables in Maui County. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to identify and recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to our community. MCFB’s “Maui Legacy Farmer” award aims to do just that.
On August 3rd, we were able to host a small dinner to celebrate Woody and Carmen Goble as the 2020 Maui Legacy Farmer recipients. A quick review of past recipients like Buddy Nobriga, Pard Erdman, Lindy Sutherland, Peter Baldwin, the Hashimoto family, the Uradomo family, etc. reads like a “who’s who” of Maui’s agricultural community spanning many decades across many industry sectors. MCFB is pleased to honor Woody and Carmen with this award for their Excellence in Agriculture and welcome them into this elite fraternity.
On a sadder note, the Maui 4-H Youth Livestock Program postponed their awards banquet at the Oskie Rice Arena Clubhouse scheduled for August 15th. Many of us were hopeful the event would take place, but as COVID numbers increased, new guidelines limiting social gatherings (10 indoors and 25 outdoors) were put forth by Governor Ige to curtail the spread of new cases. Our 4-Hers are resilient, and like many other keiki, August marks the return to school. I’m sure they are ready to get back to class and meet up with friends.
Hawai‘i Farm Bureau’s annual meeting is projected for November 2021. MCFB plans to have six delegates representing our chapter at the state convention. If you’re interested in serving as a delegate, please contact Warren or myself.
| “Kāʻanapali Welcomes Back Hawaiʻi Food & Wine Festival” Maui County Farm Bureau continues its support, going on 11 years! This year’s HFWF lands in Kā‘anapali from October 7 – 10, 2021, and will pay homage to a homegrown theme: “Taste Our Love for the Land.” The vision is to use the Festival’s platform to encourage residents and visitors alike to care for Hawai‘i, our culture and our natural environment. During the Kā‘anapali portion of the Festival, each world-class culinary experience will showcase the Maui farmers, ranchers and fishermen who produce the food. |
| Taking it one step further, ticket purchasers may choose to Mālama ‘Āina, or “care for the land,” with HFWF talent-led volunteer activities tied to Festival events and partners. Through connection with the natural environment, Mālama ‘Āina instills a deeper appreciation of the history and culture of the islands. As the premier epicurean destination event in the Pacific, the Festival features a roster of more than 150 internationally renowned master chefs, culinary personalities, sommeliers, mixologists, and wine and spirit producers. Co-founded by two of Hawai‘i’s own James Beard Award-winning chefs, Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong, the Festival showcases culinary experiences, wine tastings, cultural engagement and exclusive dining opportunities with dishes highlighting the State’s bounty of fresh, local produce, seafood, beef, poultry and spices. Since 2011, the Festival has given over $3 million to support local beneficiaries committed to culinary and agricultural education, sustainability and cultural programs in Hawai‘i. Maui County Farm Bureau is honored to be one of the beneficiaries and one of its staunch supporters. |
Headliners this year include Chef Chris Kajioka and Chef Shota Nakajima. Born and raised in Honolulu, Chef Kajioka is a James Beard semi-finalist and one of Hawai‘i’s hottest chefs right now, with a string of new restaurants under his belt. He and Michelin-starred Chef Mourad Lahlou recently opened Kā‘anapali’s latest sensation Waicoco at The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, as well as two popular Waikiki restaurants, Miro Kaimuki and Papa Kurt’s. Chef Nakajima competed on Season 18 of Bravo’s “Top Chef” in 2021, placing as a top three finalist and voted “Fan Favorite.” He has also competed on the Food Network’s “Iron Chef Gauntlet” and “Beat Bobby Flay,” where he was victorious preparing tempura. He currently runs Taku in Seattle, featuring Osaka-style street food.
For more information and updates, follow Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival:
Website: www.HawaiiFoodandWineFestival.com
Twitter: @HIFoodWineFest
Instagram: HIFoodWineFest
Facebook: facebook.com/hawaiifoodandwinefestival
MCFB Caught up with Lois Hiranaga of Lois Hiranaga Floral Design Looking for a new dessert featuring local fruits? Try Lois Hiranaga’s Kula Country Farm Strawberry Shortcakes. Lois takes orders by phone: 808-276-7309 or email: lois [at] loismauiflowers.com or bake them yourself using Lois’ recipe. Donʻt forget to buy Kula Country Farm Strawberries or blueberries.
What have you been up to since we filmed “Cooking Hawaiian Style” in April? Been keeping busy. Now that people can travel, destination weddings have returned. It felt great to complete events that have been postponed a couple of times. The month of June was quite busy. We used a lot of locally sourced tropical & temperate flowers: protea, ginger, anthurium, orchid, tuberose and lisianthus. After 15 months of down time, I must admit that it really took some effort to get back into “wedding world”.
Anything you want to share about Grown on Maui, buy local? Designing with local product made it much easier (to open since COVID). Locally grown product is not subjected to the many shipping nightmares. It is fresher and hardier and much more tolerant to the adverse conditions of outdoor weddings.
Would you like to share anything or tell us something you learned since COVID?
In reflection of the past year, one thing is for sure – We need to diversify. My floral business was solely based on tourism with hotel lobby work and destination weddings. Like a lot of folks, I was home baking… well actually, perfecting recipes. The butter cream biscuits for the Strawberry Shortcakes was just one of the recipes that I worked on for days. Strawberry Shortcakes are my all time favorite dessert, so the biscuits were perfected for that in mind. But they are delicious with honey, jam, fruit butters or some say, “just plain”. Not everyone is a baker so its worth mentioning that I do take preorders with pick up at the farmers market at Kulamalu or Wailea Village. Look for the Maui Gourmet Snacks tent. They freeze well and taste best when served warm. I hope the readers of the MCFB Newsletter and viewers of Cooking Hawaiian Style will enjoy.
“Cooking Hawaiian Style” Hits Halfway Point in Season 15
This week’s episode of “Cooking Hawaiian Style” featured Gunars Valkirs of Maui Kuʻia Estate Chocolate marked the halfway point for the 15th season. The locally produced cooking show is sponsored by Maui County Farm Bureau in partnership with the County of Maui and County of Maui Office of Economic Development. The shows were filmed at Kula Country Farms and Kaonoʻulu Ranch back in April. The half hour show airs weekly on Spectrum OC16.
Kyle Caires, Haiku resident, UH Livestock and 4-H Extension Agent, MCFB’s board president, and Maui Cattleman’s Association member; is coming up next on Aug. 23. Following Kyle are Ridge Lenny, waterman, born and raised in Pāʻia, Maui (Aug. 30); Relle Lum, Keeping It Relle (Sept. 6); James “Kimo” Falconer, MauiGrown™ Kāʻanapali Estate Coffee (Sept. 13); Sheldon Simeon, executive chef/owner, Tin Roof (Sept 20); September 27: Alvin Savella, executive chef, Mala Ocean Tavern (Sept 27).
The entire line-up will re-run for 13 weeks Starting Oct 4 every Monday at 7 p.m. In total, season 15will run a total of 26 weeks.
“Cooking Hawaiian Style” is produced by Dawn Kaniaupio, Ruben Carrillo and Lanai Tabura of Hawai‘i Entertainment Group. In addition to the televised and social media promos and broadcasts, CHS has a weekly column in the Star Advertisers Midweek that will feature each guest and a recipe from their episode. This paper is delivered to more than 280,000 homes in Hawai‘i. The season will be featured in USA Today distributed to 10,000+ visitors, and will be featured in the Hawaii.com newsletter distributed to 243,627 email addresses. Many of these episodes will eventually end up on Hawaiian Airlines inflight programming on their national and international routes, as well as broadcast outside of Hawai‘i through cable partners. Cooking Hawaiian Style images by Ryan Sakamoto.
Maui Ku‘ia Estate Chocolate Mousse
Makes approximately 1 quart of chocolate mousse
Ingredients:
1 egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 cups cold heavy whipping cream divided Into 1 and 2 cup portions
8 oz chocolate – any Ku‘ia Estate Chocolate will work.
Directions:
1. Beat egg and sugar with mixer for about 3 minutes.
2. Meanwhile heat 1 cup heavy cream in a saucepan on medium low heat with occasional stirring until warm to hot. With mixer on low pour the cream into the egg mixture slowly while mixing until combined.
3. Add the egg/cream mixture back into the saucepan over medium low heat and stir constantly for about five minutes until thickened. Measure temperature with a thermometer and when temperature reaches 160-170 F remove from heat. Do not boil.
4.Stir in chocolate until melted and completely mixed. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour until mixture is 60-70 F after stirring to mix.
5.Whip remaining cream until soft peaks form. Add any flavoring (1/2 cup lilikol butter for example) to cream before whipping. Remove chocolate mixture from refrigerator and fold into the whipped cream until smooth and completely mixed.
6. Refrigerate entire amount or divide into serving containers and refrigerate. It can be consumed immediately but will firm up a little if refrigerated. Store refrigerated for up to one week. Makes about 8 four oz. servings.
| Lois Hiranagaʻs Kula Country Farm Strawberry Shortcakes Serves 9-10 Biscuits Ingredients: 2 cups flour 1 Tbsp baking powder 1/4 cup sugar 1 stick butter (diced frozen) 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream Sweetened Strawberries: 16 ounces Kula Country Strawberries 1/4 cup sugar Whipped Cream: 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1/4 cup sugar Preparation: 1. Macerate strawberries, wash, hull (remove calyx), slice and sprinkle strawberries with 1/4 c. sugar or to taste. Set aside for 30 minutes. 2. Pre-heat oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. 3. To Prepare biscuits, in food processor pulse dry ingredients. 4. Dice frozen butter and add half at a time and pulse until it has a sandy texture. 5. Add heavy whipping cream gradually and pulse until ingredients begins to stick together. 6. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured wax paper or parchment paper. Using your hands, fold it a couple of times so it become a mass that can be rolled out evenly. 7. Roll out with pin to 1″ thickness, cut with 2 1/2″ biscuit cutter. Gather scraps, pat down and cut out more biscuits. 8. Place on 9″ x 13″ baking pan or cookie sheet. 9. In a preheated oven, bake at 450 till golden brown (about 13 minutes). 10. To prepare whip cream, in a bowl whip heavy cream with electric mixer at high speed. 11. When the cream doubles in volume add sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. 13. Serve warm biscuit with Kula Country strawberries & a dollop of whipped cream. |
| “Growing up my Aunty Betty often made strawberry shortcake for us. Sometimes the strawberries would come from our vegetable garden. Fresh local strawberries are just the best. And that’s why I love to use Kula Country Strawberries for strawberry shortcake. This is a real comfort food that brings back wonderful childhood memories. Need food processor, wax paper, rolling pin, biscuit cutter, cookie sheet for baking, electric mixer, 2 mixing bowls.” Lois Hiranaga |