Wordless Wednesday – Before and After (Brachiaria Mutica)

A couple of Mondays ago I asked what this obnoxious weed was that was growing in my yard and according to one of the comments it is Brachiaria Mutica or in my terms… the pain in the ass grass!  Others think it might be California Grass… I still don’t know the exact answer for sure.

Brachiaria Mutica - Before

I had a few good answers on how to get rid of the buggah, but the one that I ended up trying, was from the President of the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Association, Ken Love.  Here is his suggestion he gave me  on Facebook:

…weed mat with rocks on top for about 3 months-You could cover it with anything — so it does not get light. — It will come back but when it does, its much easier to find and dig out.

So the other day… I started the process:

Brachiaria Mutica - After

Ken has another site that he hosts where you can learn all sorts of information on local fruits and vegetables called the HawaiiFruit.Net .  Ken writes “The pictures and data on these pages are from almost 30 years of work on the Big Island….” so it’s definitely a great resource we all can use from time to time.

So check out Hawaii Fruit Growers Association and HawaiiFruitNet for more information on local fruits.

Five Chefs Lauded by Statewide Fruit Growers

Media Release:

Five Hawai‘i chefs were recognized for their support and continued use of local fruit at the recent 20th Annual Hawaii International Tropical Fruit Conference at the Aston Aloha Beach Resort.

Pictures courtesy of http://www.hawaiifruit.net

They are Roy Yamaguchi of Roy’s Restaurants, Alan Wong of Alan Wong’s Restaurants, Ed Kenny of Oahu’s Town and Downtown Restaurants, Kevin Hanney of Oahu’s 12th Avenue Grill and James Babian of the Big Island’s Four Seasons Resort Hualalai.

“Hawaii leads the country in farmer-chef relationships thanks to dedicated and creative chefs like those who receive this award,” says Ken Love, executive director of the statewide Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Association, which hosted the annual conference. “These symbiotic relationships between growers and chefs create a very special experience for our visitors.”

Pictures courtesy of http://www.hawaiifruit.net

The three-day gathering offered workshops and presentations by fruit experts, including keynote speaker Noris Ledesma of the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Florida who presented “For the Love of Mangoes” and “Growing and Marketing Specialty Crops.” Other topics covered included  “Breadfruit-Its Use and Potential” by Dr. Diane Ragone of the National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kauai.

Pictures courtesy of http://www.hawaiifruit.net

Chef Peter Merriman of the statewide Merriman’s Restaurants joined Kauai Community College chef instructor Steve Nakata and growers Ned Whitlock and John Wooten in a lively farmer-chef panel discussion. Merriman is one of a handful of chefs previously cited by HTFG for using local fruit. The others are from the Big Island: Matthew Zubrod of Monettes, William Trask of Hawaiian Culinary Consultants, Paul Heerlein of Hawaii Community College, West Hawaii, Charles Charbonneau of Hilton Waikoloa Village and George Gomes Jr. of the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel.

Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Incorporated in 1989 to promote tropical fruit grown in Hawaii, HTFG is a statewide association of tropical fruit growers, packers, distributors and hobbyists dedicated to tropical fruit research, education, marketing and promotion.