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Hi'iaka's Healing Herb Garden : Newsletter index : 2006 News : Winter 06
Volume 7, Number 2 Winter 2005-2006
FINALLY! Super Simple Guide is Published
I couldn't be more pleased to tell you that the long-awaited publication of my book, Super Simple Guide to Creating Hawaiian Gardens, has happened, thanks to AuthorHouse.com. It's already starting to sell. To order your copy, go to www.authorhouse.com and search for my name or the title. You'll get the best buy here, although it is available through Amazon and the other usual sources. Or call 1-888-280-7715 for the book order hotline.
Many, many thanks to my excellent illustrator, Terry Lee, and to all of my reviewers, advisors, critics and fans!
I'll be doing a book signing at our wonderful local bookstore, Basically Books, on May 5, and hope to add other bookstores to my schedule soon.
Already, the Kauai newspaper has run an article about it. They say that, "As a former technical writer in Silicon Valley, Fahs said part of her job was to take technical information and turn it into reader-friendly manuals. She has incorporated the same reader-friendliness into her gardening book."
Winter WWOOFers Helped Create a Second Dwelling
Thanks to Michele Marcus, Susan Wiener and Alon Idelzon, the lower gazebo is now in service as lodging for another volunteer. I know that young people can get kind of lonely here, so it's great to be able to host two Willing Workers on Organic Farms at the same time.
Alon, from Israel, has been a great helper and good companion. He finished up the lower gazebo project and tore down the decrepit old tree fort that the original owner of this place built for his son.
Susan Wiener, from upstate New York, and Michele Marcus, from New Jersey and Vermont, were compatible WWOOFers in February.
Spring Plants in Propagation Promise Beauty, Fresh Summer Food and Medicine
The coming of Spring is especially welcome this year because it has been a very chilly, wet winter, continuing into March. As in colder climates, the old gardener always looks forward to the promise of warmer weather and the fantasy of fresh, organic veggies on the dinner plate. Here is what I am propagating this year:
Ancho and Anaheim chiles
Astragalus
Baikal skullcap
Calendula
Cashew trees
Cigar mango trees
Cucumbers
Echinacea
Hibiscus arnottianus
Kaffir lime trees
La`amia (Crescentia cujete)
Lettuce
Poppy Joe's basil
Prunella
Pua `olena (turmeric)
Siberian motherwort
Red plantain
Red shallots
Thai basil
White sage
A New Job Assignment
In January I began volunteering at Hilo's brand-new Astronomy Center, called `Imiloa, or "exploring new knowledge." It's a state of the art museum with the world's most advanced planetarium. It has already put Hilo on the map as the home of such a wonderful place. I was so taken by it that I requested a job transfer through the Senior Employment Program, through which I have been working since December.
Starting April 5, I will be assisting the Volunteer Coordinator and the Education Program Manager, hopefully in developing some world-class training about their astronomy and Hawaiian cultural exhibits, not to mention the fabulous native plants that cover their 9-acre "campus." I have already made plant signs for the landscaping and will be helping to place them next to the plants they identify this week.
E komo mai (welcome) to the wonderful staff, several of whom relocated from San Jose's Technology Museum.
Annual McKenna Lecture in Kona Was Enlightening as Always
Dr. Dennis McKenna spoke about herbs and the media January 12 at the Keauhou Beach Resort. This year's talk centered on the media's treatment of herbal and alternative medicines and was titled "The Truth About Herbs: Who Gets It Right?" As a Senior Lecturer and Research Associate at the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota, Dr. McKenna conducts research and teaches courses in ethnopharmacology and botanical medicines. He has his opinions about press reports that are "sometimes facilitative, but more often than not, distort the facts."
Dr. McKenna discussed nine major issues relating to this large topic: public ignorance, qualifications of reporters, bias, accuracy, completeness, "spin," medical prejudice, unfounded claims, and unreliable sources.
The "take-home" lessons of this talk were for all of us to question the news and learn more critical thinking. If we develop these skills, we might emerge with some truth:
* Develop "radar" for "spin" and look to see what the bias might be.
* Checking sources is important.
* Don't believe everything you read or see, especially on the Internet.
* Question even the medical journals, because even they can contain "sloppy science."
In closing, Dr. McKenna answered the question "what does the future hold?" by saying that it's important for us to become involved in correcting some of this misinformation by writing to our legislators, so that perhaps they won't just "do what the lobbyists tell them to do."
Upcoming Book Signings, Events and Appearances
In mid-April, I will return to our local Maku`u farmer's market to promote and sell my book, and re-initiate tours of the garden, which I had to cancel while I was writing Super Simple Guide. On April 22, I will be participating in the Kona Earth Day Festivities at the King Kamehameha Hotel. May 5 marks my first book signing event, to be held at Hilo's Basically Books. May 28 is the big annual plant sale at our Panaewa Zoo, with over 2500 attendees, so I have signed up to sell some books and plants there as well. I will jump on other opportunities when they present themselves.
Spring Plants in Propagation Promise Beauty, Fresh Summer Food and Medicine
The coming of Spring is especially welcome this year because it has been a very chilly, wet winter, continuing into March. As in colder climates, the old gardener always looks forward to the promise of warmer weather and the fantasy of fresh, organic veggies on the dinner plate. Here is what I am propagating this year:
Ancho and Anaheim chiles
Astragalus
Baikal skullcap
Calendula
Cashew trees
Cigar mango trees
Cucumbers
Echinacea
Hibiscus arnottianus
Kaffir lime trees
La`amia (Crescentia cujete)
Lettuce
Poppy Joe's basil
Prunella
Pua `olena (turmeric)
Siberian motherwort
Red plantain
Red shallots
Thai basil
White sage
A New Job Assignment
In January I began volunteering at Hilo's brand-new Astronomy Center, called `Imiloa, or "exploring new knowledge." It's a state of the art museum with the world's most advanced planetarium. It has already put Hilo on the map as the home of such a wonderful place. I was so taken by it that I requested a job transfer through the Senior Employment Program, through which I have been working since December.
Starting April 5, I will be assisting the Volunteer Coordinator and the Education Program Manager, hopefully in developing some world-class training about their astronomy and Hawaiian cultural exhibits, not to mention the fabulous native plants that cover their 9-acre "campus." I have already made plant signs for the landscaping and will be helping to place them next to the plants they identify this week.
E komo mai (welcome) to the wonderful staff, several of whom relocated from San Jose's Technology Museum.
Annual McKenna Lecture in Kona Was Enlightening as Always
Dr. Dennis McKenna spoke about herbs and the media January 12 at the Keauhou Beach Resort. This year's talk centered on the media's treatment of herbal and alternative medicines and was titled "The Truth About Herbs: Who Gets It Right?" As a Senior Lecturer and Research Associate at the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota, Dr. McKenna conducts research and teaches courses in ethnopharmacology and botanical medicines. He has his opinions about press reports that are "sometimes facilitative, but more often than not, distort the facts."
Dr. McKenna discussed nine major issues relating to this large topic: public ignorance, qualifications of reporters, bias, accuracy, completeness, "spin," medical prejudice, unfounded claims, and unreliable sources.
The "take-home" lessons of this talk were for all of us to question the news and learn more critical thinking. If we develop these skills, we might emerge with some truth:
* Develop "radar" for "spin" and look to see what the bias might be.
* Checking sources is important.
* Don't believe everything you read or see, especially on the Internet.
* Question even the medical journals, because even they can contain "sloppy science."
In closing, Dr. McKenna answered the question "what does the future hold?" by saying that it's important for us to become involved in correcting some of this misinformation by writing to our legislators, so that perhaps they won't just "do what the lobbyists tell them to do."
Upcoming Book Signings, Events and Appearances
In mid-April, I will return to our local Maku`u farmer's market to promote and sell my book, and re-initiate tours of the garden, which I had to cancel while I was writing Super Simple Guide. On April 22, I will be participating in the Kona Earth Day Festivities at the King Kamehameha Hotel. May 5 marks my first book signing event, to be held at Hilo's Basically Books. May 28 is the big annual plant sale at our Panaewa Zoo, with over 2500 attendees, so I have signed up to sell some books and plants there as well. I will jump on other opportunities when they present themselves.
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