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| Rare and endangered ahina'ahina (silversword) |
My HYCC team spent five days camping and doing conservation work at Kona Hema, an 8,000 acre nature preserve stewarded by The Nature Conservancy in south Kona.
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| Ancient camp site high above the coastline |
We spent most of our work hours fixing the 25 miles of fencing that keeps damaging pigs, goats, and sheep out of the preserve.
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| The gorgeous ohia lehua |
We also found some time to admire the pristine forest around us, including the biggest koa tree in the world and many rare and endangered plants. We were able to pick plums (non-native) an I attempted to make a pie with them, see pictured. How lucky is that?
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| Plum pie attempt, topped with instant oatmeal packets |
I've harped on this before and I'll do it again, it has been super important to me that my team eats as sustainably as possible on our camping trips being that we are a conservation group and all. Luckily KTA has a slew of locally grown and made products, so I've done all my shopping with them. In case you're wondering where else to find local food products in the Kona area, Sack n Save and Costco also have plenty of choices. The farmers' market wasn't an option (this year) because I only had a credit card to buy food with.
Meals with a * by them were made using locally grown or produced ingredients. A list of locally made products I purchased for this trip is below the menu.
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Day
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Meal
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Monday
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*Dinner: Spaghetti & salad
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Tuesday
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*Breakfast: Portuguese
sausage, eggs, rice
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Lunch: sandwiches, chips,
fruit, cookies
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*Dinner: Pork adobo with
veggies & rice
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Wednesday
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Breakfast: Yogurt, oatmeal,
fruit
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Lunch: sandwiches, chips,
fruit, cookies
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*Dinner: Burgers w/sweet
potatoes & chips
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Thursday
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*Breakfast: eggs, toast,
fruit
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Lunch: sandwiches, chips,
fruit, cookies
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*Dinner: Beef stew &
rice
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Friday
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Breakfast: oatmeal, yogurt,
fruit
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Lunch: sandwiches, chips,
fruit, cookies
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Locally made products purchased for this camping trip at KTA:
Grass-fed beef (ground and stew meat)
Pork belly
Eggs
Lettuce
Sprouts
Cucumber
Bananas
Kale
Yogurt
Sweet potatoes
Taro
Bread
