Any Chance on a new topic of Moving to Puna?

[P.T.]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alex

quote:

---

Originally posted by notsoonenough

yes i have noticed that people are harshly forthcoming about moving to puna like a sign that screams turn back, turn the **** back!
obviously we all get that the job scene is super poor and the weather is very rainy.
we all get that
we have scoured the internet for every blog

---

Well,there's no point in this thread.Every time a newbee posts about moving to Puna and get some warning about so many people leaving after 2 years or earlier he or she thinks : "Yeah,right! You all still live there,you just don't want more people coming!"

New comers have already made their mind.They don't want warnings.
They want approval of their decision.

My friend lost the job and is loosing the house .I am OK so far but I am very aware that this can happen to me any time .My SO who had no health problems is having hard time with vog related issues.
That could be the reason we would have to move back to the US.

Would my friend listen to any warnings? Would I?

Most likely not.

---

Right on ,Alex!
It was an old moving to Puna topic and a lot of newcomers didn't take some good warnings well:"We did our home work , you just don't want more people moving to Puna".
Well,they moved to Puna and don't post in this topic.Makes you wonder.

[mary]

Terracore, you said:


"There is so much cheap, wonderful healthy food in Hawaii. For what we pay for a full cicle farm box in Juneau, $40 worth of produce you can literally buy in Hawaii for $2-3 at the farmers market".

i would like to know which farmer market you go to and buy a good box worth of produce for $2-3 dollars for the box(even growing it yourself,i can't get it that cheap, or may be your box is tiny, like 5 inches all around? because I don't get out of the makuu farmesr market with a box of fruits and veggies for less then 40 dollars and the box is moderately sized, just enough for 2 people for the week. very curios as to where in the world you go to find prices like that?

[Alex]

I don't know either where terracore got this fantasy prices.
$2-3 ?
That is the price of 1 bunch of radish (2.99 Safeway,$2.50 farmers market)
or
1 mango ($3.50 lb).

Grow your own? On lava you will spend $$$ for soil and bug control and after done all that we are not even close to "live off land".
Another pipe dream if you ask me.

[coppercoin40]

we purchased papaya 6 for $1.00 at the Hilo Farmers market compared to $6.00 each that we pay in Alaska. For a gigantic avocado we paid $1.00 at the HFM when the other day they were 8 tiny ones for $10.00 here. It would take all 8+ to make one of the huge ones from farmers. People gravitate more and more towards areas that are considered last frontiers, I certainly see the Big Island as one of the few last frontier areas of the USA. Just because a place is beautiful doesn't mean it comes without problems, terracore spoke of some of the ones we have here in Alaska. As for gardening on lava, I just looked into a system today that is used in the Kona area for aquaponics.

From website: Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture (growing fish) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil). In aquaponics, the nutrient-rich water that results from raising fish provides a natural, organic fertilizer for the growing plants. As the plants use the nutrients in the water, they help to clean the water that the fish live in. A natural microbial process that keeps both the fish and plants healthy. This creates an ecosystem where both plants and fish can thrive. It is a natural ecosystem in a manmade container.

Seems like a viable solution to avoid purchase of soil...

People think they can come to Alaska and live off the land too! Sure if you have a boat here in SE Alaska you generally do pretty good on salmon, halibut, snapper, cod, dungie crab, spot prawn shrimp etc. But if you don't have a boat halibut is nearly $18.00 a pound at the store here! Growing a garden requires buying soil here also as most of our area is rock with very little top soil. The growing season is very short here my gardens haven't done very well for the amount of money I put into them.

I spend $250 - 300 a month on electric and about 50 - 75 on oil, I think living costs are somewhat comparable between the 2 states, isolation is the same. Trying to make a living anywhere these days is tough, jobs are hard to come by and you are competing with plenty of other people for a job. For us we would rather be in a warmer climate facing the same problems we do in a harsher climate.

On the Kona side I liked The Place of Refuge, Captain Cook monument area and the beaches north of Kona airport.
Hilo side we enjoyed King Kamehameha Park, Akaka Falls, the parks off of Banyan drive, Kapoho, the warm pond and Issac Hale Beach. We didn't mind the rain, I learned that putting on a hoodie, jeans and tenny's was overdressed for Hawaii rain, I was so hot I had to buy shorts, sandals and tank top to wear!

I seen the roaches one night in Hawaii when camping on the beach but never in our rental house. Fruit flies are a bother in Hawaii and the mosquitoes pack a wallop! We have mosquitoes, no see ums, whitesox in Alaska that are pretty vicious also but don't seem to bother me. I had 50 bites just in my knee area from a walk into a wooded piece of property for sale in Puna! I did discover on a fluke that taking a noni fruit and blending it into a smoothie with a little aloe vera then slathering it on the bites instantly took the itch away and provided instant relief as well as reduced the inflammation!

[mary]

aquaponics is a good system, though costs money to set it up, in the thousands unless you want a tiny system. you also need electricity to run it which can easily add up and may make your vegetables almost as expensive as store bought ones. i am on solar and i would't have enough power on the dark rainy stretches of the year where we have little to no sun. kona side is probably better for aquaponics. still again its a huge investment if you want to grow a big garden, not just a few carrots and a a few tomatoes here and there.

if you take papayas out of the equation and an occasional yearly period of time when there are plenty of avocados and they can be bought for a dollar, generally they are 2 dollars per one or more, everything else fruit and vegetable wise is not cheap, not at the farmers market, not at the store. even bananas that are abundant here aren't cheap, get a little hand of apple bananas for 3 bucks. and i am not comparing these prices to an extreme like alaska, more like mainland.

its a beautiful place, but its not cheap unless you spend the money up front and work your ass off on your land to provide for yourself.

[pslamont]

We ARE growing our own salad goodies and veggies too. No power; we water by hand. We also have 30 acres of SOIL and here I have offered many times (and a few have taken me up on it) to give away truckloads of soil. Ours is heavily clay and needs amending with mulch but after a season of letting all the mulch "rot in" with the soil it is incredible for growing. Clay soil is actually very high in nutrients and trace elements. As for sunshine.... there is plenty for growing everything we have tried (we have a greenhouse for lettuce, herbs, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini... and the outdoor garden gave us a bumper yield last year in corn, carrots, green beans and a few I can't think of right now. Running a farm, or even extended garden is WORK but it is well worth it. Feel free to be in touch and see what we are doing. Everything has been trial and error with LOTS OF ERRORS as we came here from So Calif suburbs and no rural experience. However, I can say we save a bundle of $$ on veggies.

Oh, and by the way, tons of friends have grown fruit trees and gardens on the lava and it works just fine. I can show you how.....

Aloha, Pam Lamont

I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says

"Oh Crap, She's up!"

[Bullwinkle]

How does the Alaska oil and energy dividend play into the cost of living - how many months a year must one reside in Alaska to share?

http://www.pfd.state.ak.us/appsandpaymnts/index.aspx

I see aprox 1K$ per year in disbursement - is that per person or per family - family of five or so would make out imho .... oil royalty sharing very cool....... geothermal rebates?

[terracore]

quote:

---

Originally posted by mary

Terracore, you said:


"There is so much cheap, wonderful healthy food in Hawaii. For what we pay for a full cicle farm box in Juneau, $40 worth of produce you can literally buy in Hawaii for $2-3 at the farmers market".

i would like to know which farmer market you go to and buy a good box worth of produce for $2-3 dollars for the box(even growing it yourself,i can't get it that cheap, or may be your box is tiny, like 5 inches all around? because I don't get out of the makuu farmesr market with a box of fruits and veggies for less then 40 dollars and the box is moderately sized, just enough for 2 people for the week. very curios as to where in the world you go to find prices like that?

---

ANY farmer's market. But I prefer the random stands on the side of the road. Way better and cheaper than getting the stuff barged in from South America. And you're right, the stuff at the grocery stores is more expensive.

[mar1957]

In order to get the "pfd" you must be a Alaska resident 181 days each year.And I believe you must live in Alaska 2 years before you qualify.Sounds good but when you weigh it against the cost of airfare the cost of heat food fuel etc/etc..you might not come out ahead?
But if you love eating fish then if you do it right you can fish and fill your freezers or smoke,can enough food for the winter,that's what we do.
My husband takes over 100 lbs of salmon to Hawaii each year our freezer is finally getting low . It's amaving how many good friends we now haveyou by just handing out a few fish ..

[dayna]

quote:

---

Originally posted by mary

Terracore, you said:


"There is so much cheap, wonderful healthy food in Hawaii. For what we pay for a full cicle farm box in Juneau, $40 worth of produce you can literally buy in Hawaii for $2-3 at the farmers market".

i would like to know which farmer market you go to and buy a good box worth of produce for $2-3 dollars for the box(even growing it yourself,i can't get it that cheap, or may be your box is tiny, like 5 inches all around? because I don't get out of the makuu farmesr market with a box of fruits and veggies for less then 40 dollars and the box is moderately sized, just enough for 2 people for the week. very curios as to where in the world you go to find prices like that?

---

Maybe you need to shop around more?

What my husband terracore failed to mention is that our box of produce is flown in from out of town. Also that it's enough produce to last a family of three about 2 days. It's added expense but also most of that comes from the pacific northwest. I also usually add eggs to my box of produce and those are $6.80/dozen.

It was quite amazing to us how inexpensive fresh foods were on the Island. In Juneau Alaska it's $1.20/pound for bananas (the crappy large yellow kind). I pay roughly up to $3.00 for ONE large organic apple here. That's no joke, I pay on average for 3 people to have apples most days about $50/week. $6.50 for an artichoke. $4.00 for a small head of romaine lettuce. And keep in mind, this isn't lovely fresh home grown produce like you find in the FM, it's barged up, artificially ripened and ususally from South America! I buy a LOT of produce, and have spent as much as $2,000 in a month for groceries for a family of three.


Yeah a lot of stuff is way cheaper in Hawaii. People here pay roughly $300 to $400 a month for electricty here in the winter.

When I hear people complain about how expensive food is in Hawaiii I have to chuckle to myself. Come live in SouthEast Alaska for a year and you'll be wishing you had access to fresh produce at such a good price.

We know that no place is perfect, but like other people have said. We have real hardships here in Alaska. Each place has it's ups and downs. It's rarely sunny here (as in it rains about daily) and the winters are killing us.

For us, Puna is a good choice.

Dayna

www.JasonAndBlue.com
My artwork