Making time for farmers markets in Maui

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Of course I was happy -- overjoyed, actually -- to see whales and sea turtles and the Maui sand and sun during my recent vacation. But I also scoured all the tourist brochures and the Maui News for the times and places of the island’s farmers markets.

We saw avocados and coconut on roadside tables inviting customers to put money in a box and take their pick. And we bought tropical fruits such as rambutan and pineapples from a market in Hana, on Maui’s east side, that helps support local health programs. Despite a few groans from my husband and two teenagers, we stopped at another market, this time in Kahalui, this one in a parking lot. There were Maui onions and pineapples (two for $5!). But there were also some things I didn’t expect at a farmers market: mangoes from Ecuador, bananas on a table marked ‘mainland,’ apples from Washington state and bags of shallots from our own Gilroy.

--Mary MacVean