Meet the Organizers
Market History
The Pure Kona Green Market in South Kona across from Manago Hotel is locally owned by the Balucan Basque ohana, keeping alive the dream of founder Leona Balucan Basque. Leona bought the market in 2015 to fulfill her dream and passion for feeding people. She worked the market tirelessly, even after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018. Her favorite words were “Rain or shine, the market goes on!” And now through the work of the Balucan Basque family it does!
The Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden
Tucked away in Captain Cook, twelve miles south of Kailua-Kona, Amy B.H. Greenwell’s garden legacy preserves her devotion to Hawaiian botany, archeology, and culture. This 15 acre botanical garden features over 200 species of “pre-Cookian” plants, which include endemic, indigenous, and Polynesian introduced flora. These include the most culturally significant plants, such as taro and banana, as well as scores of rare and endangered species, such as the beautiful kōki’o.
The undisturbed archeological remains that cover 5 acres of the garden transport you back to an ancient time when the Hawaiians had 54 square miles of terraced and walled agriculture within the Kona district. As you pass through the garden you will traverse various ecological habitats, reflecting costal, dry forests, agricultural and wet forest zones.
The Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden is dedicated to conserve and support native plant resources and the associated traditional land use and cultural practices. To accomplish this, the garden discovers and shares knowledge of Hawaiian ethnobotany, maintaind a repository for native and Polynesian introduced plants, aids in native plant conservation and restoration, supports cultural practitioners and educators, and preserves an archeological remnant of the Kona Field System on the garden site.