November 4, 2023: Grant funds received, ordering stuff.

We have the funding in the bank for the matching grant and started ordering supplies and putting in the ground work. First will be the solar array, to power up tools for building the wash station and cold room. Also some sheds and tents for sheltering stuff from the coming rainy season. Meanwhile production continues with cucumber, cabbage, tomato and peppers, all of which need screen or shade protection. 
We also bought our first self-propelled utility vehicle (not with the grant).
While waiting for Stuff to arrive.... here laying out weedmat for the solar array base.

A word on shipping to Hawaiʻi.

Most mainland companies apparently don't consider Hawaiʻi (and Alaska) to be part of the U.S.  So shipping is always a challenge, especially for batteries and other hazardous stuff.  I tend to buy from suppliers who can get  me what I need without adding on a purely gratuitous massive overcharge on shipping. And I buy local when can. But can't for everything especially on Kauaʻi. Two useful options I use are Amazon Prime, and ShipToHawaii. Amazon Prime is often the fastest and cheapest way to get smaller, and sometimes not smaller, items to Hawaiʻi. You may more for some things but it is (usually) more than offset by the shipping as opposed to buying direct from vendor (see gratuitous overcharging above). If that is not an option, my backup is ShipToHawaii. The company has warehouses in California and will transship by air or ocean. That means if you buy from a vendor that offers free shipping to the contiguous 48 states you can finally leverage that by having stuff shipped to ShipToHawaii for free, then pay just for the California to Hawaiʻi leg. Or if they won't ship to Hawaiʻi period you can still get it here. I shipped in a pallet of beehive parts this way. This is not cheap, especially if you have to pay for the vendor-to-California leg, but it makes it possible. Always research! For example, I found I could buy the Renology lithium Iron batteries on either Amazon or straight from Renology But Amazon would not ship  batteries to Hawaiʻi, while Renology would, by air for about $350. ShipToHawaii also would ship, by sea, for a bit over $200. Cheaper! But ... ShipToHawaii was not real clear about hazardous shipping charges because they don't typically do that. In this case straight from the vendor seemed like the best bet. Surprisingly, for solar panels, charge controllers and such Amazon Prime was the fastest and cheapest method. For those of us on Kauaʻi, a good process is to check on-island, then Oʻahu and other neighbors. Sadly, sometimes this is actually more expensive and difficult than buying and shipping in from the mainland, but may be less carbon expensive. Maybe. But then, they got it shipped here too, so do the math and research and use the shipping method that works for you.
End of rant.
Next, building foundations!

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