Comments on: Salt Pond Surprises http://great-hikes.com/blog/salt-pond-surprises/ Living and hiking on the island of Kauai Sun, 06 May 2012 18:32:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Phil http://great-hikes.com/blog/salt-pond-surprises/#comment-9749 Phil Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:42:07 +0000 http://great-hikes.com/blog/?p=242#comment-9749 Actually, that "sharing" homeless person is probably just taking the sale from the rightfull owners...the families that work many, many hours to make the salt in the traditional was. One of those saltmakers is a good friend and he says that theft of salt is a constant problem there. Unfortunately, one can't be there 24/7 to protect the delicate salt beds unless one chooses to squat on the beach and poach the fruits of others' labors. The salt pans are carefully made. A pan is dug, then carefully lined with clay over a period of time to make it able to holed the brackish water that's under the surface. Then the saltmaker must transfer buckets of clear brackish water from another hole to fill the pan. Once the water evaporates leaving the salt, more water is poured in by bucket from a neighboring (usually deep) hole. This process goes on for months before the salt crust is thick enough to be able to harvest the salt without also scraping up the clay on which it rests. So months of regular and back-breaking work are required to make one productive salt pan. Once the salt crust is ready for harvesting, it is carefully scraped off and placed on drying sheets in the sun. It's really sad that some people have no compunction against stealing from honest hardworking folks who are trying to keep their ancestors traditions and cultural practices alive. Actually, that “sharing” homeless person is probably just taking the sale from the rightfull owners…the families that work many, many hours to make the salt in the traditional was. One of those saltmakers is a good friend and he says that theft of salt is a constant problem there. Unfortunately, one can’t be there 24/7 to protect the delicate salt beds unless one chooses to squat on the beach and poach the fruits of others’ labors.

The salt pans are carefully made. A pan is dug, then carefully lined with clay over a period of time to make it able to holed the brackish water that’s under the surface. Then the saltmaker must transfer buckets of clear brackish water from another hole to fill the pan. Once the water evaporates leaving the salt, more water is poured in by bucket from a neighboring (usually deep) hole. This process goes on for months before the salt crust is thick enough to be able to harvest the salt without also scraping up the clay on which it rests. So months of regular and back-breaking work are required to make one productive salt pan. Once the salt crust is ready for harvesting, it is carefully scraped off and placed on drying sheets in the sun.

It’s really sad that some people have no compunction against stealing from honest hardworking folks who are trying to keep their ancestors traditions and cultural practices alive.

]]>