Our Produce

Long Beans

Long Beans (Vigna sesquipedalis)

Long Beans originated in Southern Asia and today an Asian specialty. Our Long Beans are hand harvested at approximately 18 inches long daily to ensure premium quality and flavor. Long Bean can be used in any recipe calling for green beans. They may be steamed, boiled, served on their own, or used in a wide range of dishes from soups to stews to stir fry dishes. Long Beans are also known as Yard Long Beans.

What to Look for When Purchasing

We make sure our Long Beans are:

• Harvested slender for tender flavor
• Properly chilled to prevent pod bulging from heat
• Not yellow and light shade of green and are more flexible.
• Not woody, stringy in texture and are not wilted

Storage Tips

Long beans must be stored in the refrigerator after purchase because they absorb heat. It keeps for about 3 to 4 days in a plastic bag. Best to prepare your fresh purchase soon after because beans lose flavor, nutrient and quality as time passes.

Fun Facts

• Long Beans are low in calories, rich in carbohydrates and a good source of potassium and folate.
• You don’t need to cook the Long Beans for it to be edible. Include it in a quick salad on the go!
• Long Beans enriches the soil by fixing atmospheric nitrogen in nodules on its roots. With the help of nitrogen fixing bacteria the plant makes its own food.

Good For You (Nutritional) Facts:

Serving Size = 1 cup cooked
Calories – 44
Proteins (g) – 2
Carbohydrates (g) – 10
Fiber (g) – 4
Fat (g) – 0.4
Vitamin C (mg) – 12
Folate (mcg) - 42
Iron (mg) – 1.6
Calcium (mg) – 58
Potassium (mg) – 374
Sodium (mg) - 4

Long Squash

Cubed Long squash perfectly complements Chicken noodle soup for those chilly days. They are available fresh from our farm 365 days a year. These melons are trellised and never touch the ground ensuing ideal uniform shape and color. They are harvest approximately 8 to 9inches to ensure minimal seeds development and premium sweetness.

What to Look for When Purchasing

Ho Farms Squash are made sure to always be:

• Nice firm light green color
• Uniform in size from stem to bottom of melon
• Free of bruises shriveled tips and dry spots

Storage Tips

Long Squash have a very good shelf life. But know you kept it on the shelf to long when the melon is cut open and the seeds are hard and developed. It is best favored when used with in one week of purchase. If you cant use a full melon a simple food grade plastic wrap can ensure freshness.

Fun Facts

• Squash is officially a fruit and the smaller the squash, the more flavorsome it will be.
• Many parts of the squash plant, besides its flesh, are edible including the seeds, leaves, tendrils, shoots and flowers.
• There are over 150 varieties of squash making this item available is all shapes, sizes, colors and flavors.

Good For You (Nutritional) Facts:

Serving Size = 1 cup
Calories – 15
Proteins (g) – 1
Carbohydrates (g) – 4
Fiber (g) – 0
Fat (g) – 0
Vitamin C (%) – 22
Calcium (%) - 3

Mini Japan Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)

Our Mini Japan Cucumber harvested at a younger stage allow for a perfectly crisp texture. With less water content and no seeds chefs prefer this product in sushi and Salads. The Mini Japan Cucumbers are harvested, washed, sorted and packaged for one day turn around shipment ensuring you enjoy the freshness of our product as we do.

What to Look for When Purchasing

First, look for the Ho Farms label! We make sure our Mini Japan cucumbers are:

• Firm with no soft spots and Well-formed (this also makes the skin completely bright green rather than yellow)
• Bottom end should not be shriveled
• Free of bruises and dead dry spots

Storage Tips

Store fresh or cut Mini cucumbers in the refrigerator the same way you would store our standard cucumbers wrapped in plastic. The wrap locks in the moisture to ensure the Mini cucumber is crisp when you eat it. Mini Cucumbers should last for about one week when wrapped in your fridge.

Fun Facts

• It only takes an additional two days on the vine from Mini Japan Cucumber to our standard Japan Cucumber size.
• All Japan Cucumber in Japan are consumed in the Mini size.

Good For You (Nutritional) Facts:

Serving Size = 1 cup
Calories – 7
Proteins (g) – <1
Carbohydrates (g) – 1.5
Fiber (g) – 0.4
Fat (g) – 0

Sugar Banana (Pusang Awak)

Just so much tastier! Known as the Sugar Banana for its sweet taste the exquisite flavor makes the sugar banana a great addition to fruit salads, cakes and muffins. The sugar bananas are fantastic for cooking as it does not brown when cut and remains firm when cooked. Ho Farms Sugar Bananas must be fully ripened for best flavor. Fruits are lime green when picked and gradually ripen to a lemon yellow color. All green must turn to yellow even on the stem.

How to Pick a Sugar Banana

Sugar Bananas are relatively easy to select at your local market.

• If the Sugar Bananas are fairly ripe make sure they have no abnormal fruit bruise
• Will formed fruits for easy peeling
• Brown marks/patches indicate fruit maturity for firm pulp/light creamy and delicately sweet flavor.

How to Store Sugar Bananas

Unripe green Sugar Bananas should be kept in room temperature for normal ripping.
For accelerated ripening keep unripe Sugar Bananas in a sealed plastic bag. Bananas naturally produce ethylene gas that help the ripening process.
If the Sugar Bananas fruits are browning which indicate maturity the fruits can be then refrigerated for extended shelf life.

Fun Facts

• Bananas are the best selling fruit in the world outranking Apples and Oranges. American consumers an average of 25 pounds per person.
• Sugar Banana variety is widely grown in East Africa for the growing production of beer and wines.
• Perfect afternoon pickup ….. This snack is useful in bring low blood glucose levels back to help avoid afternoon slumps experienced at work.
• Vitamin Power! One Banana provides more then 25% of your daily vitamin needs.

Good For You (Nutritional) Facts:

Serving Size = 1 fruit
Calories – 65
Proteins (g) – .8
Carbohydrates (g) – 16.67
Fiber (g)– 1.9
Fat (g) – 0.24
Vitamin C (mg) – 12
Folate (mcg) - 20
Potassium (mg) – 342

Tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum)

Specialty tomatoes are our signature product and we grow over 9 varieties of this wonderful fruit (yes tomatoes are fruits, not vegetables) every year. Why? Because we love ‘em and love to see people’s reaction when they taste our locally grown, vine-ripened tomatoes for the first time.

Ho Farms’ tomatoes are hand-picked at the peak of ripeness and make their way to markets the very next day. Most supermarket tomatoes are picked when green to survive the abuse and time of their long trip to market. Ho Farms tomatoes are famous for their sweet flavor and crisp texture and are commonly eaten as a snack, used in salads, and in many delicious recipes [link].

Yes there are many varieties of tomatoes, each with their own wonderful qualities. We currently offer the following tomato varieties in stores:

Name	Color	Shape	Texture and Taste
Golden Grape	Dazzling Gold	Elongated/Oval	- Thick skin - Less water content - Extra crunchy - Sugary, sweet taste
Grape	Bright Red	Elongated/Oval	- Sweet and crisp - Extra long shelf life
Cherry	Red-Orange	Round	- Juicy with complex flavors - Initially tart but leaves a sweet aftertaste
Kahuku Golden	Gold Orange	Round	- Fine texture - Sweet and light, almost a fruity flavor
Currant	Deep Red	Round	- Sweet tomato flavor with a tart aftertaste.
Baby Roma	Radiant Red	Elongated/Oval	Balanced flavor Light taste

If your idea of a tomato is only what you get in a burger or salad, try a Ho Farms Family Pack of tomatoes, which includes a variety of varieties (cool huh?) and discover the sweet-juicy-tangy-crispness of the Ho Farm tomato world!

How to Pick a Tomato

First, look for the Ho Farms label! We make sure our tomatoes are:

• Vine-ripened (this also makes them have a sweet, fresh aroma)
• Well-formed, smooth, and free of blemishes
• Free of bruises, discoloration, large growth cracks, and water-soaked spots

If you don’t buy Ho Farms tomatoes, we only ask that you don’t make up your mind about what tomatoes taste like until you try one of ours, ok?

How to Store a Tomato (It May Not Be How You Think)

Tomatoes do not require refrigeration! Cooler temperatures can reduce flavors and cause mushiness, so keep fresh, uncut tomatoes in a cool place and consume them within 5 days.
If you want to save them for a later time, freeze the tomatoes in freezer bags and use them for cooking when needed.

Fun Facts

• Aside from being rich in vitamins C, fiber and potassium, tomatoes contain lycopene, a carotenoid with potent antioxidant and cancer-fighting properties.
• Actually a fruit, it took a ruling by the United States Supreme Court in 1893 to make the tomato a vegetable!
• There are hundreds of cultivated tomato varieties and this includes several heirloom varieties that have been grown for generations. All tomatoes can be classified by type: cherry, grape, beefsteak, plum (paste), slicing, and pear tomatoes based on their size, shape, and color.
• The first tomatoes were like the modern day Cherry tomatoes. The larger, sliceable varieties came much later.

Good For You (Nutritional) Facts:

Serving Size = 1 Cup
Calories – 25.8
Proteins (g) – 1
Carbohydrates (g) – 5.7
Fiber (g)– 1.4
Fat (g) – 0.4
Vitamin A (I.U.) – 766
Vitamin C (mg) – 32
Potassium (mg) – 273