Hamakua Coast, History, The New Ahupua‘a

Ahupua‘a, Old & New

The farm recently received information about a Farm Conservation Plan grant. It’s a grant that is awarded by the Natural Resource Defense Council just every eight years, and Richard says it was completely unexpected when they were asked to apply.

“It’s rewarded based on past practices,” explains Richard. “They’re trying to reward people who’ve been doing it right, in terms of avoiding erosion and employing best environmental practices. This grant comes around every eight years, and it came out of the blue because the Hilo watershed had not participated in this program before.”

The farm also recently applied for financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program 2009, which falls under the federal Wildlife Habitat Management program. This program promotes agricultural production and environment quality as compatible goals. Some of the identified natural resource concerns are: at-risk species habitat, sedimentation and accelerated erosion and ground and surface water conservation.

“This grant is to bring the streams back,” says Richard, “to reforest them. Basically they want you to bring it back up to where it was. We have all these non-native plants, and we’re going to take them out and replant with the appropriate, native ones. We’re going to clean up the area and take it back to where it was originally.”

It’s an extensive project, and an exciting one.

Part of this process has been a “Cultural Resources Review,” which was done by the local Natural Resource Defense Council. It starts out with some interesting historical and cultural information we didn’t know:

The proposed project area is 579 acres within three ahupua‘a: Kaupakuea, Kahua and Makahanaloa (north to south) in South Hilo.

Richard is excited to know these details about the traditional land divisions, or ahupua‘a. Me, too. Here he’s been talking about creating The New Ahupua‘a, and we find we actually have some information about the old ahupua’a!

From the report:

Kaupakuea is the northernmost ahupua‘a. Its southern boundary is Makea Stream…It extends from the coast up to the above Kaupakuea Homesteads at about 1400/1500 foot elevation…. Evidence of previous plantation use of the area can be seen in the unpaved roadways, and a west-east flume in parcel 01. The project is also within what was once Grant 872.

Kaupakuea is the side of the farm that has all the greenhouses, the packing house and all the structures.

Kahua is a very narrow ahupua‘a, extending only between Makea Stream to the north to Alia Stream to the south, approximately 600 feet wide although it extends from the coast to about Makea Spring, which is at about the 980 foot elevation, upslope of the project area….

Kahua seems to be a natural place to plant assorted fruit trees. The sloping terrain lends itself to a cropping system that doesn’t require constant tractor cultivation.

Richard says this land between the two streams has always been his favorite part of the property. “How often do you get two streams so close together,” he says, “just naturally? There’s a big hill in between them. It’s not suitable for flat-land farming. It’s hard to figure out why it’s there. You just have a feeling that it’s special.”

Kahonu received 52.20 acres as LCA 5663 in the northern mauka half of Kahua in the project area….Kahonu was an ali‘i, a chief, a descendant through both the ‘I and Mahi lines, who was in charge of the Fort at Punchbowl ca. 1833-34 (Barrere 1994:139). After his death in 1851, Abner Paki, a relative, held the lands [in Kahua] “under a verbal will from Kahonu” (Barrere 1994:138). At Paki’s death in 1855, “these lands were now listed as Bishop Estate lands” (Barrere 1994:515). Abner Paki and Konia were the parents of Bernice Pauahi and hanai parents of [Queen Lydia] Liliuokalani (Barrere 1994:515).

Kahua and Kaupakuea were listed as government lands (Indices 1929:30, 32). Government lands were lands Kamehameha III gave “to the chiefs and people” (Chinen 1958:26). By surrendering a large portion of his reserved lands to the government, Kamehameha III disposed of the question of his payment of commutation to the government (Chinen 1958:27). “From time to time portions of the Government Lands were sold as a means of obtaining revenue to meet the increasing costs of the Government. Purchasers of these lands were issued documents called ‘Grants’ or ‘Royal Patent Grants…” (Chinen 1958:27).

Makahanaloa ahupua‘a extends from the coast all the way up to about the 6600 foot elevation, a distance of about 3.4 miles….7600 acres of Makahanaloa and Pepekeo (sic) ahupua‘a were awarded to William Charles Lunalilo as LCA 8559-B: 17 &b 18 in the Great Mahele of 1848….Within Makahanaloa was “an ancient leaping place for souls. A sacred bamboo grove called Homaika‘ohe was planted here by the god Kane; bamboo knives used for circumcision came from his grove” (Pukui et al 1981:139). Locations of these sites are unknown.

The review also provides some history of the sugar plantations in the area of what is now Hamakua Springs Country Farms.

1857 – Theophilus Metcalf started Metcalf Plantation.
1874 – Afong and Achuck purchased Metcalf Plantation and changed the name to Pepe‘ekeo Sugar Company.
1879 – Afong and Achuck acquired Makahaula Plantation, adding 7600 acres to the south.
1882 – These were combined as Pepe‘ekeo Sugar Mill & Plantation.
1889 – Afong returned to China and left the plantations in the hands of his friend Samuel M. Damon.

The overview continues with changes of hands as the plantation land passed through Hackfeld & Company, Alexander Young and, in 1904, C. Brewer and Co. It gives some history through the closing of what had become Mauna Kea Agribusiness Co. in 1994.

Richard says this newly acquired information about the ahupua‘a come down to it being a framework. “A couple years ago we started feeling we needed to get closer to the culture,” he says. “We ended up working with, for example, the TMT, Keaukaha School, and it became a real thing. We started calling it the ‘New Ahupua‘a,’ and it was kind of neat. We had this kind of flat land over here, and that kind of hilly land over there.

“But all of the sudden now there are names!” he says. “Everything’s starting to become clear. It’s kind of exciting. It’s a framework to work in. Now we’re going to take action.”

“It’s still all about feeding people, basically. That’s what we’re up to.”

Food Safety Certification, Tomatoes

The Tomato Pickle

My uncle in California reads this blog, and he sent over a link to a newsweek.com article with this tagline: As the salmonella-tainted tomato outbreak continues to spread, small and local farm advocates say their produce is a safer bet. But experts aren’t so sure.

The gist of the article is that with the recent salmonella and tomatoes scare on the mainland (but not here in Hawai‘i), people are confused. They don’t know which tomatoes are safe.

Some think smaller farms, and local farms, are safer, and consequently sales at farmers markets are skyrocketing, but is produce from small and local farms actually safer? In the article, experts weigh in saying that mistakes and contamination issues can happen at any farm of any size.

“The real key,” says a microbiologist at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences – who is also a safety adviser to the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange and the Center for Produce Safety at the University of California – “is for everyone to follow good safety practices.”

My uncle wrote, “This article sounds like it is based on what I have read on the Ha Ha Ha blog over the last year or two!”

It really does.

Richard agreed: “Your uncle is right. It’s not rocket science. People want to know who grew the product and if it’s safe.”

“Everything under the Hamakua Springs label is grown by us and is food safety certified,” he said.

“It’s not complicated at all.”

Community, Renewable Energy Sources, Sustainability

Festival Update

The Malama ‘Aina Festival is starting to get traction.

Roland Torres, executive producer of Kama‘aina Backroads, will be working with us. When I told him that the festival will focus on Hawaiian culture and then, in that context, alternate energy, food producing, recycling and waste management methods, he told me this aligned with his personal philosophy and that he wanted to get involved.

We cannot be more happy that he has agreed to join us. His Kama‘aina Backroads program on OC 16 is uniquely local Hawaiian style.

Since the Hawai‘i Island energy forum this past Friday, I’ve had many calls from people with alternative energy projects. One interesting wind energy project involves a wind energy machine that spins like a top.

I talked to the H2-technologies people yesterday and in addition to producing hydrogen for transportation, they can produce ammonia for fertilizer. If this works, it will be a big deal for agriculture in Hawai‘i. This will help some of us to continually produce food intensively.

We will be asking auto companies with alternative energy cars and trucks to come and put some on display. One car company committed to display and even volunteered to become a sponsor.

Roland Torres has a mock-up website he will use to keep everyone up to speed on the festival as November 7th and 8th approach.  We’ll keep you posted here, too.

Community, Hamakua Coast, Water

Andrade Camp Water System

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Yesterday was the groundbreaking and dedication for Andrade Camp’s new water system.

It’s hard to believe that we started this project – to help transition our neighbors at Andrade Camp from a private, sugar plantation water system to a standard county water system – five years ago.

The 31 households in Andrade Camp, next to the farm, are made up of former sugar plantation employees. They have always paid a flat rate for their water usage, $8/month, and the sugar company took care of all maintenance on the water lines.

When C. Brewer sold all its sugar lands a few years back, the company told residents they’d have to take over the private water system and start paying the county for their water use.  The company went down to just six workers doing all the maintenance on their lands, and by the end, there was only one executive on O‘ahu making all the money decisions.

Fortunately, on the ground, it was John Cross that was in charge. I’ve known John for 15 years and he is one of the good guys. He was the one who decided to put in individual meters at each house. He did everything he could to make sure the private water system was operational. Knowing what was happening at the company’s O‘ahu headquarters, I’m sure John did some pretty creative accounting to make sure everything was going to work out for Andrade Camp.

It was quite a process to transition this small neighborhood from that point to the county water system. We wanted to help, and formed the Andrade Camp Association. Roy Oka was elected president. Myself, Rick Ryken and Richard Matsunami were on the board of directors.

We asked for a meeting with Water Supply.  Representative Dwight Takamine, John Cross, who represented the sugar company, Milton Pavao, the boss of the key Water Supply personnel and the Andrade Camp Association Board attended this important meeting.

 

After that meeting we recruited Roy Takemoto, from the County Planning Department and Attorney Alan Okamoto, who had experience with Hamakua Sugar and transition issues. Dayday Hopkins and Jane Horike also helped us organize ourselves.

Dwight Takamine was the driving force behind this project. There were several times that it looked like the project had died, but he would not give up. I’ll bet he called more than 15 meetings in order to keep the process moving. He is very good at getting the best out of people. He was able to keep everyone on the same page and working together.

He insists on sharing the credit with everyone. But all of us who were involved from the start know that it was Dwight who made it happen.

I’ve known him for as long as I’ve been farming in Pepe‘ekeo. He does this kind of collaborative process with all the groups on the Hamakua Coast. I respect and admire people who are doers, not talkers.

I am not a political person. But based on my observation over the past 15 years, I support Dwight one hundred percent in his run for the Senate.

Fast forward to yesterday, the groundbreaking and dedication ceremony for the new Andrade Camp water system.

Here is the press release about yesterday’s event:

Pepe‘ekeo Community Celebrates Successful Ground Breaking for Andrade Camp Water System

Pepe‘ekeo, Hawai‘i – June 10, 2008 – A gorgeous summer day unfolded for Pepe‘ekeo Community as they celebrated the ground breaking of the Andrade Camp Water System Improvements Project.  A little fewer than 100 people gathered on Andrade Camp Road to hear their partners’ celebratory comments and witness the symbolic groundbreaking.

USDA Rural Development State Director Lorraine Shin commented this morning, “Our goal at USDA is to increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of life for people in rural America.  Attainment of this goal is evident today with Andrade Camp and our partners from all levels of government and community.”  The Andrade Camp Water System Improvement Project will successfully transition their private plantation era water system to a modern County water system.

Deputy Manager Quirino Antonio spoke on behalf of the Water Board, County of Hawaii– “This project demonstrates that together we can make a difference.  Together we can map a better future for generations to come.”

The blessing was held on Andrade Camp Road in Pepe‘ekeo this morning.  A lunch celebration followed at the Kula‘imano Community Center.  Many partners spoke during the luncheon about the sincere efforts of all involved.  Representative Dwight Takamine closed the celebration with, “This effort surrounding this small community was made possible because each and every partner held the best interest of Andrade Camp Residents at heart.  Thank you all, sincerely.”

Construction begins June 12, 2008.

Sustainability

Energy Forum

Friday was the Hawai‘i Island Energy Forum, sponsored by the Kohala Center in partnership with the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board and the Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce.

It is my opinion that the Hawai‘i Island Energy Forum is a warning
that serious things are taking place and that we need to pay
attention.

I feel that the average Big Island citizen, because of what is
happening to their living expenses, is acutely in tune to what is
going on. But I think that many public officials still do not get it.
And they are blissfully ignorant at their own peril.

Tell us what you think.

I gave the welcome talk at the Energy Forum, and thought I’d share it with you here:

***

Aloha everyone, and welcome to the Hawai‘i Island Energy Forum, sponsored by the Kohala Center in partnership with the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board and the Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce.

I am Richard Ha. We farm 600 fee simple acres of bananas and hydroponic vegetables. You may be asking: “Why are you here opening up this conference?”  It’s because farming inputs are largely dependent on petroleum-based products. Farming is kind of like the canary in the coal mine.

Farmers get advance warning when oil prices rise because most of our inputs are oil related.

Five years ago we diversified into hydroponics. Oil was then $35 per barrel. And everyone knew that China was going to use up a lot of that oil. So, we set out to make our operation as energy efficient as possible.

Two years ago, my wife June told me to take a look at the supply costs. They were rising steadily. That’s when I realized how closely our farming costs were tied to oil costs.

This past October, when attending the Produce Marketing Association tradeshow, which we go to every year, I noticed that the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) conference was being held in the same hotel the next day. I had heard of that non-partisan organization that is dedicated to the study of world oil supplies and sharing that knowledge with as many as possible.

At the ASPO conference, which was on Oct 17-21st, I learned that world oil supplies, because of geological, economical and geopolitical reasons, are not likely to keep up with the demand for that oil. The logical conclusion is that oil prices are going to increase at an accelerating rate. And due to rising input cost, there was going to be a bad effect on our farm.

One thing that caught my attention during the discussion of the airline industry was that the airline association predicted accelerating growth far into the future.  But we all knew that with declining supplies of oil would come increasing cost of gasoline, causing their customers to travel less and their own fuel costs to rise. Instead of accelerating growth it was more reasonable to expect negative growth. Seven months later airlines are going out of business. It is not surprising to those of us who attended the ASPO conference.

Coming back from that conference we renewed our self-sufficiency plan. We have a hydro electric plant in the works. It will supply all our electricity needs. And we are working on a small, farm-scale biodiesel maker. We hope to be largely energy self-sufficient within two years.

The world is changing in ways we have not seen and can only imagine. Oil jumped back to $134 today. The future price of oil had always been cheaper than the present price. But a few weeks ago, future oil price was no longer cheaper than the present. That is unnerving. We must challenge all of our fundamental assumptions. Prepare for the worse and hope for the best. The status quo is not safe any more. Actually the status quo is a very risky bet.

One hundred fifty years ago, 700 whaling ships were calling at Hawai‘i ports. If we had a forum then, perhaps some would be calling for increased production of harpoons. But the 800-pound gorilla in that room would have been that oil had just been discovered in Pennsylvania and the world was about to change.

Fast forward to today. The world is changing again. This time the 800-pound gorilla in this room is the fact that we have come to rely on oil for our lifestyle. But the supply of that oil cannot keep up with demand.

The world is changing in ways we don’t even want to imagine. But with great adversity comes great opportunity. This is a scary time. But it is also an exciting time. Betting on our people and their ability to innovate is a safe bet. Betting on making more harpoons is a very risky bet.

Not, no can. CAN!! We can do this. And that is what this forum is all about.

***

This online Energy Forum newsletter has some related articles, as well as a link to the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald article about the conference. (click on the link at the third article). I thought that the Tribune-Herald did a good job of reporting the essence of the conference.

Food Safety Certification, Health, Tomatoes

Mainland Salmonella Outbreak

There was an article in the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald Wednesday about a salmonella outbreak on the mainland.

Hamakua Springs is food safety-certified, so we avoid such problems.

What that means is that we have annual inspections and keep detailed records on 60-odd specific points that address issues of food safety.

Salmonella most commonly spreads through contaminated wash water. We have heard of places in foreign countries that use field irrigation water for wash water, after it is used for irrigation and then run down to the ends of the rows. Clearly that should not be allowed.

We never wash our tomatoes in a tank, because there is just too much risk of contamination. What we do instead is use a spray rinse of county drinking water, in order to ensure sanitation. We never reuse wash water.

An email we received from the Produce Marketing Association

DATE: June 1, 2008
TO: All PMA Members
FROM: Kathy Means, PMA VP of Government Relations and Public Affairs
RE: Tomatoes linked to illness outbreak in the Western U.S. (Salmonella)

Today the New Mexico Department of Health announced that an outbreak of illness caused by Salmonella St. Paul is likely caused by eating uncooked tomatoes purchased from specific stores (Wal-Mart in Las Cruces or Farmington, Lowe’s in Las Cruces, or Bashas’ in Crownpoint). So far, 31 people in New Mexico have been sick. Several people have been hospitalized, and no one has died, according to the department. The agency is advising consumers and restaurants that bought tomatoes from those stores since May 3 not to eat them uncooked.

No other action is being requested by health authorities at this time.  PMA has learned that this outbreak linked to tomatoes likely extends to several states, mainly in the Western United States, and may have begun as early as late April. We expect information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration soon, as FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working on this issue, and we are working with them. We are seeking more information on the type(s) of tomatoes, source of tomatoes, numbers of illnesses, duration of the outbreak, and distribution channels.

The New Mexico information indicates exposures at both foodservice and retail are involved, but named only the four stores above.

Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most recover without treatment. Some people may need hospitalization due to severe diarrhea. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness.

PMA members should know that they have resources – issue briefings on produce and pathogens, produce handling information for consumers, as well as a crisis management manual and recall manual.

PMA will continue to monitor this situation and will share with members any new developments as they become available. If you have questions, please contact Kathy Means or Dr. Bob Whitaker. If you need assistance with media inquiries, contact Julia Stewart.

This alert is a PMA member benefit; if it was forwarded to you, you can contact the PMA Solution Center at solutionctr@pma.com or +1 (302) 738-7100 to be added to the list of people at member companies who receive these alerts. You are receiving this message because PMA believes you will benefit from this information. If you have any concerns about mailings of this type, please contact PMA’s Solution Center.

About salmonella

Salmonella is a family of bacteria that can cause diarrheal illness in humans. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have severe illness. Salmonellosis is more common in summer than winter. Children are the most likely to get salmonellosis.

Salmonella bacteria are usually transmitted by eating foods contaminated with animal feces. Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps, and most recover without treatment. However, sometimes the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Rarely, the Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites; it can cause serious illness or death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics.

Peak Oil

Short Supply

From the Wall Street Journal on May 27th:

Lofty Prices for Fertilizer Put Farmers in a Squeeze
By Lauren Etter

At a time when food prices are soaring world-wide, so is the price of fertilizer, producing huge profits for leading fertilizer makers and stirring anger among farmers in the U.S. and India….

The price of fertilizer “defies rational explanation,” says Robert Carlson, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, one of the state’s most influential farmers’ groups. In a May 8 letter to North Dakota’s three-member congressional delegation, he accused fertilizer companies of “price gouging,” and asked for an investigation.

On Friday, Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, said he is asking the Federal Trade Commission to scrutinize the industry’s business practices. Sen. Dorgan heads the Senate Commerce subcommittee that oversees the FTC.

Read more here.

As I mentioned in my post about fertilizer shocks, we are on the world market. And now it appears that the few world suppliers have the market cornered.

The silver lining in this fertilizer shock is that it seems to be a shortage that can be overcome by building increased capacity. But it will take a few years for that to happen, and for prices to ease.

Recognizing what was going on, we immediately bought two and a half months’ worth of supply to protect ourselves. We don’t like to do this. But we do have the ability to move quickly when we need to.

Sulfur is in short supply, too, maybe until the first quarter of 2009. And now other blends may be short when they have a sulfur component. There’s a lot to be aware of.

Peak Oil, Sustainability

An 800-Pound Gorilla

I spent all day Tuesday and all of Wednesday morning at the Pacific Basin Agriculture Research Center (PBARC) for a stakeholders’ workshop and program-visioning conference.

We were asked:

• “What do you see PBARC doing in 10 years?” and,
• “Where can PBARC provide support in furtherance of its mission?”

Our exercise seemed similar to what might have happened had Hawai‘i’s whaling industry held a conference soon after oil was discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859.

In 1846, more than 700 whaling ships were calling in Hawaii. Some of the conferees may have asked for research on potatoes so they could supply the ships, or for aggressive marketing and promotion of fish and poi to the sailors. Or for studying how whale harpoons could be mass-produced in a factory. Others, thinking ahead, may have asked for the study of sugar cane cultivation.

Back then, the 800-pound gorilla in the room was the discovery of oil. Now, the 800-pound gorilla in the room is the fact that we are running out of oil.

This meeting I attended was an important one. Andy Hammond, the Area Director of USDA, ARS, Pacific West Area, was there. There were administrators and staff from the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture, both the UH Manoa and UH Hilo’s Colleges of Agriculture as well as representatives from other supporting agencies. Most of the Hawaii agricultural industry’s representatives were there, too.

Dennis Gonsalves is the director of the Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center. He had an illustrious career at Cornell University (he is the person who developed the Rainbow Papaya, which saved Hawai‘i’s papaya industry) and then came back home to Hawai‘i after making it big on the national scene. In all his years away he did not lose any of his local sensibilities, and that’s a big reason he is so effective in his job. We need more of these “local sensibilities” when choosing our leaders!

Let me define these two organizations for you:  Agriculture Research Service’s (ARS) mission, which applies to Food, Feed, Fuel and Fiber, is to develop and transfer solutions to agricultural problems, and support research needs of action agencies.

PBARC’s mission is to support aquaculture, plants, genetic resources, plant biological and molecular processes, as well as crop protection and quarantine.

In answer to the questions we were asked to consider (“What do you see PBARC doing in 10 years?” and, “Where can PBARC provide support in furtherance of its mission?”) industry people in normal years would just recite the priorities of their individual industries, and if the need crossed multiple lines so much the better.

But this year, there is that 800-pound “oil shortage” gorilla in the room. We hear people on the news talking about $200-250 per barrel of oil in the next couple of years. This was unimaginable to most people just eight months ago.

So it made our job a little more difficult. We were instructed to come up with action items that were of “utmost importance,” “very important” and “important.”

Some felt that generalities were nice but they wanted action. For example, the coffee industry representative did not want to waste time—he wanted specific things done for the industry. He was very effective, listing seven or eight items for consideration. All were of the “utmost importance.” Most of the other people had two to four items that were of “utmost importance.”

In the end, it turned out well because the people who were concerned about world oil shortage issues brought out points that applied across the board, so those items were adopted. And the people with specific action items for particular commodities had their issues heard as well.

By the way, I ran across a definition of sustainability that I like. It’s a German term that was coined by the Prussian Forest Administration back in 1790 or so, and it means that one should never take more wood out of the forest than can re-grow between two harvesting periods. That means we leave nature intact and just live from nature’s interest rates.

(to be continued)

Sustainability

Malama ‘Aina Festival

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I have been asked to co-chair an event that, for the last three years, has been called the Ag & Energy Expo and held in the Prince Kuhio Mall. Steve Shropshire has chaired this event from the beginning.

Steve decided to take it outside this year and expand it to a two-day event. He was thinking of calling it the Lono Festival and have it celebrate the Makahiki.

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked if I would help and co-chair the event. After the first meeting, I ran the idea of the Lono Festival and the Makahiki by Kale Gumapac, Alakai of the Kanaka Council. It became apparent to me that there were serious religious implications, and I suggested to the Chamber of Commerce committee that we change the name.

So we renamed it the Malama ‘Aina Festival. We envision an event that will show sustainability in its widest application – from local-grown food to alternate energy and from cultural activities to recycling. In a sense, it will demonstrate the vision of the Sustainability 2050 plan, chaired by Senator Russell Kokubun.

It will take place on Nov 7th and 8th. Friday the 7th in downtown Hilo is Black and White Night, which is sponsored by the Downtown Improvement Association (DIA). Plans for our festival are not complete yet, but we are picturing people walking around sampling dishes made with locally produced food, and maybe even wine tasting. Is that possible?

On Saturday, events will take place in tents under the trees at Mo‘oheau Park and bandstand. We plan to team up with the Hilo Farmers Market and have booths displaying all kinds of sustainability projects.

We are still brainstorming. But here are some of the people we have contacted:

Guy Toyama has agreed to demonstrate his hydrogen-powered scooter. The hydrogen is developed from water and energy derived from a hydro plant at Hakalau.

Gene Kelley, who has just signed a contract with the Natural Energy Lab of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), has invented what he calls the WindWing. It works like when you are riding in a car, stick your arm out the window and feel the wind pushing against your arm. In the same way, his device generates electricity by capturing wind energy using something like a venetian blind. He says that a windmill is approximately six percent efficient, while his WindWing is 40 to 60 percent efficient. He is game to demonstrate his invention at the festival.

Bernie Kratky has agreed to demonstrate his non-circulatory hydroponics.

Mike Tanabe, Professor at the University of Hawai‘i College of Agricultlure, is game to demonstrate tissue-cultured taro in its various tissue-culture growth stages.

The Hawai‘i Seal of Quality program will participate.

Hamakua Springs Country Farms will have a booth and demonstrate hydroponic methods of growing food.

We are looking for people who can demonstrate various kinds of composting.

We hope to have the Master Gardeners, the Hawai‘i Organic Farmers Association, HELCO and Puna Geothermal Ventures.

We are also asking people to accommodate tours of their actual operation during that week. Puna Geothermal has agreed to do an excursion to the Puna Geothermal well site, and Hamakua Springs will offer a farm tour. Guy Toyama has agreed to show how his people generate electricity from running water and then make hydrogen for use in running equipment.We have extended an invitation to Pacific Bio diesel and its partners, who will be growing and selling jatropha plants for biodiesel oil use.

This is just the beginning. More and more people are asking to participate. The Malama ‘Aina festival is very appropriate for the changing times ahead and we think that this is going to be lots of fun.

Adopt-a-Class

Kindergarten and Second Grade

The kindergarten and second grade classes from Keaukaha Elementary School came to visit us at the farm last week. It was the second excursion each class took this year.

Everyone_gets_a_banana_2
Everybody gets one banana. But you can have another one after you’re done.

The excursion was only possible because of the generous contributions of the following people: John and Linda Tolmie, Virginia Goldstein, Leslie Lang and Macario, Dan Nakasone, Kama‘aina Backroads-Roland Torres, Kee Han and Vivienne Seaver Ha and the managers at Alan Wongs Restaurant.

Virginia_goldstein_2

Virginia Goldstein adopted the kindergarden class. At the end of the tour, they all yelled, “Thank you, Aunty Virginia!”

I wish everyone could have heard how grateful the teachers and students are to have such generous sponsors.

I was so impressed with the teachers. They have the most important job there is. We all owe them a lot.

Line_up_behind_me
“Line up behind me!”

Tracy_telling_about_banana_growin_3
Tracy, on the finer points of growing bananas.

Uncle_paul

All kids love standing around in the cooler after a trek around the farm:

Standing_in_cooler

I told the kids they can do anything they wanted to. I told them the story about my dad telling us stories when I was their age. We were poor and had a picnic bench for a dinner table. He would say, “Not, ‘No Can.’ ‘CAN!’” Anything was possible. 

Before the kids left, I told them “Not, ‘No Can.’” They all yelled back in unison “CAN!!”

Getting_on_bus

It was a good day.