Maui surf and turf

AG-TOURISM TAKES ROOT ON FERTILE HAWAIIAN LANDS

Text and photos by Martha Christopherson | Boston Herald, November 2, 2006

 

HANA, Hawaii - Standing under the canopy of a sun-dappled tree, Lilly Boerner reached up to snap a leaf from a branch overhead. After crunching it up in her fist, she slowly uncurled her fingers and extended her hand beneath our noses for a whiff.

"Do you know what it is?" she asked. "It's cinnamon."

She scratched at the bark of the tree trunk to show us where layers had been peeled away and harvested.

We were standing amid hundreds of trees being cultivated at Ono Organic Farms, our guide's family's 300-acre agricultural enterprise. The farm, located on the lush southern slopes of the Haleakala volcano, is open for tours two days a week.

My husband, Larry, and I had seen the Ono farms brochure at our hotel in Hana and decided to check it out. Like hundreds of tourists visiting the island, we were looking for more than just the perfect beach or strongest mai tai. We were looking for a cultural adventure that was uniquely Hawaiian.

A popular and growing trend on the islands is "ag-tourism," short for agriculture tourism. Ag-tourism usually involves visiting a working farm, having a hands-on experience and hopefully having fun and learning a little bit in the process. On Maui, where farmers are not shy about finding ways to supplement their farming revenues, visitors can tour coffee farms, botanical farms, a winery, a goat dairy, organic fruit and vegetable farms, a lavender farm, a coconut factory and even help weed restored taro patches.

When we arrived at Ono Organic Farms, we were greeted by Boerner as she emerged from the solar-powered, family home.

Wearing a pink shirt, white cropped pants and black rubber clogs, she showed us to a lanai with a long, wooden table and asked if we would like to try some organic coffee. Boerner returned from the kitchen also carrying a cutting board, knife and stainless steel bowl filled with fruit. 

Donning a pair of latex gloves, she picked up an orange and quickly cut it into six slices and placed it on a large plate set before us. As we bit into the sweet and juicy orange, she picked up a papaya and sliced it in half, exposing a cavity filled with shiny, black seeds that she scraped into an empty bowl.

Then she launched into a history of Ono Organic Farms. Her husband, Chuck, was born and raised in Hawaii after his parents moved to Honolulu in 1939; Chuck's father was a civil engineer working on fuel tanks in Pearl Harbor. But it was Chuck's grandfather who first found his way to Hana.

Looking to buy property on Molokai, he got on the wrong ship and ended up on Maui.

He began to farm organically and got the family interested in the vegetarian lifestyle, a tradition the family upholds today.

Boerner offers tours twice a week for as few as two, but said she prefers when she gets a big group (she can handle as many as 20).

"The bigger groups are fun because everyone interacts with each other. It's like a big, fruit cocktail party," she said with a smile.

Larry and I became transfixed by the neon pink flesh inside a dragonfruit that Boerner had cut in half. She held the two halves out for us to inspect its vibrant center dotted with little black seeds.

"The chefs love this. They make sorbets and cheesecakes with it," Boerner said. "The chefs call us when they are looking for something special. We try to be as diverse as possible."

Boerner led us on a tour of the farm, through acres of tropical fruit, coffee and cacao trees. After a brief walk from the house, we were completely surrounded by trees. Larry observed that the trees seemed to be planted randomly and not in rows.

"Our dream was to have a forest of fruit, not rows of trees," Boerner said. "The only trees planted closely together are the banana trees. It's good for them."

We followed her as she pointed out banana trees, coconut and mango trees. Just past the cinnamon tree where we had smelled the leaf, we walked toward a macadamia nut tree and felt the round, hard fallen nuts beneath our feet.

Further down the sloping forest, Boerner reached over and twisted and tugged a vinelike weed from its hold on a long, splendorous, spiky leaf of a pineapple plant and pulled it out.

When I asked her about the constant upkeep, she replied, "Two good men with machetes can clear five acres in half a day. It's a constant struggle to keep up."

At the processing area, a raised, concrete slab supported tables, crates, cases of shipping boxes, and bunches of green bananas hanging on metal hooks.

Boerner reached into a large, white plastic cooler with bags of ice resting on top of a dozen or more green, spiky fruits about the size of soccer balls. These were durian, a smelly but highly prized fruit, especially in Asia. "These sell for about $45 each," she told us as she gently closed the lid.

Back on the lanai at the house, we bought a bag of organic coffee and a jar of local noni honey and thanked Boerner for the tour and her hospitality, and for showing us another side of Hawaii.

Tours are $25 for adults, free for children younger than 12. For more information, go to www.onofarms.com or call 808-248-7779.

Author's note:  This story was accurate when it was published.