From the slopes of Haleakala, brilliant blue skies frame the Mauna Kahalawai (West Maui mountains) robed in greens, browns and golds. Three thousand feet below, the Pacific Ocean stretches out to the horizon, a spectacular, breathtaking view. But today, a group of twenty is focused on the earth at their feet. Chard, sporting the colors of the rainbow, is bursting up in neat garden rows.
Kneeling, O’o Farm Manager Richard Clark scoops up a handful of rich, crumbly, black humus soil. “In Hawaiian culture the ‘aina [land] was a living entity,” He says. “People didn’t own the land, they cared for it.”
Pledged to sustainability, O’o Farm gently cultivates eight acres of pristine upcountry Kula land. The farm was created in 2000 by pacific’O and I’o’s Executive Chef James McDonald along with his partners, to provide fresh, local produce for his Hawaiian regional menus. Now O’o Farm sustains the restaurants and also stocks fruits and vegetables at ‘Aina Gourmet Market in West Maui.
Twice a week, guests tour the gardens and the orchards, learning about natural farming methods from composting to cover cropping.
“Many industry professionals, chefs and farmers alike, join in for a free exchange of ideas during our lunch tours at O’o Farm,” says Clark.
While Clark showcases the farm’s staple crops interspersed with unique Hawaiian fruits and vegetables; he gathers leafy greens; “super food” root vegetables like kohlrabi, rutabaga, and heirloom candy cane beets; along with culinary and medicinal herbs like kaffir lime, lemongrass and heirloom lettuce leaf basil into a large basket. Guests lend a hand, uprooting daikon, shaking dirt from kale, pinching off leaves of fragrant basil, and picking heirloom tomatoes from the greenhouses. Later they gather around the farm’s outdoor kitchen to watch Chef Sean Christensen put the finishing touches on a healthy, natural food lunch. Everyone eats family style at a long wooden communal table, sharing bottles of wine and talking story.
For more information on O’o Farm visit www.oofarm.com or
call (808) 667-4341
Maui Dining
