Lahaina Lani - Dispatch 3

Its been a few days since my last entry so I have many things to report. First is a good, inexpensive lunch place called Da Kitchen. Da Kitchen offers a mix plate lunch that is the rage over here in HI. With locations in Kahului and Kihei on Maui, the food is fantastic, the portions huge, and the chicken...organic! I've been many times now and am sure will go many more.

Last Friday was possibly my most perfect day on Maui. I went with many family and friends to O'o Organic Farm for lunch, followed by the Ali'i Kula Lavendar Farm, and finished the night at the Feast at Lele luau (that features fresh organic produce from O'o Farm).

If Friday was my most perfect Maui Day, Saturday was my second most perfect. I spent the bulk of the day doing restoration work with Maui Cultural Lands (MCL) in the Honokowai valley. My specific tasks included removal of invasive grasses and coffee plants. It certainly wasn't an easy job but it was a great honor doing it as the valley has some of the oldest archaelogical sites in the islands. The taro patches and house sites that are several hundred years old stretch up the entire valley and are truly breathtaking. I found the project through the Pacific Whale Foundation volunteer on vacation page, but now that MCL's website is up you can find out much more on their own site.

Last but not least in this dispatch, Sunday was a great day for good finds too. I made another trip to Savers in Kahului and found some great local Maui retro t-shirts and some even cooler vintage mini vases [above]. And the last sustainable find of the day...a 'soft sculpture' nene by two local Tutus (Hawaiian for "Grandmothers")[above]. Being a conservation biologist and all, I like to support conservation projects whenever possible so the fact that this purchase goes to help out nene conservation Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park is an added plus.

Maui Mana - Green thinkers and farmers

Haiku was the starting point of our adventure today. We met with Rob Parsons, former Environmental Coordinator for Maui County and current mastermind behind Maui Time Weekly's The Rob Report, a weekly column on environmental issues on Maui. Rob is truly a fountain of information on sustainability topics. Even more important, he's active both in his journalism AND in his turning out for county council and other important meetings to bring attention to the issues.



Next stop was about a half hour drive to Kula to check out the O'o Organic Farm which provides organic greens and produce for the very well known and respected Lahaina restaurants Pacific'O, I'O, and Feast at Lele. Wow, what an experience! A beautiful hillside organic farm, stunning view, great people, DELICIOUS FRESH ORGANIC FOOD, and lots of great information on organic farming...both at O'o in particular and generally too.

Chef Sean Christensen (above left) and Richard, the Farm Manager (above right) did a great job telling the story of O'o Farm which was started up about four years ago by restaurant employees, the proprietors and head Chef James McDonald. Richard actually used to be one of the restaurant employees before he headed up the hill to run the farm. Nowadays, Chef Sean heads up the Thursday lunches at the farm and restaurant employees continue to come up to the farm to help out and get their hands into the may greens and other produce grown for the restaurants in Lahaina. They do a great educational tour and then there is of course, the meal. Ah yes, the meal. Incredible fish, lots of fresh salads, some organic Bonterra white wine, and even some dragonfruit and chocolate desserts to finish it all off.

The last stop today was at the Ali'i Kula Lavendar Farm which happened to be about 5 minutes up the hill from O'o Farm. I'd happened to meet their business development director, Lani, on the ferry to Molokai earlier in the week so I was really excited to check out the farm. The lavender happens to flourish on the dry hillside so since they don't need a lot of water and don't need to use pesticides and fertilizers, they've been able to be another great model or sustainable agriculture and sustainable business. And then there's the view...fields of lavender looking out over a territorial view of Maui from 3,000 feet. Nice, very nice!

Maui Mahalo - The high way to Haleakala

Today started with a 2:45am alarm. We were off to see the sunrise at Haleakala National Park, the highest point on Maui. Early along the way we saw one the sugarcane fields that was set on fire. Pretty amazing sight for 3:00am in the morning. The road to Haleakala was a long, windy, steep and cold drive up but well worth it. The sunrise was breathtaking but even more exciting for me was getting to see silversword, a species of plant found only high on Haleakela. In addition, there were several conservation programs for migratory birds in the area. All in all, a wonderful morning for a conservation biologist.

On the way back, Paul and I stopped at Kula Lodge for a fantastic breakfast that included pancakes covered in macadamia nuts and coconut syrup. The beautiful botanical gardens that surrounded the lodge were amazing as well. Once back home, it was snorkel time. With the snorkels we were able to go out much further and see a lot more. We saw many fish and were lucky enough to see a sea tortoise and a spotted eagle ray. That night it was back to Leilani’s for an organic Caesar salad with local fish. Of course the lava flow cocktails were pretty tasty as well.