day seventy eight

Happy Thanksgiving!

There is a first for everything. Eric and I just put our Thanksgiving turkey into the ground and covered it with dirt! Okay, there is a little more to it than that. We went over to Albert's home at Farm #1 and helped prepare an 'imu' which is basically a Hawaiian underground oven.

The imu starts with a big hole in the ground. Rocks are heated over a fire for several hours, then covered in shaved banana tree trunks. Then everyone helps carry over the dishes- multiple turkeys, multiple hams, various other meats and my personal favorite, lau-lau's! All the food was then covered in Ti leaves, burlap bags, a big tarp, and finally dirt is piled on top of the whole thing. Pretty darn exciting! 

Tomorrow, we will dig up the food and celebrate the holiday with new friends, and lots of new dishes to try.

Although we are very far away from our families (and missing them dearly), we have so much to be thankful for. 

Each other. We both took a chance and made this happen...together.

Family and friends. This has been a very big year for Eric and I and our families and friends have been so supportive of us.

All the folks we have met along the way. We have formed new bonds with many people and learned so much from them.

Coffee, peanut butter, nature valley bars. Without them, we would not survive. 

Wherever you are, we hope you take time to appreciate the farmers around the world (especially the organic ones) that dedicate their lives to growing our food...and our coffee.

*Link to our new video tour of WWOOF Camp #2!*

"Turkey Time" 11/21/2012

"Last Minute Thaw" 11/21/2012

"Prepping the Imu" 11/21/2012

"Layer of Ti Leaves" 11/21/2012

   
   



    

     

"Meat on Leaves" 11/21/2012

day fifty seven

This morning I awoke to the sound of coffee cherries gently dropping into empty buckets. I opened my eyes to the vibrant blue sky and bright sunshine. In the near distance, a picker softly sung, what sounded like a Spanish opera song. These are the mornings I will miss the most. 

Tonight will be our last night at Holualoa Farm.

I remember stepping off of the plane after the thirteen hour flight from New York. We were exhausted and figured there was about a 50% chance that we'd actually get picked up. I remember our first night at the farm. Eric spent the first couple hours setting up booby traps on our shack door while I silently contemplated whether or not we would actually survive the night. Feeling like we were in a scene from Jurassic Park, every noise had us up shining a flashlight out into the darkness. Neither of us slept.

We've come along way. Eric and I have completely immersed ourselves into the gratifyingly dirty world of coffee farming.  

Over the last two months, we have literally poured our blood, sweat, and (mostly my) tears into this farm. We have tended to all thirty acres of coffee-land and helped process the first harvest of the season. 

Although we volunteered, we are not leaving here empty-handed. We are leaving with a sense of accomplishment, stronger muscles and an even stronger work ethic. We have learned that a farmer wears many different hats and their work is never done. 

With our new set of skills, we're ready to see what awaits us at the next farm...from everything we've heard, things may get interesting!

*BTW, if you haven't done so already; subscribe by email to be entered into the 'win-a bag-a Kona' giveaway. Last day to enter is November 8th!* 

"Casey at Gravity Table" 11/1/2012

"Eric Pushing Parchment" 11/1/2012

"Parchment Coffee on Drying Deck" 11/1/2012

"Last Day with Albert" 11/1/2012

"Coffee Pickup" 10/30/2012

why are we WWOOFing?: part one

The place itself is easy to love. The moment you walk through the front door, you are welcomed in by the sweet scent of freshly ground coffee. There’s the high, tin ceiling, rich wood display cases, the intricate tiled floors, and the burlap sacks filled with green coffee beans from all over the world. Your drawn to the cherry red roaster that hums while filling the surrounding city blocks with the perfect aroma of smoky, roasting coffee. And of course, there’s the celebrity owners who are often engaged in chit chat with the loyal patrons. It’s the kind of place you walk into and all of your senses are consumed. Monkey Joe Roasting Company. My first job.

In the beginning, like every sixteen year old, I was just happy to have a job. But over the course of six years, and without really realizing it, I developed a deep connection with the shop. There was something fulfilling about arriving to work in the cool, dark morning, warming up the machines behind the counter, preparing the first pot of coffee, and awaiting the rush of folks as they made their way in to start their day. There was something remarkably special about working in a ‘Mom and Pop’ shop that was built from the ground up by people who genuinely cared about their business, their employees and their customers.

I have a particularly fond memory of one specific day, a couple months into the job. During a typical, sunny afternoon shift, a young guy donning ripped jeans and a popped collar walked through the door. He ordered a drip coffee and a toasted bagel, I thought my heart would explode. Nearly ten years later, Eric is now my husband and has become the most important person in my life. 

For me, working at that cafe was much more than a job. At times, it was a place of refuge, a place to be around others, a place to learn, and a place to be inspired. It is where I found a sense of community with my hometown. It’s where I developed a taste for specialty coffee. It’s where I discovered that a cafe is not just a place to get a pick me up and that coffee is much more than a drink we enjoy each morning.

To be continued...

day forty three

I just held a duck! My favorite time of the day is feeding the birds. For one, it means the day is finally over and second I just love those darn birds. So today, I went over to my favorite duck and just picked her up. I think it was pretty good for both of us. In addition to my tender moment with the duck, it's been a big week. We met with one of the top cuppers in the coffee industry, the Iron Man Triathlon was in town, BARBIE IS FIXED (thank you for all of your concern), I didn't break any more farm equipment, and Eric's been nominated for his lead role in the "video tour of WWOOF camp"!

Although Eric and I were warned by locals to avoid town over the weekend as thousands of people from all over the world took over the quiet town of Kona, we did just the opposite. We woke up at 5am and headed straight into the heart of the Iron Man Triathlon madness. We were there as the cannon went off and watched as athletes jumped into the clear, choppy water to begin their 2.4 mile swim. We were there a couple hours later when they got out of the water and climbed on their bikes to ride 112 miles through the windy, hilly desert. And yes, we were even there cheering and high-fiving the athletes as they came in from running 26.2 miles with the 95 degree heat bearing down on them. In total, we committed 16 hours to the event, surviving on the same stuff they did; free power-bars and energy drinks. We left inspired and to be honest pretty exhausted.

Wednesday we took a VTO day (volunteer time off) and met with coffee expert Shawn Steinman, who has literally written a book on coffee. Sitting in white rocking chairs on a long wooden porch at a coffee farm down the road, we talked nothing but coffee for several hours. With tourists flooding in to the bright, open storefront, overlooking the farm, Shawn gave us an introduction to coffee cupping. Coffee cupping is basically like wine tasting. It involves comparing, identifying and analyzing the different characteristics and attributes of individual coffees. Together we cupped several different Kona coffees and found they had drastic differences. In these particular coffees, we picked up on hints of grapefruit and lemon, intense earthy aroma's, and lingering aftertastes. It will take a lot more practice to get on Shawn's level (like eight years) but for our first time we did pretty well. It was a great experience and got Eric and I really excited to learn more...and although we spit out most of the coffee that day, we still got a pretty good buzz.

All in all we may never be Iron Men but we are one step closer to our goal.

"Coffee Cupping" 10/17/2012

"Slurping and Spitting" 10/17/2012

"Morning of Iron Man" 10/13/2012

"Camera's on Winner" 10/13/2012 

"Painted Church" 10/15/2012

video tour of WWOOF camp

Many of you have been asking about our living conditions here on the farm so we decided to throw together a quick tour of what we call WWOOF Camp. Join Eric as he guides you through the luxurious accommodations that we have been enjoying for the past month and a half!

day thirty six

Barbie died and we totaled the Gator.  

Barbie. So Monday morning, a six mile visit to a coffee farm on our moped turned into a 100 mile joy ride to Waimea and back. However, we ran out of "joy" around mile 80 so I guess technically it was an 80 mile moped ride and a 20 mile pickup truck ride. The first 80 miles of the trip we’re going smooth. It was great scenery, beautiful ocean views and we even found a secluded beach with sea turtles (see video below). To celebrate the success of the first leg of our trip, we stopped for a hearty slab of carrot cake and a few cups of joe at the Waimea Coffee Shop. I don’t know if it was the sugar high from the carrot cake or the caffeine boost but on the way back down the hill, I spotted what seemed like a good opportunity to set a moped land speed record. Well, Barbie must not have been in the record setting mood because just as we hit about 55 mph (which feels like 200 mph on a moped) she decided she had enough fun for the day. Twenty miles from home, in the middle of the hot, black Hawaiian desert and with 2% battery remaining on the phone, our fun had also come to an abrupt stop. Luckily Albert picked up and before the phone died, mid-convo, he got our location and came to get us...three hours later.

The Gator. Yesterday after lunch, me, Casey and Albert took the Gator up to about 2,500 feet, to the orange trees. It’s a steep, rocky, wet ride up to the orange trees but it’s well worth it. They were some of the best oranges we have ever had. After 15 minutes and a few juicy oranges, we headed back down to the farm except this time we took an alternate trail; an even steeper, rockier and wetter trail. Why Albert decided to take us on the steeper, rockier and wetter trail and not the one we had barely survived on the way up, is a bit of a mystery. Anyway, about halfway down the hill, we were blocked by a giant tree that had fallen across the trail. Unable to turn around and climb back up the mountain, we had no choice but to walk down and take the tractor, the blue Isuzu and a few chain saws back up and clear the trail. Once we cleared a path, we headed down; Albert in the tractor, me in the Isuzu and Casey in the Gator. Long story short, the Gator got away from Casey, coasted down hill about 100 feet and ultimately crashed into a coffee tree. Fortunately, Casey wasn’t in it and thankfully wasn’t hurt. Unfortunately, the front suspension and frame of the Gator weren’t as lucky.

In the interest of Casey’s health and the prevention of any additional property damage, Casey has officially retired from operating any John Deere machinery.

"Joy Ride" 10/8/2012

"Eric at Waimea Coffee Co." 10/8/2012

"Barbie's Final Resting Place" 10/8/2012

"Gator, Blue Isuzu on Blocked Trail" 10/10/2012

day twenty nine

Lucky. That's how I feel right now. Along with proud, invigorated, excited, alive, and so happy. We have been here for a whole month and as much as I would like to complain some more about sharing the bathroom with a spider and wearing the same outfit every day, I can't. This month has been so thrilling, challenging, eye-opening and really, really fun.

Boogie boarding in the rough waves at Magic Sands Beach, snorkeling above coral reefs with sea turtles and schools of bright yellow Tang fish at the pier, cruising to town and enjoying a cup (or two) of award winning Kona coffee feet from the sea, can't bellyache about any of that. Spending a night making 270 Lau Lau's (pork and beef wrapped in a Taro leaf, wrapped and tied in Ti leaves and left to steam for five hours in what I'm pretty sure used to be an oil drum), trying Kalua pig, lomi-lomi salmon, Poi (or what Eric would call "Common Paste") and listening (and attempting to speak) to the locals talk-story in pidgin ("Choke lau lau, eh brah?")- this was just the weekend! All that and we toured three more coffee farms- Kona Joe's, Heavenly Kona, and Hula Daddy.

Our original plan was to only spend one month at each farm but we have decided to extend our stay at Holualoa Farm for a second month. The shack isn't so bad after all! Now that the coffee pickers are here and the first pick has officially started, there is too much excitement to leave. The pickers, armed with their baskets and holding hooks (to bring the high branches closer), begin at the bottom of the farm and work their way up. At the end of the day they all head to the mill to weigh their bags before the coffee gets processed. The pulper was fired up this week and we got to watch the first 700 pounds of cherries go through a series of machines removing the fruit from the seed.

Along with all the anticipation from the fresh harvest, it's been a great week. Sure, I busted the exact pipe Albert told me not to hit with the mower, cutting off the water supply for the entire farm (I knew getting on that thing wasn't a good idea), but we learned how to fix driscopipe. And yes, it was a sad day when Eric had to bury one of the calves (the one we aptly named 'Mangey Moose'). We came to learn about organic coffee farming, who knew it would be so all-inclusive?

So, one month down but many more ahead. We have a big week coming up- we hired coffee expert and author of The Hawai'i Coffee Book, Shawn Steiman for a private training on coffee cupping and we will also begin shadowing the Master Roaster at a nearby farm. It is amazing what happens when you take a chance and open yourself to new experiences!

"Lao lao luau" 9/28/2012

"Morning coffee" 9/30/2012

"Kealakekua Bay" 9/30/2012

"Pulper/ Demucilager" 10/3/2012

"Eric mowing" 10/4/2012

day twenty two

Ah, the gloves are off, the buzzing noise is finally gone and there is quiet on the farm again. This week has been all about preparation.The trees are starting to burst with lots of bright red cherries which can only mean one thing; time for the 'first pick'. Any day now, a crew of coffee pickers will come in and harvest the ripest cherries for the first pick of the season. Our task for the week was to prepare the fields before the pickers get down to business which roughly translates into, you guessed it, weeding. So far, Eric and I have clocked 42 combined hours of pure weeding. Its kind of been a tough week.

Our days off were well spent. We drove to the Southern end of the Kona Coffee Belt and toured three more (of the 700) Kona coffee farms: Greenwell Farms, Royal Kona, and Kona Blue Sky. We managed to not get a flat tire driving over a couple miles of unpaved lava rock desert and spent a day at Mahaiula Bay. We treated ourselves to lunch at The Coffee Shack- a little cliff side cafe with an amazing view of Kealakekua Bay. We attempted to watch a sunset down at the beach but instead spent an evening wrangling three small cows that escaped through an open gate. We again attempted to watch the sunset at the beach and wow was it beautiful (and much nicer then chasing cows around)!

Although some days are more challenging than others, we help each other get through them. Eric motivates me to go back to work after lunchtime and I save him from falling off a roof (yup, he was tied to one end of the rope and luckily I was tied to the other). Eric weed-whacks for the team while I get the primo job using the industrial size John Deere mower (who thought that was a good idea?). I make Eric grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and he humanely gets rid of the creepy black pincher bugs from our shack. This must be what marriage is about.

Anyhow, row by row, acre by acre we will continue on for one more day until a much needed, well deserved break.

"Cows in Cowland" 9/25/2012

 

"Old Pulper" 9/22/2012

"Chameleon Found in Coffee Tree" 9/27/2012

"Greenwell Farms Mill and Hoshidana" 9/22/2012

"Lunch at Coffee Shack" 9/22/2012

day fifteen

As we get thrown about, insides jiggling, taking the 'Gator' past the high Rainbow Eucalyptus trees, over the citrus scented grass, past the banana orchards, halfway up the 300 acres of land, we make it to the green fields of Coffee Land. Rows and rows of coffee trees lined along the high hills over looking the sea. That's what this is all about. In the 22 mile long, 2 mile wide Kona coffee belt, it is all about coffee.

Before heading to Kua Bay (the most beautiful beach we have ever been to), Eric and I took Barbie (the only pink moped on the island) out to visit a couple other coffee farms up the road from us. We drove South to the family owned and run Kona Earth and stayed for a private tour given by the owner himself. Then headed North to visit the very well manicured UCC Hawaii, whose coffee is a household name in Japan. These farms are on two different ends of the spectrum but both visits were very eye opening. It seems out here there are some guidelines but for the most part everyone has their own way of doing things and ways of differentiating their coffee from the other farms. I will say, both farms were conventional (not organic), so there was a lot less 'weed-eating' going on than what we're used to. There is definitely something special about the coffee and as we are finding out, something very unique about the people of the Big Island.

The other night, we were invited to a small BBQ- Hawaiian style. Although it was just before the time we typically go to sleep (still trying to get the time difference thing down), the chance to eat something other than a PB&J sandwich was too good to pass up. So, in anticipation for the big event, we showed up right on time. "On time" here is relative, so we were extremely early. There were no plates, no forks and no napkins in sight but there was fresh Ahi sashimi over cabbage, grilled eel and Kala fish, steak, crabs and oh yes, spiny lobsters. People of all different ages and backgrounds gathered around a round, white, plastic, table, sharing food caught on a dive the night before. Now thats a BBQ!  The folks all lived within a mile of us and all had their hands in coffee somehow. The young ones spoke about the farms their grandmothers pick coffee on. The men talked about the Coffee Borer Beatle damaging the crops. Eric and I talked about all the coffee we plan on drinking.

I think we have made it over the hump and are now feeling much more adjusted to the working and living conditions. The days continue to be filled with new tasks and challenges. Today, we started in beautiful coffee land, moved on to planting pineapple plants and ended at the compost pile. There, we emptied a truck filled with buckets of fish parts into a pile of mulch to make new compost (see video below). For this job, Eric got to use the biggest tractor on the farm, I got to use a pair of rubber gloves.

After a nice a hot shower, it feels good to finally be clean again, but more so to reflect on all the hard work that goes into running an organic farm and the effort we have put into the farm so far. We'll see what tomorrow brings, the only thing predictable about our days is that they start with a cup of some of the best coffee in the world.

"Casey on Fish Parts" 9/20/2012

"Eric on Tractor" 9/20/2012

"BBQ" 9/18/2012 

"Coffee Land" 9/20/2012

"Kua Bay" 9/16/2012

    

day seven

The sun is glowing above the giant Monkey Pod trees leaving a bright path across the ocean as another day comes to a close. The breeze is still and the farm is quiet.  Day seven.  It feels like we have been on this farm for months as things that were all so new to us a few days ago have quickly become familiar.  Spiders, I am still working on, but dirty hands, muddy boots, sore muscles and the smell of decomposing compost, at this point we are all pretty well acquainted.

Our work schedule is 8am to 4pm (with a highly anticipated hour lunch in the afternoon) Tuesday through Friday.  There is an endless amount of work to be done around the farm which means we are kept busy.  On Friday, I mastered the art of gas powered machinery- mowers, leaf blowers, weed-eaters- and Eric successfully tore down dead branches from a towering, old Monkey Pod.  The fact that he fell in a hole up to his waist, grabbed an electric fence and got electrocuted all before lunch time is neither here nor there.

To finish out the week, we strapped 25 pound belly buckets around our waists and picked coffee in the cool afternoon rain.  Right now, most of the coffee is still ripening but there are a few ripe cherries on the trees so it is important to pick the bright red ones and leave the green ones. We took it nice and slow for our first time.  We were picking alongside a man that can pick over 500 pounds of coffee a day!  He gave us a few helpful pointers but we didn't even come close to filling up half of our buckets. Don't worry, we will have many more opportunities to sharpen our coffee picking skills in the upcoming weeks and months.

The three day weekend gave us time to relax and see more of the area.  We caught a ride into Kailua Kona, a busy town about ten minutes away from the farm.  We checked out the shops, had local sushi for lunch, body-surfed in the clear blue salty water, and made our way home.  By "made our way home" I mean we walked a 1,500 foot ascent with our thumbs out, nervously attempting to hitchhike.  We (Me, Eric, and another WWOOFer) walked single file, drenched with sweat, thumbs out, up steep roads with no shoulders for an hour and a half before a woman in a small red car picked us all up and drove us a tenth of a mile to the bottom of our farm. The next day, Eric and I purchased a moped.

As we continue to acclimate and shake off the remaining jet-lag, we are so thankful to have each other out here in this new frontier.  There is so much to learn and so, so many weeds to pull....

"Firsts"
-Hitchhiked
-Got electrocuted by fence
-Ate mango off tree
-Ate lilikoi (passion fruit) off tree
-Bought a moped
-Drove a moped
-Drank lilikoi shots
-Swam at Hawaiian beach
-Hand picked coffee

"Old Kona Airport" 9/10/12

"Eric and Bounty" 9/7/12

"Coffee Picking" 9/7/12

"Barbie" 9/9/12

"Sunset over Shack" 9/12/12

  

day one

It’s 4:22am.  I open my eyes and its pitch black so I can barely make out the frame of our shack, our new home for a month.  There are two roosters crowing on repeat and there is a breeze rustling the trees outside the screen windows.  We made it.  We made it through the first night.  

Albert picked us up yesterday in a big blue Ford diesel truck towing a trailer of mulch.  His hands were dirty but he welcomed us with a smile.  After about twenty minutes on perfectly paved, steep, windy roads, we arrived at our first Kona coffee farm.  We drove past the roasting and packaging building, then the mill, followed by the pulper and continued up the hill.  With a quick “See you at eight”, Albert dropped us off and headed back down the road.  So there we were.  On top of a huge hill, thousands of miles from home, surrounded by coffee trees over looking the sea, we chose our shack- the one with the best view. 

“What the hell were we thinking” crossed my mind a few times as we, well mostly eric, cleared the spiders and hornets out of our lovely 8'X10'.  The perfectly clear view of the neon pink sunset eased our worries as we reminded ourselves that this was what we signed up for. 

Once the sun came up we ventured out into the shared kitchen and found- can you believe it- a bag of fresh 100% Kona coffee.  Eric’s first taste of Kona coffee was had amongst the same trees it was grown from, pretty cool.  Before our workday started we scoped out our surroundings a bit...  Scattered through the trees we spotted wild cows, pigs, ducks, chickens, and yes, that rooster that was still crowing.  After picking and eating a coffee cherry (when in Rome), we were ready to begin.  With open minds and a couple pairs of work gloves we were off to meet Albert down at the mill to start working.

I cannot believe all the things we did in one day.  We eased into things with feeding the ducks, geese, and chickens which was quickly followed by us both being handed gas powered “weed-eater’s” aka weed whackers on steroids and then matching machetes to chop down trees and vines (Eric was in heaven, I was being eaten alive by insects).  One of today’s highlights was definitely when Eric was able, after 13 attempts, to start the 1982 Isuzu with a rusted screw driver and drive us- somewhat- safely up the 300 foot accent, to our shack.  

It doesn’t take long to realize that life on a farm is not a cake walk.  Our backs are sore, our arms are scratched, our legs are swollen with insect bites and stings, but today was a pretty awesome day.   

“Firsts”

-Woke up to roosters crowing 

-Ate a coffee cherry off the tree

-Ate a banana off the tree

-Drank 100% organic Kona coffee

-Picked an avocado off the tree

-Saw wild cows

-Used a “weed-eater”

-Used a machete

-Used a gas leaf blower

-Started a car with a screwdriver

          

"Shack with a view" 9/6/2012

Casey on deck  9/6/2012

First view of "accommodations"  9/6/2012

Ripe coffee cherries  9/6/2012

Eric driving Isuzu  9/6/2012