Taro farm focuses on education, reconnecting to the land

"Today we live in a world where everything is so convenient to us and we don’t want to get dirty. We don’t even allow our feet to touch the land. We wear shoes and slippers and everybody’s germophobic."

At Na Mea Kupono, a six-acre wetland taro patch, or lo’i kalo, in Waialua, "we break down all those barriers," owner Kuuipo Garrido said.

The focus of Na Mea Kupono is not only growing taro — called "kalo" in Hawaiian — but also teaching the Hawaiian values of ohana (family), of malama i ka aina (taking care of the land), and the concept that when you take care of the environment, the environment takes care of you. Garrido takes pride in educating the youth, the people of Hawaii and visitors to the island.

"Na Mea" in Hawaiian means "all things" and "kupono" means "to stand in righteousness," so the name means, "all things right."

"We came here with the intention of creating a place where people from Hawaii and of the world can come and learn about kalo because the process of growing it, the spirituality of it can really touch a person’s life," Garrido said.

Na Mea Kupono is not a commercial tourist site. The farm does no advertising, except for a page on Facebook and Yelp.

"You’re literally just coming to my house," Garrido said. "We treat everybody like family and it’s just myself and my kane that work the land so it’s very personal. You get to experience the mana of this land because the energy of this land itself is healing, and just being here, people just feel it."

Visitors to Na Mea Kupono can tailor their experience to whatever they want. Some come for a tour and to learn about the land, some come ready to get dirty, and some come to learn a craft, song or play Hawaiian games. Garrido and Steven Bolosan, her partner and the farmer at Na Mea Kupono, customize personal and private experiences for guests, with inexpensive pricing options that include free visits.

"It’s a passion for us and really not about the money at all," Garrido said. "It’s about changing the world one person at a time by sharing mana’o, or the Hawaiian way of thinking, reconnecting people to the land and realizing that we are one with the land.

"When we intake breath, that air we just took in came from the tree. What we breathe out, they breathe in and so we are one. And so if people can really realize that, maybe perhaps they might walk on the planet more humbly and perhaps treat the planet better ’cause it’s the one thing that gives us life."

Seven years ago Garrido and Bolosan were asked to farm at Na Mea Kupono to sustain the artesian well, which is the most important feature on the land. The punawai, or fresh water spring, holds water that fell as rain 25 years ago. Because of this resource, the farm is a wetland and pipes draw out the mostly pure water to each taro patch. When guests come to work in the lo’i, they get to rinse off in the cold water of the punawai before leaving.

"We want you to get dirty, we want you to feel the water, feel the dirt, share space with some creatures that might scare you," Garrido said. "Just allowing people to come and step out of the western world and come step into a Hawaiian environment where you can learn about the old ways, learn the stories of this land, learn how the Hawaiians walked on the land."

Taro was a staple of life in ancient Hawaii. Taro, which can grow and continue to reproduce, has offshoots called "oha" that grow right off the makua, or parent, and that’s where the Hawaiian word "ohana" comes from. "Oha," meaning offshoots, and "na" is plural, so "ohana" means "many offshoots." From one taro plant, many others can grow, much like a family, or ohana.

In addition to taro, Na Mea Kupono grows sugarcane, kukui (candlenut tree), ulu (breadfruit), lilikoi (passion fruit) and apple bananas.

Visitors can catch glimpses of wetland birds at the farm, including the kolea (Pacific golden plover), aukuu (black-crowned night heron) and the endangered aeo (Hawaiian stilt) and alae ula (Hawaiian mudhen).

However, these birds — along with non-native and highly invasive plants and animals like snails, crayfish and mongoose — can pose a big problem for taro farmers. The non-native weeds that flourish in the lo’i are also large obstacles.

By working in the lo’i, walking through the farm and learning from Garrido and Bolosan, guests can step back in time and experience a little bit of old Hawaii.

Garrido often gets visiting groups from schools, the YMCA, the Bobby Benson Center and a Japanese tour group that regularly comes six days a week.

To schedule a visit to Na Mea Kupono, email 1nativeearth@gmail.com or call (808) 637-6529.