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OUR COCONUT STORY

How a hobby became a job, and then a farm.

14 years ago we set off on a personal journey to eat more locally grown food. 

 

We swore off all imported products, started a veggie garden and began a life changing adventure. The goal - to make each meal 100% Maui grown. Of the many plants we worked with, coconuts clearly stood out. No other plant was as productive, sustainable, useful or hardy. The more we learned about coconuts the deeper we fell in love with them. 

 

Our search for the freshest coconuts eventually lead us up into the trees themselves. Working without pay, we traded labor for a share of the coconuts, which we took home processed and distributed. Friends stopped by our apartment for weekly pick-ups, we ran booths at farmer’s markets and a door-to-door delivery service dubbed the coconut milkman was born. Passion had transformed into a career of sorts. A decade passed climbing trees, harvesting and processing thousands upon thousands of coconuts. The work was joyful, life was bliss.

Yet something seemed off. Too few of our fellow Maui residents were familiar with coconut as a food source. Intimidation and a lack of information seemed to prevent people from opening coconuts. Many locals had never tasted homemade coconut milk, enjoyed a real coconut curry or sipped a true pina colada.

In 2011, with encouragement from friends, we began hosting pop up coconut classes, sharing our recipes and techniques. Rain or shine the events booked out. People were as eager to learn about coconuts as we were to teach. 10+ years later we are still at it, working our dream job of connecting people with the greatest plant on earth.

In 2015 we established our farm in Haiku. The first few years were spent clearing out invasive trees, making room for orchards. Still a baby, our farm is growing up fast with coconuts, starfruit, bananas, avocados, ulus and jackfruit already in fruit production. We now have the honor of hosting coconut cooking classes in our own backyard, incorporating home grown ingredients and treating students to an authentic sustainable culinary experience. 

 

Whether you stumbled upon us in a google search or are a Hawaii resident curious to learn more, we hope you find this site useful. We offer our information in hopes of empowering our community to eat and live more sustainably. Future generations are counting on us to leave them a world worth inheriting.


Thank you for visiting, hope to see you on our farm or in a coconut cooking class soon!

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- Ryan

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On Maui? Book a private farm tour and coconut cooking classes for up to ten people. Get hands on making fresh coconut milk, pick from our gardens, taste sustainability and bring goodies home.

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Learn about the greatest plant on earth from the comfort of your own home! A 15 part class that covers everything from selecting, to opening, to cooking with coconuts of all ages. 

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