Kipahulu, Maui 13 April 2013

Kapahu Living Farm

Our long-time friend Scott Crawford invites us to meet him at Kapahu Living Farm, the centuries-old loi (kalo plantation; kalo is Hawaiian for taro) above Oheo Gulch inside Heleakala National Park. Sitting in the shade above the loi, with the sound of the irrigating waters flowing below us, we talk story, catching up on lives lived since the last time we visited here, in 2005.

Scott is the Executive Director of the Kipahulu Ohana, a non-profit dedicated to preserving a bit of the Hawaiian lifestyle and the tradition of ahupua'a, the smallest units of government under the Hawaiian kings. Kalo being the staple crop of these people, and an apparently simple corm to grow given sufficient water and soil, it seems proper for the family to work together to produce kalo for itself and for those who want it. Clearly, Scott's love affair with the kalo, and the Kipahulu Ohana, deepens with time.

After enough talking, Scott asks, "Want to get muddy?" Of course! and so we wade out, knee deep in the ooze where the kalo plants thrive, in search of a few mature plants to harvest.

Once a likely fat corm is found by digging about with your fingers, you gently separate its roots from the muck, and rock back and forth to pull it up. Last visit, when Scott taught me this, he suggested that many think this movement may be one of the sources of hula.

After washing the mud off, we carefully remove the huli from the corm (called kalo) for replanting, peel the skin on the "secret sauce" ha and ready the lau for cooking.

Kalo is rich in calcium oxalates, which must be cooked out, prefereably by steaming or pressure cooking. Lau is especially rich in nutrients, including lots of Vitamin A, and every part of the plant is delicious when properly prepared.

Scott also set us up with an ulu and we go home to start steaming our breakfast.