Photo of the Day – Immersed in Learning: Traditional Agriculture

Kumu Pa`a I Ka `Aina learns about kalo cultivation

Friday/Saturday – Kalo Lo`i

On Friday and Saturday we traveled to Lehua’s and her husband, Ashton’s, house to learn about traditional Hawaiian food preparation. The morning started early with a trip up to a local pig farm for a few of the students. In the farm we saw all sorts of pigs, from the massive 800-pound breeders, to the tiny 10 pound babies born the night before. Alex told us that we were in the market for a pig weighing around 100-150 pounds, however after some scouting with Lehua we decided on a much larger (read: fatter) 200-pound pig. Deftly roping the pig the farmers quickly corralled it into our trailer for transportation to Lehua’s house.

Nestled right up against the Hamakua coastline, Lehua’s house is well into the wet side of the island. Despite the lush vegetation and mud we arrived at her house around 10 am with bright sunny skies. After a brief tour of the house we were whisked away in four-wheel drive trucks to the Lo`i for most of the day.

Taro is a large root plant that is a staple of Hawaiian farming. It can be grown in dry soil or large, muddy plots called Lo`i. Upon arriving at the Lo`i everyone was immediately taken aback by the beauty of it. We hiked down through tall shading trees into a small valley that cleared out at the bottom. Before us lay the Lo`i, which was made up of four square muddy water plots. Each pool was raised about 3 feet above the one below it, and water traveled over the tops of the walls in the corners making small waterfalls between the pools. Inside the plots were hundreds of Taro plants marked by tall triangular leaves rising above the surface. The stream that fed the patch ran from the diverter at the top along the right side, and down to the drainage channel at the bottom of the Lo`i.

Working in the lo`i

Our group was split into four different groups to maximize our efficiency during the day. Some students worked on repainting the farm buildings used to manage the patch. Others helped clear out aquatic weeds. A few students started helping to harvest the Taro that we would later be boiling and using to make Poi and other food for our Pa`ina. My group worked on repairing and improving the drainage systems between the different pools to improve the flow through the system.

Replanting the huli

After a long day of work in the hot sun, we stopped working at about 4 pm. Seeking a refreshing dip, our first inclination was to go swimming in the crystal clear brook running right next to the Lo`i. Alas, the thick brown mud we had been working in all day got the better of us, and an impromptu mud fight quickly devolved into a full on mud swim. Delighted, the older aunties and uncles laughed and took pictures, while Lehua spent no time jumping in and pelting us with mud of her own.

Despite the long day, Lehua had a lot of work for us back at the house. First and foremost we had a still living 200-pound pig to deal with. In order to prepare it we had to kill it, bleed it, clean it, and put it in the Imu (A fire heated underground rock oven) for 8 hours. Killing and bleeding the pig was fairly intense, but some of the students really stepped up for the cleaning. Kathryn Ono and Katy Bland really stood out, as both immediately stepped in to help cut out the rather unpleasant parts in the pigs belly. After 45 minutes of smelly work Ono finished the job, pulling the heart and the lungs out of the pig.

After putting the pig into the oven covered in Ti leaves, we buried it and left it to cook for the night. Relaxing and grabbing a quick dinner, we headed right to bed to grab about 6 hours of sleep before the pig had to be dug up in the morning.

Nate helps ready the pig for the imu

The early start preceded another long day of preparing the cooked pig meat, pounding the taro we had picked the day before into Poi (think gooier mashed potatoes), and wrapping fish and other meat in Ti leaves to be steamed. Around three o’clock our work was finally finished, and it was time to eat! Eating the food that had gone from harvest to table in our hands was immensely satisfying in itself. We made far more food than we could eat, and the knowledge that much of it went to local families as well as our Pa’ina in a couple of weeks only added to the feeling. Tired but full, we made our way home from another amazing weekend.

Kai and Katy pound poi

Don’t forget the lau lau!

Photos of the Day: Mauna Kea Reforestation Project

Melissa watering mamane outplants

PALILA!!

Thursday – Mauna Kea Outplanting

On Thursday we travelled up Mauna Kea to the Forest Restoration Project Reserve to continue our out planting service project. Upon arriving we were greeted by Jackson Bauer, our guide for the day. After typical introductions we stuffed into the four-wheel drive vehicles and started up the mountain.

The sky was a perfect shade of blue, and a touch of wind kept us and the yellow blooming mamane trees cool. Our first goal of the day was locating the extremely endangered Palila Finch. The Palila only lives in the high mamane forests of Mauna Kea, and ungulate grazing has reduced many of these forests to a shadow of their former selves.

For most of the morning we walked through grassy alpine forest. The day was beautiful and spirits were high, but the Palila was nowhere to be found. After the first unsuccessful hour we moved from the first site downhill to an area closer to where we were out planting. We were quickly realizing just how elusive the Palila was after another unsuccessful hour tramping through the forest. With outplants to do and time ticking away we started heading back to the vehicles to abandon our search, grab some lunch, and start out planting.

Just as we were about the reach the cars Jackson stopped, shushing us all. Making his way carefully over to a tree he told us quietly that he thought he heard a “whisper call”. Palila’s generally have a loud, distinctive call. However, they also have a less common whisper call that is much quieter.

After a few minutes searching the tree Jackson smiled back and beckoned us over. Deep in the branches of a large mamane tree we saw a large grey bird with a bright yellow head. Palila! After following the bird with our binoculars from branch to branch until everyone had a good look we headed back for lunch hungry but excited about the rare sighting.

The afternoon we spent planting Mamane and A’ali’i on the reserve with a small group of regular volunteers. There were a lot of trees to be planted, and that day had turned hot by the time we started planting. Yet after only a couple of hours we planted the last of the trees at the bottom of our site and headed back to the cars. Finishing early we were again reminded that many hands make light work.

 

Photos of the Day: Ka’upulehu Outplanting & Monitoring

getting read to outplant!

Linda measuring a halapepe planted in 2010

verdant Ka’upulehu!

Wednesday – Ka’upulehu

The sea and the sky frame our work, but the forest houses us. Our return to Ka’upulehu Dry Forest is marked with familiarity, happiness, and comfort, but perhaps also expectation as well. The forest and the people here have given much to us. It is our kuleana to give back now.

We start the day visiting a beautiful old halepepe tree that is blooming. It has stood guard over the crumbling lava fields and younger seedlings for much longer even than Uncle Keoki and Auntie Yvonne. It stands as a stark reminder of what this forest once was, but also as an inspiration for what it could look like with our help.

From the old tree we descend deeper into the forest and begin out planting. The small trees are lush and green but also delicate. Planting them in the dry sun-heated lava seems almost a death sentence despite reassurances that the trees have a 70% survival rate. We planted 100 trees mixed between mamane, lama, a’ali’i and other more exotic variaties. The work is slow but satisfying as we start with a barren hole in the scorched dirt, and leave behind a small spot of green.

In the afternoon we move to the older Cornell out plants for monitoring. Trees planted one, two, three, four, and five years ago are measured for basal diameter and height. Staring at the small forests planted by our predecessors, goosebumps run up more than a few of our arms. Where we planted small plants in a sea of black rock, here a forest of green and life holds the land. The thought that time and sun and rain would continue to build our forest to not only match these patches but also grow past and between and among them into one forest captivates the mind.

After a long day of planting and monitoring we hui up in the clearing among the trees where we were first introduced to Ka’upulehu. In many ways we are still the gaggle of college kids from the mainland in a place that has welcomed many others before us. Yet standing beneath the trees that we have become a small part of, with the people we have befriended, there is much that has changed in us as well. As we talk story and sing our ‘oli mahalo the forest seems approving, if still hopeful for more help in the future.

Nathan Greene