Kanalani Ohana Farm

Kanalani Ohana Farm is a Kona permaculture farm growing coffee, fruits, and vegetables for CSA boxes, practicing organic, off-grid living and welcoming community visitors.

Kanalani Ohana Farm is a beautiful bit of agro-jungle in Honaunau on the Kona side of the island of Hawaii. We are at 1,600 feet with a gorgeous view of the ocean and Kealakekua Bay. Our steep hillsides and ravines are covered with coffee trees as old as 80 years, grandfather avocado trees, mango, papaya, guava, coconut, orange, apple, fig, and flowering trees. We have gardens including the double spiral perennial vegetable garden, a labyrinth shaped garden, the mango terrace and the Senekedugu garden with annuals in it. We work both with and against our weeds, eating the edible ones, thanking them for the nitrogen-fixing that enriches our soil as well and pulling out and weed whacking them when they overwhelm our main crops. We are working on putting in cover crops as well as interplanting ground covering vegetables amongst the trees.

Our vision for the farm is a three-tiered permaculture system. We see Kona coffee as our middle story and our cash crop that goes out to the wider world. Underneath will be our vegetables and herbs which will go into CSA boxes which we’ll market on the Kona side of the Big Island. Our overstory includes large fruit and nut trees which we eat from and will nourish our ohana to live sustainably from the land. We are working with what is here already including ancient hawaiian rock walls and toward and edible ecosystem modelled on the Honaunau valley’s traditional forest.

We try to live sustainably & farm organically. Our house and cabin are solar and rain catchment. We love this off-the-grid living and move more toward it each day. We farm organically, trying to keep our inputs very low, recycling as much into compost as possible. We try to reduce our use of electric appliance and have attached our coffee pulper to an exercise bicycle, use a hand washing machine, and a treadle sewing machine.

We are networking community with our Ohana which includes, family, friends, apprentices and visitors. We welcome our family, friends, and CSA members to come stay at our cabin. We’re always open to give a farm tour and share a cup of coffee.

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