Lahaina Family Farms

For the last two weeks I have been living and working on a farm outside of Lahaina, Maui. Lahaina Family Farms is a great organic farm nestled in a valley on the side of a mountain. It is a very young farm, started about 4 years ago by Tim and Harline Moyer and their families. The land that the farm sits on has many Wiliwili trees (a native Hawaiian tree that is almost extinct due to an invasive bug) and is very valuable to native Hawaiians! This young farm has lots of great things going for it including an aquaponics system, great outdoor living/entertaining spaces, young fruit trees, and a host of eager hardworking people to make the dream a reality. Because this farm is so young, there is not a lot of produce being sold yet... all good things take time!

View from the farm!

Farm life is pretty relaxed and structured. We start everyday before the sun comes up (at 6:30am) and end our work at 11:30. Work varies quiet a bit, but lately we have been joking that we  work on a driveway farm :) We have spent many days cleaning, fixing, digging, and fixing water problems on the mountainside driveway. Other than that, I have spent some time planting vetiver (a grass used in perfumes and handy for water erosion), propagating plants at aquaponics, weeding, and last but certainly not least... trail building!!! Kali (the friend I am woofing with) and I are both well versed in trail building from our time in AmeriCorps. We have put in a lot of time fixing and retreading tails on the farm. It is sort of our pet project... and I have to be honest- we are awesome at it! Breakfast is on our own (but all the ingredients are provided), lunch is made for us by other woofers, and dinner is usually lunch leftovers. Two nights a week we have a meal for all farm folks and other guests. Monday is pasta with homemade bread in a brick oven and Thursday is pizza night with handmade pizzas in brick ovens!

Trail Work

 In two weeks, I have met many new woofers and in a very short time, have created some great friendships. Everyone here comes from some place else and has a great story to tell. Working, eating, sleeping, and playing alongside these folks has been my favorite part of this journey thus far. My first weekend in Maui I went to Hana with 8 other woofers. We rented two cars and made the winding journey, stopping at waterfalls, pools, beaches, fruit stands, and ice cream shops along the way. Some of the woofers were braver than me and jumped into the pools... I had just as much fun wading in :) We spent the night camping at the Seven Sacred Pools park and went on an incredible hike in the morning. The plant life here continues to amaze me! My favorite thing thus far has to be the bamboo forests. Their dense shade creates an air conditioning effect and the bamboo bumping together makes a soothing hollow sound. I could enjoy their beauty for days!

Beach Fun with fellow woofers

Yesterday our boss treated all the female woofers to a spa day! The boys wanted an estrogen free Super Bowl party, so we ladies had an incredible time taking hot showers, getting our nails done, sitting in saunas and jacuzzi, and being pampered. We then went out for an incredible lunch with fruity drinks. All of us farm girls are pretty tough, so it was fun to be super girly for a day.

Girls at the Spa

  Finally, I am knee deep in applying for my VISA for South Korea. My contract came in the mail on Thursday and I sent it to the embassy Saturday. Today I got a call saying all was received and my Visa was being processed. I am flying out of Hawaii on Feb 17th and will be in Korea by the 18th!!!

Hope all is well and warm wishes!

Elsa