Farm History

Kula Mana Farm is a leasehold farm that has been in operation since at least 1905. By reputation the farm was operated in the first half of the 20th century by Japanese families, who undertook the difficult work of farming on steep, rocky hillsides, coaxing delicious coffee, macadamia nuts and a variety of tropical fruits from the volcanic soil. Using agricultural experience derived from Japanese practices, including terracing, sun drying, and shade growing, these families made subsistence farms work in difficult conditions. 

At Kula Mana, the land worked by these families was and is owned by  Kamehameha School Bishop Estate (KSBE)  which inherited most of the Hawaiian Royal Lands through the action of Bernice Pauahai Bishop and her husband, Charles Bishop, who created a Land Trust to benefit the education of Hawaiian children. “Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop believed that education was the key to uplift her people and offer hope for their future.”

Unlike many farms that have been extensively modernized and converted to monoculture In the intervening decades, Kula Mana remains a diverse tropical tree farm, with coffee and macadamia trees cohabiting the steep hillsides, with patches of bananas, avocados, papayas, guava and other fruit trees interspersed. Most of the coffee is grown in the shade of macadamia and monkeypod trees, which results in less  fruit yield than coffee grown as row crops, fertilized and irrigated to maximize production. However shade grown coffee is prized because the slower maturation of coffee fruit results in deeper, more complex flavors, over a longer growing season.

We practice permaculture which utilizes all of the unharvested organic matter produced by the farm  to enrich and fertilize the rocky soils, through composting, wood chipping, and distribution of organic plant matter to strengthen individual trees. Permaculture is often referred to as “regenerative farming” which is designed to strengthen soils, eliminate pollution and runoff, and help sequester carbon in the soil.  This has substantially improved the health of the soils on Kula Mana, as a growing medium. 

In 2017 we stopped the use of non-organic pesticides and herbicides on the farm, which initially we used at the advice and direction of the previous farmer.

Since then, we have seen an amazing rebound in the variety and number of plant and animal life on the farm. Of course, many of the rebounding plants are weeds that need to be controlled. We do that by “weed whipping” which cuts the leafy stalks, while maintaining root structure that preserves and enriches the soil biome.

Wild birds, including endemic species like the Hawaiian hawk (io), are frequently seen on the farm, and help control lizards, rats and coqui frogs. An introduced species, mongoose, originally intended to help control rats, also thrives here.

Aloha