Day in the Life at Polipoli

This title is kind of misleading. Truth is, there's no typical day on the farm.

Some days it's all irrigation repairs and weeding. Other days it's harvest, deliveries, and way too much time spent in front of a computer. 

4:15am: Alarms ring for a quick dawn patrol before work. Small waves, but zero crowds. Everyone is still asleep. By the time we pack up, the crowd is building and it's time to head back to Polipoli. 

7am: Breakfast is shredded and fried kalo, eggs, plus papayas and avocados from the farm. Of course almost all of our meals include a tall glass of chilled Māmaki + ʻUlu tea.

On the kalo we add a dash of super special Kalaemanō paʻakai, or Hawaiian sea salt, from our friends on Hawaiʻi Island.

We are also obsessed with adding locally made Maui Chili Chili Oil (to just about everything, honestly). Owners Kit and Deron are such sweet and awesome people, so somehow that makes it taste even more ʻono. We scoop a generous amount over our kalo and eggs. 

8am: Crew member Aulia arrives at 8am. Sun protection is a must. Our reef-safe sunscreen of choice is the Blue Lizard brand. 

830am: We spend some time trimming vetiver grass, which we’ll use as mulch for our kalo. It helps keep the soil cool and retains moisture.

10am: Brad works on setting up irrigation in a dry area and shows Aulia how to adjust the sprinkler heads. She makes a minor mistake, but Brad shows her an easy fix. We give our plants a quick spray to help them deal with the heat and stay hydrated.

1230pm: Everyone brings home lunch, and we cool off with some ice-cold Māmaki and ʻUlu tea and Chewy Bananas.

1pm: We plant pia, a Polynesian crop used in haupia dessert, between rows of māmaki. 

2:30pm: In the afternoon, Pops and our nephew Ariston join us to plant māmaki. After planting, we wrap up with an ʻoli, a chant to acknowledge the elements and encourage our newest plant babies. It’s a great way to end the day with intention.

4pm: Aulia enjoys some Chewy Bananas to finish off a productive day.

And that's a wrap! Time to go home, fuel our bodies, and rest up for another fun day on ʻāina.