Welcome to the jungle

Aloha, I am creating my first blog post for our farm so I'll combine a bunch of thoughts and bring you up to speed through today. First off, when we purchased the farm back in July, something we hadn't planned for, ALL my free time has been spent clearing this piece of land. I finally made the call to quit my job in February and devote maximum time to clearing operations. For perspective, our farm had been completely neglected for more than a year, which in a jungle state like Hawaii, meant a lot of weeds, pests, diseases, etc.

July through today - I have weed whacked, mowed, stumped with a chainsaw, cleared with a brush hog, hacked through guinea grass with a machete, and scraped with a skid steer. It's great fun for someone my age (I'll say early fifties!) which means I don't have to pay for a gym membership. We get periodic help from family but I am truly learning every inch of the farm and it's tendencies. Just don't ask me to name a tree besides a coffee tree or any sort of weed. I refer to them by the smell they make when I run them over or mulch them (i.e. lemongrass, lavender, poopie, etc.-which none of them are that per Andrea).

Last November I started the Hawaii AgOrchard course in an effort to learn how to better organize our farm and co-crop certain trees with the coffee. I have one more class and a pot luck before completion and this program helped me plan out future portions of the farm. One big change we made because of AgOrchard is to grow citrus and other types of trees we can create some co-ferment coffees with. I am addicted to forest mulching videos and plan to mulch parts of our farm that are buried under guinea grass and dead-fall to plant more fruit trees.

The sister company to the farm, Lava Lizard Roasters, started slower then I wanted, due to a long delay getting our micro-lot roaster. Initially, I planned on sourcing green beans from a national green bean broker because I expected to start roasting when we lived on Oahu. However, the roaster took so long to arrive, we had already relocated to the Big Island which put in into the next phase of my roasting plan. The subsequent plan focuses on roasting for local farmers in Ka'u, specifically Pahala, where the farm is located. Unfortunately, between working on Oahu, farm program commitments, weather, etc., I have not been able to make much headway into providing a local roaster for our neighbor farmers. This will also require a complete revision of the Roaster business plan, especially since I am planning to take an overseas contracting gig as a consultant. I will try to roast by sourcing a small sample roaster and potentially roasting some Pahala or Hawaii farm beans, but too much is unknown at this time.

This past weekend, we finally made our long awaited pilgrimage to the SCA 2026 in San Diego. The convention was massive with a lot of educational lectures and hundreds of expo booths. We made the rookie mistake (as we often do at these types of events) by attending too many lectures and not spending enough time networking on the expo floor. We enjoyed meeting some other roasters and producers and we noticed the segment of being a grower/producer was underrepresented, especially for America. On more than one occasion we found ourselves wondering if maybe we should have attended a farmers or roasters convention. But we still made some important contacts, especially in the area where we want to take the farm...co-ferments. We may look at attending the SCA every other year or possibly create a rotation of different conventions to meet our needs and expectations. Thanks to everyone who shared time with us over the last few days, we hope to see you again in the future.

As for me, I continue to be busier after quitting my job than I was with a job. I am anticipating flying out to start my overseas job in a few weeks which doesn't leave us much time to get the farm to the condition for maximum recovery over the next year. We would be much further along if it wasn't for the crazy weather patterns we are dealing with on the Big Island. At this point, we are shifting tasks and planning alternative actions depending on weather patterns. During my time overseas I plan to stay busy studying roasting and processing via online. I may visit a local coffee educator if I have time. And I would also like to transition my role as an overseas consultant into a agribusiness professional role, to fill a gap in Hawaii coffee farm business. After all, my aging body can't do manual labor forever and I'll be seeking a role that is more beneficial for the community. Now if only I had the personality for marketing! Stay tuned for more updates, videos, images, etc. on our progress...