Kalo Farming & Restoration

KALO FARMING IMPORTANCE

Using ancient Hawaiian traditions, while perpetuating our Hawaiian values, we will be actively restoring taro patches and practicing kalo cultivation. Inspiring young lives of our youth, students, community, and guests, we will be serving steward of these fertile wetlands. Rebuilding the ‘auwai systems, and old banks reconstructs our food security while empowering more ‘ohana to return to their ancestral taro farming lands. Through Ahupua’a restoration work, in collaboration with Wailua ‘ohana, this project will secure our future and bring back the Old Hawaii spirit and views. Kalo ‘Aina will serve as an outdoor learning environment for students, and guests who seek to understand the simple values of Aloha ‘Aina. Kalo farming is a way to establish meaningful connections to ‘aina and its people. 

Kalo being a highly nutritious staple food and the foundation of pacific cultures, we hope to bring this nutritious resources back to our islands to enhance our agricultural systems. Other farm plants will be cultivated on the outer banks of the wetland taro patches will be: Mamaki, Noni, Hawaiian Chili Pepper - Ni’oi, Coconut, and ‘Olena (Hawaiian Tumeric), all medicinal plants of Hawai’i.

When farming wetland kalo, the ‘auwai system is the foundation that serves the patches, borrowing water, then returning it to our streams with organic matter and food for the muliwai streamlife. Our Hawaiian stream life serves as a nursery ground for many fresh and salt water species. These species utilize our estuaries as breeding grounds, a critical refuge for all juvenile fish species.