Aloha Maui friends,
Photo courtesy O‘o Farm
We’re are excited to announce a unique, family-friendly and FREE Earth Day experience we’ve put together with the excellent people at O‘o Farm in Kula. It’s also our 2-year anniversary of the first day we announced the 50-state native tree planting tour back in 2010. Wow, how time flies!
HERE”s the PRESS RELEASE for your information:
O‘o Farm Partners with Plant a Wish for Earth Day Native Tree Planting Event, Community Participation Encouraged
On Sunday, April 22nd, 2012 from 10:00am until 3pm, Maui-based sustainable farm and agri-tourism innovator O‘o Farm hosts the Plant a Wish project in a community event and tree planting ceremony for Earth Day. The event includes complimentary farm tours, access to the farm’s gorgeous sprawling grounds, and the planting of a few very special native trees on the farm property in the afternoon. The tree planting ceremony – marking Earth Day and the 2-year anniversary of the launch of the Plant a Wish project – will be held at 2pm. O‘o Farm is located at 651 Waipoli Road, in Kula.
In addition to participating in this historic tree planting, community members and visitors are encouraged to join in the free farm tours (held from 10am until 1pm), bring chairs or blankets to lounge on, and enjoy lounging on the farm property for a bring-your-own, picnic style lunch. Representatives from O‘o Farm and Plant a Wish founders Joseph Imhoff and Sara Tekula will be there to “talk story” about the land, the farm and the native trees, plants, and animal species of Maui.
Imhoff said, “there are many things to do on earth day, but this is a great opportunity to spend the day with your friends and family, truly connecting with the earth – the lands that sustain us and support our life on Maui.”
Plant a Wish founders launched their project – a 50-state native tree planting tour – on Earth Day 2010, and proceeded to travel around the country holding localized native tree planting events with communities in each state. They completed their mission in three road trips, and filmed the entire journey themselves. They are now hard at work on the documentary.
Tekula said, “it is really great that O‘o Farm embraces the importance of keeping native habitat alive on their farm. As we traveled the country on tour, we noticed a trend among certain – shall I say – wise farmers. They wanted their land to stay healthy, and the watersheds around them to stay clean and operational, so they planted native trees, plants, and grasses on a portion of their farm.”
O‘o Farm was purchased 11 years ago, and became the first “farm-to-table” operation on Maui. Today, O’o farm matures with Hawaiian coffee and fruit trees, rows of lettuce and garden vegetables, greenhouses with tomatoes, herbs and flowers which supply Lahaina eateries Pacific’O, I’O, The Feast at Lele, and Aina Gourmet Market.
About O‘o Farm:
In the upcountry farming community of Kula, lies eight acres of pristine land sustainably maintained and biodynamically cultivated. O’o Farm is the result of the owner’s extraordinary commitment to providing quality local produce for their local Maui restaurants to deliver a true “Farm to Table” experience. In 2000, surfing buddies turned successful restaurateurs, Louis Coulombe and Stephan Bel-Robert purchased near virginal upcountry land with a citrus and stone fruit orchard and a few coffee trees. For more details, visit http://www.oofarm.com
[...] listen to Ancil share the traditional Hawaiian story of this native plant that we planted for Earth Day 2012 with Plantawish.org – ” Ohia and [...]