I started out in Hilo and I met with Allan Yoza. He introduced me to the farm crew and we started out by loading some Noni keikis (small noni trees) on the truck. We did a little bit of mulching in the garden. I worked up a sweat pretty fast. Allan was full of tips and he told me is has been posting his gardening tips online. Check out Allan Yoza's Gardening Tips.
Someone made sandwiches and drinks while we finished up. We had the refreshments and I was getting to know the other workers. They are a jovial bunch.
Dharma Farm was bigger than I expected. It's actually several farms. There were cabins errected and I had a choice between the cabin on the hill, or the treehouse. I took the cabin on the hill. Check out the pictures section at the Dharma Farms website.
The cabin was well screened and had a great view. I put my stuff in the cabin and then headed back to the truck to do some work. We worked at "lava land" which was actually very beautiful. We had a view of the lava flow while we harvested ripe noni fruits.
The work was at a steady pace, not too hard, but not too boring either. I talked with Allan Yoza about farming techniques. He uses a lot of organic fertilizers, mulch, and love to make his farm bountiful.
We worked until dark (3 hours) and I had collected some liliqoi, ripe noni for my own brew, and some dirt in my finger nails. I felt good. This is the life. The sun had just set when we hopped on the truck and headed back to Dharma.
After a shower, we headed down the road for some meditation and pizza! I'm ready to drop like a sack of noni, so I'll write more about it later.
Aloha!
