Our Employees

Going with Flo

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Employee Spotlight: Florence Lovell

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Thirty-nine-year-old Florence Lovell—supervisor of the farm’s banana-packing house, tomato-packing house and of its vegetable growing operation—tells us she was a tomboy as a kid.

“I have two brothers,” she says. “I was the only girl, and I had no girls to play with. So I used to run around playing with my brothers and their friends, and it was kind of like I had to define myself, because I was the only girl in that crowd. That helped me be the person I am. I’m glad things turns out that way.”

Her job at Hamakua Springs entails a lot of physical work. That’s one of the things she likes about it, probably because of that outdoor, tomboy upbringing.

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“I can do the stacking of the bananas, carrying heavy things,” she says. “I enjoy doing those things.” She has 18 or 19 people under her supervision now, other supervisors as well as employees.

When she’s not working, her focus is often on her new grandson. Kaimana, 5 months old, is her only grandchild so far. “I take him riding, play with him in the swimming pool,” she says. “I watch him for two or three nights, to have that time with him.”

“I enjoy time with my grandson, my husband, my brothers. I drink a little beer now and then,” she laughs. “I have those enjoyments.”

Flo started at Hamakua Springs five years ago when she was hired to pack bananas. After about a year, her employers asked if she’d be assistant supervisor in the banana-packing house. That evolved into her position as supervisor of the banana-packing house, then also of the tomato-packing house and of the vegetable growing operation.

She said it was a little overwhelming at first. “It happened so fast,” she says. “It was a chain reaction thing. I was never expecting to move that fast. But I enjoy it. I get up early, I’m here early. I enjoy doing my job, being able to do all the different things in the different areas.”

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Richard Ha, the big boss, describes her position as tough and demanding. “But she took the responsibility and didn’t shy away at all,” he says. “She was game and accepted the job and has been doing a good job since. Kimo Pa, who is our farm manager, recommended Flo for her most recent promotion a little more than a month ago. I was aware from early on that he had a lot of confidence in her.”

June Ha recalls when she and daughter Tracy Pa were developing a system for packing their apple bananas into Harry and David gift boxes. “There was a real spark in the way Flo approached helping to organize the project,” says June. “She would always focus on how things could get done, rather than on why things couldn’t get done.”

“She’s a good example of someone working her way up through the ranks,” says Richard. “We’re really happy for her.”

It sounds like Flo knows that. She speaks equally well of her employers.

“They became not only my boss but they’re like a part of my family,” she says. “They made me feel welcome from the first time I started working here. Their personalities—they were nice. They appreciate what I do. That’s something you don’t see too much of.”

“I enjoy working here,” she says. “I plan to stay as long as I can.” — posted by Leslie Lang

Bananas, Hamakua Coast, Sustainability, Water

Why We Moved to Pepe’ekeo

Richard Ha writes:

In the early 90s, we just grew bananas and were located at Kea’au, where the risk of our farm being hit by Banana Bunch Top Virus disease was high. We decided we needed to develop another farm, in another location, to help spread the risk.

But where? Sugar plantations were closing down and we had alternatives. We could move to Waialua on O’ahu, and that is the advice we were given. It was close to the major market.

There were several alternatives on the Big Island as well. Finally, it came down to Waialua or Pepe’ekeo. Waialua had the obvious proximity to the Honolulu market and it came with a functioning, low-elevation well. Pepe’ekeo had abundant rainfall and not perfect but adequate sunlight.

On the principle of sustainability, we chose Pepe’ekeo due to its free water and adequate sunshine.

Fast forward to 2002. We had developed a new banana farm at Pepe’ekeo and we were looking to diversify even more. But what type of farming would we go into?

There were signs then that China’s strong economic growth would be using a tremendous amount of energy and so it was safe to assume that energy prices would rise. Again, on the principle of sustainability we decided to go into a form of hydroponic production that would take advantage of free sunlight and abundant water supplies. We planned to use the highest tech procedures in a low tech structure. The rationale is: why put in air conditioning when you can orient the house to let the breeze pass through?

Fast forward to 2006. Gas is more than $3 per gallon. In addition to China’s growth, other factors are pushing energy costs higher than we had expected. We are happy that we decided to move our farm to Pepe’ekeo. And boy are we happy we did not go into a high-energy system of production.

There are three streams and three smaller springs on the nearly 600 acres that we bought. The sugar plantation here had been authorized to use six million gallons of water per day from these streams. In addition, the Pepe’ekeo area was, in the past, supplied with drinking water from a large spring that is located on our property. Now it’s just used for back-up in case of emergency. The county is now drilling a back-up well for the community, and the spring and infrastructure will soon revert back to us. This will be another large source of water.

We find ourselves here in this position by following the principle of sustainability. We use it as our primary guiding principle in our business. Whenever we come to a fork in the road, we ask ourselves: “Which fork will take us down the road to a sustainable future?” This has given us a good and dependable compass to follow.

Bike, Hamakua Coast, Losing Weight

There is Hope

Richard Ha writes:

Goal: lose one pound per week for 39 weeks
Starting weight on 5/23/06: 214.6 lbs.
End goal, on 2/18/07: 175 lbs.

This week’s target weight: 207.6 lbs.
Today’s actual weight: 204.6 lbs. 7/9/06
I am 3 lbs. ahead of schedule

I lost 3.8 lbs since last week
Weight loss since 5/23: 10 lbs.

Resting heart rate 5/23: 65 beats per minute
Today’s resting heart rate 55 beats per minute.*
* This goes down as one gets into better shape. Lance Armstrong is said to be at 32 beats per minute. My lowest was 52 beats per minute many years ago.

Baby Boomers, there is hope.

It is now really clear that the heart of my weight loss program is exercise.

If one pound equals 3,500 calories, then all I need to do is move around enough to use up 500 extra calories per day, seven days per week, and I’ll lose one pound. This absolutely works.

It takes approximately 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer to do this. I use the elliptical because it is easy on the joints, it shows the amount of calories used and it’s very time efficient. Get on for 500 calories, do a little extra and get off. Done.

I highly recommend that one record his or her resting heart rate early when starting a weight loss program. This is like a before-and-after photo. You need it so you can feel good about your progress.

Successfully lowering your resting heart rate is actually more important than the speed at which you lose weight. A strong heart pumps more blood with one stroke. It’s more efficient at helping to get oxygen into the system and waste out of the system. This must be good for one’s brain, wouldn’t you think?

New studies are starting to show that fat and fit may be better than slim and unfit in relation to cardiovascular issues. It seems to me that the primary goal should be to maintain a lower resting heart rate.

I don’t worry about dieting. This is not rocket science: Like in the food pyramid, fruits and veggies are good, fat is not good, etc., etc. If the food tastes good and is worth the extra effort it takes to burn it off, go for it.

I rode my bike down to the ocean and saw a lot of changes along the way. Five years ago, everything was open and there was one fenced pasture. Now, there are seven houses in various stages of construction. Many properties are fenced and have a few cows, horses or goats. It is starting to look and feel like a rural small agriculture community.

Flying downhill, maybe more like coasting, I startled a baby goat, which ran bleating back to mama. I passed a temporary canvas dome house on a wooden platform. It looks like the main house will be coming up soon. Pedaled down and across the highway overpass that sugar cane trucks used to travel to get to the mill and coasted down to the old railroad grading intersection. Crossed the paved road onto a gravel section that started looking more and more unused the further down I rode. A barbed wire fence blocked the road at the bottom.

I turned around and started back up the hill when a large dog started running and barking at me from a new house. It was a huge puppy. I need to make friends with him while he’s still a kid. He ran up, bumped into me and slobbered my leg.

The owner came out and we chatted for a bit. At first I thought that he might be a new person from the mainland. But, surprise, he’s a fire rescue guy. Because he flies over in a helicopter, he knows more about the area surrounding the farm than I do. “When are you putting up a farm stand?” he asked. Nice guy.

The last quarter mile is a downhill unpaved section, which runs down to and along the ocean. I needed to get out of the saddle, pay attention, work both brakes and use the suspension. The road along the ocean is still there but it’s not used much and guinea grass crowds in. A break in the fence lets hikers and mountain bikers through.

The old fishing road running along the coast is bordered by 100-foot ironwood trees planted maybe a hundred years ago to protect the sugar cane from wind and salt spray. There was no one in sight. I stopped and did the usual quick scan for fish underneath as the waves built, on top for honu and on the rocks for ‘opihi, ha’uke’uke, ‘a’ama crab and limu. Pedaled down the coast for awhile and then started back up on one of the old sugar cane roads. The dirt and gravel surface was hard, dry and fast but it would be muddy and challenging in rainy weather.

This is a “play now and pay later” kind of a ride. You coast down to the ocean, enjoy the sights and sound, and then climb back uphill all the way. My heart rate monitor is showing 120 beats per minute. A short distance later it’s in the 130s. I make my way back to the old railroad grading intersection and now the climbing starts. I drop it into the small chain ring and second gear. I want to make it to the overpass before stopping, about a half mile further up. Grinding away, my heart rate is in the low 150s.

Five years ago I would ride the whole way uphill without stopping. This is definitely harder work than what I’ve been doing on my elliptical. But it’s very enjoyable, and I know that I’ll get into much better shape. I can’t wait.

I’m keeping everything in perspective. Mike Tanabe and Chris Seymour and the guys could do this short loop that I just did, put it at the end of a 30 mile loop and still be shifting up on the climb. But having fun is all relative. If you’re having fun, you’re having fun.

As our Hamakua Springs tomato houses come into view I cannot help but think about how fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful place, working with good people and growing good food in a good way.

Food and Drink, New York City, The Good Life, Travel

Exit Interview: New York City

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Here are some highlights of our last few days in New York City. It was a great two weeks in shorts.

When we landed at Honolulu International, our first impression was that Hawai’i people walk at half the speed of New Yorkers. In New York everyone seems to be on a mission, as if they’re going to miss the train to somewhere. Where we were, the city was clean and felt safe and the police were visible and personable. The people are fine and I have a favorable impression of New Yorkers. We like New York City very much and are eager to return.

But I like to walk around slowly with my hands in my shorts pockets. It’s hard to do that in New York City.

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We took in four musicals. The Color Purple was very good. Everyone was teary except me. I just had a runny nose.

Chicago was really funny and enjoyable. Rosie O’Donnell, with her partner and some friends, sat five rows in front of us. She seemed very approachable and the people around her in the audience seemed to genuinely like her. She smiled and acknowledged Kapono. We liked her too.

We went to the Saturday evening performance of The Phantom of the Opera and sat in the front mezzanine. Amazing how the smallest sound can be heard so clearly. There are theatres up and down 44th street. We had seen The Phantom at the Blaisdell on O’ahu and so we knew the story. But there is nothing like experiencing it in New York City.

We saw The Producers last. You’d have to be crazy to think up that story line–of making money by financing the show using funds provided by little old ladies, then keeping the difference if the show flops. The expectation is that the worse the show, the more money they can keep. And then having a financial disaster, because the unlikely musical about Adolph Hitler is a big hit. But that’s Mel Brooks for you.

We loved it all. From blocking the whole sidewalk on Broadway waiting for doors to open up for The Color Purple; to going to our seats for The Phantom of the Opera and walking down steps so steep we felt like we were going to fall off the mezzanine; to going to Juniors for cheese cake after the show; to dodging the traffic while crossing in the middle of the block like veteran New Yorkers after The Producers; to sitting on the sidewalk outside of Starbucks watching people go by. It was all lots of fun.

Gelato
We caught a cab to Chelsea Market, the home of The Food Network. We discovered gelato for the first time. Wow. It tastes like good ice cream, only better. Would have blown my diet if I had one. We ordered a sandwich at Ruthy’s Bakery and ate it outside in the hallway watching the people go by. They had the most interesting variety of sandwiches. They all looked tasty.

It will be good to have some of these sandwiches at the Farmers Market gift shop/deli we are planning to build at “The Gears” property, which we own. It consists of 13 acres fronting the highway where the Sugar Mill Road meets Highway 19 in Pepe’ekeo. We will start the permitting process soon.

The best food deal was a $3.50 slice of jalapeno pizza at the Grand Central Station. It had a thin crust with tasty tomato-something sauce with sundried tomatoes and just the right amount of bite and taste from the jalapenos. It would have been perfect with anchovies. We ran down with the crowd and squeezed into the subway shuttle to Times Square and 42nd Street. We poured out into the streets with everyone else but stood behind a post so we could get our bearing without getting swept along out of control.

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We went to the Empire State Building with a friendly cab driver. I asked him why cab drivers blow their horns. He said they can only blow their horn in case of imminent danger. They risk a $350 fine if they sound their horn for any other reason. I guess there must be danger everywhere.

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How about the weird, six-person bicycle, where the driver is facing the right way and the other five are in a circle facing the center and pedaling like hell? Crazy young people having fun. We were stopped at a traffic light and one flew by with the rest of the cross traffic and a group of young kids on the sidewalks gave them an ovation. We had to grin.

Where do the vendors go with their carts when they’re done for the day? It seems like there is a cart on every corner. The cab driver said there are several warehouses down by the Hudson River that replenish the carts during the evenings. So the vendors push their carts back in the evening and go get it the next morning. That’s a long push. They must make money.

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After 50 minutes of standing in lines, we finally arrived at the Empire State Building’s 86-floor observation deck for a 360-degree view of the City. Because we had been all over the city, we were familiar with many of the prominent landmarks. Looking to the North, there was the GE and Met Life Building. So, our hotel must be a little to the left and short of the GE building. Further up was Central Park. That must be the pond where we sat on the benches. To the right, the Upper East Side and Eli’s. Further up, Harlem and the Bronx. To the left was the Hudson River and to the right, the East River. Facing the East, there is the United Nations building and across the East River, Queens and Brooklyn. To the south, Greenwich Village, the financial district and in the haze, the Statue of Liberty. We’re glad we came here on the last day. The view is so much more meaningful after having put some time in on the ground.

Our last couple of days were rainy. We’re veterans at the hotel by now. The greeter recognizes us and tells us she will miss us when we leave. We are starting to nod knowingly when newly arriving guests look around disoriented.

They’re just like us with the revolving doors. We eventually figured out that they are supposed to keep on revolving smoothly, not jerky like when we first encountered them. June says it was me who made the revolving doors jerky. It kept talking to us: “Please move to the front.” Now we’re smooth.

The elevators go from A to N and are computer routed. Punch in the floor that you want and the key pad tells you which elevator is going to that floor. And you need to get in that elevator, which will only stop on the floors pushed. There are no buttons inside the elevator.

A person asked, as I got out and the door started to close, where are the buttons? He must have followed someone in and did not push the button for his floor. I could not react in time to tell him to get out and punch in his floor number on the keypad outside. I think he is still on that elevator.

New York is great fun, and we have to go back again. But it’s nice to be home.

Bananas, Food and Drink, Losing Weight, New York City

Weight: Up, Up and Away

Richard Ha writes:

Goal: lose one pound per week for 39 weeks
Starting weight on 5/23: 214.6 lbs.
End goal: 175 lbs.

This week’s target weight: 208.6 lbs.
Today’s actual weight: 208.4 lbs. 7/2/06
I am 0.2 lbs. ahead of schedule

I gained 2.4 lbs from last week
Weight loss since 5/23: 6.2 lbs.

Resting heart rate 5/23: 65 beats per minute
Today’s resting heart rate 56 beats per minute.*
* This goes down as one gets into better shape. Lance Armstrong is said to be at 32 beats per minute. My lowest was 52 beats per minute many years ago.

We arrived back home from New York City on Wednesday evening and immediately jumped on our accurate-to-1/10-of-a-pound home scale.

I gained five pounds in the last part of the trip, when I stopped exercising at the fitness center because I wanted to rest and recover for the trip home.

Here, by the way, is the view from the fitness center there.

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Because the fitness center was where the scale was located, during that period I wasn’t exercising I had no accurate way to monitor my weight. By the end of the week, back home and with a little exercise and eating a little less, I had cut that back to a net gain of 2.4 lbs. for the week.

I’m back in my normal exercise routine now. Since the unexpected weight gain has been on my mind, I have cut back a little at each meal. Not much, but just enough to know that I’m doing something positive.

And I’m putting in a few more minutes of training. Not much, just a little more than I normally would. I don’t need to get it back all at once. The lower my expectations, the better the chance of exceeding them.

I’ve been on the scale four times a day since I got back. Fortunately, I was nearly three pounds ahead of schedule before I gained all that weight.

This has been my basic approach:

1. It’s important to keep track of one’s weight. Because I stopped going to the gym two days before leaving NYC and did not weigh myself for four days, I had no way of knowing I was drifting.

It was only a few pieces of cheesecake from Juniors. I needed to try the different ones to really know about good cheesecake. And, oh yes, the Italian food and gelato was unreal. In no time I gained five pounds.

Get a good scale. If on your scale you can make your self “lose weight” just by shifting your weight around, throw the scale out. I use the Weight Watcher scale. It is accurate to one-tenth of a pound and is relatively inexpensive. It has a leveling mechanism that does not allow you to seemingly lose weight just by shifting your weight. Weigh yourself as often as you like. This is a good thing. It will help to prevent five pound weight gain surprises.

2. Set goals so they’re easily achieved. I set mine at one pound per week for 39 weeks. That allowed me to get ahead of schedule. And then instead of quitting after unexpectedly gaining five pounds, it gave me an excuse to feel good. Like, “Boy was I smart to have been 3.6 lbs. ahead of schedule.”

You need to set yourself up to have a lot of little successes as you lose weight. It’s good for your psyche. I had one disappointment. Yes, it was five pounds’ worth. But I’ve had four days of successes since then. Had I not set myself up for small successes, I might have quit the program right then. The term “blowing your diet” comes to mind. But I don’t even have a diet to blow. Instead I’m feeling pretty good about myself.

3. Find any excuse to reward yourself. If I must cut back on quantity, then I plan to reward myself by going for the best tasting food. I now make salads with lots of little intense flavors. I like anchovies (great Caesar salad and great pizza must have anchovies). Rasberry salad dressing is good and sharp crumbled cheeses are good. Cocktail tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers, baby lettuces are all good. Throw some apple bananas in; why not? Doing this makes me feel happy instead of deprived.

I also plan to reward myself for every five pound increment that I hit. The next one is 205 lbs. I haven’t decided what the reward will be. Maybe I’ll hang the portable TV in the garage, hook up the music channel and get good earphones that will make my granddaughter jealous. And for hitting 200, that should be extra special, right?

Now I’m thinking of what else we can grow that will taste really good. Hmmm. What about sweet onions? Asparagus? Those would be good in the salads. And if we are eating less, maybe we need to grow (and eat) things that are more intense in color, for their nutritional value in addition to their good taste. This makes business sense to me. And I’ll bet that my thinking about this is fairly typical of baby boomers.

Articles, Books, Design, Photography, Web/Tech

Blah, Blah, Blah

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Leslie Lang writes:

Richard and June are back from two weeks in New York City and have hit the ground running. Richard will check in here on Monday, but in the meantime he asked me to tell you a little bit about myself and about my husband Macario.

I am a freelance writer, and met Richard when the editor of Hawaiian Airlines’ in-flight magazine Hana Hou! asked me to do an article about Hamakua Springs. Macario, a professional photographer, was assigned to photograph the article. We both hit it off with Richard right away.

When the farm needed a website, Richard remembered mine and knew that I’d done it myself. He asked if I’d work on a website for the farm. So that was the second time we worked together.

Macario did all the photography for the website and helped some with the graphic stuff. I planned and wrote and put it all together. And along the way we confirmed that Richard is really a terrific person to work with. Smart, positive, enthusiastic. It’s a dream partnership.

As Hamakua Springs keeps growing and evolving, we have both continued to work with the Has. Macario does the farm’s photography. I maintain the website, write articles and press releases, keep a press kit current, and do other writing and projects as needed.

And then we came up with the idea of this blog, which I started and maintain. I got to make up my own title—“Chief Blogger”—and am really enjoying it.

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In our other lives, Macario shoots for most of Hawai‘i’s magazines and some mainland publications. He does some commercial work for corporate clients (specializing in architecture and interiors) and often shoots art work for artists. He also specializes in, and really enjoys, photographing people. He has a design and graphics background and is himself an artist.

As for me, I write a lot of different things: For corporate clients (newsletters, slogans, press releases, manuals, more); articles for magazines, both here in Hawai‘i and on the mainland; copy for websites (I also do website design), and books. My first (co-written) book, Mauna Kea, published by Watermark Publishing, came out last fall. If it has to do with words, I’m there.

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Right now I’m just finishing up another book, which is about historic Hilo and has been a really neat project. I see Hilo completely differently now. When I drive into town from Hamakua over the singing bridge, I “see” the pre-1946 railroad station sitting there, roughly where the “Welcome to Hilo” sign stands. And when I drive down Kamehameha Avenue past Wailoa State Park, I picture it lined on both sides with businesses and homes as it used to be, even though that was before my time and I never saw it that way.

When the book, “Exploring Historic Hilo,” comes out this fall I’ll remind you here and try to badger you into buying a copy.

Okay, enough about us! Richard will be back here on Monday to tell you how his weight-loss program held up in New York, and more. Stay tuned.

New York City, Travel

New Yorkers

Richard Ha writes:

We’re starting to ride the subway; still need to get familiar with the bus system. Once we do this, we’ll be able to get around very well.

The Bangladesh cab driver told me that the transportation system makes it possible for immigrants to avoid having to buy a car as they try to make their way in this country. He told me there is a large Bangladeshi population and they get together socially and so they have a real sense of community that makes life comfortable for them.

The real New Yorkers we met were really nice. One guy was in the Sephora store where the husbands wait–against one wall. I walked up next to him when June went in to look around and asked him if that was the spot where the husbands wait, and he talked to me for the whole time, telling me how to get tickets for plays and musicals. He told me about dropping his mother-in-law on a bus for Canada. He even introduced his wife to me. He was the real deal with a heavy Brooklyn accent.

A lady that June started talking to was the same way, open and friendly. I have no negative impressions to report about New Yorkers. When I think about it, it probably was a tourist who elbowed me.

It really is great to get a change of pace. This will allow us to get back to the farm and hit the ground running.

Food and Drink, Losing Weight, New York City

Food by the Pound

1 Comment

Richard Ha writes:

Goal: lose one pound per week for 39 weeks
Starting weight on 5/23: 214.6 lbs.
End goal: 175 lbs.
This week’s target weight: 209.6 lbs.
Today’s actual weight: 206.0 lbs. 6/25/06
I am 3.5 lbs. ahead of schedule
This week I lost 1.5 lbs.
Weight loss since 5/23: 8.6 lbs.

Resting heart rate 5/23: 65 beats per minute
Today’s resting heart rate 59 beats per minute.*
* This goes down as one gets into better shape. Lance Armstrong is said to be at 32 beats per minute. My lowest was 52 beats per minute many years ago.

My resting heart rate today is two beats per minute higher than last week. I’m guessing it is because I am only cruising at 70% of max. I haven’t done higher heart rate interval training since leaving Hawaii.

It’s interesting–I’m starting to pay attention to what I’m eating since I’ve set this one pound per week weight loss goal. I’m trying more salads and sandwiches. Somewhere along the line my stomach shrank some and I’m starting to request a doggy bag for the other half of the sandwich. What’s up? Subway

We just got strawberry cheesecake from Juniors on 45th. So I’m not deprived or starving.

We caught the subway and walked around at Columbus Circle off 59th street.  CNN’s New York studios are in the Time Warner building. We took a tour and found out that Lou Dobbs, Nancy Grace, Anderson Cooper, Paula Zahn and Larry King’s show are broadcast from there. Imagine, all that and a Hamakua Springs Country Farms bumper sticker, too.

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We saw them setting up a red carpet and so we hung around to see who would show up. It turned out that the Gracie Awards were being given out that evening. The Gracie “Allen” award honors programming for, about and by women in electronic media.

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People were being interviewed on the red carpet. Julie Chen of the Early Morning show was interviewed on TV, Susan Lucci came over to chat with the people and many journalism personalities walked by.

I asked Larry King what the dress code at the White House is nowadays. I think he said that it’s now coat and tie. Short pants optional.

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Now that I’m on this weight loss program, I notice how convenient it is to combine and buy salads and main dishes by the pound. One can custom make a meal according to one’s whims. I saw this at the gourmet food store Eli’s on the upper east side as well as the Whole Foods at the shops at Columbus Circle.

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We can kind of do this now at work. There is a good selection of fresh produce growing on the farm. We have several different types of colored lettuces, different types and sizes of tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers for the crunch, as well as apple bananas for the potassium. And we’re adding to that all the time. All we need is dressing and some precooked chicken or meat to make a good nutritious meal that’s low in calories.

Company News, How We Do It, Science

Green Goddess Monitors the Salad

Leslie Lang writes:

Charlotte Romo, who recently started working with us at the farm, is new to the islands and tells us she keeps having to fill out forms that ask for her job title.

Charlotte_3

“I’m still not sure what my title is,” she says. “I put ‘Plant Scientist,” though I’m probably more of a Greenhouse Research Technician. But I prefer ‘Greenhouse Goddess.'”

She says she’s thrilled to be working with Hamakua Springs. “I love the farm and I’m so impressed at what they have created in such a short time. These people move really fast!”

She jokes that her job is to walk around and make shade for the plants, but it’s a bit more than that. Right now her research technician/plant scientist/goddess work revolves around data collection, in order to evaluate plant growth and yield and determine how to fine tune things so the operation will be as efficient as possible. Sometimes she works with a lysimeter.

“A what?,” you inquire.

I had to ask, too.

Charlotte Romo writes: A lysimeter is a fancy, scientific term for a bucket, which we use to collect and measure the drainage coming out of the growing bags.
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We also have a collection bottle to monitor the input of the nutrient solution we put on the plants to make sure that the nutrients are getting from the mixing tanks to the plants just the way we want them. We need to maintain at least 20% drainage of what we put on the plants to make sure we flush any excess nutrient salts through the root zone. If we get too little drainage we know we need to increase irrigation, and vice versa.

By monitoring what goes in and what comes out of our plants, we make sure the plants are using the nutrients we give them and that we are using our fertilizer efficiently.

By controlling the nutrients we use intensely, we also prevent our fertilizer from becoming a burden on the natural environment around the farm. We keep in mind that this land of heavy agricultural use is surrounded by fragile coral reef ecosystems that are extremely sensitive to excess nutrient runoff that can result from agricultural practices.

Company News

Meanwhile, Back at the Farm…

Richard writes:

Hamakua Springs welcomes Charlotte and Rodrigo Romo, along with their two beautiful daughters, to Hawai‘i and to work with us at the farm.

Romo_family

June and I met Charlotte and Rodrigo, who were living in Tucson, on the first of our three trips to attend a course on greenhouse agriculture at the University of Arizona. Charlotte saw our names on the list of attendees and noticed we were from Hawai’i, and she came over to talk to us. We chatted for a little bit and liked her a lot right off the bat. When we met Rodrigo, we definitely got the impression that they loved it when they visited Hawaii. We were surprised to learn they knew Hilo and liked it so much.

By the third trip that June and I made to the University of Arizona, we all agreed that Charlotte and Rodrigo would come and work with us. It’s a big plus that they are closer in age to Kimo and Tracy, the next generation of Hamakua Springs.

Charlotte and Rodrigo both have a strong sustainable agriculture ethic. I was especially impressed to learn they had lived in Biosphere 2.

I just love young people who don’t know what they cannot do. I am a Vietnam veteran and I saw lots of young kids over there leading groups of men and being responsible for millions of dollars of equipment. They had no idea they were not supposed to be able to handle those kinds of responsibility; they just did it.

We are very pleased to have Charlotte and Rodrigo on board with us. We all have the same philosophy: “Not, no can–Can!!!!”

On their first weekend in Hilo, Charlotte and Rodrigo came to visit us at the Hamakua Springs Ag Expo booth and they ended up on the front page of the Hilo paper in a large, color picture. This must be a good omen. We cannot be more pleased.

Stay tuned for Part 2: What they’ll be doing with Hamakua Springs. Coming soon.