Regenerative Ag veteran offers tours of West Maui farms

Update: Event rescheduled to Feb. 4 and 5, 2023

Due to islandwide flash flooding, organizers are postponing the West Maui regenerative-farm tours that were scheduled to take place on Saturday. Jan. 28, 2023.

The tours will be rescheduled to run from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on the following dates: 

• Launiupoko on Saturday, Feb. 4.
• ‘Olowalu on Sunday, Feb. 5. 

Eddy Garcia will host the instructional tours of his Launiupoko farm, where he transformed 50 acres of fine dust into thriving “Living Earth Systems,” and of his 17-acre ‘Olowalu farm, where he revived mango, citrus and coconut trees that had been abandoned. Participants may attend one or both afternoon tours. 

The Launiupoko farm is located across from Launiupoko Beach Park and in the mauka-Lahaina corner of the Honoapi‘ilani Highway-Kai Hele Ku Street intersection. 

To reach the ‘Olowalu farm, turn mauka at the ‘Olowalu refuse center near Mile Marker 16 of Honoapi‘ilani Highway; then make an immediate right turn through the gate. Drive 0.2 mile on a gravel road, and turn mauka (left) through the gate before the Maui Paintball grounds. 

Garcia asks attendees to be punctual; so he can open and then close the farm gates for participants. 

Pa‘upena Community Development Corporation (www.paupena.org) sponsors the tours in conjunction with a First Nations Development Institute technical-assistance grant to promote Maui food-sovereignty efforts. The grant project had included a tour of the multi-generational Chang Farms; indigenous foods-related workshops and YouTube videos, and expansion of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs-funded Project MAHI‘AI e-commerce platform serving native farmers and ranchers (see projectmahiai.net). 

For more information, contact Kekoa Enomoto at email [email protected] or phone 808- 276-2713. 

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Regenerative farmer, Eddy Garcia, will host a free two-day farm-tour series in West Maui. 

The 40-year farming veteran will give instructional tours of his Launiupoko farm from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, and of his 17-acre Olowalu farm from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29.

At Launiupoko, Garcia transformed 50 acres of fine dust into thriving “Living Earth Systems.” At the latter site, he revived mango, citrus and coconut trees that had been abandoned. Participants may attend one or both tours. 

Garcia is a regenerative-farm designer, who aims to maximize the use of land and its resources. He turns berms of green waste and wood chips into islands of carrots, beets, beans, sugar cane and other edibles. His philosophy is to arm people with knowledge and techniques to recycle and to grow earth’s bounty.

His Launiupoko farm is located across from Launiupoko Beach Park and in the mauka-Lahaina corner of the Honoapiʻilani Highway-Kai Hele Kū Street intersection. 

To reach the Olowalu farm, turn mauka at the Olowalu refuse center near Mile Marker 16 of Honoapiʻilani Highway; then make an immediate right turn through the gate. Drive 0.2 mile on a gravel road, and turn mauka (left) through the gate before the Maui Paintball grounds. 

Garcia requests that attendees be punctual; so he can open and then close the farm gates for participants. 

The event is sponsored by Paʻupena Community Development Corporation in conjunction with a First Nations Development Institute technical-assistance grant to promote Maui food-sovereignty efforts. The grant project had included a tour of the multi-generational Chang Farms; indigenous foods-related workshops and YouTube videos, and expansion of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs-funded Project MAHI‘AI e-commerce platform serving native farmers and ranchers.