Tour of Appleby Farms

Welcome to Appleby Farms

Mike is a dear friend of mine from Ho'okipa

 and a fellow Surfer of Timpone Boards

He and His wife are extremely passionate

about their farm here in Haiku Maui

I was sooo excited for the tour today 

To learn about how Vanilla grows in Hawaii

and

the process of making coconut oil.

What I learned is

 Farmers

(and painters!!!)

will Never get Paid for what they do

it's an insane amount of work

That is done for Love.

At a certain time every morning

when vanilla flowers are blooming

Mike will pollinate his flowers as they open. 

he says he pollinates around 100 flowers a day

It takes over an hour of delicate handy work

to simulate what bugs normally do

in other parts of the world where vanilla is grown.

Here in Hawaii we do not have the bug

that pollinates the flower and it must be done by hand

in order to produce a Vanilla Bean.

This is what the Vanilla looks like

as it grows

and after it has been

dried and cured properly

If you could only smell the Vanilla

 you would be having the full effect

of the tour right here with me!!!

These are Mikes Coconut trees

First thing he does is climb these trees

to pick his coconuts

(No thank you that's over 30 feet up)

( ( and Coconuts are freaking HEAVY ))

then he husks the nuts

( that's NOT easy either)

then he grates the meat

with this handy tool bench he made just for this purpose

after about 30~60 coconuts later

he will begin the processing...

coconut milk...

then

lots of other steps...

 ( I got so lost... )

Coconut Protein 

 coconut candy or sugar

somewhere along the way they make the oils

All I can say is it is soooo much

labor intensive

WORK

We got to talk Story awhile

Mike told me that when he was young

he spent several years living on Guam

and then in Japan.

  He developed a Taste for South Pacific Cuisine

spurring his desire to try new things

and

grow unusual produce here in Hawaii

What is this you ask

WELLL

 I'll give you a hint...

it's called

Harpulia

but that is a story for another day

after another harvest

Aloha from Appleby Farms

Haiku Maui Hawaii

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http://www.etsy.com/listing/72940877/organic-coconut-oil-made-in-maui-hawaii

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