What's New! (April 11, 2008)

Ah, Spring.

The trees are blooming a little bit again. Our biggest blooms have been in February and March. The trees are all getting these cute little green coffee cherries. The orchard seems to be doing very well. We are irrigating about every other day. Although the rest of the state got some heavy rain this week, Kona got only a trace. There is a noticeable difference in the orchard in the last six weeks as the trees recover from the pruning and are putting on more leaves and filling out. We can no longer see between the tree rows.

We should begin suckering next week. Each tree needs some individual attention this time of year. The cuts from the pruning are dense with new shoots (suckers). These need to be thinned, leaving one or two to grow as future verticals. Suckers further up the branches and those down on the trunk need to be removed. This keeps the tree from getting too bushy with growth that doesn't produce coffee. It also helps to get more sunlight to the fruit and to help the new verticals to grow for next year.

Roasting

We usually roast your coffee for you on demand. Once you place your order, we roast and package it for shipment. However, we have had a mechanical problem with our small roaster and are waiting on parts from the mainland. In the meantime, I have arranged for our neighbor who is a master roaster to roast some of our coffee for us.

The roast-to-order business has been an overwhelming success. The big news is we have ordered a larger shop roaster that can roast from 1 pound to about 7 pounds at a time. The new roaster should arrive by freight from Idaho the first or second week of June.

What's New! (February 29, 2008)

Happy Leap Day!

Our big trip to South America was great. The itinerary was excellent and we were awestruck by Iguassu Falls and ecstatic to sail around Cape Horn. We have a ton of photos that I hope to sort through and post a few. We're still a little jet lagged but happy to be home on the farm also.

A lot happened while were gone. We had another round of picking that totaled over 5700 pounds. That's huge for this late in the season. Once the coffee was picked, the crew came in and spread granular fertilizer. It has been very dry (and usually is this time of year) but we did have one big soaking rain so the fertilizer was timely.

Then the pruning crew came. The orchard always looks so different right after pruning. The cut branches and verticals get mulched using a tractor with a flail mower so the organic matter gets put right back into the soil. The other evening when we arrived home, the trees were in bloom. The Kona "snow" is fleeting and quite fragrant since coffee is related to gardenia.

I'll have the roaster up and running on Saturday so I have turned the order page back on. We hope it wasn't too inconvenient for anyone while were away.

Roast to Order!

We roast your coffee for you on demand. Once you place your order, we roast and package it for shipment. We prefer the medium-dark roast for our coffee, but several of our customers prefer it a little darker. Roast to order means your coffee will be at its absolute freshest when it gets to your door. Just make a note in the comments on your order if you'd like a slightly darker or lighter roast.

One dollar of every half pound of coffee purchased from Makahiki Farms goes to breast cancer research.

Funds collected before August 3, 2007 were donated as a contribution to the Relay for Life. We also donated 8-ounce packs that were sold at the event as an additional fund-raiser for our team. The event was a great success. Click here to see some photos.

The remainder of the 2007 year funds were donated to The American Cancer Society.

What's New! (January 31, 2008)

Looks like the "last round" of picking is going to be to be the second to last. We still have quite a bit of cherry on the trees which is almost ripe and the picking crew wants to pick it. This will only delay the pruning by a week or so. It is good for the trees to get the fruit off for their rest period before blooming.

Our big trip we've been planning for over a year is almost here. The only time of year we can both leave the farm is right around pruning time. We have some good friends who are coming to supervise the farm and take care of the animals. I'm sure they will also manage to enjoy the pool and the scenery and some Big Island sight seeing. And we will be able to relax and enjoy our South American adventure without worry.

What's New! (January 14, 2008)

The last round of picking is going to be coming off the trees this week. It is looking like the biggest last round we have ever had. The trees continue to be very healthy.

The crew is already scheduled to come in to prune at the end of the month. We do Kona-style pruning where the oldest vertical on each tree is removed, leaving the younger verticals for next year's production. This opens up the tree as well and lets more light get to the remaining verticals. Once the area by the cut gets suckers, one or two will be chosen to let grow to become the new vertical for subsequent years.

New Shipping choices

We now offer shipping via Federal Express 2-Day air. USPS Priority Mail is still offered so now you have a choice. You will be asked which shipping method you prefer during check-out.

What's New! (December 12, 2007)

We're not sure how much the rest of the country hears about Hawaii, especially the weather. Over the last two weeks we have had several severe thunderstorms. Lightning strikes and land slides caused power outages. The agricultural community has been hit hard in places all over the islands. We here at Makahiki Farms have been very lucky. Our trees withstood the 50 mile per hour winds and pounding rain and are doing okay. The next round of harvest is looking fine and is ripe and ready to be picked early next week. We had some trouble with our computer equipment due to the lightning strikes and power surges, but a new ethernet card and diligent backups saved us. Mahalo to our loyal customers who were patient about getting responses to email.

The roast-to-order program is going great and keeping me very busy. We hope the holiday orders fresh from the farm make your giftees very happy. I've been watching the tracking information from the postal service and they are doing a great job this year of getting packages from Hawaii to the mainland in a timely fashion. If you still need some gifts for your coffee-loving friends and family, get those orders in soon so we can get them roasted and shipped in time.

Mele Kalikimaka!

What's New! (November 1, 2007)

The harvest is going quite well. We've picked four times so far and the last of the fourth round is on the drying deck right now. Processing the coffee ourselves right here on the farm is going well. It is time consuming but it is good to have control over the quality and to be able to see the results of the picking.

Jonathan and I often attend seminars put on by the University of Hawaii Extension office CTAHR and those sponsored by the Kona Coffee Council, the farm bureau and so forth. One thing we have learned that we want to pass on to you, the consumer, is that not all farms are attentive to quality. For example, in a recent class on coffee drying and storage, a small estate farmer admitted that he just leaves his green coffee in the burlap bag on the ground under his house. Yikes. Other farms are not growing any coffee at all and just buy cherry from other farms and put their label on it. Some take their cherry to be processed by others and may or may not get their own beans back.

So my advice to you is to do some research and get to know about the farm you patronize. Our coffee is all grown right here on our property. We pulp it, dry it and store the parchment without it ever leaving the premises. We store our coffee in an insulated, off-the-ground, climate controlled storage room that is air conditioned where we can track the temperature and humidity. We utilize one mill for hulling and grading that we trust. We have a detailed paper trail for all our coffee and that paper trail is submitted monthly to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture. We also have all our green coffee state certified. The state requires that all green Kona coffee must be certified by the Department of Agriculture before it can legally leave the district of Kona. We certify all our coffee, including what we roast, even though that is not required by law.

And hey! We also love to show people around so if you are in Kona or planning a trip and want a personal farm tour, just drop us a line or give us a call. We really enjoy meeting fellow coffee lovers and talking story.

What's New! (August 22, 2007)

We had our first picking round of the season about two weeks ago and it went very well. It was the largest first round we've ever had. The next round will be in a week or so and is going to be huge. The branches are loaded up and lots of ripe cherry is ready to be picked.

We were very diligent about preparing for Hurricane Flossie. We got our batteries and food and water all set and put away all the farm equipment. Flossie didn't end up giving a bit of wind or rain but we are glad we were prepared. I was worried about the coffee and that she might knock off all that beautiful cherry or damage the branches or trees. We were very lucky.

What's New! (July 31, 2007)

2007 Season is Looking Fabulous

The trees are ripening slowly this year due to increased rain and cloud cover. That means the beans are getting big and full so the quality is going to be very high. The trees have a few bright red "cherries" right now and quite a bit is starting to turn. The picking crew is ready to go. Our coffee trees are very healthy with lots of dark green leaves that support the heavy fruit growth. They have been getting plenty of moisture and fertilizer. We firmly believe that healthy trees produce the best Kona coffee.

What's New! (June 23, 2007)

Wow. I can't believe it's almost time to start harvesting again. I was out on the ATV doing some irrigation repairs and noticed several trees with ripening cherry. My guess is there will be enough to start picking in a couple weeks.

The orchard is looking fantastic. The trees are healthy and green and loaded with fruit. We did some hand weeding and cleaned up suckers this week. The verticals are quite strong this year and seem to be holding up under the weight of the cherry. We haven't had to prop up very many with bamboo so far. I credit this to the good picking crew we had last year. They were gentle with our trees.

Jonathan & I will fertigate today and next week we will have foliar fertilizer applied.

Feedback

We want your feedback. I'm investigating new web shopping cart software and would like to know what you like or dislike. Did your latest order arrive in good condition? Is the post office taking too long to get it to you? Would you like to have the choice to ship by FedEx?

Please drop us an email and let us know what you think. Or give us a call on the toll free line and chat. We love to talk story.

Roast to Order!

There really is something new. We bought a small half- pound roaster about six months ago and have been working at getting the roast profiles just right. So now we can roast it for you on demand. We still prefer the medium-dark roast for our coffee, but several of our customers prefer it a little darker. Roast to order means your coffee will be at its absolute freshest when it gets to your door.

What's New! (March 31, 2007)

The orchard is doing very well this year. The weather has been very cooperative so far, although it has been somewhat dry. We are irrigating to supplement the natural rainfall. The trees are very healthy and are looking like they will bear quite high yields of coffee cherry this coming harvest season.

We have been mowing the grass this week and will begin doing some suckering and vertical selection in the next few days.

Due to the small harvest in 2006-2007, our peaberry is in limited supply. We have not raised the price. However there may not be enough to last until the next season's harvest is ready to be milled. So when it's gone, it's gone. We'll try to give some prior warning when the supply gets really low and will mark the order page.

Spring time!

We hope you are having a good Spring and enjoying the holidays. We hate to rub it in but today is an absolutely gorgeous day in paradise. We hope that you are enjoying some good weather and happy times with family and friends. Aloha!

What's New! (February 9, 2007)

I just finished putting together a gift basket for the Kona Outdoor Circle's Pua Plantasia benefit auction. The basket has two half-pound packs of whole bean (one each Extra Fancy and Estate), four two-ounce ground, two bistro coffee mugs and a Makahiki Farms t-shirt. The event is March 9 & 10 at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort. If you are on the island, please stop by and bid. It's for a good cause - the preservation and beautification of our paradise community.

What's New! (February 6, 2007)

The pruning went well and was done with perfect timing. There was a big flowering right about the same time the pruning of the orchard was completed and the buds had a chance to set before the wind storms came to the Big Island. The newly pruned trees are also sporting less leafy growth so there wasn't much surface area to get caught by the wind. The orchard weathered the high winds very well, without breakage or downed trees.

This morning we checked and there is another good set of buds about to open within the next week. The rain we received right after the windy weather probably triggered this flowering. As long as the damaging storms stay away, we should have a good crop ripening about 6 to 8 months from now.

We pulped and dried our last picking round of nearly 1500 pounds of cherry in mid-January. The mill worked great. There are a few more things to refine before the next harvest season, but I'm sure that will always be the case. The parchment was milled and graded this week and Jonathan just went to pick up the certified green coffee as I type this.

Be Mine!

Since Valentine's day is next week, we don't have much time to get your sweetie some Makahiki Farms coffee before the 14th. Call our toll free number and we can arrange expedited shipping. (Federal Express needs a minimum of 2 days to ship from Hawaii Island.)

What's New!

Here it is, 2007 already. Jonathan has put in a great deal of effort over the last few weeks putting together our pulping mill. We have been pulping and reworking things this week during our last harvest for the season. This morning we were able to spread the first day's coffee on the drying deck and then pulped the coffee picked yesterday. It went quite well and we've made some notes for a few things to tweak before the 2007 harvest season begins. The pickers should be all done this afternoon so we will be pau for the year.

The pruning crew is scheduled to be here tomorrow to begin pruning. We do Kona-style pruning which means one vertical is removed leaving three to produce fruit this year. That also leaves space for a new vertical to grow which will be a bearing vertical the year after. This round-robin technique keeps the verticals getting plenty of sunshine for bearing fruit. Pruning in general helps to keep the tree from over bearing and getting too big or bushy. Although the trunk can get quite old, the rotation of new verticals on our trees means they are no older than 4 years. This young tissue is strong and is what produces the coffee fruit called cherry.

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

We just finished up the paperwork for our retail web coffee business and will be making our contribution to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in the next week. We tally up all the 8 ounce packs of coffee we sold over the calendar year and donate $1 for each. Thank you so much for your support.

Keep reading "What's New 2006"

Keep reading "What's New 2005"

Keep reading "What's New 2004"

Keep reading "What's New 2003"