Uncle George's Farm



George Kahumoko, Jr. invited two Tertiaries of Na Pua Li'i to visit him on his farm in Maui to learn about Hawai'ian farming methods. Uncle George is a "national treasure" of Hawai'i — a master of Slack-key guitar, Grammy Award winner, a traditional Hawai'ian farmer, practitioner in healing herbs, potter, a mentor to young men, and a kahuna, a descendant of Hawai'i's priestly class, as his name reveals.

Uncle's organic farm is a musical arrangement that brings ducks, goats, and guilds of plants into a productive harmony. Traditional Hawai'ian farming is grounded in the "guild" concept of agriculture — diverse plant cultures freely intermixed achieving a nutritional balance for the soil. For example, seen growing everywhere among many other plants is Mamaki, or Mamake. This medicinal herb is found only in Hawai'i. His farm is renown for his organic Mamaki Tea.) During our three days of helping out on the farm, roping goats with his grandsons, and talking story,

Uncle Geo's Mamaki
Uncle George's Makaki
Goat power
Goat manure power!
Growing in a guild
Growing vegetables in a guild
Uncle Geo
Uncle George



We departed receiving strength, which he plants in the the people he meets, and we thanked him with a sonnet, some "kapa" from Kapa Workshop.

In Uncle George God set a heart that's strong,
To be a guide to young men hiding pain,
To nourish dry, brown things with sun & rain,
To be the sweet, green sap when life goes wrong.
He taught the boyz who had more F's than D's
To surf, to hunt, to learn the manly law,
And through his life a way ahead they saw —
Of strength & good & mighty Koa trees.
And then George fill'd the world with beauty sweet:
With twelve-string hulas, hymns, and slack-key strains,
With fired-pots & taro root & cane,
'mongst neighing horses, sheep, and goats that bleat.
For in this broken world of hurt & strife
God plants strong hearts to point young lives toward Life.



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