New visitor to the farm

 
 
We get all kinds of visitors to the farm but this is the first time we have seen him and amazingly were able to photograph him too. Yes, the Jackson chameleon paid us a visit today. Doesn't he look smashing in his lime green suit as he inspects our coffee trees.

Rain

Being away from the farm can cause a bit of anxiety. Watching all the foliage in the western side of the island disappear also underscores how important rain is for our tropical environment. Those facets were preying on our minds as we wondered if the dryness would continue while we left the farm in others hands. So, today it was nice to see this gentle rain dampening all around us. Weatherman, Guy Hagi, had said the high pressure area north of the state would not make it down to this island. Guy, we are glad you were wrong just this once. The whole state is in a drought but I hear that Maui and the Big Island are experiencing the worse of it. It's nice to leave knowing that there is such a thing as rain on the Big Island or was that just a practice for what we will see in New Zealand?

Our trees will be ready for pruning when we return and Ron has been faithfully irrigating. Mother Nature just needs to let loose of her moisture more often.

Fire!!

It's over now but that was about tooooo much excitement for me. Ron was finally taking some time to relax between drying and raking coffee. He was looking towards the ocean for whales when smoke arose from the fields below. He yelled at me that he was taking the Gator down for a look. When he phoned me back we decided a 911 call to the fire department was next. There are houses down there but you enter from another road about 1/4 mile down and I was having a hard time explaining to dispatch how to get there so I met the fire truck at the corner and directed them. Meanwhile Ron was cutting the water line to the irrigation to get buckets down there. A few pickers were around and they help tote water. Another neighbor helped the fire trucks navigate to the location as Ron said it was right behind a new house built there a few years ago and could be imminent danger to them.

Endless water is availble if you can get to it and that's when the helicopter arrived. The first fire truck was running short on water and a second had arrived so it looked pretty well under control but with many hot spots. The helicopter headed towards the ocean dipped an extremely large vessel in the ocean and headed back. With a sploosh it opened and dropped it's load over the first hot spot. After several trips our air fire force had the job done.

I'm sure I'll read about the theories in the paper tomorrow. We have some ideas but will hold our speculation until after the investigation. The fire didn't start on our property but near it. We lost 60 coffee trees or so but feel it could have been a lot worse if Ron had not taken a break to look for those whales. And NO (don't anyone ask) that is not how we usually get roasted coffee!

Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

.....that's Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! From our farm to you and thanks for making our season bright!

We are still picking coffee. After the good rain the other day we have some our crop ripening again. We lost quite a bit from the drought this fall. No rain for 2 months does not do well for the coffee trees nor the beans.

Coffee is all packaged as we finally managed to get all the Christmas orders out. Since many requested ground coffee we were able to find a used commercial grinder for sale. We purchasd it last week and will now be able to provide ground coffee much faster and fresher. And best of all it will be easier for me to package. Another positive is that it has several grind levels and you will be able to request the grind you like all the way from espresso to press pot.

Honu Kai B&B, one of the local bed and breakfasts that serves our coffee orders 5# at a time. I am happy to annouce that we will be offering these 5# bags on our website after the new year. For a limited time we will offer them @ $112.00 and that includes free shipping.

Our 2008-09 crop is sold out!

We have been feverishly working on the 2009-10 crop lately. Just as last years crop, this years has been pulped, washed and dried into parchment. The beautiful color of the dried parchment is a tawny to golden and the beans quietly rest in our humidity controlled grainpro bags. July was our first pick, so that is the parchment we will begin using for our green bean as we prepare to roast. Three to four months is just the right amount of time for the parchment to age to a point that produces the intense flavors of our roasted coffees. So with a clang and shuffle we are now onto producing more of your favorite smooth and rich coffees. And the circle goes on because after the rain last week we saw some stray coffee blossoms here and there. We see picking in our future called the 2010-11 crop.

Heads up on last day to Christmas shop

We roast our coffee on an as need basis so you can receive your coffee freshly packaged right after roasting. To serve our all our customers we need to have all our orders by DECEMBER 12, 2009 in order to get them roasted, packaged and shipped to your door in time for Christmas. Please keep this date in mind. Eventhough the coffee bags we use are mylar with a oneway valve and do keep the coffee fresh for 3 months plus, our goal is to get that coffee to you as soon after packaging as possible. Our Holiday orders are coming in now. Count how many on your gift list you can fill by just one order of freshly roasted Kona Lisa Coffee. Remember to get the order in no later than DECEMBER 12, 2009.

Couldn't have said it better myself

Found this in the NG Drving Guides to America, California And Nevada and Hawaii edition page 154.
"Only one state in the U.S. grows Coffee--Hawaii--and the best comes from the Kona district of the Big Island. In fact, conoisseurs rank this arabica coffee among the world's top brews. A missionary planted the first trees in Kona around 1828. The growing conditions were perfect--rich volcanic soil, an elevation above 1,200 feet, cool breezes, light rains. In springtime, slopes are blanketed with white blossoms, aptly named Kona Snow. Between September and January, field workers harvest cherry red berries. Coffee's valuable part is the seed--the coffee bean. Each year, a tree produces only enough beans to make a single pound of roasted coffee. But brewed up, that coffee is as pure and intoxicating as sunshine."