[HAWAII AT WORK]
PHOTO COURTESY KIMO'S MACFARM
Kimo Rabang Macadamia nut farmer
Macadamia nut
farmer branches outKimo Rabang must juggle duties
to make his Pahoa farm work
My wife, Lisa, and I started our Pahoa macadamia nut farm, Kimo's MacFarm, in 1996. I balance my duties between running the family farm and acting as general manager for a local Mexican restaurant. It is my goal to be a full-time macadamia farmer because I love the work and fulfillment I get from producing food from the land. We are fortunate to live in paradise where I enjoy working outside on my farm and in nature.Growing macadamias is not as difficult as it may seem; the hard work is actually in the harvesting. Many people don't realize that when ripe, the nuts fall from the trees and are harvested on most of the small farms by picking them up by hand off the ground. The nuts must then be husked and cracked; and macadamias are the hardest nut to crack of all nuts. But having such a wonderful final product of Hawaii-grown macadamia nuts, thegourmet king of nuts, to show for my backbreaking work at the end of the day is the most rewarding part of it all.
Although time- and energy-consuming, macadamia nut farms boast many uses. Besides the obvious culinary qualities, we are experimenting with more of the value-added products. For example, my son learned how to process honey produced on our macadamia farm and began his own macadamia nut honey business from his beehives on the property. The bees get nectar from the macadamia nut flowers and collect pollen from the flowers on themselves in route. As the bees continue this practice of gathering the nectar, which they then turn into honey, the pollen gets transferred from tree to tree.
We are proud of our 100 percent Hawaii-grown macadamia nuts.
Hawaii At Work features tells what people do for a living in their own words. Send submissions to: business@starbulletin.com
