Hawaii’s Back yard
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi
Nursing leads to
Molokai taro patchRegistered nurse Jim Callahan's remedy for a lot of ailments is working in a taro patch. "There's something incredibly rejuvenating about being outdoors in the lo'i (patches), surrounded by a clear blue sky, the soothing sounds of a stream and the ocean, and fields of thriving plants," he says. "So many generations of Hawaiians have grown taro, and here I am doing the same thing. I enjoy continuing that tradition."
Whenever he's not at the state Department of Health office in Kaunakakai, Molokai, tending patients, Callahan is at his farm, 20 miles east of town, tending taro. His seven patches, in various stages of growth, measure about an acre.
A native of Illinois, Callahan arrived on Molokai as a University of Hawaii graduate student in the summer of 1976 to complete a six-week course in rural health, and never left.
"There was a crippled Hawaiian man living in this pretty valley in Honouliwai, and I had an opportunity to stay here and take care of him," Callahan said. "Accepting the job was a no-brainer; I loved Molokai's natural beauty and simple, uncrowded lifestyle from the very beginning."
The genial Callahan established a close relationship with his neighbors, an elderly Hawaiian couple named James and Lahela Naki.
PHOTO COURTESY OF JIM CALLAHAN
Jim Callahan drove his nearly completed buffalo cart on the road in East Molokai.
"Mr. Naki and I became best friends; I was in my 20s, he was in his 70s."
Taro cemented their bond. Numerous ancient lo'i had been fallow since a tidal wave swept through the valley in 1946. Why not restore them? the two wondered.
Naki knew how to grow wetland taro, but irrigation was a problem because the old ditches no longer were working. Callahan contributed his expertise by installing PVC pipes, enabling water from a nearby stream to nourish the patches.
Six days a week, Naki worked shoulder to shoulder with friends and family, clearing overgrown vegetation, repairing rock walls, rebuilding banks, and softening and leveling soil. Callahan pitched in whenever he could around his nursing jobs. Within the next few years, they brought dozens of taro patches in Honouliwai back to life.
IN 1980, WITH the help of Naki, Callahan secured a lease for his farm. Naki has since died, but the knowledge Callahan gleaned from the wise kupuna (elder) prepared him to continue growing wetland taro by himself, including the seven lo'i on his farm.
"Now," Callahan says, "I want to show them to visitors. Being a taro farmer on Molokai for many years, I think this is an important story of Hawaii -- how taro was brought here and flourished like nowhere else in the world. Molokai, which is promoted as the 'Most Hawaiian Island' and 'Hawaiian by Nature,' is the ideal place to tell the story of taro."
Callahan and his wife, Lee, launched a one-hour tour of their farm last month. Lee is a native of Thailand, which inspired the tour's name, Hawaii-Thai. Callahan remains busy with his full-time job on weekdays, so Lee has assumed most of the responsibilities for operating Hawaii-Thai.
The experience begins with a discussion about the history and importance of taro in ancient Hawaii. More than 1,500 years ago, sturdy, double-hulled canoes carried the first Polynesians to Hawaiian shores. Along with sugar cane, bamboo and banana, these courageous pioneers brought taro, which they planted in the lush valleys of their new home. Taro became a staple in their diet.
Interestingly, the Hawaiian concept of ohana is derived from the word oha, the small buds that shoot from the taro's corm. After the mature corm is cut off and set aside for cooking, the huli (stalk) and oha on the very top of the corm are saved and replanted, yielding a new crop. Taro's growth cycle reflects that of the family unit -- generation after generation descended from a single "root." In fact, ohana literally means "offshoots."
PHOTO COURTESY OF JIM CALLAHAN
Jim Callahan's water buffalo, Bigfoot, relaxed in the mud.
LONG AGO, taro also was valued for its medicinal properties. Raw corm pulp was mixed with sugar cane juice and noni fruit and administered as a laxative. The corm also was applied to wounds to stop bleeding, and when grated and blended with the ash of burnt coconut meat, it alleviated thrush. The stems of the leaves were rubbed on insect bites to relieve pain and swelling, and raw taro juice was imbibed to reduce fever. Hardened poi was an effective poultice for infected sores.
Hawaii-Thai then takes you on a walk to the taro patches -- or into them, barefoot, if you'd like. "The kids love to get muddy," Callahan chuckles. "But many of the adults worry about the mud being too deep and what it would feel like in their toes, and they don't want to go in.
"Those who do usually enjoy the feeling, and I've not seen anyone who didn't smile and laugh the first time they stepped into a patch."
An added pleasure is meeting Bigfoot, a 1,200-pound Asian water buffalo that Lee affectionately calls "our boy." Besides helping with plowing and harvesting, Bigfoot is a real charmer who's always on the lookout for treats. Visitors can oblige by feeding him tender koa leaves and California grass.
At the conclusion of the tour, you can examine taro plants up close and sample plain steamed taro and a delicious dessert Lee makes by topping warm taro chunks with fresh coconut milk and sugar.
She may even demonstrate how the ancient Hawaiians pounded taro into poi, using a triangular stone and a long wooden board.
"Poi is the closest most tourists get to taro," asserts Callahan. "They may try it at a luau during their vacation, but that doesn't begin to shed light on the significance taro has as the centerpiece of the Hawaiian culture. To find the essence of Hawaiian culture, you need to look to taro."
Address: HC01 Box 920, Kaunakakai, HI 96748 Hawaii-Thai
Hours: Tours are available between 7 and 11 a.m. daily by appointment. The Callahans will provide directions to the farm at time of booking.
Cost: $10 per adults, $5 for ages 5 to 12
Attire: Wear cool, comfortable clothes that you don't mind getting dirty, a hat and good walking shoes
Call: 808-558-8922
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based free-lance writer
and Society of American Travel Writers award winner.
