In the Beginning / Sugar Plantation Days / Guava Kai / Today

• In the Beginning
  Five to six million years ago, the great Mount Wai’ale’ale emerged from the sea through volcanic activity and formed the beautiful island of Kaua‘i.  2.5 million years later, a period of renewed volcanism produced the varying mountain ranges that now dot this island. Then, only 15,000 years ago, the most recent volcanic activity on Kaua‘i formed Pu’u Kīlauea, including majestic Mount Namahana.
  
  Below the western slope of Mount Namahana is a beautiful stretch of virgin flat jungle situated just above Kīlauea. This land remained jungle for thousands of years until the Polynesians began coming to Hawaii 1,600 years ago. Its rich resources and ideal location made this area important to the Hawaiians’ Ahupua‘a o Kīlauea. They cleared trails to travel from Kīlauea a to the south side of Kaua‘i. The trails are still seen today as electric power lines. The trails were the first sign of human activity. Now cleared of jungle, this is Wai Koa Plantation today, meaning “Bold Waters” in the Hawaiian language. Wai Koa has traditionally been used for agriculture. The land is steeped in history of importance to the development of nearby Kīlauea, and Kaua‘i in general.
  
  Fertile and high in rainfall, the plantation was once verdant with ferns, Ohia Lehua, a native tree with bright red flowers, and maile, a vine used to make Hawaiian leis.  It is bordered by the Kalihiwai River to the west, and the Kahiliholo Stream to the east, which eventually joins the Kīlauea River.  The Pu’ukumu Stream also finds its start from the northern stretches of this land.  In the old days, the rivers were abundant with opae (shrimp), o’opu (Gobiidae fish), and hihiwai (shell fish).


• Sugar Plantation Days
  In 1863, Charles Titcomb purchased the land from King Kamehameha IV.  Titcomb tried to raise silkworms on the plantation, but was unsuccessful due to the heavy rains.  After this, he attempted to plant coffee, which was already growing on the island of Oahu.  However, these were eventually destroyed by a plantation-wide blight.
  
  After Titcomb’s death, his family sold the land to John Ross and E.P. Adams in 1877. At that time, the sugar plantations and industry were faring well on the south side of Kaua‘i. They started with Ladd and Company in Koloa in 1835, followed by the Lihue Plantation in 1849, and the Kekeha Sugar Company in the late 1850s.  Ross and Adams brought this industry to Kaua‘i’s north shore by planting sugar cane on Wai Koa and completing construction of a Stone Dam in 1880. This historic stone dam still exists on the Kahiliholo Stream that borders Wai Koa. The dam was built to provide irrigation water for sugar cane grown on the plantation. In 1880, the Kīlauea Sugar Plantation was officially incorporated. They eventually cultivated 4,500 acres of sugar cane, 300 acres of it on Wai Koa.
  
  In 1881, the Kīlauea Sugar Plantation was the first in all the Hawaiian territories to install a railroad system.  The railroad ran from present-day Wai Koa Plantation to a sugar mill in Kīlauea Town, and its base was made from 100 year-old Robusta Eucalyptus trees that were growing alongside Kahiliholo Stream.  Queen Liliuokalani herself officially inaugurated the railroad by driving in the first stake.  While the Stone Dam and much of its original irrigation ditches still remain today for irrigation and for recreational enjoyment, the railroad no longer exists.
  
  C. Brewer & Company, a large Honolulu agriculture company, marketed this sugar to the mainland United States.  Under the Reciprocity Treaty of 1876, sugar was allowed into the U.S. duty-free.  C. Brewer & Company eventually acquired the Kīlauea Sugar Plantation in 1910.  After decades of operation, Kīlauea Sugar finally closed its doors in 1971, taking a seat next to other Hawaiian sugar companies that saw their heyday falter after Hawaii’s 1959 statehood brought with it the price of high-cost labor. 


• Guava Kai
  With sugar cane gone, in 1977, C. Brewer constructed large shallow ponds and began growing freshwater prawns in them. They graded 100 acres of land to make 33 shallow ponds that were filled with fresh water piped in from the Kalihiwai Reservoir. The operation proved to be unsuccessful and they ceased this operation in 1979.
  
  Also in 1977, C. Brewer & Company started a guava plantation on Wai Koa.  Over the next 29 years, the guava operation, known as Guava Kai, established 250 acres of guava orchards on Wai Koa with more than 20,000 guava trees. C. Brewer also established a similar size guava plantation on land east of the Kīlauea River.  Guava normally ripens in the fall, but Kīlauea native Jack Gushiken found that, by controlling irrigation, pruning, and fertilizer from one block of the plantation to the next, he was able to produce ripe fruit continuously nearly year round. 
  
  Guava Kai built a guava processing plant on Wai Koa to produce guava puree, which they froze in 55-gallon drums and sold them worldwide.   While many companies were not as lucky, Guava Kai and its orchards were able to survive and outlive the island-wide devastation caused by Hurricanes Iwa in 1982 and ‘Iniki in 1992.  In 1996, C. Brewer sold the plantation land to Kaua‘i resident John Ferry and his partner.  C. Brewer then continued the guava operation by leasing the land back from Ferry.  Over time, they became unprofitable due to their higher labor costs compared with guava grown in other undeveloped countries around the world, such as the Philippines. At the end of 2006, they closed the guava operation entirely.


• Wai Koa Plantation Today and Kauai Fresh Farms
  In early 2006, Ferry sold Wai Koa to Kauai residents Bill and Joan Porter.  The Porters see their responsibility as being good stewards of this priceless piece of Hawaiian land, and to develop sustainable agriculture for Kaua‘i. They have no plans to create any housing or commercial developments on the plantation. The land will eventually pass to their grandchildren as inheritance.
  
  The Porters are currently removing the guava orchards and replacing them with Honduras big leaf mahogany trees that will begin to mature in the year 2033, 25 years from now. This reforestation project was started in 2007 and when the planting is complete in 2009, there will be more that 300 acres of mahogany trees. The old guava trees that are being removed are being ground into mulch and converted into high-quality compost to be put back into the earth on the plantation and around Kaua‘i.  This reforestation ensures that the property will remain in agriculture for at least the next 25-30 years. At that point, the mahogany will be ripe to harvest for furniture, cabinetry and other fine wood products.
  
  In addition to the mahogany trees, the Porters are beginning to grow nursery plants such as coconut palms, fishtail palms, and Hawaiian red ti for use by others in beautifying their properties around Kaua‘i. They have devoted 100 acres for this use. A greenhouse is under construction to be used as a seedling house for these nursery crops.
  
  More importantly, the Porters have begun hydroponic farming, a different type of agriculture, operating under the name, “Kaua‘i Fresh Farms.”  In 2007 and 2008, four state-of-the-art greenhouses are being constructed to produce hydroponic tomatoes and lettuce. Kaua‘i Fresh Farms produces eight different varieties of lettuce, and four varieties of tomatoes that began harvesting in 2008.  These are sold to Kaua‘i food stores and restaurants all over Kaua‘i, from Waimea to Hanalei.
  
  The old prawn ponds, which were drained after the prawn operation failed, were left vacant for many years.  The Porters are now beautifying these ponds, and plan to raise Japanese koi fish for decorative use in ponds around Kauai.
  
  In addition, the Porters have acquired the industrial park immediately adjacent to Wai Koa to the north.  This land is next to Banana Joe’s fruit stand on Kuhio Highway, a quarter mile toward Hanalei from Kīlauea town.  The Porters are in the process of obtaining county permission to construct Anaina Hou— a community-gathering place consisting of a pavilion, a theater, a miniature golf course, and a garden nursery. After thorough study, they concluded that these facilities were desirable additions for all residents of the North Shore community.   
  
  From silkworms, coffee, sugar cane, freshwater prawns, and guava, to tropical hardwoods, tomatoes and lettuce, to the pavilion, miniature golf course, and nursery, this precious land remains influential in Kīlauea’s heritage after hundreds of years.  Kaua‘i Fresh Farms is proud and delighted to be part of and contribute to its enduring saga.

Updated April 2008