 Systems. I'm your co-host Matt Johnson here as always with Justine Desperitif and as always we are here on Thursday afternoon starting at four o'clock and you can also check out the show later on YouTube at at Think Tech H.I. You can also call in and join us on the show at the number shown below Or it's just 415 8712474. So Justine, who do we have on the show today? Today as with every day that we have a new episode. It's a really exciting one So today we have some good friends of mine that also came highly recommend Came highly recommended from our previous guest Joey Char. We have Robert and Latasha Wilson Who were two graduates from the go-farm Hawaii program early in the program second cohort? They have since graduated and have been farming on Multiple parcels throughout the island so they have some great experience to share with us on the process of the training program how they've kind of developed their farm and the different places they farmed in that kind of land acquisition and Kind of their perspective on a number of things that we've talked about so I'm so excited to have them on and that we have so here is Robert's and Latasha Wilson and you might hear a little Jimmy Wilson in the background So thank you guys so much for joining us Yeah, so let's kind of start with Let's briefly start with if you want to describe a little bit about your farm What you guys are growing where you are and where we can find your products and then we'll kind of backtrack into your History and and how you've gotten to where you are today All right We're little tomato farms. We farm and punaloo on the punaloo au plow farms Bishop of state's land and We Farm mainly mixed vegetables now, but we're trying to go more into tree crops and longer term stuff seeing how we got a longer term lease now but we sell mainly out of the farm lovers Kailua farmers market on Sunday mornings, okay, and We're working on expanding to having our own private CSA. Okay, we're Going to we're starting work on a CSA with punaloo au plow farms And we're also involved with friends with farm CSA cool Wait, so let's let's go back. So how long you guys been farming So you went through the go farm program and you graduated two three years ago. We're not that long ago Yeah, it wasn't that long ago. It was the second cohort. So that was 2013 oh, okay started Ag school one and then I believe we graduated a year and a half later. Okay, and then we farmed in Why Manalo for a while through the incubator portion through the incubator. We may have been neighbors. Maybe that's why I know that Yeah, we were neighbors We've battled the weeds together and kind of got our feet underneath us and When the land open up in punaloo, we just jumped on it and luckily we got it. We've got Little under two acres there And most of it is jungle right now Well, but that wasn't such an easy process when you talked about it earlier You guys talked about when you started incubator We all started farming there together But before you got to punaloo you guys checked out a lot of a lot of different places and Punaloo is actually one that we've that has been pretty challenging we've had a couple of graduates kind of go there or check it out and Joey was very including yourself Very clear how I went there was like I can't handle this But he mentioned like you guys have really thrived there We've had a number of other folks that have been there So if you want to talk about you mentioned it's kind of like a steep learning curve So if you want to kind of compare that the experience of why Manalo to to what you've kind of faced there And what's allowed you to kind of persevere In why Manalo we had a lot more farmer friends near us a little bit more infrastructure We could tool share that was a great benefit but because we were all so neighborly all the bugs knew where everybody was so it was challenging in that respect in Punaloo our neighbors are further out and we don't have any tool sharing So it's all what we can bring and at first we were men and farmer powered We we literally worked with sickles and hand tools and we worked our way up with Tillers and mowers and everything. Yeah, it was actually a steep learning curve When you would till the ground or prepare the ground and why Manalo it would just stay there Like you could just plan it out And I want this row to be that row and Punaloo you better get on it because the buffalo grass up there We've actually tied rubber bands on to it and it'll make this big loop in between The loop will like in a couple days 24 inches type of style, but it just runs in all different directions. So Our brush cutter is our best friend I mean, we've got a guy up there with a 40 horsepower Messy Ferguson with a brush hog and that thing gets bogged down in the middle of that grass Oh, wow, it's yeah, and I don't think I've ever I had a somebody recommend chainsaws Yeah, go through with chainsaws. So I did a little bit of research and found a really nice clearing saw Fs 250 the still I highly recommend it. I don't know what it is, but that sounds impressive I've never tried like using like like flames like don't like I know like you like propane You are all about the flame thrower. Yeah Yeah, it turns out the grass leaves burn really well, but the grass stem doesn't burn and the clump just never burns You can stand over there and burn it all day So you're just like getting the tips but not the actual root of it. So it doesn't help you out all that much Yeah, it kind of just clears the land for it to grow up faster. Hmm, but we've been really getting the hang of it Okay. Yeah, we we have our we make our really big compost piles once we clear all the grass Hmm It was also the varieties like we had picked out a Bunch of varieties of tomatoes and cucumbers that did really well in wamanala Okay, and none of them really did so great and punaloo No, but why do you why do you think that is is because of the different soil type different weather patterns too much buffalo grass all the above well the weeds didn't help, but Yeah, my theory is water. We got a lot of water over the summertime And in punaloo not as much not as much Yeah, and punaloo is just more like the ground never dried out. So we're looking for more Wet tolerant tomatoes like we're gonna try a Friday called Tropic out of the University of Southern Florida. Okay We're gonna try that in a big trial coming up in the spring And now are you guys able to still so you went to the GoFund program So you have this network that's connected with the University of Hawaii and extension service Have you been able to leverage There the expertise that's there that kind of help you. I mean, how did you come about making this decision to try this variety out of South Florida well in in GoFund we kind of it really touched on a lot of the Not necessarily basics, but really let you wrap your head around Farming is so all-encompassing To where you pretty much have to be all the way from a salesman to like a botanist And everything everything in between. Yeah, so as we're getting better at different aspects of farming We find more time to research things So it's like i'm all into citrus right now So we've been going off on citrus for the last year But before that it was tomatoes. Yeah, so we search for disease resistance and then How many days it takes to fruit and all that is a factor here And what kind of resources are you using to kind of get that information? Are you are you working with the extension agents or that's kind of your own personal research you've been doing or getting recommendation kind of on Pretty much online and feeling your way through it The university of davis and ctar actually has a lot of really good papers And a lot of papers written like in the 70s and the 80s that are just available online if you just google it Yeah, uh, there was one earlier that was from 2013 that was basically just telling you to grow lemons Okay, it's like telling telling you that we only produce 100,000 pounds of lemons and we import 4 million pounds of lemons into the state. So so this was a uh like a article written specifically about the lemon Industry in why okay And google just brought it right up. It was ctar So is that what you guys are going to start for is that part of the perennials that you were talking about you're going to start Yeah, we're going to plant a whole bunch of different citrus blood orange seems to do really well at our elevation But i've been told that limes and lemons will do really well with the wet so we're looking for uh Looking for corn of lime right now because it's a good really good root stock Okay, are you going to be little lime farms then? Is there going to be a transition into that? No, the name is actually more personal to tasha Okay Well, i'm curious to kind of go back a little bit to that of once you kind of built up some of the skills and goat farm Acquired the land and then you guys kind of went into additional training or consideration through the ag business Program with matt so if you kind of want to talk about that hear a little more about the The kind of brand you want to develop or how you kind of identify your niche and kind of personal story behind the farm um well when I got into farming I decided I wanted to um Be very transparent And I I hope um our slogan is sunshine water and aloha And that's pretty much all that goes into our stuff and it's an organic fertilizer A lot of And um We don't use um synthetic chemicals or synthetic fertilizers We use only omri rated stuff and I don't put every is like the organic certified product Overall guideline Some some things are better than others But at least it's a standard. Yeah And I don't use anything that I don't feel safe with my three-year-old sun touching because he does get into everything And um, I find that it gives us, um much more fresher produce and longer lasting And that um That the pests aren't really as big Of a deal as some of them Some other farmers think that you don't have to spray all the time. Okay Um, I came up with our brand because I wanted to be Kind of rustic and a little modern but professional Okay, and um Is that what you And I um, I had a hard time coming up with the name until I kind of reflect a little reflected a little bit and decided to go with little tomato farms Because um, he calls me little tomato That's so cute. I have a favorite song um by a band called pink martini hang on little tomato. Oh, yeah Yeah And it's about being really hopeful and getting through life and when it rains, you know, some will come out again Yeah, and there will be tomatoes And so We're gonna go uh into a quick break and then kind of on that note of your guys's story with your farm I want to talk about your current distribution methods and the idea of Working with the co-op and being at the farmers market and how that kind of relationship And the brand kind of helps interact with your customers and what that can kind of move into So we're gonna take a quick uh 60 second break and come right back I'm Ethan ellen host of likable science here on think tech hawai every friday afternoon at 2 p.m You'll have a chance to come and listen and learn from scientists around the world Scientists who talk about their work in meaningful Easy to understand ways they'll come to appreciate science as a wonderful Way of thinking way of knowing about the world. You'll learn interesting facts interesting ideas. You'll be stimulated to think more Please come join us every friday afternoon at 2 p.m. Here on think tech hawai for a likable science with me your host Ethan ellen I've got the beagle sisters here with a healthy tip We encourage you to enjoy the food you eat this holiday season and keep it local and healthy Yeah, eat the rainbow your rainbow. And if you need any produce come to the red bar on the north shore And welcome back to white food and farmers series where we're talking to hawai's farmers and shakers in hawai's local food system Uh As always we're here every thursday afternoon at four o'clock So just seeing who are we talking to again today? We are with robert and latasha wilson of little tomato farms Slash little lemon farm in the future So, um, we were just talking about the the process you guys went from go farm into punaluu And I want to talk a little bit about more about the co-op We've had shan and la maya on before and you guys have been Founding members not only as farmers but as as the board and I wanted to talk you've had a very thorough Idea of what you want your your brand to be and your kind of representation And I just want to hear a little bit more about how that your your presence with the co-op together of all the multiple farms And your presence at the farmer market of of how that's really helped you guys developed as a small farm together And having those interactions with customers and just kind of about that experience Yeah, we're uh founding members and current treasures of the friends of farms co-op and Uh, I believe you're a member of the co-op still I think I still am. Yeah Supporting member. Honorary member Ex officio But it's been great having everybody together because we also get to run it more as a As a real entity like everybody's farms we all have our pitfalls But the co-op has records of what people sold and and you know what sells and it's like Compiling all those things year upon year. We can tell like You know have some data to look back on. Yeah, have some data to look back on and it's it also allows us to really Make a really vibrant farmers market booth and a really nice presentation We don't all have to be the the jack of all trades We can kind of specialize in what we want to do and each farm has its Its strengths and weaknesses It's like some some of the farms have Fully mature orchards on it And some of the farms have like eggs and stuff that we don't do And then it kind of breaks down into some of the other farmers are really into vegetables Which is what we're into at the moment So we kind of all have our our niche that we've fallen into and it really brings a Nice presentation for everybody to sell All of their stuff like we even have max the beekeeper So we've got honey at our farm and everything awesome So it was really cool at your personal farm you guys have sorry not at our farm at our farmers market within the within the co-op I met him before we need to get him on the show. Did he win the soup? Uh, I think maybe he did that sounds familiar. Yeah Um on that note in terms of you know, everyone kind of having their specialty and I know it was developing Are you guys cooperatively sharing production plans and deciding through this uh through this Uh markets, are you only going to be doing like are you guys going to be the kale folks or the tomato folks or the lemon folks? Uh, I really think that having so many farms. We're up to 15 now in our co-op. So having so many farms Uh, it's much more of their coordination so that people don't have duplicates at the farmers market now But we're all just feeling each other out and once it uh Once we get a feel for the farmers We kind of know what their farm is capable of and what where they want to go So the co-op is really not just to sell stuff. It's more to uh Bring farms along so that we can have our own support net because there's a is a really small support system in hawaii and That's like it's kind of hard for farmers even even not new farmers we've got some farmers that have been farming for 20 30 years and You always hear from old farmers that farming is not profitable that you know, you you got to have another job It's kind of like digging in the dirt with your hands And I just didn't I don't want to be that farmed. So our co-op is all about You know having We're all trying to get out of the rat race together Like uh mondragon, you know mondragon corporation out of spain. Oh, I've heard of this It's kind of like uh, it's a co-op as well. It's a cooperative It's awesome We're emulating them in a on a small scale. Okay So speaking of the rat race, what were you guys doing before so some point you guys are you know young and you're uh Married and you have a couple of kids you guys have busy lives going on here and at some point You made a decision What three four five years ago you're like we want to start farming you're talking about the rat race What were you guys doing before and and what led to this decision of You know getting out of this I am currently still on the wheel Okay, okay. We all are we all are I'm a craftsman at martin and macarthur So that actually pays the bills at the moment, but farming is quickly overtaking it. Okay Eventually down the line a few years. We look to be full-time farmers But I mean we pretty much are full-time farmers now We got a full-time Yeah Tasha, how about yourself over you doing before are still doing Well before I was between careers. I thought I was going to be a vet tech. Okay, and then I was just Figuring it out and I decided I found go farm and I thought this looks like a really great opportunity And I found out that I can be a farmer I was planning on doing that when I was old and I figured why not now Why not live the dream now? Yeah I like that answer And then what did you do you feel like you really knew what you were getting into or Now Did you got into the program and you got on the land has it been like a shock of you? Like was there a sense of being kind of naive about it? and now you're You're in it or has it kind of lived up to what you were expecting Because since it is so challenging I'm I'm I'm always amazed that people are like, yeah, let's make this transition Let's start from scratch. Let's let's do it So if you can talk a little bit about how you decided what gave you the confidence to like jump into it Was it the fact that this program seemed like a long-term? Um supportive network or you just really thought that Well, tasha found the program online Uh in 2013 And originally we had looked it up for my nephew My nephew is 27. He was not a little kid But uh, we had looked it up and he kind of brushed it off saying it would be a waste of time and seeing how it was free We decided to take it not really having much expectations. I mean, we were both inclined to work in the dirt And uh, it was dan was the one who really opened our eyes to what farming can be and what it should be he was like Farmer straight out of central casting This is dan the first dan rudoi. Yeah, the first farm coach and he was just like you know almost Like uh a vision of what you could be if you just put a little bit of time and effort into it Yeah, I mean, I definitely think his message was always like you can do this Just don't give up and you think there are I think a lot of resources and and support for it Yeah, there's a lot of goodwill towards farming. That's one of the few perks So um talking about like vision and future so you guys are talking about trying to get off the wheel and being able to make this kind of like your Uh, you know put as much 100 of your efforts into it Where do you guys see where do you want this to go? Are you going to become this? massive mega farm that takes over the entire windward side of oahu Um, what's you know, what do you guys see? Where do you want to see that happen? Once we have punaloo at its full potential of probably a bunch of mixed fruit trees We're going to seek a bigger parcel and we're looking for our somewhere that's green our Some place where we can live and pay rent and I can walk outside in the morning and go straight to work And not have to worry about oh, I have a 45 minute drive back and forth from my farm to my house Because you guys are currently living in town. Oh, wow And so every time we go to the farm. It's a quarter tank of gas, but we love it and I get actually stir crazy when I don't go to the farm. Yeah um, we envision having this larger farm maybe um 10 20 to 40 acres and we're going to diversify into mostly tree crops and um, we're always going to do a bit of fresh vegetables We really like having fresh carrots and lettuce and radishes And you see that you want to do see yourself on a walk staying on oahu Yes, definitely. We actually looked at land on Maui But we felt like our family and our network is here on oahu So we want to stay where the population's bigger at the moment. The market is here on oahu One day. I think that farmland is going to open up. I'm really excited seeing so many new farmers coming through go farm It's really exciting because at first like in our class we had a kind of High attrition rate of people deciding if they wanted to be farmers or not So seeing so many graduates now like more people are willing to get in it and work hard It seems like they've had smaller number of classes, but more um, I don't want to say more committed, but um more committed Um, and now it's like a much more You have to pay to to be in it as well and it seems like the selection process is It's a little bit more rigorous. Yeah, it's one of those things where I mean, we used to have a real vibrant farming society on oahu But and the land is still there. It's just tucked away and they're trying to hide it so they can put houses on it So they want to try and make like there's not any land there when None of us are really looking for large-scale farms We're all looking for smaller family farms and it seems like If you were a giant company and you were looking for a lot of land They got all the land in the world for you, but for a small family farm. Oh, sorry. We already did that May maybe in your dreams type of stuff moved to move to the big island There's plenty of land for you out there when there's plenty of land here Have there been any talks? I mean especially, you know the power of you guys as a as a co-op And you started off with the farmers market and now you're looking to other things to Work co-operate with me on has there ever been any discussions or thoughts about Maybe looking at a piece of land that you could go in as a co-op to Either purchase or release as you're saying like, you know Land is available for the big farms, but if you guys go in as a co-op Then you're a larger. Oh, we have talked about that we've talked about that with some people with land The problem is they're kind of looking for Actually, I don't know what they're looking for because they didn't pick us But something other than what you guys have Wait, that was you guys. Sorry you approached someone to kind of pursue that. Yeah, there was I want to say there was 40 acres in the back when all that we were talking about real seriously last year But it ended up being subdivided into some other farms But uh, there is potential for that out there We have meetings all the time Where we bring the whole co-op together and really talk about where we want to go in our future and stuff And yeah, that comes up Quite often that we should all just try and go in on some land. Yeah, we're looking to start a Equipment share kind of after our csa But uh, we're just Feeling it out. That was the whole thing. There wasn't really a lot of like a tractor or a tiller So yeah, yeah, and a shredder. It's like, uh, we've already got some trucks and some other stuff We're just trying to get that more into a coherent, uh Sharing possibilities that it's not just you're using my truck and if it breaks down Exactly we we want to get it to where you know, our co-op members aren't so liable for the equipment And the equipment actually gets fixed if it gets broken. Yeah Well that actually it we're out of time Um, it was great to have you guys come on and give a little bit of your backstory and I love updates on the The co-op and what kind of like new innovative partnerships are kind of developing So it's great to kind of have you guys staggered and and give us little updates So thanks so much for coming on and I look forward to hearing more about what you guys are doing. Thank you