New Event Announced for Ka‘u Coffee Festival 2018!

A new event in the Ka‘u Coffee Festival line-up offers attendees the opportunity to explore the nursery where Ka‘u Valley Farms grows hydroponic vegetables for local restaurants and public sale as well as see the plantings of Ka‘u coffee and tea - Camelia sinensis. Join us for Ka‘u Valley Farms Tour on Thursday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Ka‘u Valley Farms Nursery, on Ka‘alaiki Road in Na‘alehu.
     Guests will then be taken up the slopes of Kahilipali Ahupua‘a to view the expansive green pastures that sit above Na‘alehu. At the top of Pu‘u Ho‘omaha (Hill of Leisure), listen to stories of the Ahupua‘a and land tenure from the Kingdom to present, and gaze upon the coastline of Ka‘u from Puna to South Point. The hills of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park's Kahuku Unit can be seen in the distance as well as the fields of Makino Valley - relatively unknown to many, as it lies hidden from below the summit of Ho‘omaha.
     The tour includes visiting the water system being developed from the old Kahilipali and Kapuna Tunnels from sugar days.
     The tour ends with a brief walk into the 85 acre pristine native Hawaiian forest - never converted to sugarcane - at Ka‘u Valley Farms. The tour is expected to finish back at the nursery by 2 p.m. at the latest.
     Participants meet at the Ka‘u Valley Farms Nursery at 9 a.m. to park private vehicles - to reach the site, turn mauka (towards the mountain) at Ka‘alaki Road in Na‘alehu at the intersection of Hwy 11 and Punalu‘u Bake Shop. Proceed up Ka‘alaiki Road to just beyond the County cemetary and then follow the signs to the nursery.
     Reservations can be made by calling John Cross at 808-987-4229 or Brenda Iokepa-Moses at 731-5409. Admission is $35 per person, which includes lunch and transportation to and from meeting site.