Publication: Times Colonist
Date: July 2023
From pulling invasive weeds to wading into knee-high mud for a beach cleanup, statewide program offers mindful traveller opportunity to volunteer while learning to care for the land.
Growing up on Kualoa Ranch in Oahu it was only natural for Piko Elkington to learn about the native plants and agricultural techniques used by her ancestors for generations.
Her parents met and worked at the 1,600 hectare (400 acre) ranch, tilling the fields and eating the produce they farmed, like taro, one of Hawaii’s traditional foods.
Elkington explains taro is similar to a potato, starchy, but nutrient rich, grown on wetlands in taro patches called lo’i kalo. The root is mashed with water, on a wooden pounding board, until it is smooth and sticky to make poi, a Hawaiian staple. She adds it can be cooked in many ways and is eaten in every form from a chip to a stew.
