Waimea resident, Kari Hagerman feeds her passion for plants nearly every day in her own backyard.
Waimea resident, Kari Hagerman feeds her passion for plants nearly every day in her own backyard.
These days she is planting about 1,000 seeds a week, tending thousands of seedlings and cultivating hundreds of older plants in a small misting house, a jam-packed shade house and on tables and walls and walkways all behind her house. Her passion now is even reaping a profit.
It all started years ago when Kari was growing up on Oahu. She is one of eight siblings, many of whom inherited their mother’s and grandfather’s culinary talents. Her mother was famous in their neighborhood for her baking prowess and her grandfather was a restaurant chef. Her sisters are accomplished cooks and one of her brothers trained as a chef.
“Cooking is in my genes,” Kari said. “I love creating new dishes.”
With a penchant for cooking and a love of plants it was natural that Kari started gardens of edible plants wherever she lived. At first, her gardens were small, designed to supply her kitchen and share with friends. Meanwhile, she started carving out a career focusing on plants. In 1981, she took a job working on a protea farm. About five years later she started doing research around doing her own herb farm but decided to start a plant rental business in Honolulu instead.
A few years later, Kari and her husband moved to the Big Island. With children approaching school age, they settled in Waimea where they felt their kids would get a good education. The house they found there had a greenhouse and cement terraces in the backyard. Perfect for cultivating plants. This meant Kari could expand her passion beyond a kitchen garden. And she did.
Her cooking flair and her interest in herbal medicine meant she started with herbs. Continuing to plant she soon realized she needed to move some of her plants out and maybe sell them. She started by walking down her street to Merriman’s restaurant to sell her cut herbs. When she did the math, however, she decided that selling the herbs as plants might be a bit more profitable, and it was. She officially started Pomaikai Plants in 2000.
After nearly eight years of trials and a few errors, she had diversified her stock and widened her market enough that her business started to take off. Today she grows many herbs, edibles and ornamental plants and sells them wholesale and retail throughout West Hawaii.
“Basil is the king of herbs,” Kari said about her favorite plant.
She pointed out that basil’s name comes from a Greek word meaning royal herb. Thai, Greek, lemon, lime and purple basil are all in her nursery. Each has a slightly different taste imparting unique flavor to the herb butters, vinaigrettes, stews, soups and pestos that Kari makes. To expand the flavor variations available she often grows several varieties of thyme, oregano and lavender as well.
Her son, a budding writer, currently helps her in the nursery which is still in their backyard. Though she does do some vegetative propagation, most of her plants are grown from seed and all are nurtured on site. One day a week she makes deliveries to local establishments that carry her plants. She usually sells her plants in 3½ inch pots at six to eight weeks old. KTA in Waimea, Hawi’s Sunshine Hardware as well as Sunrise Nursery and Ace Hardware in Kona all carry her plants. She handles some larger plants in addition to her own stock for Ace Hardware in Waimea and usually has a booth at local plant sales. Her favorite outlet, however, is the Saturday Kamuela Farmer’s Market at Pukalani Stables. The booth gives her a chance to talk to people about her plants and gets folks growing their own food. Erin Brown, an experienced school gardening teacher, is happy to help Kari at her busy booth. Together, they share their love of plants with their customers.
Pukalani Stables is a new location for the Kamuela Market. Over 25 vendors sell a variety of produce, plants, food and art work, mostly under cover and protected from wind and rain. Food vendors and live music make it a great place for a family outing. The Paniolo Heritage Museum and the Pukalani Stables saddle shop are also open during Saturday market hours.
Stacy Aurway of Makua Coffee Company is their energetic manager and waxed eloquent on the merits of the new site.
“The history of the stables as a neighborhood gathering place goes back to the early 1900s. We are dedicated to recreating a community hub here,” Aurway said.
When asked how Kari keeps track of all of her plants, the timing of their growth and their various needs, she confessed that she keeps it all in her head. No charts or graphs or notebooks were evident in her nursery.
“I have to stay focused and be very disciplined,” she said about the keys to her success. “No days off for this farmer.”
Another tip she was willing to share is that she is always watching costs and expenses closely. She wants to be sure she can continue to offer plants at affordable prices.
She also spoke of the importance of humility in any job, especially one that is subject to so many uncontrollable variables. Though business principles about supply and demand certainly apply, weather, pests and many unforeseen events can have a huge effect when dealing with living things, like plants.
“Humility comes from knowing you are not in charge,” she said, a lesson she’s glad she is finally learning.
The buzzword, “sustainability” came up several times. Growing up in Hawaii in the ‘60s, she remembered that her family ate what was locally grown and in season. Off-shore produce was expensive and not nearly as good. She envisions a return to this more sustainable eating habit and hopes she contributes that by selling edible plants. Understanding that some re-training may be necessary to make us more food self-reliant, she is dedicated to working with school gardens. By donating plants to Malaai School Garden and other schools, she participates in helping kids learn about growing and eating locally grown food.
After nearly 35 years working with plants, Kari’s passion has a contagious quality. A conversation with her transfers excitement about growing your own food. Luckily her plants are locally available to help you get your own edible garden started.