SOUTH KONA — Two acres of greens growing on terraces above a sweeping view of the ocean on the South Kona Coast is an awesome sight.
SOUTH KONA — Two acres of greens growing on terraces above a sweeping view of the ocean on the South Kona Coast is an awesome sight.
Though my first visit to the lettuce at Barry Levine’s farm was definitely a while ago, my response is the same each time I go.
Wow.
This time, I sat down with Levine, owner of Keala’ola Farm, and got a quick course in organic lettuce growing. As many of us know, growing lettuce in South Kona isn’t always easy, but Levine has it down. He plants 14,000 seeds a week and harvests about as many heads of lettuce, or about 1,000 pounds of greens, each week that he sells locally. A lot of experience and know-how has made his lettuce business a huge success.
Levine orders his seeds from Johnny’s Seeds, many of which are pelleted, making them easier to handle when planting. On seeding days, he and his crew of interns work a few hours in the shade, planting four or five different lettuce varieties, as well as some kale and arugula seeds in trays that hold 200 seeds. Once the seeds germinate, the trays are moved onto tables in the sun that are covered with netting to keep out the birds.
“Birds are smart and tricky,” Levine said. “If they see a little puka in the netting, they’ll hop in, bring their buddies and eat up a whole tray of seeds.”
But he’s ahead of the birds now. This doesn’t happen very often anymore.
The longtime gardener has found that starting his seeds in a fertile mix gives the plants a strong start that pays off in their short life, which is usually only two months. He mixes an organic nitrogen source such as blood meal with organic inputs that supply phosphorus, potassium, calcium and other trace nutrients into his seeding mix, then watches the plants flourish and grow for about three weeks before putting them in the field.
Once in the field he’ll top dress with feather meal a few weeks before harvest and keep them watered with his drip irrigation system. Voila — healthy, healthful lettuce that lends credit to the Keala’ola name.
OK, too easy? Right.
Levine did cite some issues that he has learned to deal with over 13 years of lettuce farming in Kona. He chooses lettuce varieties carefully. He likes growing baby romaine though it is better for winter when disease pressure is less. For summer growing or at lower elevations, he recommends planting the heat tolerant “Muir” lettuce. At his elevation, which is around 1,200 feet, he finds that lettuce grows much better in the winter months. In our wetter, hotter summers insect and weed pressure are greater and diseases are more prevalent, especially fungal problems that are encouraged by the warm weather and high humidity. He reported that his winter production is nearly double his summer output and has fewer problems.
“The key to successful lettuce growing is good seed, good nutrition, a regular water supply and cool weather,” he said.
Levine always felt “a calling” to farm, he said about what drew him to the craft. Growing up with his mom, Kathy Fleming, a primo gardener in her own right, they always had a veggie garden. He remembers starting with radish growing at about 3 years old. When they lived in Virginia, he grew peanuts then graduated to pumpkins.
“I’d go into the produce section of a market and think I should be growing this stuff,” he reflected.
Pretty soon he was. In the mid 1980s, he leased an acre outside Portland, Oregon, and started a pretty steep learning curve to becoming a successful farmer. Over the next eight years he expanded his Community Supported Agriculture operation to 6 acres with an acre of medicinal herbs that his wife used to teach about herbal medicines, several acres of vegetables and greens as well as a large fruit orchard, a flower garden and space for 100 chickens. He definitely learned by doing, but he was working 10 hour days and starting to want a better lifestyle.
With cousins in Hawaii, urging him to visit, he finally did. He immediately got a reference to work with a European couple who were struggling to make ends meet on their lettuce farm in Kealakekua. During his first six months managing the farm, production began to increase. The owners liked what he did and when they decided to sell the farm and return to Europe, Levine was quick to make an offer. He originally purchased the 5-acre farm with business partner, Ken Kotner, but has since become sole owner of the property. Today, he continues to focus on lettuce as a cash crop but the farm also has lot of bananas, some citrus trees and 750 coffee trees.
Levine has been running the farm for 13 years as a successful business with eight local accounts that he delivers to twice weekly. His wife, Krista Olsen, and their two teenagers also live on the farm. Olsen works as a social worker for a local agency and the two children attend school close by.
In addition to developing lettuce farming practices that work, Levine is somewhat of a tool maven. Early in our conversation, he mentioned his fondness for his new arugula cutting machine. I insisted on a demonstration. It is a funny contraption, not at all high tech but it saves Levine hours of knife cutting in the field. If you want to see one in action go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPIfw5_WoLU.
Levine also shared his special arugula seeder, as well as the rest of his tool arsenal including a gas powered cultivator, a wheeled hula hoe, a special collinear hoe and a rack of well-used hand tools.
When asked what inspired him in his pursuit of successful organic farming, he referred to his favorite literary mentor, Eliot Coleman. “The New Organic Grower,” published in 1995” became Levine’s Bible. Though he studied writings by other gardeners, like John Jeavons, and continues to read about new techniques and practices including aquaponics, natural farming and perma-culture, he’s stick-ing with the basics of planting seeds, putting plants in the ground in rows, harvesting, washing, packaging and selling his single specialty crop to local outlets.
Levine reports that he relies on common sense improvements in his farming practices. He avoids the latest trends and uses what he calls the 1 percent principle for making improvements. He regularly has at least six interns on his farm who provide labor as they learn about farming. He encourages them to always be thinking as they work about how the task could be done more efficiently or improved by at least 1 percent. This has led to some really good ideas for ways to make hard work a little easier on the farm. The interns are an important element on the farm, providing energetic and enthusiastic help from young people seeking an opportunity to learn about farming before they jump in.
But of all the things on his garden, what’s his favorite thing to do?
That question gave him pause. He first mentioned his new zero turn mower then paused again and identified his early morning walks on the farm as his favorite activity. It gives him great pleasure to walk the fields just after sunrise, sometimes spotting problems, but mostly just enjoying the expanse of greens as his farm is waking up.
If we didn’t know what hard work lettuce farming is, we might call his life idyllic.
Diana Duff is a plant adviser, educator and consultant living on a farm in Honaunau.