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Delicious

Bright Pink and Delicious – Aloha from Maui Series

June 28, 2018

A ripening dragonfruit

DragonfruitMondays adventure in Lahaina was to the Maui Dragon Fruit Farm, which is the largest one here on Maui! Mom was on the fence about going because she says dragon fruit doesn’t have much flavor and I would’ve had to agree. The only times I have had it there wasn’t much flavor but I think they are a beautiful fruit and I wanted to check out the farm since they have 16 different varieties. I am so glad that we did!

Us with our guide Lewis

The staff had a lovely platter of fresh fruit for us to try before our tour as well as some locally made jam that is so delicious. Our tour guide was Lewis, who has only been on island for 3 weeks. He is a surfer from the Northern part of Cali who used to teach 5-to-10-year-olds how to surf. Mom and I could both see him doing this and being a great teacher. Lewis has a very kind spirit and you can instantly like him. Of course Mom had to mother him about being sure he is prepared for the future and her normal stuff, which he took in stride.

A ripening dragonfruit

I can tell you the fresh Dragon Fruit we had in Maui was nothing like other ones we have tried before.

The work that goes into growing these fruits is very labor intensive and Maui Fruit Farms is a totally organic farm. The flowers are hand pollinated at night from 9pm until around midnight. There is only a small window for pollination. They do have bees that help to pollinate but they are usually out during the day and you can’t rely on them solely.

Dragonfruit flower awaiting pollinationAfter hand pollination, the fruit is ready in about 45 days. It will turn a lovely shade of pink and be soft to the touch.

Peeling of a dragon fruit!

A post shared by Raspberry Moon (@raspberrymoonst) on Jun 27, 2018 at 11:26am PDT

They use a Chinese method of planting vertically (the Chinese have had a heavy influence here in Hawaii but more about that later). The plants are grown on these vertical cement type poles to allow support and easier picking. Fruit is just starting to be ready and in another week or so it will be like mad with pollinating and harvesting. The largest threat to the fruit are birds so there are these soft white mesh bags that are placed around the fruit so the birds won’t mess with it.

Dragonfruit growth support

The farm also grows some pineapple, passion fruit, cacao, bananas and papaya, long ones we are used to seeing and then these round ones that are called strawberry papaya. They also have a zipline and this water ball thing that basically you are in a big bubble and you roll down the hill inside the ball. Makes me seasick just thinking about it.

The flowers on the farm are beautiful be sure to check out Raspberry Moon Facebook or Instagram for some more pictures.

Flower at the dragonfruit farm

Filed Under: Adventure, Food, Fun Facts, Health, Raspberry Moon, Travel Tagged With: Delicious, Dragon Fruit, Hawaii, Lahaina, Maui, Organic Farm

Maui Pineapple – So Delicious!

June 27, 2018

Pineapple ready to harvest at Maui Gold

June 27 is National Pineapple Day!

Our first tour here in Maui was at the Maui Pineapple Company and Distillery! I would highly recommend this tour. Mom and I had a great time. The last time I had fresh pineapple was in Okinawa in 2002. After the tour you get a FREE pineapple per person so we have been eating a lot of fresh pineapple. Nothing compares to fresh pineapple or fresh fruits and veggies in general.

Maui Pineapple Company and Distillery Tour
Steve – Our Tour Guide

Maui Gold Pineapple is the only pineapple grove left in Hawaii. This was so interesting to see the farming process and to understand what all takes place to eat some of this delicious fruit. The best part of course is tasting the pineapple picked right before your eyes!

Pineapple Trivia

Here are some interesting bits of info we learned on our tour:

Pineapples are actually a composite fruit made up of berries that grow at the crown of the fruiting tree (more like a shrub).

Pineapples have a lot of great health benefits. For more information on their health benefits, check out http://pineapplemaui.com/pineappleshop/nutrition/

Baby pineapples at the Maui Gold plantation
Baby Pineapple just blooming

Generally they do not have a problem with pests or birds eating plants but deer have been an issue. The deer were introduced to the island in the 1950s. The deer love to eat the leaves of the baby pineapple which stunts the pineapple’s growth.

There are no hummingbirds here in Hawaii and they don’t want any. Hummingbirds would pollinate the pineapple causing seeds and would totally change the pineapple. They replant simply by using the spiky top of the pineapple once it is twisted off from the fruit. Costa Rica has a lot of hummingbirds and their pineapple has seeds.

The Pineapple Harvest

Once you plant the spiky top of the pineapple, it takes 2 years to harvest the first crop. They harvest 2 more crops with each crop becoming smaller in size and then they will turn everything under, let it go to grass and replenish the soil before they plant again.

New pineapple plantings

Most of the workers are older and come from the Philippines. This is very hard work, they can make up to $40/hour if they plant about 6,000 plants a day. Everything is paid by the piece. There is an art to this planting and everything is done by hand from planting to harvesting with only a small amount of automation used with transporting and parts of packaging.

Harvesting Pineapples

Until WWII pineapple was all planted, harvested, and shipped via hand and animals. After the War the Army left a lot of vehicles behind; the Hawaiians used those vehicles to mechanize the farms. Although planting and harvesting itself is still done by hand, packing, shipping and soil prepping is done by machine.

Pineapples ready for shipping at Maui Gold
Shipments all ready to go!

Maui Gold Pineapple are harvest into four categories:

  • Hawaiian Consumption – Has more yellow color
  • Mainland Export to LA and Seattle- has some yellow but mostly green
  • Distilleries – solid gold
  • Cattle – pineapples not acceptable for human consumption or distillation

Pineapple ready to harvest at Maui Gold

Did you know that when you buy a pineapple from the store that it will not ripen any further once it has been picked? It is best to just eat it when you buy it as you don’t know how long it has been traveling. You can flick the pineapple with your thumb and if you hear a more hollow sound, that is the better option. You should twist off the crown, turn it upside down, place it in the refrigerator for 1 day and let all of the juices flow to the top of the pineapple. This way the sugar flows through the whole pineapple. This is what our guide suggested for the Maui Gold so I am assuming standard protocol for all pineapples. You should eat the pineapple within a day or so.

For more tips on picking the right pineapple, cutting and even how to grow your own, check out http://pineapplemaui.com/pineappleshop/tips-facts/

At Maui Gold they use Ozone water to rinse the fruit and start it on its packaging journey. Once the pineapple is immersed in the water it turns yellow. If any fruit sinks, it means it has bad spots and goes in the cattle consumption pile. They use a vegetable wax to seal the fruit and then it is packed based on size. You will have 5,6 or 7 box categories which basically just means you can fit 5 pineapple, 6 or 7 in a box. This is all done by hand.Pineapples packed for shipping

Maui Gold is working to reduce waste and only has about 4% waste. They actually have their own distillation so be sure to do the spirits tour with the pineapple tour, the Maui Winery that makes pineapple wine (I can’t wait for this tour at the end of the week! so stay tuned for that post) and with a cattle company to feed sheep and cows. Some crowns and fruit go to Oahu for planting or fruit slices. Maui Gold Pineapples were basically saved because if they would lose the pineapples from Maui they would lose their line of spirits made with Maui Pineapple. Sometimes a company just needs new leadership to sustain itself.

Maui Gold limits its shipping to Hawaii or the West Coast, they ship to LA and Seattle. They want to leave it on the plant as long as possible and not compromise its quality by shipping too far. But never fear, if you want to try some amazing Maui Pineapple, you can order it directly from Maui Gold Pineapple. 

If you are coming to Maui be sure to make this a stop on your tour. We did this right after we landed so we had time to eat the pineapple but you can always do it on your way home as the Maui Pineapple boxes don’t count towards your carry on!

Filed Under: Adventure, Food, Fun Facts, Raspberry Moon, Travel Tagged With: Aloha, Delicious, Hawaii, Mahalo, Maui, Maui Gold Pineapple, Pineapple, Vacation

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