190. Evan Ryan on Diversified Farming in Hawai’i

Do you feel like you’re always pushing and fighting with what nature wants to do on your farm? Have you considered a slower, more integrated approach where everything works together to support the whole? Today we’re joined by Evan Ryan, Founder of Pono Grown Farm Center, hailing all the way from Makawao, Hawai’i. Pono Grown Farm Center is a 15-acre diverse farm that offers fruits, vegetables, honey, eggs, plants, land design and educational workshops. They are all about growing in harmony with the land and their community in a way that supports all individuals feeling nourished in every way. Pono Grown Farm Center loves clean water, fresh air, nourishing food, and vibrant community and makes all of their decisions in a way that best offers these to all life.  After two years of designing and another two years of infrastructure improvements, they are now planting food for the community. They also offer a community honey processing facility for backyard beekeepers and are home to Maui Seed Savers that is working to build a healthy culture of seed saving and breeding using mother nature's natural techniques to create locally adapted plant varieties. Tune in today to hear all about the inner (and outer) workings of this diverse, exotic farm! You’ll hear: What brought Evan to Maui 1:58 What Pono Grown looked like the first few years 4:20 The biggest mistakes people getting into permaculture make 6:35 The types of energy the farm runs on 8:37 How Pono Grown goes about marketing 12:51 What the Hawai’i Seed Growers Network is 18:25 Hawai’i Home Gardens 20:19 Evan’s favorite crop to grow 24:50 How Evan goes about hiring the right help 27:39 What the bed preparation is like on Pono Grown 33:56 Pono Grown pest management protocol 35:51 The challenges of farming in Maui 43:18 How Evan manages a work/life balance 46:11 About the Guest:  Evan Ryan is a Maui farmer, seed saver, educator and author using holistic agricultural practices combined with a diversified business model. With a background in indigenous agroforestry and permaculture, he started Pono Grown Farm in 2012, both a production farm and education center.  In addition to 2.5 acres of vegetables, over 400 fruit trees, chickens and bees, the 13-acre landscape is home to a farm-based preschool and kindergarten, a thriving internship program, a nature connection summer camp and is a campus for farm apprentice programs, University of Hawai'i ag classes, and residential courses on earth stewardship. Evan lives on the farm with his wife, Danielle, and 7-year-old son, Bija.   Resources: Website: www.ponogrown.org and www.hawaiihomegardens.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/evnryan  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ponogrownfarm/?hl=en    The Thriving Farmer Podcast Team would like to thank our amazing sponsor! At AgriGro®, we know that in today’s modern agriculture, our efforts can deplete life or add life. When you look for ways to add life, it’s sustainable and makes everything work better. The result is enhanced plant and soil health for crops, gardens, and turf, as well as improved animal health and environment for livestock and wildlife. Our products are all-natural, easy to use, and friendly to the soil, the plant, as well as the grower. AgriGro’s® formulations deliver essential plant nutrition along with an advanced prebiotic concentrate, which significantly increases the multitude of beneficial native microbial species already residing in the production environment. Through these environmentally sound technologies, we’re adding life to crop production, livestock, home, turf, and wildlife markets. You don’t have to be dependent on crop production efforts that deplete life…Just Add Life with AgriGro®.