The Permaculture Mango Farm

Growers Magazine curates “in the field” feature stories where we meet people who are walking the resiliency path. We’ll take you on-site to tour their projects, understand their motivations for choosing the life of a change-maker, and learn how they’re navigating their successes and challenges. Watch their stories.

In this episode Jenny takes to the Maui Mango Mala farm located in Launiupoko, Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Jenny visited owners Smita and Andre on the farm just four weeks after the winds whipped through Lahaina causing the fire that devastated the historic town of Lahaina.

Jenny and Smita will take you through the various techniques implemented on the farm that have assisted them with growing, windbreaks, and water use. Watch and learn about this small farm’s successful permaculture design.

Music by our Editor at Large, Zelie Duvauchelle

The Short Story

During COVID Growers Magazine’s Publisher, Jenny Pell, held several food island permaculture courses on Maui. Smita and Andre Paul happened to be able to attend one of these courses. Smita and her husband Andre own the Maui Mango Mala Farm in the Launiupoko area of Lahaina. Originally they intended on mono-cropping the land they had recently acquired on Maui but after taking Jenny’s class, they quickly changed directions and began implementing a permaculture design. To make the farm profitable Smita and Andre looked to the agritourism model and they’ve been able to create a beautiful family farm with a fun food forest, areas of exploration, open spaces, and products made from their produce. Smita and Andre use growing techniques they like to call lazy farming.

In their pedal garden beds, they use irrigation control valve boxes as little composters which offer about 2 feet of fertilization. To assist with harvesting, when they planted their papaya trees they placed about a foot of the stem underground which creates shorter trees with easily accessible low-hanging fruit. Since this can be a high wind area, they’ve planted the native, ‘A’ali’i, as a windbreak for their more delicate fruit trees. They’ve also installed large V trellises to provide much-needed support for their orchard. This area also experiences frequent heat and drought so they’ve companion planted using bananas because of their ability to store and share water with the roots of nearby plants and trees. It’s important to consider all aspects of your region when deciding what to grow and how. Plants and methods will vary from location to location.

Any farmer that’s not looking at a climate-resilient design at this juncture, is missing a huge opportunity to protect their investment, grow diverse crops, and minimize water usage.

The 3 P’s

The Maui Mango Mala Farm embodies the 3 P’s

What’s possible
What’s profitable
What’s pono (the Hawaiian way for righteousness and balance)

By taking a couple of permaculture classes, doing some research, watching their environment, and conducting some experiments Smita and Andre have been able to create an inspiring example of a climate-resilient organic permaculture farm.