HONOLULU (HI Now) - It has been said the fruits of life can only grow when your roots are well planted.
This is the essence of Umi Martinʻs life journey. The entrepreneur and farmer on Kaua’i, who left his hometown of Kekaha when he was younger to earn a psychology degree in Missouri was living in Oregon when he decided to eventually return home to reconnect with his roots.
“When you’re in your early 20s, you start to think about these things, about your Hawaiian culture,” Martin said.
Martin had wanted to pursue a master’s degree in Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa, but that major was not yet available. Undaunted, he decided to immerse himself in the lifestyle of the lo’i at Kanewai for six months. While growing taro, he crossed paths with a canoe-building crew from Clay Bertelmann’s Nā Kālai Waʻa in Kawaiahae, and decided to relocate to Hilo to learn more about the history and traditions of Hawai’i through canoe lessons. He worked with those building Makali’i, a third Hawaiian voyaging canoe after the Hokule’a and Hawai’iloa.
These experiences instilled a greater sense of Mālama ʻāina in Martin and he decided to seriously pursue agriculture, using one acre of kuleana lands in Waimea from his grandmother to start growing taro. It was more than just a passing fancy. He and wife Kaʻiulani stayed the course for 15 years, raising their family in a shack near the lo’i.
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Martin said working in the loʻi was “back-breaking” and he recalls the days of having to live by candlelight, but he persevered. He heard about a business plan competition on the radio, and entered hoping to gain more land. Martin did not win that competition but said he “learned plenty” from the process.
Another business opportunity came at just the right time to provide more options for the Martin ‘ohana. A store in Waimea was available for sale and in need of a new owner. With the help of an OHA Mālama Loan, Martin was able to acquire the store and get it up and running and turn it into a flourishing go-to convenient site for the community. This was how Umi’s Store was born. He and his wife ran the store and continued farming for about six years.
His family never stopped farming. All those years in between, Umi was working hard growing his nursery and preparing for the future when we would have the acreage we needed for our tropical fruit orchard. They also sold vegetables to several restaurants to keep things going. Umi would start on the farm early in the morning while Ka’iulani worked in the store. Then, he would come to the store so she could go to her job as a massage therapist at a hotel on the other side of the island.
In 2014, his dream to have more farming land became a reality. This time around, it was bigger and better. He was able to secure a five-year lease for state agricultural land in a secluded area of Kekaha for 30 years and receive valuable technical support from the Agricultural Development Corporation. By the end of 2016, he was up and running with access to well water, while continuing to operate the store. An OHA Mālama Loan was instrumental in helping Martin with his farm to complement the success of the retail site.
It took Martin three years to fill the five acres and today the Martins grow 20 different tropical fruits. His knowledge of fruits is as impressive as his irrepressible tenacity. He grows a variety of different oranges, including Washington Naval, Valenica, and an Australian variety that is harvested during Hawaiʻi’s winter months. He also grows jackfruit, lilikoi, guava, and soursop.
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Martin is best known for his mango orchard that features five different varieties of mango. He says mangoes flourish in the hot, dry weather, and this enables yields of 5,000 pounds of mangoes from his orchard every other year. “Rain makes the fruit ugly,” he added.
You can find the fruits of his labor at his storefront, Umiʻs Store, in Waimea.
Martin’s family all have an entrepreneurial spirit and surround him with positive support. His ‘ohana help in the store to supplement the efforts of a full-time manager. His wife, Kaʻiulani, works two days a week in the store, while also serving as a substitute teacher and massage therapist in a former storage room next to the store.
His brother-in-law helps on the orchard, preparing and leveling the land with a tractor that Martin was able to acquire as a result of a generous $110,000 grant from The Kohala Center. Martin says prep work for the land saves time and is much more valuable than an industrial electric pruner that he was initially thinking about getting.
Martin is optimistic about the future and has big dreams. He hopes to one day expand to 50 acres. His journey is unique, but he encourages others thinking about pursuing agriculture not to hesitate.
“Now that the days of sugar cane is over, the opportunity is there!” he said.
Visit OHA’s Mālama Loans program for more information about loan application at loans.oha.org/business/malama-business.
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