At the end of Hana’s heavenly highway, Lilly Boerner found her paradise.
All around her home grows luscious tropical fruit, from avocado and cherimoya to papaya and rambutan. It’s not only her family’s own private Eden, but its livelihood.
“Today, we have a family business,” said Boerner, a Sacramento native. “Two of our five children live on the land with their families. They’ve grown up with the lifestyle of Hawaii. It makes it fun.”
Ono Organic Farms, the largest organic fruit farm on Maui, stretches over more than 365 acres near Kipahula, 10 miles south of Hana. Totally off the power grid, it supplies fresh tropical fruit, coffee and chocolate to major stores such as Whole Foods as well as many island markets.
The challenge, according to Chuck Boerner, Lilly’s husband, is shipping from a location at the end of a road infamous for its hundreds of hairpin turns and scores of one-lane bridges.
In the shadow of the 10,000-foot Haleakala volcano, the Boerners grow a cornucopia of tropical delights, including 100-plus varieties of exotic fruit. Thousands of fruit trees, big and small, cover their property.
“This was all cattle pasture,” explained Lilly, who has lived there 45 years. “Everything except the giant mangoes; they were the only trees. Everything else we planted. It’s amazing how fast things grow in this climate.”
The mangoes tower more than 100 feet tall on the sloped hillside on the southeast side of Maui. About 1,800 banana trees spell out their farm’s name – Ono – which means “good” or “delicious.”
As an introduction to tropical fruit, their variety is as dazzling as their ocean view. For example, the Boerners grow 20 kinds of avocado and eight banana varieties such as apple, ice cream, Cuban red and blue. In addition to selling fresh fruit, Lilly makes jams and jellies, available for sale online.
Visitors are welcome to take part in weekly tasting tours. Among the exotic treats are guavas, starfruit, sweetsops, sapotes and every imaginable shade of citrus.
“We may have two days of 65 degrees,” Lilly explained. “Most of the year, we’re in the low 70s to high 80s. Anything tropical, we can grow.”
That includes chocolate and coffee. On large bushes, fat orange cacao pods hold delicious chocolate beans. On paths winding through the property, shiny red coffee berries await pickers.
The biggest crop (size wise) is the mammoth jackfruit, strange-looking armored behemoths that are now making a splash on the mainland as a meat substitute as well as distinctive flavoring. Increasingly trendy, jackfruit has been hailed as the “Fruit of 2017.”
“Most of them are 20 to 30 pounds,” said Hudson Meek, an intern and tour guide at Ono Farms. “The world record is 150 pounds. The biggest one I’ve picked was 60 pounds.
“I practically live on jackfruit,” he added. “It’s my favorite because you can do so much with it. When it’s green, it’s like tofu. When it’s ripe, it’s really sweet and delicious. Even the seeds are edible. You can roast them and grind them into hummus.”
Preparing jackfruit for consumption isn’t easy. Don’t do it indoors. Spread lots of newspaper to catch the latexlike sap. Wear old clothes, gloves and eye protection.
Meek demonstrated his jackfruit technique, using a large serrated knife. He sprayed the knife with cooking spray between each cut; otherwise, it gets stuck in place.
Ripe jackfruit has an unusual flavor very similar to Juicy Fruit gum; brown spots on that armored green rind indicate ripeness and full maturity. The yellow flesh has a consistency like pineapple. Underripe, the flesh is still white and starchy but stringy. When boiled, it becomes tender and pulls apart like pork. It also absorbs any flavorings, which makes it perfect for vegetarian barbecue or Southwest cuisine.
Jackfruit looks similar to another tropical giant – durian. Known as the “king of fruit,” durian is very popular in Southeast Asian cuisine. Unlike the pleasant jackfruit, durian smells like spoiled garlic and tastes like sweet roasted garlic.
“We used to ship them to the mainland, but the post office didn’t like it,” Lilly said.
Every fruit has a story and its own fans. Cherimoya, the custard apple, offers mango-scented white flesh that Mark Twain called “the most delicious fruit known to men.” Covered with long red hairs, rambutan (a lychee cousin) hide jellylike sweet nuggets inside.
Passion fruit hangs like green tennis balls from vines around the tasting shed. “That’s my favorite because it’s my namesake,” Lilly said. “Its Hawaiian name is lilikoi, and it makes great jelly.”
Sourced from: The Sacramento Bee, written by Debbie Arrington