Farming For Family: Foursquare Farms

Written & Photographed by Sarah Burchard

Film by Reel World Filmmakers

Around 10 o’clock, on a Saturday morning, Ikani and Mele Naulu hear the sound of pebbles rattling under tires. Dusty cars pull up to the end of a narrow dirt road and the Naulu’s emerge, welcoming their parents, aunties, uncles, nephews, and sisters to four acres of sprouting taro, cassava, and yam crops surrounded by a sturdy border of banana trees.

The women begin unpacking ingredients and cooking supplies from their cars, while the men and boys head off into the fields.

This is Foursquare Farms. A farm built for family. One that carries on Tongan traditions and exists to nurture relationships and give back.

Foursquare Farms is one of many within the Pacific Gateway Center (PGC) farmland in Kunia. It was Ikani’s lifelong dream to own his own farm, but until an introduction to PGC - a non-profit that helps immigrant families start farms by leasing them land and offering educational resources – he never thought it would be possible.

Left to right: Chef Paul Matsumoto (Chef Hui), Ikani Naulu (Foursquare Farms), Hao Nguyen (Pacific Gateway Center) and Mele Naulu (Foursquare Farms)

An acre of land, a phone call to his sister – who used to tend farm with his father – and several YouTube videos later and Ikani was ready to start planting seeds.

“Nowadays it’s easy. You can Google how to do this. Especially the Hawaiian tradition of how to make taro,” Ikani said.

Taro

After a fruitful harvest on their first acre, the Naulu’s leased the 4-acre lot that now keeps the family busy every Saturday.

Mele was born in Tonga, but raised on Oʻahu. She moved to Hawaiʻi in 1969 at age two with her mom and nine-month-old brother.

Ikani was raised in Tonga with his 11 brothers and sisters and came to Oʻahu in 1987 when he was in high school.

Like Mele’s father, Ikani’s father arrived first, starting his own construction company, so he could save up to bring the rest of the family out.

“In my island, to come to America, everybody like to come to America. More better life. The work is good, the weather, and then you have your family back home,” Ikani said.

Mele’s father’s background was in accounting and Ikani’s dad owned a farm in Tonga, but masonry was how they created that better life in Hawai’i.

Ikani, followed in his fatherʻs footsteps in reverse. He started his construction company – Foursquare Masonary – first. Foursquare Farms followed, established in September 2019.

Cassava

Ikani never farmed with his father in Tonga, explaining that he was just a kid back then. But he remembers watching him in the field, tending to taro, bananas, purple yam, and ube, knowing in his heart that farming was his destiny.

Now, over 40 years later, Ikani grows those same crops on Oʻahu.

“The yams are very significant in Tonga because they are one of our staple foods,” Mele said. “You’ll see it in every family home, at birthdays, church events. If someone’s putting out something, you’ll always have yams on the table. That’s why it’s important to us that we grow our foods.”

Eventually, Mele and Ikani’s paths crossed on O’ahu thanks to an introduction from Ikani’s brother. They have five children together, all grown and living in Oregon except for one. The Naulu’s run their construction business and farm together.

Mele said that Ikani had talked about owning his own farm since the early 90s. That they could never afford to lease the land. When the PGC opportunity came up it reignited a passion inside him that she had not seen in a long time. He may work construction during the day, but his heart is always at the farm she said.

“I'm so happy for my farm,” Ikani said. “To me, the farm brings together my family, all the nephews, all the sisters, uncles they come over here and get together. It’s very important for me for my family to get together.”

Pele (“Tongan spinach”)

Ikani hopes that by showing the kids how to live and work on the farm, that one day they will take it over.

“They love it!” he said.

Even their four-year-old grandson participates.

“He likes to go get his hands dirty,” Mele laughed.

On the edge of the farm sits two 6-foot-long tables surrounded by folding chairs under a tall, white tent. Beside them lies a 4- by 2-foot pit dug into the ground, reinforced with aluminum siding. This imu, or underground oven, is where aluminum-foil-wrapped pouches of meat and vegetables are packed snuggly amongst hot coals and rocks before they are covered with banana leaves to steam.

Freshly steamed Lu Pulu

Mele and Ikani take great joy in cooking the way they learned on their native island.

When they visited PGC’s Culinary Incubator Kitchen to teach the Chef Hui team traditional Tongan food, they chose the same dishes they cook back on the farm in the imu: Lu Pulu with Talo Loloʻi – a sort of corned beef hash made with kalo leaves and coconut milk served with taro root steamed in coconut milk on the side.

Traditionally, in Tonga, banana leaves are used as the wrapper for Lu Pulu.

“But here, now, in the western way, a lot of us use aluminum foil,” Mele said, showing the cooks how to prepare the dish in a commercial kitchen.

Chef Paul Matsumoto also shared how he modified their dish in order to prepare 150 portions, which he and his team would then send out to a local food distribution the following day.

Lu Pulu

The Naulu’s, being the devout Christians they are, believe in giving away 10 percent of what they have. They don’t just want to run a business, they want to give back too.

Being fortunate to not have been severely affected by the pandemic, they donated 300 pounds of cassava to food distributions set up through the PGC and a neighborhood Korean Church.

“God has given us so much and we don’t want to forget that,” Mele said. “Family is very important to us … not only in our immediate families, but we are also looking to see how we can have some kind of impact on our community.”

Right now Foursquare Farms mostly sells to friends and family. Mele just finished a 7-week Agri-Business course at the Patsy T. Mink Center For Business and Leadership. Her plan is to set-up social media accounts, so that she can start announcing their harvests and taking orders.

But on Saturdays at the farm, when the day ends with a table full of food, laughter and storytelling that lasts well into the night, Ikani isn’t thinking about the bottom line.

“Farming is not about money, it’s about family,” he said.

Foursquare Farms is located in the Pacific Gateway Center Farms in Kunia on Oʻahu. Their produce is available directly from the farm. Contact Pacific Gateway Center for details.