11-28-2013, 12:20 PM
We came to the Big Island for its agricultural attraction. With our California blinders on, we started the nursery on Maui and built a really nice house. But the subdivision turned out to be really inappropriate in spite of its ag zoning (how naive we were) so very soon we knew we needed to move on. But the price of Maui land was ridiculous and so obviously oriented toward the really, really well-to-do, that we finally gave up after a year of hunting and then waiting for a big hui of relatives to sign a land contract. One said no, holding out for more money.
The Big Island was Plan B. The more we realized how the infrastructure and resources on the East side here are so much more oriented to the agricultural community, far more than Maui, the more obvious it became that Puna was the best choice for the nursery for a variety of reasons, including local agricultural orientation and resources, land cost, access (at it’s worst, Hwy 130 is far better than Hana Highway!) and, not the least, climate suitability for our specialty crop. So we made a one week blitz into Puna to look for land, obsessively reading the MLS listings. We got a buyer’s realtor to help with the paperwork and he did most of a day driving us around to various listings, which was helpful as an introduction. Finally, after a couple of days, we noticed a new listing in the MLS, drove out to it and made a quick determination that this property was great for our purposes. Even though it was nearly entirely jungle (tall grass, regular guava and waiawi, tons of tibouchina) and off grid, we were up to the challenge: build a house, greenhouse and watering system, develop a plant collection, clear most of the grounds of jungle by hand and build garden beds and work with the larger community of agricultural professionals and gardening enthusiasts. And all that has been done. So we’re pretty happy.
The Big Island was Plan B. The more we realized how the infrastructure and resources on the East side here are so much more oriented to the agricultural community, far more than Maui, the more obvious it became that Puna was the best choice for the nursery for a variety of reasons, including local agricultural orientation and resources, land cost, access (at it’s worst, Hwy 130 is far better than Hana Highway!) and, not the least, climate suitability for our specialty crop. So we made a one week blitz into Puna to look for land, obsessively reading the MLS listings. We got a buyer’s realtor to help with the paperwork and he did most of a day driving us around to various listings, which was helpful as an introduction. Finally, after a couple of days, we noticed a new listing in the MLS, drove out to it and made a quick determination that this property was great for our purposes. Even though it was nearly entirely jungle (tall grass, regular guava and waiawi, tons of tibouchina) and off grid, we were up to the challenge: build a house, greenhouse and watering system, develop a plant collection, clear most of the grounds of jungle by hand and build garden beds and work with the larger community of agricultural professionals and gardening enthusiasts. And all that has been done. So we’re pretty happy.