A Life of Farming
I was in Honolulu last week to visit customers and deliver Christmas
greens. While I was there I visited Norman Kawauchi an 89 year old
gardenia and tropical flower grower from Waimanalo. My favorite people in
the flower business are growers. I can sell flowers and read financial
statements, but I don’t grow. My father and uncles were growers, and that
was the strength of Kitayama Brothers. I am dependent on good growers and
I try to understand what makes a successful grower. Therefore I visit top
flower farms and try to learn as much as possible. I especially love
to visit the growers who are innovative and passionate about what they do.
Norman shared with me his love for growing gardenias, but the bigger
lesson was hearing about his life as a farmer. It wasn’t an easy life,
but I don’t think he would trade it for any other.
Please take a look at
this 2 minute video of Norman. I wish I had more of his life on video,
but I do plan to go back and “talk story” a little more.
RHK
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