KALO CULTIVATION
A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans.
The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family: `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family. The kalo plant is also said to be the hiapo, the number one sibling. It is also called the kinolau, the body form of Kane: the procreator. The small round depression where the taro stalk meets the leaf surface is called the piko, which also means the human belly button.
In the past Hawaii had more than 300 varieties of taro. Kalo is cultivated both in the uplands as high as 4,000 feet, and in marshy land irrigated by streams. The plant is a nice succulent perennial herb, with bunches of arrowhead-shaped leaves that point toward the ground. Taro grows on stems that may be green, red, black or variegated in color. The stems are usually several feet high. Tiny new plants appear around the base of the root corm.
The bottom of the corm/root is saved for cooking and eating, making taro a recyclable plant. In 6 to 12 months, depending upon plant variety along with soil and water conditions, the taro should be ready to harvest. Each parent tuber produces around two to l5 `oha and can be up to 6 inches in diameter.
In the kalo and poi-based agricultural society, the people of ancient Hawai`i were dependent on wetland taro. Great skills were needed to terrace, cultivate and irrigate the land along streams, as well as the social and political skills to maintain it. The planters of wetland taro were practicing engineers and built walls of dirt reinforced with stone to enclose the lo`i (pond field). An acre of wet lo`i could produce 3 to 5 tons of food per year. Dryland taro was grown in the lower forests where the soil was rich and there was a sufficient amount of rainfall.
Taro is often fed to babies as their first whole and natural healthy food, as well as to the elderly because it is easy to digest and has a high vitamin content. Some people call poi the "soul food" of Hawai`i. Poi is eaten fresh or allowed to ferment for a few days which creates a sour taste that is considered pleasant and acidic, but not alcoholic.
The stiffest poi is called locally "one finger" and the most liquid poi "three finger". "Two finger" poi is considered the best by some. The planters who have worked with taro know which kind makes the best poi, which variety has the most tender leaves, and what medicinal properties each has. Several kinds of kalo had such special flavor and color that they were reserved only for the chiefs.
Today there are still functional lo`i along the Keanae, Wailua and Hana coastlines of Maui and other locations throughout the Hawaiian islands.
The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family: `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family. The kalo plant is also said to be the hiapo, the number one sibling. It is also called the kinolau, the body form of Kane: the procreator. The small round depression where the taro stalk meets the leaf surface is called the piko, which also means the human belly button.
In the past Hawaii had more than 300 varieties of taro. Kalo is cultivated both in the uplands as high as 4,000 feet, and in marshy land irrigated by streams. The plant is a nice succulent perennial herb, with bunches of arrowhead-shaped leaves that point toward the ground. Taro grows on stems that may be green, red, black or variegated in color. The stems are usually several feet high. Tiny new plants appear around the base of the root corm.
The bottom of the corm/root is saved for cooking and eating, making taro a recyclable plant. In 6 to 12 months, depending upon plant variety along with soil and water conditions, the taro should be ready to harvest. Each parent tuber produces around two to l5 `oha and can be up to 6 inches in diameter.
In the kalo and poi-based agricultural society, the people of ancient Hawai`i were dependent on wetland taro. Great skills were needed to terrace, cultivate and irrigate the land along streams, as well as the social and political skills to maintain it. The planters of wetland taro were practicing engineers and built walls of dirt reinforced with stone to enclose the lo`i (pond field). An acre of wet lo`i could produce 3 to 5 tons of food per year. Dryland taro was grown in the lower forests where the soil was rich and there was a sufficient amount of rainfall.
Taro is often fed to babies as their first whole and natural healthy food, as well as to the elderly because it is easy to digest and has a high vitamin content. Some people call poi the "soul food" of Hawai`i. Poi is eaten fresh or allowed to ferment for a few days which creates a sour taste that is considered pleasant and acidic, but not alcoholic.
The stiffest poi is called locally "one finger" and the most liquid poi "three finger". "Two finger" poi is considered the best by some. The planters who have worked with taro know which kind makes the best poi, which variety has the most tender leaves, and what medicinal properties each has. Several kinds of kalo had such special flavor and color that they were reserved only for the chiefs.
Today there are still functional lo`i along the Keanae, Wailua and Hana coastlines of Maui and other locations throughout the Hawaiian islands.