Thursday, January 12, 2012

Pineapple farm

I love a tour. Factory tours, farm tours - how anything is made. So when Kris and I passed the Dole Plantation in Hawaii, of course we stopped!

The road to the plantation was already lined with pineapple fields:


And then we took a narrated train ride out to see them up close.


Jim Dole, a new Harvard grad, bought 61 acres in Hawaii in 1900. He did well ... so well, in fact, that in 1922, he bought the ENTIRE ISLAND of Lana`i. As they said, "He transformed it into the largest pineapple plantation in the world, with 20,000 farmed acres and a planned plantation village to house more than a thousand workers and their families. For nearly 70 years, Lana`i supplied more than 75% of the world’s pineapple, becoming widely known as the “Pineapple Island.”

Back at the garden, we saw the more mature pineapple up close.



What a beautiful fruit!

We also learned about the planting, growing cycle, and harvesting. Planting and harvesting are done by hand. I was really surprised. Seems like someone would have invented some planter and harvester in the last 100 years.







I even took a picture of the FAQ, since it was good.



I, honestly, didn't know how pineapple grew. Seeing it up close was so interesting.

The fresh pineapple at the end was a great advertisement for a finished product. We actually ate pineapple every day we were in Hawaii. I love farm tours, I love eating ... what a great tour. It wasn't just a farmer thing. The place was packed.

We're back home on the dairy - producing milk! Thank goodness we're not still hand-harvesting it.

5 comments:

Badrar said...

haha, love the last comment you made! Made me laugh.

Carla said...

I'm glad. I hope seeing that baby pineapple made you smile too. : )

Fabafruit said...

When I come to your blog. And i get really surprised to know Seems like someone would have invented some planter and harvester in the last 100 years..NICE blog pineapple supplier

Lewis Clark said...

haha..yeah, you got it. There is a little pineapple and it is growing very fast:) Well, your thoughts are almost identical to me. I also love farms, fruits, and vegetables. Nice DAY!

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