on to permaculture. They connected in the surf world, and both wanted to “reinvent themselves.” “We were the first people crazy enough to try this!” Adam said. “Papayas are 80 cents a pound in Hawaii,” he noted. “While waiting for our first crop to grow and become productive, we grew row crops of veggies, and we were happy with the results. Then we explored farmers markets three years ago.” They grew their first papayas from non-GMO seeds from Hawaii—and were blessed with good trees. “Then Old Man Winter Rainstorm flooded our greenhouse! If we didn’t get into a functional greenhouse, our crazy experiment would never fly,” said Adam. So they moved their growing operation to Island View Nursery in Carpinteria and to more affordable Goleta. The two both admit it’s been a long road of trial and error— with many failures along the way. “Every time we move, there are new issues. Both the climate and soil are different. It’s a nightmare!” says Damien, who takes failure in his stride. “I’ve failed my whole life in normal systems,” he admitted, “I am dyslexic, and I am not scared of failure. It can be a learning experience.” Once they made it to the farmers markets, the feedback was so positive (even though they were nowhere close to being ready with small yields and needed more volume to make the experiment economically feasible) that they forged ahead. “Most Hawaiian papayas are GMO and picked hard and green. Mexican papayas are picked hard and green and have little flavor and are sprayed with pesticides or irradiated for 20 minutes. We grow organically and pick ours the day before we sell them. That’s why they taste so good,” said Adam. “Taste good” is an understatement. There are also four key elements, according to the farmers: good genetics, good soil, the right environment and the right amount of light. Later, after he packed up for the day, I met Damien in Goleta so he could lead me to the spot I’d “never find in a million years.” I followed him in his blue Ford truck along a windy and hole-pocked dirt road. We passed rows of old, abandoned glasspaneled greenhouses with missing panes and graffiti decorating the exterior. We arrived at his two-acre greenhouse — with a table covered by a bright umbrella (the color of papayas) out front. Inside was a steamy, jungly, Jurassic Park -like “food forest.” It brimmed with healthy papaya trees pregnant with fruit, towering banana trees with humongous deep green leaves as wide as elephant ears, twisty tomato plants, dark green vines of wonderful purple Hawaiian sweet potatoes, along with turmeric, passion fruit and dragon fruit (pitaya) in the works. Raquinio realized he wanted to take the permaculture system to a commercial level and create a food forest where plants and companion plants work together. Opposite: Adam Rhodes at left with bananas and Damien Raquinio at right with pineapple. Preceding pages: mango growing in their greenhouse in Carpinteria.
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