Kauai Farmacy Gardens:
Bioregional Farm-to-Apothecary

Last winter, I had the pleasure of visiting the Kauai Farmacy Gardens with my family on a visit to Kauai, affectionately known as the Hawaiian “Garden Island.” I was intrigued by their thriving tropical farm-to-apothecary business model and was eager to meet the plants and people involved. Doug Wolkon, one of the co-founders of the gardens, generously spent an afternoon with us, showing us around the plantings and apothecary.

I was delighted to find shoulder-high ashwagandha and tulsi growing right alongside cacao trees laden with pendulous purple pods. Picture clambering passionflower chumming it up with creeping gotu kola. Perky ginger and turmeric leaves growing underneath cinnamon trees. Edible, medicinal, and culinary plants weave together in an exuberant pandemonium that can only be orchestrated by abundant rainfall, warm temperature, and sunshine – a true tropical permaculture paradise!

The winding mulched pathways and shady resting spots create an inviting environment for the visitors who come to learn about Hawaii’s medicinal and edible garden flora. During the tour, folks get to interact with the living plants used in the business’ products and then retire to the Tea Lanai to sample tea grown on the land, accompanied by seasonal fruits and nuts.

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Founders of Kauai Farmacy, Doug and Genna Wolkon, moved to Kaua’i in 2007, and according to them, “their consciousness began to shift when they started making tea from the leaf of the Noni tree, which is a traditional Polynesian medicinal plant that grows on the Hawaiian islands.”

Three years later, they came into ownership of four acres of fertile pastureland on a river bend in Kilauea and began growing their own medicinal plants. “These herbal gardens slowly and organically grew and transformed into the Kauai Farmacy biodiverse herbal farm; now home to over 60 medicinal herbal plants.”

This is bioregional herbalism at its finest. Doug and Genna’s operation is entirely organic, based on sustainable methods of cultivation and harvest, and with a direct connection to the medicinal plants used in their products. They focus on plants that are easily grown in their climate and employ permaculture techniques in their plantings.

Instead of planting vast monocultures of single medicinals, they interplant botanicals in guilds comprised of plants of varying growth habits. Low-growing and spreading medicinals such as gotu kola and spilanthes happily cohabitate with taller herbs such as ashwagandha and tulsi. Grouping unrelated plants reduces insect and disease pressure and more closely mimics what happens in nature.

Kauai Farmacy is a prime example of a successful farm to apothecary, or farm to ‘farm-acy’, operation. Doug and Genna have taken things one step further by adding a third link to their business chain: ecotourism.

They operate on an innovative Taste/Explore/Learn model. Visitors may taste fresh herbs, spices, and tea blends at their Tea Lanai/Farm Store, explore their diverse medicinal herb gardens guided by their herbal and gardening staff, as well as providing many opportunities to learn more about medicinal plants, and Kauai Farmacy’s harvest and cultivation methods.

Kauai Farmacy creates a plethora of herbal products such as tea blends, tinctures, salves, superfoods, spice blends, hydrosols, and more. They proudly state on their website that “Every plant in every tea is grown on our farm.” One product of interest is their Buzz Chew Edible Herbal Blend, consisting of fresh ground spilanthes, mint, bele spinach, and moringa. This herbal chew is referred to as “nature’s pick-me-up” and is a “mouthful experience you will not soon forget!”

For those of you interested in eco-traveling through the Hawaiian islands, or for those who may have interest in starting a Farm to Apothecary Ecotourism business model themselves, we’d highly suggest visiting Kauai Farmacy and their lovely garden oasis. Visit their website to buy products or book a tour!