They’ve Escaped Civilization Homesteading in the Jungle

welcome to
civilization oh wow what an operation
this is huge did you build this yeah
santanello that’s your Google calendar
what does that mean I love it these deer
go and then what do you do I grabb my 22
this is toothache plant you know in
permaculture we’re time Scouts what a
place it showed us how ridiculously
dependent we are on systems that we’re
not even paying attention to this is
delicious
first world third world well this is the
fourth world so you figure it out it’s
pretty special they’ve been doing this
for almost a half century out here
[Music]
get this is beautiful out here is that
all you got that’s it I roll I was
wondering if I needed to bring a
wheelbarrow oh no here’s some peanut
butter cookies in there thank you do you
eat those do we eat them yeah okay okay
I thought you’d like something like that
out here welcome to
wua means twin Waters why is the
Hawaiian word for water that’s why you
have so many wise cities Y and I Yu why
he because we live uh 500 ft off road
wheelbarrows are a way of life I have a
small Fleet of
them when did you first move here uh mid
70s 76 I came and you’re from San Diego
yeah how many acres do you have back
here this is about an acre here and we
have an acre over there this is a food
Forest here in permaculture we call it a
food Forest we cleared it and we planted
and now everything in here is a useful
edible plant is this cacao this is Cacao
this is our mother tree uh my wife just
harvested these are real close remind me
I’ll show you when we get home roasted
cacao seeds Okay and we’ll grind some
into coffee great I didn’t realize what
a out of the- box existence it is but
there have been times where I look at
Robin and I go I haven’t seen another
human being in two weeks and I don’t
even notice it I haven’t been in a car
in two weeks when’s the last time you
saw
TV China
Beach I was in the 80s so you’ve never
even seen CNN or Fox News or any of this
in the 80s we had no electricity we had
no radio we had no television in the 80s
when our girls were young we had
kerosene
lamps how many girls did you raise here
four and we have happened to go over to
Maui and we heard something about this
guy named Michael Jackson who had caught
himself on fire on
stage and then we were late night at a
friend’s house watching TV and this
comedy show comes on and there was a
little skit and then it was like the
introductory skit it goes 15th
anniversary Saturday Night Live and we
go oh this looks interesting let’s watch
this I mean I never even heard of
Saturday Night Live this is after gildar
Ratner and everything so I mean we dro
out of we were on Mars during the
80s and that’s and we were doing this
because where where are you
now what planet you know in permaculture
we’re time Scouts bill mson would say
we’re time scouts because if I look at
any landscape I don’t see what I’m
seeing I see what it was before I see
what it is now and I see the various
iterations that it’s going to be if we
clear a piece of land we want to plan it
we don’t think about oh one crop of this
We call we do what’s called time
stacking okay we want to have an orchard
of trees we can go put our avocado at
40ft centers but in the meantime let’s
grow some edible hibiscus in between and
since those are going to go up we can
get a we can plant pumpkin that runs
underneath that but the pumpkin will
disappear first to edible hibiscus will
last 3 years and they will nurse in the
avocado so we actually go in and plant
four 6 8 10
time things all at once
welcome to
civilization did you build this yeah and
I’ve had some really good help but a lot
of this like this whole house we go okay
well we can fit this big of a floor
let’s build it and then after the floor
was done we got up on there and go hm
where should we put the walls where
should we go in so there was never a
drawing cookies oh all right yeah hello
hello Peter Robin Robin nice to meet you
nice to meet you too yeah thank you for
letting me come yeah you’re very welcome
we’re miked up already oh you
are
Sant told s oh there you go look at that
santinello that’s your uh your Google
calendar what does that mean instead of
putting it online we got it I love it we
just avoid Google as much as possible
they’re in the same envelope with Orcs
Orcs And Google in the same place Orcs
And Aron right
Google I got to turn off the oven
Robin’s making a we call it chili Renos
but it’s really a green chili baked
chili oh great baked green chili cuz we
have duck eggs and there’s dozens under
here you like duck eggs better than
chicken eggs we like ducks better than
chickens they’re just nicer to work with
yes in this climate and it’s a wet
climate and we have a confined space
Ducks work we actually raised chickens
for years and they were a different kind
of work and if I had more space we are
appropri
Arians we eat what’s appropriate we try
to do work that’s appropriate in
permaculture work smart not hard you’re
not working hard not
really not you know we are meant to hang
out like this and talk story and drink
tea and have a good time and then go do
a little bit of work and then come back
in and have a good time that’s what
we’re here for is to help each other
along the way humans are designed that
way is that what you’re saying
yeah people think permaculture is about
agriculture well yeah that’s part of it
but it’s about
this it’s about our neighbors it’s about
everything sustainability pulls
everything in sustainability is a Big
Stew it’s hard to put in the words guys
but there’s a very special deep relaxing
feeling going on out here it’s tough to
capture the in the
visuals I think some of it comes through
but obviously not like being here just
the way the water comes through the Big
Trees The
Greenery being in the
valley I’m just describing how beautiful
this place is it’s beautiful now see
this a rope and look at the other side
of the bridge ropes tied to the trees
what does that tell you when you’re
flooding yeah the water gets to here oh
it rips that hard here yeah and it’s
solid water from here past that other
one oh wow this whole valley is
underwater and this the bridge is lift
up and I have to come and put them back
you can see look at all the debris
that’s built up I didn’t make that pile
right there see I don’t know where this
came from but it came down and was wound
up here this is 2 months ago so when it
rains hard from over that River gets big
over here all the way across almost your
place water
wow I’ve been out here you know like
going from tree to tree with water
around me like this before just to check
it out cuz out here it’s not fast it’s
moving out in the Stream it’s roaring it
how many times a year does that happen
it happens maybe once every four or five
years it isn’t every year that we get
quite that much okay we’ve had maybe
eight or 10 massive floods in 40 years
here yes but we’ve also had years where
twice a month for 3 months in a row
it’ll move my bridges and I have to put
them back it’s just a wet period the
most difficult is drought which we have
not had for 10 years we have had drought
but drought is that’s scary huh cuz you
your whole livelihood is off growing
things yeah and it’s on having water
yeah and we we can’t get County water in
here so even the water we drink and
bathe everything comes everything’s
coming down there yeah everything y
look they
massive wow probably picked 10,000
avocados this year look see that dead
Branch right there in the middle of that
see it okay so you guide me now I think
I see it it’s pretty special they’ve
been doing this for almost a half
century out
here you know it’s 20y olds River
probably doing the same exact thing
there oh I think there’s another
one still some excitement to it oh and I
didn’t even get one did they both it’s
quite
special where did you two meet here here
who was here first I was I was already
on mikai and I happened to come out here
and I met Robin okay and she was all by
herself and I went home one night and I
went wow
I see an opportunity here Robin was had
goats and she had a
refrigerator next to a building with a
tarp covering it but she had a
refrigerator so she had cold goat milk
and I was staying in a tent over here
somewhere and so I would come over Robin
could I get some goat milk for my coffee
please that was my Inn this was the line
if you want to know about lines so Robin
what brought you to mikai um my first
husband was a surfer and he took me to
the NorthShore of Wahu which is was a
scene this was in
1974 it was a scene Surfers and and
drugs and um I was not my scene but I
met a a Hawaiian woman who was my age
and I got pregnant and she was we had a
young child we became really close
friends and it was her grandmother told
me we should go to
mikai at her grandmother who was Chinese
we came over to mikai I fell in love we
my first husband and I brought the
property together but then he got tired
of me and left me with a
2-year-old in a tent and a half belt
kind of
you guys had found this piece of land
together and bought it right okay so
that had to be challenging obviously it
was challenging yeah but you know I was
yeah I joke but Robin this was a person
who was under a lot of stress and
really you know when you’re both drawn
and you have a passion to do something
and yet the circumstances around it just
kind of suck for a while it’s like it
makes you question and um yeah I think
when he left me he thought I’d give him
the land and go back to California but
said no I want to stay here and I wound
up being a stepdad it’s the hardest
thing I ever did I mean I went from you
know it wasn’t until our last we had
four girls and when the last one moved
out of home all of a sudden here me and
Robin are empty nesters but I realized
it’s the first time you know 40 35 years
later that we were ever alone together
we never had that alone together as a
couple with no kid cuz I came into a
situation with a child already I was
instant stepp right how was raising kids
out here raising kids out here was sent
from heaven yeah yeah and they would all
of them would own to their like wow what
a place to grow up before Christmas the
girls would come out here and they’d
pull they’d go up into the woods and
they’d pull Vines and then they’d wrap
them into wreaths and then they’d go cut
various flowers and stuff and they’d
make these gorgeous you know like $100
wreaths and this was their play yeah
that was their play being being on this
land when the little one who did hoola
was going to have hoola they’d go out
and they’d make her Haw hula right here
a Haku is a head lay I mean they
just oh they had and there was a at one
point there was another family with two
little girls that were right in between
ours and they had had a little village
out they had a little village out in the
woods there’s there’s archaeological
remnants of rocks lined up where they
had their little roads for the village
and no concerns about safety about bad
influences about school was not easy for
them some of them more than others got
teased and you know they were they were
the Holly kids but they were sometimes
the only blonde in their class and but
it’s like that for kids no matter where
you go there’s always Outsider kids
there’s always kids who get teased even
if for just whatever reason the heavier
k whatever there’s kids are harsh on
each other yeah sure really har learn
you know if you talk to them now they’re
all the stronger for yeah they are they
really are and they all learned uh how
to do things you know like um our
daughter in New Zealand she owns a house
and she knows how to she she’s one one
okay so one Friday
late afternoon something breaks in the
bathroom and water’s running and it
won’t shut off and our daughter comes
home and her husband says well we can’t
get a plumber on the weekend and our
daughter goes there has to be a valve
somewhere goes out crawls around under
the house finds a shut off valve because
she grew up here and she grew she went
to Doo and Robin Plumbing school well
yeah she grew up this like without a
choice you know where we live if it
works we made it work y right whether
it’s turn on a light switch turn on a
faucet whatever it is there was nothing
we built it all and if it if it breaks
guess who fixes it yeah oh man but we do
want to uh get find uh you know a young
couple or somebody who would you know
make a commitment to be here for a while
and train them as a farm manager okay so
I do want to leave that Below in this
video in the description I’ll leave a
link to you guys either a website or an
email or something yeah an email um so
you’re looking for a couple even a phone
number or we old school or what yeah
don’t don’t do that you don’t want your
phone ringing all the time but uh true
would they live out here or would they
live in town
or would better to be on the land CU
better to be here somewhere else and
they got to have their own
transportation and they got to move to
mikai it’s like yeah you know we need
and you you would provide the education
the
expertise somebody with understanding
and possibly experience in the
permaculture world would be great
because that’s where we’re coming from
in all the stuff we do cuz every day
there’s decisions oh what am I going to
do with that mulch well let’s put it
there be why because of this and this
and this and that’s a permaculture
approach you know is multiple outputs
from any action you’re always maximizing
the return people ask how do you guys do
it how do you guys do all this stuff I
say well we try to be really smart with
what we do do we trim this tree and this
stuff is going to get hauled into the
bananas there’s a ton of it out there
already but once we take it into the we
got loot now take it into the
bananas I got the deer that are starting
to wipe out like a young banana like
this one but if I take this
thing and put
it like that see now no buck deer is
going to bother to mess with that cuz
all this junk is in his way he’ll go
somewhere else so now this one’s going
to get messed with yeah once they’re
this big they’re good it’s the young
ones okay you know deer hit right about
there and this is the perfect height for
him to want to get in there and you know
go like this with his horns he shaves
and shaves and just erodes this cuz it’s
a banana it’s all just watering so you
want some people out here that either
get this or into this way of
thinking right and it doesn’t have to be
a couple could be single person but
couple they’ve got each other and that
helps cuz it could get lonely out here
yes yeah it could you or you might just
find the perfect person on
[Applause]
M this is an orchard ladder three-legged
Orchard ladder okay can go in really
crazy places where no to far A little oh
no that’s good that’s good oh now I’m in
the right place here we go go okay dark
yes so are you just feeding your family
and the surrounding Community or is it
is it going it’s molai I mean we we grow
a lot of food they’re they’ve just
turned out to be our most avocado is
definitely more important than
TV believe me the most profitable profit
yeah in the summer we have mangoes so
this is your full-time job if you wanted
to call it a job but you sell all your
produce here yeah how much can you sell
say one avocado like this far uh $250 $3
depends on the size oh that’s great
sustainable mulai is a nonprofit they’re
trying to help they’re trying to both
make it good for the consumers and good
for the farmer so they’re marking up
just enough to help cover their
administrative costs and everything okay
so there’s a real movement to get people
eating food on the island oh yes from
the island on the island yeah there’s a
real sustain it’s sustainable M okay
because it does seem a bit absurd that
you’re importing at least Maui I was
told it was roughly 90% of the food is
being imported no that’s not what what
you said is completely incorrect it is
massively absurd how much food has to
get imported it’s not just a little bit
absurd it is absurd capital a capital B
etc etc okay yeah a borderline criminal
do you know how much avocado there could
be in just in this Valley
look at this to feed the whole island
easily right you could feed allai in
this Valley 95% of the Citrus gets
brought in a guy from plant at Hawaii a
big nursery on the big island came here
20 years ago and he he looked up the
hillside behind molai behind kanak kakai
and he goes you know what if you go 2
miles wide and you go 3 miles up that
Hillside and plant that all to orange
trees Hawaii would Hawaii the whole
straight would not import one orange see
okay okay so why isn’t more of it being
done it’s just the economics are cheaper
to import everything than do it here
yeah I mean it’s going to be some labor
to do it and it takes political will and
it takes land ownership etc etc yeah
it’s like like yes we can grow all those
oranges and they’re delicious and they
make great oranges but they don’t
look pretty like the oh man there’s a
dark one come to Popa perfectly
symmetrical oranges bright orange and
our oranges don’t come bright orange
because it takes colder nights to make
them bright
orang Oh wrong
way plow
ahead okay see the ripening bananas yep
see them on top of that so that means
that banana is ready it starts at some
place sometimes even in the middle a
fuel start ripening by tomorrow maybe
it’ll be a whole another hand ripe and
the birds will have eaten those ones and
in two days it’ll be half rip there’s a
bird up there right now no doubt
they know what’s good bananas are not a
tree there’s no wood if you look at how
these are growing any one banana tree
makes one fluoresence I could climb up
there with the ladder cut that off but
in a month this would all be dead so to
harvest bananas we cut the tree which
isn’t a tree down now I could get behind
here and chop that and this would fall
over right and I’ve seen many bananas
harvested that way and it would hit that
and break a bunch of those and really
destroy some of the bananas so the real
technique to harvest
bananas is a v cut into there and then a
little bit
out now it’s going to start now that
will just come
down see that’s holding it cut that off
so for those amount of
bananas you have to cut the tree down
it’ll only do this once then it’ll die
like I said I could have climbed up in
there and cut this off but then the tree
would die
right see that it’s just it’s actually a
giant huge stock of celery a clump of
bananas in a permaculture setting is
your organic dump whenever you do any
clearing you just take drag all that
stuff and dump it in your bananas okay
dump it all in your bananas and it feeds
the bananas potassium everybody knows
that what’s
potassium almost nobody knows that where
did we learn that I think we learned it
in kindergarten you know like nappy time
they play subliminal stuff bananas have
potassium a soil scientist told me this
potassium is the bricks you have a lot
of bricks you can build a big house well
this is a big plant this isn’t a little
grass or something this grows if that
grows to that in a year that’s a lot of
bricks to build all of that a lot of
cell walls and stuff this is full of
bricks all of that’s full of bricks see
we cut some Plum across the river there
and I dragged all of this stuff into
here why cuz as that breaks down all
that bricks all that potassium goes into
the soil so that feeds the bananas so I
don’t buy any fertilizer yes see here’s
one that got see these ones these have
been that made of stock and it’s been
cut off and here it is rotting and it
rot it literally rots look at how soft
it is see it’s not wood it’s fiber look
at
that these are great and this you throw
anywhere or you wouldn’t want to do that
there’s a whole deal you
could but that is nutrient Rich
carbohydrate so if I think what’s the
highest use is to feed it to the
Ducks and that replaces store-bought
feed so in a permaculture setting or out
here in the fourth world right because
everybody knows the first world third
world well this is the fourth world so
you figure it out because it is the
United States was slow on that one I got
you it is the United States but it’s
different and also we’re way out here
we’re we’re in we’re 20 miles from town
it’s a big deal so you know you make in
permaculture you make use of everything
to the highest use and yeah I could
throw it out and this in the geologic
sense yeah Back To Nature we actually
had had that happen with a with an in
young intern once they were throwing
their banana peels I said okay I get it
there’s no harm in that but why don’t we
make a higher use of that and set it
over there and feed it to the Ducks and
turn it into eggs and turn it into
manure on the garden and you see what is
the modern thing the modern thing
is take make use lose with any resource
right they find something they make
something you use it and then you throw
it away and it’s linear and then it
falls off a cliff or whatever but it’s
linear it goes nowhere every system we
build in permaculture is a circle and it
just keeps going this looks amazing
especially from the outside it looks
like almost like a dream world there is
a ton of work that goes into it most
people wouldn’t be able to do it let’s
just be real I they could if they made a
conscious choice but the vast majority
of people can’t go this far with it no
what could somebody do even that’s in a
city like what would your what would
your advice be for people to like adopt
some of these principles let’s say okay
our oldest daughter lives in Portland
okay in an apartment on the third
floor so she when she chose an apartment
she chose one that had a little bit of a
balcony and she has raspberries tomatoes
basil all the time out there as much as
she can some of it comes in when it gets
too cold she keeps her compost and they
go out and feeds her plants I mean it’s
just it’s just a little thing but it
actually feeds her soul is the biggest
reason why she’s doing that I think
she’s is stressed about the state of the
world in many ways and it feels to her
like this is a little way that she
can stay in touch with nature and do
something for herself it also breaks the
illusion of that se of that supposed
separation between the material world
and the spiritual World they aren’t
really separate from each other so when
you do something you grow your own
raspberries and basil and stuff it’s a
little less external input you have to
bring into your life but it also is this
incredible thing of that it makes
something for you at the
at the karmic level at the spiritual
level you know you know that song by
John Lenin mind games playing those mind
games together that’s about being part
of the cosmic wheel he says pandemic
right what a disaster right other end of
the spectrum what an opportunity what a
change if you’d asked us 10 years ago
2018 oh man we got to change the world
well the world changed he did it for us
so now here we are so let’s keep our
asses in gear and you know keep on
moving molison said the problem is the
solution what the problem is the
solution his example was he’s going down
the road in Australia somewhere and he
goes around a curve and Lantana which is
this thorny plant is a and we have it
here is a problem in cow pastures
because it takes up it keeps the grass
from growing and the cows don’t eat it
so it Lantana patches get big bigger and
bigger and he’s going around this curve
and he sees out in this pasture of cows
an apple tree growing surrounded by
Lantana and he goes stop stop and he
gets out of the car and he goes That’s
exactly somebody threw an apple out
there it fell inside the lantana the
cows can’t get at it so it grows the
lantana the problem is the
solution so mson worked with the
Aboriginal people and he would go out to
the Aboriginal camp with his land Rover
and 100 little pistachio trees and
little grow bags and he would grab his
aborigin but buddies and they’d head off
into the Outback and they’d find a place
where a big eucalyptus tree fell and it
had a branch like that and they they’d
break off another Branch or they’d make
a place like that and a barricade a
place and they plant a pistachio tree
there so it was barricaded from the
foraging animals it was mulched it would
low it would grow by itself if they put
it out in the open it would never live
the problem
the down trees the other stuff was the
solution so the problem of the pandemic
what’s the solution it wakes people up
to maybe don’t be so dependent on things
way outside of your control when it
comes to food or yeah or or move more in
this direction of even if it’s
raspberries in Portland on your balcony
yeah look at all the supply chain
lengths and all the typical things that
you could find by reading the news it
showed us how ridiculously dependent we
are on systems that we’re not even
paying attention to and permaculture is
all about designing systems that like I
said instead of take make use lose are
Circle circular and you have to pay
attention to them you have to pay
attention to them yes for us it’s second
nature
because you know you talk about young
people seeing something about
permaculture and getting inspired well
we were out here milking goats raising
Ducks growing our vegetables and I went
and I spent two weeks with Bill mson and
I had my mind blown like I said because
all of a su I go it all fits together in
a way I never even
imagined it has always excited me when I
find useful plants this is a Creeping
Time oregano margam a lot of these are
culinary herbs but I do some medicinal
herbs um you do do medicinal yeah to
some extent ones that I use I’ve got
some fever F it’s over there we can show
it to you which is a terrible B herb
that I sometimes have swallowed down for
headaches oh here’s a little bit of
fever f it self-seeds itself so okay so
if you have a headache you just eat a
little bit of that it’s particularly for
certain kinds of headaches I mean first
thing I do for headaches is figure out
if my neck’s out because that’s the most
works I rarely get headaches but every
once in a while I’ll get one and it’s
like terminal there’s no solution for me
but that’s the kind of heada this work
that’s young plant but if I find a good
fever flu I’ll break off yeah there’s
one right behind you D when’s the last
time you two took something like Advil
does that ever happen or no aspirin I
take but not ad aspirin okay aspirin we
have a friend who’s an herbalist and he
said aspirin can affect your stomach but
your stomach lining can
rejuvenate yeah but uh I don’t even
remember what Advil is uh ibuprofen
ibuprofen ibuprofen messes with your
liver you got to be careful with your
that’s what I would do I was take that
much fever F and it’s bitter it’s bitter
here’s one we’ll see in the garden what
is that this is spanis toothache plant
and if you take that and chew it you go
numb for 3 minutes it is a
natural anesthetic do you guys have any
any vices like it seems like you’re
living a very healthy life coffee
chocolate yes chocolate okay but you’ll
eat some sugar and we grow our own
chocolate too we’ll eat some sugar we’re
not we’re not strict I got that D said
we’re an appropri tarianism
appropri tarianism we were not strict
with our kids either they if they got
candy they went Halloween get a bunch of
candy whatever you know and one of our
daughters had no interest in it but they
were you know it’s more important to eat
the good stuff than to try to go oh no
to that and no to that and no to that A
very wise nutritionist once told me you
know at the molecular level all the
cells in your body have the strings of
molecules and there’s they have like
things where things grab onto there
bances well if you’re eating all the
nutrients they get filled up with
potassium and all the minerals and stuff
if they’re empty then the Mercury the
lead the poisons attached there and it’s
hard to get rid of them but if you eat
enough of the right stuff and you get
nutrient-rich food those will all fill
up oh you know it isn’t about what you
don’t do it’s about doing and the
goods you want coffee oh I’m good thank
you yeah fine Robin doesn’t drink coffee
in the morning okay and likes to have it
lunchtime and so I was going to show you
here’s caca
beans that grew on the tree you saw over
there mhm and Robin picked them and then
fermented them for about a week but so I
just put about uh three of them grind it
fine and you know how press coffee like
that at the end you get the drgs the
powder comes through well it’s like
tastes you get this a total hint of hot
chocolate oh
yeah this is a barricade this is a duck
fence a temporary duck fence yeah this
is a temporary duck fence because do
they start charging or what’s going on
well they would go that way and they
they maybe they they’d go hey we can get
away or we can get in the river oh man
if ducks in the river it’s game over
they’re gone I mean they’d follow the
river down to the ocean but they run
over the whole yard they go way up the
hillside so you see what’s this up here
Dan little hangout Zone uh it was a
bedroom at one point but this building
got kind of Changed by that huge Rock
and
so yeah I it just came down the mountain
yeah okay I’m G to tell you what I want
you to walk on this upper Trail and
we’re going to take the lower Trail okay
and you’re GNA not go very far because
I’m going to let these ducks out but I’m
afraid that if you were down there they
would be like oh wait a minute who’s he
yep
right you ready
girls it’s like kids it’s like seveny
olds hunting Easter eggs go on go on you
go out go go with your sisters go on
what’s great is they will find every
tiny little snail or slug that exists
out here and eliminate them
completely so they just forage all over
your property cockroaches and yeah
they’re yeah and they’ll glean any
little bits of fruit so they actually go
out and feed themselves pretty well by
running like this that’s one flock of
ducks there’s three more oh wow what an
operation this is huge there’s a lot
going on here in the permaculture book
this is called a poultry forage system
which means it’s an integrated system
combining poultry plants and garden so
there are any number of Gardens within
this bigger duck pen that these ducks
are running in see the ducks can run
here and go over to there and then go
around the back side of this so here’s a
big island within the duck pen it’s all
Garden this is brand new we just planted
some San Chili’s in here a week ago the
Ducks were here and had been in here for
a couple of months so the ground is real
fertile and I dig in here a little bit
for them and when I dig there’s
earthworms and the ducks eat the worms
they eat the soil I don’t buy fertilizer
I buy a little bit of duck feed but I
don’t buy fertilizer cuz the Ducks are
providing at all the ground is
incredibly nutrient Rich from having the
ducks on it and so I can throw a little
piece of wire out here it’s just sitting
here it’s not pegged down or anything
it’s just sitting and then plant these
and in 5 months I’ll have sorrano
chilies this high and they’ll be loaded
I mean I’ve got a garden here we already
harvested there was a whole crop in here
that’s harvested already and we came
back in and planted more Pock Choy more
toat soy over there uh some end Dive
Right Here cherry tomato that actually
was a volunteer right
there come here girls oh yeah here you
come paa there you
go time to
eat oh great what a place I love how
open it is yeah there’s permaculture
design design in this kitchen
particularly about letting the air flow
because it’s Hawaii it gets warm right
nice fresh salad and we yes that’s nice
fresh salad and we a kiche it is like a
kiche in fact but it’s um it’s called
baked chili Rino it’s from the de Smith
cookbook I’ve used it for years it’s
been our often times our Christmas meal
because you can make it ahead of time
wow thank you for this chance to meet
someone new and talk about good positive
things thank you for this
food amen amen
amen so you’re you’re both religious
we’re bahis both of us bahas explain
bahas
please there’s Buddhists mhm there’s
confusion sure
there’s James Jews yeah Christians
Muslim yeah
wow what that’s pointing to is that
throughout human history there have been
incarnations of the godhead came to
people and gave them the message they
were like ready for at that point okay
when Jesus came he said love your
neighbor as
yourself because they were not ready
like our Prophet bah incarnation of God
he said equality of men and women well
in jesus’ time they weren’t ready for
that we’re not ready right love your
neighbor as yourself that was good
enough because every society in the
world had slaves everybody kept slaves
in this Ro Roman Empire so our notion is
that we believe in this thing
called successive Progressive
Progressive re Progressive Revelations
and that drives the Christians mad and
the Muslims mad because it basically
says all right Jesus wasn’t the last one
it tells the Muslims you know the
Muslims follow Jesus but they believe
Jesus wasn’t the last one then Muhammad
came and the Muslims they feel like
they’re the last stop of the abrahamic
religions yeah right they’re not but
bahis don’t B don’t in fact we believe
there’s going to be more and so the
bahas picked up after Islam came y in
the when yeah when PA came in the 1800s
he came down into the Muslim world he
was exiled he was imprisoned he was
tortured he was he came into Iran what
what is now Iran okay yep and he
said one world religion equality of men
and women Universal education in fact if
there’s not enough resources educate the
women because they bring up the children
mhh the Muslims were not the mulas were
not maybe the Muslims were maybe the
sufis might have been ready to hear some
of that the sufis were but the mulas you
know they were the dominant right you
know they were like are they religious
or are they political it’s every
religion is like what about is it
connected to Zoroastrianism at all we
recognize zor asrian as one of the um as
one of the prophets one of the
manifestations of God one of the okay
one of our principles is Unity through
diversity so takes
contrasting po supposedly polarizing
things and says no they work we honor
the diversity of all these different
groups ethnicities even beliefs there’s
one God it’s like a jewel hanging with
all these faces inside of that jewel is
the same but it looks different
depending upon how you turn the jewel MH
what about diversity of
thought if you’re not on the bahai
progam let’s say
ideologically it matters not it matters
not no we we do not there are no
Outsiders we do not prosti okay and in
fact we’re engendered to to on holidays
and things to do good works within the
community if it brings people to a point
a Unity it’s bah even if we never say
the word or people don’t know okay so
like on Martin Luther King day which is
a great celebration honoring that whole
thing the bah all over do things and
help out other groups these other groups
that they’re helping don’t even know
they’re bahis it doesn’t matter that’s
not the point the point is not getting
people to be bahis how many bahis in the
world
roughly I don’t know and I’m not good
with holding figures I know that it’s
really widely dispersed throughout the
world I heard a couple years ago that it
was really increasing in India
particularly among the lower cast people
who okay you know was like oh we don’t
have to think we’re inferior we this is
a relief right right yeah equality men
and women a little bit of Hope in life
yeah um this it’s highly in in Iran
particularly but in a few other Muslim
countries it’s highly persecuted I went
out of the country in 1971 but okay that
was I got as far as Afghanistan got very
sick oh wow long before Dan that was
amazing time to travel Afghanistan in
the 70s still a horrible okay still
horrible but there were a lot of
Travelers going through there yeah there
were there really were but anyway the
only place we’ve been out of the country
is New Zealand okay New Zealand is the
only place I’ve ever been that was hard
to leave and come back here we both felt
that way I mean yeah because I think it
this is you know this is total new Agy
but what I’m going to say now but it’s
just like somehow at a vibrational level
we’ve absorbed
mly so when we
drove in the rural areas in New Zealand
there were more Mali and whenever we
would in shop some stuff in Conor Mali
they just like welcomed us and took us
oh yeah even though we were look
Caucasian like Outsiders Etc they could
feel your Island Vibe I knew it yeah
they could
just part part of that
was we were projecting to them what we
felt for them we know local culture you
know how to relate to them but isn’t it
true you just get you mostly get what
you put out it comes back at you yeah I
think that’s true for the most part
right I mean has that been your
experience here on mikai yes this is
delicious yeah Rob makes good you really
can tell the difference between G grown
vegetables versus buy the red a little
bit but there’s a lot of our stuff in
there too no but the the greens are
amazing yeah the greens are amazing it’s
all those banana peels that go into that
is so good so one thing too with the
work I do I was in Southern Louisiana
last week I’ll be in DC in a couple
weeks like the jux to positions are
massive like here in Washington DC two
different worlds I can hardly imagine
but um what I’m discovering is we’re in
this odd time of the online or TV
reality versus the on the ground reality
that the Gap is pretty wide mhm and um
that’s kind of sad it is sad because
people are viewing other parts through
that online reality and I don’t think
it’s very reflective of the average
person in those places like for example
most Americans I’m all over the country
are really cool and if you treat them
with respect they’re really warm and
will’ll treat you with respect right
like the vast majority that’s been our
experience yeah yeah but when you go
online these days or on the news
obviously I mean that that’s the
business mods meant to divide and that
gets attention the negativity gets
attention it’s just hardwired in us but
um I was told Malachi you know I was
told them now careful you’re the
outsider they really don’t want tourists
they don’t want people they eat Hol over
there they eat holes for for breakfast
Walter ridy eats Hol he was over here a
couple weeks ago is the most gentle
softspoken guy in the world he’s really
nice and yet because he’s adamant and
he’s kind of become the titular head of
this movement mhm they ascribe all these
qualities to them I mean that’s how it
goes so that I was told one thing I get
here and it’s been the kindest locals
like everyone has been so cool yes and
because you’re on a chill Island they
have time yeah and you get a along
conversations and it’s just been am you
go to the Post Office you get a package
guaranteed somebody’s going to open the
door for you when you go out yeah
guaranteed unless there’s nobody else in
the post office which is pretty rare for
a pretty
blonde right I’m a Capa I’m an elderly
yeah you’re an but but even years ago I
noticed that yeah yeah I know just the
cashiers in the store say hey Uncle how
you doing yeah I’m Uncle now because I’m
Uncle oh any I’m aunti any older male is
Uncle any older female is Auntie to for
me I’m Uncle even if they’re I don’t
know how old you are but you could call
me uncle and that would fit still yep so
do you feel Society is watching out for
each other here cuz it’s small enough
nobody nobody can really get away with
anything if they tried well I
mean in many many ways yes be respectful
of everybody else right and you know I
got that when I first came here when I
first came here I I forget who but some
Elder I was talking to and this was in
weeks of being here they knew I was new
so I would get these little talks mhm y
here’s how you behave here here’s who
you are because they sense I was I would
hear that I would ask I would want to
know
so I was an open door so they walked
right in and they told me this lady said
okay so walking down the street M and
there’s a mango tree in the front yard
of some house and there’s a mango all
the way to the ground you don’t go R
over there take some mangoes and I got
plenty mangoes take some and go no you
if you want the mangoes then you just be
bold you walk right up to the door you
knock you say hello I see you got
mangoes all over your yard so you know
what mangoes look really good to me
honestly I like some but you know can I
pick up all your mangoes for you and
give them to you so you don’t have to
come get them you know go oh yeah sure
help yourself take all you want oh no no
whatever you know what I mean Y and she
says main thing you ask yeah main thing
you asked yep wow I did that today wow
driving here I had to go to the restroom
and um I went into the library and I
said uh excuse me ma’am may may I use
your restroom and she said yeah it’s
right there and she she stopped and she
said thank you so much for
asking it was this this older local lady
so I think what you’re saying just by
the courtesy of asking goes because you
know what you
without knowing as far as she knows
fulfilled the protocol you showed that
respect you asked you need to be told y
when in reality you didn’t have to but
that’s just like you’re the kind of
person who would ask so yeah perfect you
know when I got here and I was in
monoa anytime there would be locals who
would go go eat eat oh there’s plenty
get plenty that means we have plenty get
plenty get
plenty well I came to realize that
it’s the difference between a worldview
of abundance versus a worldview of
scarcity and the Hawaiians had a
worldview the world is abundant MH we
get plenty and that’s why they shared to
The Outsiders that’s why they gave
everything right to The Floodgate that
Captain Cook opened and that’s why so
much got taken away from himh because
the world was abundant so you share it’s
their protocol it’s their way it’s how
they Define themselves you know in fact
the the state motto of Hawaii it’s a
very awkward translation into English
but it’s translated as the life of the
land you know the haa is
perpetuated in
righteousness what an awkward
translation the life of the land is
perpetuated in
righteousness okay they have this word
Pono you know Pono I’ve heard of it what
p is like
if you do we have a postcard somewhere
if you do what’s appropriate you’re Pono
if you do the right thing in a given
situation you’re Pono okay if you’re
courteous to other people you’re Pono if
you help your brother when he’s in need
you’re Pono Pono means that it’s all
those things one most is like that it’s
multi-layered meaning it’s one of the
most amazing words it means doing the
right
thing it’s really nice how having you
here spending time with you because we
get to talk about some of the things
that are very real to us and they matter
and with somebody who’s honestly
interested thank you yeah it’s it’s an
honor to be here if it helps make the
internet a better place I say right
on you hear what I’m sorry I hear a deer
bark these deer
go like that very much like that good
very good good yeah that anybody else
would go that’s that was a deer yeah
they bark and then what do you do I grab
my
22 I walk right out here sometimes it’s
seriously 60 seconds and I have a green
light and their eyes shine and they
don’t see that they don’t see
green they don’t have the rods and cones
we have they have the one less anyway
one night there were two right over
there right
I got them both boom boom do you have a
good shot you know I don’t shoot way far
with a 22 cuz it doesn’t have the power
and I’m trying to be Humane I don’t want
to injure one and have it get away you
can go online and you’ll find people say
it’s inhumane to hunt deer with a 22
well not if you kill
them the Hawaiians had Terraces here of
which they did
agricultural things and is it okay to
walk up here sure okay there is a very
interesting feature up here this you
want to
see okay see this right here remember I
told you this word why means water yep
well right here see this low spot yeah
if you put a hose and ran water there it
would run through this and this would
continue on there’s some stuff that’s
falling in and go like that and curve
around over to there and we can walk in
this aw it’s basically an
aqueduct the hain’s built and this we
can follow this and it goes all the way
up and as that river goes up Valley
about a quarter of a mile from here it
goes right to the river in ancient times
they were bringing water down here
jumping across the river and The
Terraces that we were on they were
flooding those Terraces and they brought
the water through this Hawai and flooded
that the Hawaiian had they were masters
of
Waterworks and they were taking water
out of the river flooding areas putting
it back in taking it out flooding
putting it back in for the tarot for the
tarot rock is built up to enclose an
area there’s caves underneath this rock
under that rock okay and we’ve had
archaeologists here who told us that
basically this was a house site that
they built up from there and put
thatch and then had this protected place
okay so they they live down here in the
cave they never know the Hawaiian didn’t
live down in the bottom land the
bottomland was all agricultural they
came up on the ridges and in the areas
where you couldn’t grow and lived wow
yeah this is definitely a archaeological
site
here and any archaeologist would just
come and go oh wow look at this
da yeah please be careful y you make my
wife nervous just being
there and there’s caves right yeah can I
go down here sure you
can oh yeah you could easily sleep under
that rock
yeah I want to send the right people
your way someone not shortterm right you
don’t want someone out here for a month
what would you what would you ideally
want want you know we’ve had any number
of interns we’ve had people show up and
want to do a work exchange yep even for
a week or two and if they’re really you
know kind of like on our side and
willing to help out and be not a burden
it’s worked remember that guy Daniel
this guy showed up and he was great at
climbing trees and cleaning he just
wanted to give a little bit it’s a lot
of work out here there is a lot of work
okay okay yeah and it’s a lot of
complexity and understanding
so I somebody has to be in that mindset
of recognizing that and not it’s not
we’ve actually had the situation of
people with a lot of experience were
harder to deal with people who’ been on
other Farms but we’re we’re getting on
in age okay we want to travel and teach
permaculture a bit what we really need
now is somebody who has the belief in
themselves that they can
manage this place in our absence and
want to learn farm management which
there’s a lot of valuable skills that
they could take somewhere else later on
you know we’re marketing all those
avocados we picked today yeah and we’re
and and learn from the masters of how
things are done in environment you know
it’s not just agricultural stuff we’re
homesteaders we have our own water
system we get a big flood the intakes go
goes out somebody has to hike up the
mountain and know how to cut and glue
PVC and start of siphon and you know a
whole bunch of things uh repair Bridges
repair Bridges but you’ll teach them if
they don’t have that absolutely okay all
right guys if any of you are interested
out there in that setup uh for the right
person I think it’s a dream come true uh
link is down below to reach out to Dan
and Robin thank you guys thank you pet
that was awesome I learned a lot you
have a beautiful world out here a lot of
respect and admiration for what you’re
doing thank you so thank you
thanks for watching you guys until the
next one
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