Jack and Kim Johnson's Kokua Learning Farm in Haleiwa gets help from new solar e-tractor

May 16—Kokua Learning Farm in Haleiwa town recently debuted Hawaii's first solar-powered electric tractor, which definitely makes it easier being green, according to Jack Johnson, the musician and co-founder, with his wife, Kim, of the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, which launched the farm and community center in December 2019.

"It's really exciting—all electric, which is the big (requirement ), " Johnson said of the Compact Electric Tractor by Solectrac Inc., of Santa Rosa, Calif., which donated the farm machinery to the nonprofit foundation after it won the most votes in a social media fundraising campaign.

"We can't thank Solectrac enough for their generosity, "

the North Shore native said by phone, after farm work paused in a sudden downpour.

Since the coronavirus shutdown, Johnson said, the foundation has focused on major earthworks ; removing and mulching invasive trees and hauling stuff out ; building a loi on a portion of the property abutting a wetland where kalo was historically cultivated ; and growing food in a few small areas.

As COVID-19 restrictions began to lift, community volunteers and high school student interns were able to pitch in, working outdoors in small groups with social distancing. Early this year, "I was in the market to get a small tractor for the simple, day-to-day stuff, getting ready to have a learning farm for schoolkids on field trips, " Johnson said.

He found Solectrac on an internet search and contacted the company just as it was launching the campaign to donate a compact electric tractor, which has a base price of $28, 500. Fittingly, the 30-horsepower, diesel-equivalent tractor was first put to use at Kokua Learning Farm in April, Earth Month.

In preparing the soil on the farm's 7 acres for organic cultivation, "the CET is perfect for us, with a flail instead of a rotary mower on back, and you can raise or lower it to the level you want, " Johnson said. "If you have it low enough, it leaves organic matter from whatever you're cutting, like sun hemp, in place for nitrogen fixing. So if you have a cover crop, you can drive right over it to amend the soil."

The small tractor also has a backhoe attachment, runs with zero emissions and, for now, plugs into a standard 220-volt electric outlet or a slower, solar electric outlet in a temporary storage shed. But it will soon be charging on 100 % solar when the farm completes its storage barn with a solar array.

Otherwise, "it's a lot like a normal diesel tractor, but the nicest thing about it is it's so quiet we can talk without yelling, in normal voices, even when it's on full blast, " the musician said.

Kokua Learning Farm's cultivated area has grown to a quarter of an acre from the first five 50-foot rows established in March 2020, said Joe Wat, the foundation's 'Aina In Schools program coordinator, in an email.

"We are currently culti ­vating over 20 varieties of kupuna kalo, demonstration gardens aligning with the 'Aina in Schools curriculum, and a mix of diversified vegetable plantings to learn more about our soils and pest pressures, " he said.

"In the next school year we plan to pull from this (kalo ) patch as we distribute huli (taro tops ) to teachers and our partner schools."

So far this year, the foundation has distributed 200 'Aina Garden Kits, providing seeds, garden tools, books and planting instructions to teachers on Oahu. A summer program is being discussed with schools.

Monthly community workdays have resumed, and "a lot of times when families come on work days they take home green beans, eggplant. We don't have the farm stand set up yet, but eventually we will, " Johnson said.

Other local farms are interested in the tractor and recently came out "for a farmer demo day, " he said.

"It's so fun to have a learning farm. The garden always inspires songs for me, watching things grow, wither—the whole cycle, " Johnson said, adding that he and local musician Paula Fuga recorded a song on the farm for the first time on Earth Day.

For more information, visit kokuahawaiifoundation.org /.