The Rewards & Challenges of Farming with Lily Cabinatan

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Interview Transcription

ADRIENNE: 
Welcome back, and thanks for listening to the Team Lally real estate show home in the guaranteed sold program. Oh, by it, I’m Adrienne, and I’m Attilio, and I’m local. And if you have any questions, you can reach us at 7999596, or check us out online at Team lally.com

ATTILIO: 
All right, hey, where’s our let

ADRIENNE: 
me Oh, and why do you keep telling everyone that you’re local and that you’re from here Attilio know

ATTILIO: 
why? Because, with a name like Attilio and I look like a Republican with my haircut in this long sleeve collared shirt, I just clean and clean to. Even clean shaven. I don’t Well, I know tattoos and no tattoos, but take it easy. Take it easy. But keep going. I yeah, I just, I look like I’m a Republican from Hawaii, Kai, especially from California, from California. Okay, yeah, we don’t anyway. So I just want to, you know, bring some clarity to the situation, that I’m a native Hawaiian, by the way, if you work with our children or youth out there anywhere in the Oahu, if I’m on the other islands, would be happy to help too. But if there’s any kind of, like, career days, or there’s like, like, I know a lot of high schools, they have like, a business part of the high school and stuff, if you need somebody to come in, Native Hawaiian, to come in and speak to the kids and say, Hey, this is what you need to do. These are the skill sets you need to do to get the careers you want. These are the skill sets that you need to do to be successful as an entrepreneur. Because I’ve been self employed, Native Hawaiian for over 20 years, I am unemployable. What does that mean? I’m unemployable

ADRIENNE: 
that you can only work for yourself. I can’t work for anybody else, maybe me, maybe

ATTILIO: 
a region boss lady. Our guest today is retired teacher and administrator with the Hawaii Department of Education and a proud graduate of Waianae High School, cool sea riders with a deep connection to the land. She has spent the past 20 years as a chemical free Meyer lemon and mango farmer in mahili

ADRIENNE: 
using Korean techniques in mulch farming and natural fertilizers like chicken manure, she cultivates her crops with care, even using clear water sprays to keep pests away. Please, welcome Lily Cabinatan.

ATTILIO:

Cabina, tan Cabina, tan Cabina, tan Lily, help us. Are we completely mangling your last name? How do you say your last name? Cabinatan. There you go. It sounds like, it sounds like, like, like, like, it’s Filipino for I’m here,

LILY: 
Filipino. I am Korean. You

ADRIENNE: 27:01
Korean? Okay, she uses her Korean techniques in the smulch

ATTILIO: 
farming techniques. All right, so it’s interesting, because I know that healthier food, you know, food supplies in in in the US, could do better. Mm, hmm, for example, I know in Europe that there’s 100% ban on GMO. So I mean, and then other things, just the way that people grow the food is important to our personal health. So who are the like, who are the people that, who are the people that are receiving the stuff that you make, that you grow?

LILY: 
So my community, yeah, I’m from Waianae, and I, I give a lot to the community, yeah, the school I, I sell to Food Land, good stuff, yeah, they’re a good source of buying. And I used to sell to down to earth, you know, all the good stores. Yeah, I’m a wholesaler, yeah. Okay,

ADRIENNE: 
so Lily, what? What inspired you to go into farming after your career in education? Yeah.

LILY: 
So my husband wanted a big piece of property, and so we bought a three acre, and he wanted to raise chickens. He wanted to raise chickens and then, and he wanted a tree for each chicken, for shade. Okay, friend did that. Oh, nice, yeah. And so that’s how we started lemons. Lemons were lemon trees were on sale, and it was nice, because healthy, yeah, they are very healthy for us.

ATTILIO: 
Yeah, I was, I was talking with some chickens, and they were like, oh, you know, Lily and her husband. They’re like, they got, like, one chicken resort. They get trees for all the chickens. We don’t have no shade. We gotta sit in this chicken coop with this shingle roof. It’s hot over here we go. Chicken resort. She’s

ADRIENNE: 
in Waianae. I though it’s sunny over there, telling you they need the trees. You

ATTILIO: 
know, when you’re underneath the tree with the photosynthesis and the leaves absorbing all of it, it is like 1520 degrees cooler underneath the tree. So good job with the lemon trees. And yeah, what did you choose? So why did you guys choose to grow Meyer lemons and mangos specifically, besides shade for the chickens?

LILY: 
Okay, so I chose mangoes because I went to our store tomorrow’s 20 years ago, and I saw that they were selling mangoes for $4 a pound. And I Oh, what? Wow, I’m gonna sell mangoes today. They’re selling for $8 a pound or more.

ATTILIO: 
I’m like, How come? You know, you drive down the street, get the ante with the big mango tree. They all falling on the ground, going rotten. What?

LILY: 
Yeah, but a lot of people cut down their mango tree. Yeah. You know, all over the island there are not

ATTILIO: 
Yeah, in I will tell you what validates that. Like I live in the villages of Kapolei, which is in Kapolei and most associations do not allow mango trees, is on the no no list, because mango cheese go humongous. They grow big, right? Yeah. So they’re not allowed to be planted in in association, home, homes that are in an

ADRIENNE: 
association, certain associations, all associations, yeah,

LILY: 
the roots, the roots can damage the piping and things, yeah.

ATTILIO: 
And the trees get too big. I mean, most people have a 5000 square foot lot, and that tree, you know, you would, you would look like, like, on Lord of the Rings, like one Hobbit living under one big, huge tree. Um, that’s

ADRIENNE: 
kind of like how my my tree is in the front of my house. Well, you have a laohala

ATTILIO: 
tree. It’s going like Samoan big.

LILY: 
And you can trim the trees, though, you know, you can keep them small, yeah?

ATTILIO: 
You just gotta burn them and everything, yeah, yeah. You gotta give them, like, pedicure every once in a while. Um, right,

LILY: 
I had the best mango. So because the the the weather is really good, you like the dry weather? Yeah, you still got a water lot Gotcha.

ATTILIO: 
So what do you love most, most about being able to share your produce with the community.

LILY: 
It’s really healthy. And so my community, not all of them, but a lot of them are not healthy. So the more fruits, the more vegetables they eat, the healthier they will be, still. So yeah, that’s the good thing.

ATTILIO: 
You know, you’re right, because in our challenging, economically challenged community or areas, they call it. And

ADRIENNE: 
we were actually, we were just out there yesterday. We were visiting

ATTILIO: 
with we went all the way to Makaha, down, down water down Water Street. If we was there

any further, we’d be hitting Ka in a point. But we went all the way yesterday, and we noticed that they’re actually in that in that Maka neighborhood had plenty renovated homes, mm hmm, for sale. So really nice homes, they’re still affordable, but so we were out there in the community, and Adrienne has another question.

ADRIENNE: 
So Lily, what would you say are the some of the biggest challenges and rewards of farming over in my Ely, what’s

LILY: 
the biggest challenge? The biggest challenge initially was finding finding buyers for all the produce you know, Meyer lemon in my community, a lot of people are not health conscious, yes. So when I would attempt to sell my Meyer lemons, they would be like, Who wants lemons? You know what I mean? And so I would go to the farmers market down here, and they wouldn’t want to buy, because the customers don’t want to buy. Also too, some grow their own, right. The more I went out to Kapolei and, you know, Hawaii Kai and all, they’re very health conscious, so they would buy, buy up a lot. Oh, yeah, so, but because of COVID, and, you know, with COVID and everything, the Chinese threw out a video about how healthy the lemons are to keep COVID away, to build the immune system, yeah, yeah. So that me a lot. I was like, Oh, right on, you know? Yeah. So then they got just in it. Now they’re consuming more lemons as well as mangoes. But you know, fruits, fruits and vegetables that’s what we all need, right? Because it’s rough age, you know, to die our food and everything to keep us healthy internally. Yeah, you know, we cannot be fake steaks all the time, because it’s our stomachs are not digesting and having a hard time digest all that food.

ATTILIO: 
Well, they talk about gut health and, you know, and and having that right, having that in you too, keeps you regular. It’s important to be regular and

LILY: 
exactly getting it out, otherwise it’s stacking up. And yeah,

ATTILIO: 
then you sitting in traffic and getting all pissed off and road raging on people because you did. You’re not eating well, that’s the cause of all this road raging. People not too much. Plate lunches, sorry.

ADRIENNE: 
Ellen, now they haven’t been eating enough mangoes, Romans, I will tell

ATTILIO:
you communities, yeah, in communities, you’re right. Lily, in communities like ours that are and we’re on the west side. We’re not talking about some other community. We’re in. The community is there sometimes can be what we call nutrition oasis. I mean nutrition deserts. Nutrition deserts, and you look at it in the economically challenged communities, all gonna be, it’s all Burger King, McDonald’s, Jack in a box,

LILY: 
right? Yeah, and all of that. Not healthy for us. No, we didn’t realize that, you know, yeah, but it’s not Yeah, you know? We,

ATTILIO: 
we always have this, like. A nuclear race with China and Russia. But I will tell you, we don’t need to have more nuclear weapons than them. We did something even worse to them. You know what we did? We opened McDonald’s over there. Western diet. The Western diet, you’re right, yeah, it’s the number one killer of Americans is their Western diet.

LILY: 
You know, Korean in Korea, they’re one of the healthiest people in the world. The Koreans, because they eat all the vegetables and the kimchi, yes, and then, but now, they opened up a McDonald’s over there. So you know what I mean, that’s

ATTILIO: 
it. Yeah, sorry, Koreans, unless they have a kimchi burger or something. But, you know, Lily,

ADRIENNE: 
I’ve got a question with your with your teaching background and your, you know, your strong ties to the community, yeah. Do you ever do any like projects with the local schools to educate about the kids come over there and pull some weeds. Yeah. Is there any kind of programs that you collaborate with the local schools?

LILY: 
Yes, I collaborate with Nanakuli High School. They have a scrappers union. And what that means, they take the scraps, the cardboard, and they shred it, then they they trade with the farmers for produce that they give the to the community, and then we take the cardboard and we use it for mulch. It’s awesome, nice. It’s helped me so much. I have big mangoes because of that. I don’t have to use it, you know, as much water and all kinds of stuff. It’s really, really healthy. And,

ATTILIO: 
yeah, you know, that reminds me of a rapper pincher song, he said, he said he’s the famous line in that song. He said, Lucy, why are you gonna leave me now? Mango season, not pow,

ADRIENNE: 
but yeah. And then also Lily, I know, like so my daughter, she goes to u h, yeah. And they’ve been doing a big push on trying to get the kids interested in farming, because they’re just not enough interest. Like, I guess back in the day, more people would, you know, be involved, but it’s been, you know, a little bit of a uphill battle. So like with this, with not a cool High School, do they do you help to educate any of the students that might be interested in in farming? Yeah,

LILY: 
yes, definitely they. They have come to my farm. They’ve helped us out with pruning and picking and kinds of things. So there they are learning a whole lot of farming, yeah, and a lot of schools along the coast, because I would go and visit the schools and check them out. A lot of them have farms the elementary schools, yeah, yeah, they’re teaching the kids more farming down here. Well, yeah, you can farm your backyard. Yeah? Buckets. You have to have a big farm, yeah?

ATTILIO: 
Start like I said, five gallon bucket from Home Depot, the show you bucket. When you done with the show you use the show you bucket,

LILY: 
exactly the but, but, you know, the scrappers union, yeah, with the cardboard, they’re making all those, you don’t have to use plastic. They’re making all those pots to to grow the plants inside. When you when they, yeah, when they grow them in, they just put them in the, in the in the ground, and yeah, and then they don’t have to worry about no plastics or anything like that,

ATTILIO: 
yeah? For the seedlings, they’re starting the seedlings in the little cardboard, and you just put them straight in the ground. Yeah, you keep saying scrappers union. I was thinking like, Oh, hey, I have one problem with you. Go meet after school. We must scrap but that’s not what you’re talking about, right? They’re making the scraps from the food and the cardboard. Okay, right? Yeah. Isn’t

LILY: 
that amazing that they use that name? You know what? I mean? Yeah, we’re known for. So these scrappers, then all our bullies,

ATTILIO: 
all the bullies gonna be like, Oh, enjoying the scrappers club or whatever. Oh, oh, we’re shredding cardboard. Oh, okay, yeah, this is better than beating up the small kids. Let’s go shred some cardboard, give back to our community, the community, you know, get green instead of black and blue. The you know, I want to share with you Lily that there’s a book called How Not to Die. I, you know, I think we’re going to send you a copy. It’s called How Not to Die. It’s written by a medical doctor. And there are like 12 or 16 chapters. And then chapter one is the most thing, the common thing that Americans are dying from, and then the plant based prevention or remedy. And what he talks about is increasing your antioxidant intake every day. And antioxidants are the things that fight the free radicals that get into your body. And those are the things that cause cancer. Antiodic accidents, or, guess what, kinds of fruits. So for fruits, specifically, here’s the deal. He said, They this fruit is going to be high in antioxidants if it can sit on the table and it doesn’t rot right away. And those are the s. Fruits, oranges, lemons, limes. So literally, like one of the things he said, When you okay, this photo restaurants, I generating the business for you right now, all you restaurants offer to put a lemon inside people’s water, because when you add lemon to the water, you’re increasing the antioxidant value of that glass of water, you’re hydrating and you’re preventing cancer. So I always specifically

ADRIENNE: 
a Meyer lemon from Lily, from from Lily. The other

ATTILIO: 
lemons not gonna work. One of the Meyer, Meyer lemon, I just kidding, but Meyer lemons, that’s one of the benefits. And you kids out there, you know what? I want to see, some lemon stands out there, lemonade.

ADRIENNE: 
I mean, lemonade stands. There is some. There was some kid in your neighborhood that had a little lemonade stand, yeah, but we were in a rush.

ATTILIO: 
In a rush, we go stop by and stuff like that. But and then, hey you adults, when you come by the lemonade, just buy plenty. And if it doesn’t taste that good, just pretend. Just pretend. Oh, this is delicious. Drink them. Give them the money. And we were these kids for getting out there and being hungry and being innovative and entrepreneurial. So I think, you know, my dad, when he was in high school, they used to, they would, they would, for the summer, go to Lanai and pick pineapples. All football teams, baseball teams, would go to Lanai to pick pineapples. You know, would it be helpful, if not a cooling and Waianae High School, if the football team came out like every season, because, you know, when they’re picking the weeds, that’s they’re getting low, yeah, getting low, and they’re building good exercise ability. And you know, you got to hit them low. So coaches get them out there, pull the weeds, pull the weeds dropping, pull 10 weeds, all right, and then, you know, maybe they will get a good workout and then help you at the same time, and they can learn about farming.

LILY: 
Yeah, we have a farm down here. Yeah, that does that you like every stat every so many Saturdays. Yeah, the community come and clean up the farm, and then they can have whatever vegetables they want. Yeah? Awesome.

ATTILIO: 
Yeah. Well, it’s important. I’m glad that you’re doing it in the community, because you’re educating people on like, you know, people take for granted. They go in the store. I mean, you’d be surprised. Yeah, they survey kids. These kids have no idea, like, what grows on a tree, what grows on a bush, what grows in the gown. They’re always thinking, money grows on trees. And us parents gotta correct them, right,

LILY: 
right? No, and the best, and the fruits are expensive in the stores, you know, I mean, so if you grow your own, yeah,

ATTILIO: 
it’s hard to compete. Because when you can get one cheeseburger for on the dollar menu, and when mango is four bucks, you know, you can, you know, go to the cheeseburger. But we have to understand, especially as Native Hawaiians, on that side, we’re more predisposed to, you know, high blood pressure, hypertension, you know, heart attacks, diabetes, and so we’ve got to be eating things that are grown in our community. So I like that natural fertilizers from the chicken. And I had to clarify, these chickens are not aggressive, right? They don’t fight these aren’t the fighting chickens, not the Fighting Chicken, right? These are the working these are passive chickens.

ADRIENNE: 
These are egg laying chickens.

LILY: 
I hate to tell you, but

ATTILIO: 
they’re the Fighting Chicken

LILY: 
from my farm too often, because, yes, they are my husband, Filipino. Yeah, it’s in the blood. It’s illegal to fight, yeah? So, so they buy them and they take them to the Philippines. There you go.

ATTILIO: 
But you know what the manures I

LILY: 
want to promote chicken fights, okay?

ATTILIO: 
No, no, that’s why. That’s why the kids, you know, we all about peace. That’s why they go join the scrappers club, because Never mind scrapping it in the playground. Come shred some cardboard and give back to your community. All right. Well, yeah. Adrienne has the last question for you. Time is gone by. I

ADRIENNE: 
know So Lily, I know we covered quite a few items, but is there anything else that you’d like to touch on before we wrap it up? Yeah,

LILY:
yeah. Thank you for having me on. Farming is really important, growing your own, eating fruits and vegetables, because, like you said, it’s full of antioxidants, yeah, and it does take away and neutralize all the toxins and free radicals, and then, like you said, when the lemon, you put the lemon in the water, it changes the water from acidic to alkaline, and that’s what you want, yes. So, yeah, we’ve been blessed to have this farm, and we’re blessing the neighborhood and and beyond, you know, yeah, and I love being to just give them fruits and vegetables.

ATTILIO: 
Okay, what is and then, what is the name of you guys? Company?

LILY: 
Top notch, top notch chickens. Top notch

ATTILIO: 
fruits and chickens. Um, so if you guys, if, okay, all you people listening right now, you go in the store like food land, ask for the manager. And say, by the way, do you have any products from top notch fruits and chickens? Because for me as a local consumer, I want to support our local food supply, not the stuff that came from Texas for South America. Because so top notch fruits and chickens, if there’s just any distributors out there want to

ADRIENNE: 
any rest, any restaurants, restaurant lemons, the Meyer lemons, yeah, you know, a lot

ATTILIO: 
of these restaurants, and Adrienne, I make a decision, we’ll go there, and then they’re on the menu. It says these lemons came from Lily’s farm, you know, like stuff like that. Like Aloha salads is really good at that, at promoting that these items came from local farms, Nalo greens, you know, stuff like that. And people will consciously make a decision to support that restaurant, because it’s supposed supporting local farmers. So it’s important, folks, yeah,

LILY: 
yeah. And, and we need all the support we can get, because

farmers do not make money. Yeah? You know what I mean?

ATTILIO: 
I know. So, yeah, yeah. So, because the

LILY: 
mainland, the mainland fruits, you know, are cheaper and whatever, yeah, but they’re not, they are not healthy. They’re not healthy all kinds of stuff, yeah, you know, so and not use any chemicals.

ATTILIO: 
Oh, right, on people, can, you know? Yeah, yeah, okay. So Myers, lemons, and if you’re a distributor out there, please contact top notch fruits and chickens. What’s good? Phone Number, 808-372-5952,

LILY: 
and they can come to my farm and buy wholesale. Too nice.

ATTILIO: 
So you distributors out there are restaurant owners, if you want to create some locally grown, home grown dishes made of ingredients grown right now, right here on the watanai coast, because the west side is the best side, please come out and support Lily and her farm. All

ADRIENNE: 
right. Thank you. Thank you, Lily. Thanks for being our guest. Thank you

ATTILIO: 
for being our guest.

LILY: 
Thank you, my pleasure. Alrighty,

ATTILIO: 
bye, bye. Again, that phone number is air code, 80837259523725952,

why try buy local. All right.

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