Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 12, 1 December 1995 — ʻĀina O Loko Maikaʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻĀina O Loko Maikaʻi

Moses Timbal's beginnings as a nursery operator and floral wholesaler have all the markings of frontier-style settlement.

Previously a shell wholesaler in Lahaina, he moved to Hāna with his wife and ehildren in 1987 on the urging of his priest, who was also relocating to Hāna. Because the Timbals had no money to buy land in Hāna, the priest told Timbal he could lease 14 acres of church land in exchange for working as the church caretaker.

"When he brought us here it was all forest," says Timball. '"This is it' the priest said. But the land was flat and we cleared it and built a house." After building the house the priest encouraged Timbal and his wife Virginia to think about farming some of the church land. Phase one, as Timbal refers to it, was a three- to four-acre plot of land behind his house where he grew largely ginger and helieonia. Later he opened up a four-acre phase two, and recently, with the help of an OHA loan, has begun phase three, an ambitious project that he hopes will significantly increase his production. He explains, "Before phase three, business was good but our sales were outdistancing our ability to produce. We were spending too mueh money buying from other growers."

Timbal, acting as both farmer and wholesaler, would supply retailers on the island with whatever product he could fmd, either flowers from his own fields or produce he bought from other farmers. Anything he did not produce himself would be less profitable for his operation. With his latest expansion, he hopes to supply all his customer's needs with plants from his own nursery. As Timbal's business — called 'Āina O Loko Maika'i - has grown and improved, so has its efficiency. He began with a piek and shovel, manually watering his plants. Now he has a tractor, a number of transportation vehicles, and he recently installed an irrigation system. Timbal credits some of his motivation to expand and succeed to his son Steven. A student in Los Angeles, he has been actively selling his father's flowers on the Mainland and wants to get more involved in the business when he graduates. "When he started studying, we were sending him money," explains Timbal. "That was getting expensive so we starfed sending him flowers and toId him to sell the flowers for his spending money." Their son made so mueh money selling flowers for pocket money that he quickly realized the potential of going into the trade after graduating. The Timbals think they would do fine without their son's entrepreneurial spirit but it has encouraged them to do more. "We're trying to help him." they say.

Their farm does not have the capacity to supply all their Maui customers as well as their son's, but they recognize that their son makes more per flower selling in Los Angeles. "Even if he buys flowers from others he ean make money," Timbal points out. Timbal feels the key to the success of his business has been hustle and service. He and his wife drive to central and west Maui onee a week and deliver door-to-door. He believes the personal attention he provides makes a difference. "Most of the florists we deal with want something extra, special service. If you give them that, then they'll stick with you." 'Āina O Loko Maika'i ean be reached in Hāna at (808) 248-7266.

Moses TL.:bal and his wife Virginia.

Ginger on the Tlmbal farm.