Persimmon harvest a Kula family tradition
Sliced in half, persimmons reveal a star-like center. The seasonal fruit are about the size of a tomato and taste a bit like a cross between an apple and a cantaloupe.
Story and Photos by
By MATTHEW THAYER
There is a shiver in the dewy mountain air. Leaves are turning to orange and ripening fruit hangs heavy in the orchard. If not for the blue ocean views and neighbor islands in the distance, it could be mistaken for an autumn morning in Vermont or Oregon.
The annual persimmon harvest is underway at the Upcountry Maui farm founded a century ago by Shinhichi Hashimoto. According to family lore, Shinhichi was a Japanese immigrant aboard a boat headed for Oahu when his plans were upended by the Bubonic plague. Shinhichi was expecting to work on one of Oahu's plantations, but that island was gripped by an outbreak of the plague and his boat was detoured to Hana. He eventually wound up in Kula where he bought land on steep Pulehuiki Road to begin the farm that now encompasses Hashimoto Persimmon Products.
Clark Hashimoto loads buckets of persimmons into the bed of an ATV while harvesting in October.
Shinhichi planted his first persimmon trees around 1925. His son, Isami, expanded the farm, eventually gambling his family’s future on 500 spindly starts that had to be watered by hand with buckets carried up and down Haleakala's dusty flanks. Either Isami did his homework, or he got lucky, because Kula’s climate, altitude and soil have proven perfect to grow persimmons. Now, more than 80 years later, about 99 percent of the persimmons grown in the state of Hawaii come from the same square Kula mile, all raised by Hashimoto descendants and their neighbors.
Wet from an overnight rain, persimmons are ready to be harvested on a sunny morning at Hashimoto Persimmon Products farm in Kula.
One of those descendants, Clark Hashimoto, operates Hashimoto Persimmon Products with his wife, Jackie. The two-month harvest season was at its peak and the production shed's phone nearly ringing off the hook on a recent October day as Clark carried in buckets of just-picked fruit for Jackie to begin sorting. It has been nearly 20 years since the pair retired from their day jobs to take over full-time farm operations from Clark's elderly parents.
Drawing comparisons to autumn in New England, the leaves on Kula's persimmon trees turn orange before falling off each year.
While they can count on some weekend help from their kids and grandkids, most farm duties fall to them. During a harvest expected to produce about 30,000 pounds of persimmons, that's a lot of work. Thankfully, family reinforcements from California and Nevada have arrived to ease some of the load.
Helping Clark harvest fruit this day are an uncle, Jack Fucik of Reno, and a distant cousin, Rich Arita of Berkeley. Picking from some of the oldest trees on the property, they use sharp clippers to cut the stems before slipping apple-sized fruit into cloth bags strapped over their shoulders. Once full, the bags can be opened at the bottoms to allow the loads to easily be deposited into five-gallon buckets. The drooping limbs of the low, century-old trees are supported by wooden braces to keep them from snapping under the weight of so much fruit.
California cousin Rich Arita helps pick persimmons at Hashimoto Persimmon Products in October 2024.
Downhill, in the venerable packing shed where generations of Hashimotos have processed untold tons of persimmons through the years, Jackie is working alongside her aunt, Eileen Fucik. Between taking phone orders and servicing walk-up customers, they grade and pack persimmons. Some boxes are bound for a restaurant and others for a kombucha bar that annually offers a persimmon brew.
Jackie Hashimoto (left) and aunt Eileen Fucik sort persimmons in the Hashimoto Persimmon Products packing shed in October.
This is the third year Eileen and Jack have flown in from Reno to assist.
"We found out the two of them were doing this themselves and we thought, oh, we'll come help," Eileen said.
The Maui High School Class of 1961 graduate said it is satisfying to get in touch with her island roots. "It's warming. It's good to be here and helping family. Now we have more time to spend with each other. We laugh and talk story."
Jackie, who taught high school for 30 years, including 23 at Baldwin High School, has expanded the farm's repertoire to include value-added products,such as persimmon jam, scones, preserved mui, totes and logo wear. No wonder she has big plans for two cousins from California scheduled to arrive later in the day.
Jackie Hashimoto holds one of her homemade scones and a package of dried persimmon energy bars.
Jars of persimmon jam and persimmon butter are on display at Hashimoto Persimmon Products in October.
"We just can't wait for them to come," Jackie said. "I have jobs for them to do. They'll be in my kitchen for a week baking scones and making energy bars."
She said there is quite a difference between creating a few items to display for walk-in customers and meeting outsized demand when a product becomes popular.
"I have an order for 50 scones and I'm not a bakery," Jackie said with a laugh.
Clark Hashimoto uses a ladder to reach ripe fruit while harvesting persimmons with Jack Fucik in October.
Prior to retiring at age 55, Clark was an extension agent for the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. After years of giving farmers advice, he now toils on the front lines. The result has been a blend of putting his own concepts to work and drawing upon a deep reservoir of family experience. He says harvest season invariably conjures memories of his late parents, John and Hanako Hashimoto, and his grandfather, Isami.
"They've been the backbone for the family," Clark said. "They sent five of us to college, four on the mainland. They worked very hard for us to get an education, for us to be really successful. I think they were proud of what they did. Mom was working until she was 96."
Late persimmon farm owners John and Hanako Hashimoto take a break from packing and sorting to pose for a photo in 2011.
John was one of the pioneers of the Maui Farmers Cooperative Exchange and played an important role in developing Maui agriculture. Hanako was honored as a "living legend" by the Maui Farm Bureau in 2016.
Clark said it is too early to tell if the next generation will take over the reins someday, but for now, he and Jackie are happy to carry the torch.
"It's been going on for four generations, 100 years, so it's a tradition that we like to carry on," he said. "We've got to see if the younger generation, see if they can carry on. They're too young to retire yet."
With the West Maui Mountains and the islands of Lanai and Molokai providing a backdrop, the persimmon trees at Hashimoto Persimmon Products in Kula (foreground) are so loaded with fruit their limbs must be supported by wooden frames.
The family support imported from the mainland provides a very welcome boost, he said.
"This is their third year. They look forward to it, actually. It gives us a chance to get together for one week. They help a lot. Without them, it would be that much harder for the two of us. We appreciate their help very much."
Clark said he expects this year's harvest to finish by mid- to late November. The farm is located at 1378 Pulehuiki Rd. Phone orders can be placed by calling (808) 856-0065.
Just downhill from Clark and Jackie's farm is Hashimoto Kula Persimmons & Cherimoya, which also sells fruit to walk-in customers and by phone order.
Raindrops cling to a Kula persimmon in October.
Racks of persimmon slices dry in one of the packing shed's dehydrators.
A ripe persimmon is ready to be picked at Hashimoto Persimmon Products in Kula.