| January 2019 7
Margaret and John
Stokes, with a bounty
of fresh harvest.
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“You just have a look around and utilize it. Who
knew, for example, that we could make our own
green banana flour?”
Until recently, the couple raised domestic pigs
on the farm, which they dubbed Kune Kai
Farm, meaning “Fat Ocean.” The pigs lived
off the vegetation that grows on the property.
John and Margaret currently raise chickens,
goats and cows. Their rescue chickens came
from Puna during the Kilauea eruption.
“Our milk cow was being bred in Lower Puna at
the time of the eruption,” said Margaret. “We had
to rescue her and bring her back here. It was quite
the adventure with me driving the trailer.”
The Stokes collect rainwater in their
25,000-gallon ferro-cement tank, considered
the gold standard of catchment tanks. They
have five different filtering systems and utilize
zero chemicals in the water. Energy savings
come from their solar hot-water system. They
generate three-quarters of all their electricity
via a photovoltaic system.
John’s woodshop beneath the home is outfitted
with all the tools he needs for making furniture,
tables and shelves, including the beautiful shelves
in the master walk-in closet and an extraordinary
bookcase in the hall. The master and guest
bathrooms showcase gorgeous tile work on the
showers. John recently completed an outdoor lavarock
shower embedded with vintage wine bottles
and glass “skull” vodka containers. In their previous
life, the Stokes operated their own vineyard in
Northern California.
For John and Margaret, life on Kune Kai Farm is
a never-ending work in progress. There is always
something to build, maintain or repair. Despite the
demands of sustainable living, the couple wouldn’t
want it any other way.
“I have more abundance of everything that I could
ever dream of—friends, health, and a beautiful
property,” said Margaret. “We really try hard to do
no harm, be generous to our neighbors and be
thankful for all that we have.”
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