Sumida Farm
Situated in between tall buildings and tons of concrete and asphalt sits, in my opinion, one of the most remarkable landmarks on O'ahu, not so much for what you see, but for what it represents. Started in 1928 by Moriichi and Makiyo Sumida, this watercress farm has withstood the scourge of development in the heart of the concrete jungles of Pearlridge and hungry developers. Their son, Masaru fought developers of Peralridge Shopping Center to keep the states largest producer of watercress from turning into phase III of the shopping complex. Masaru passed away at the age of 84 in 2003 but the farm and family tradition lives on through his children.
Go to the Flickr page if you wish to see a zoom out picture of the surrounding area.
Labels: Pearlridge Shopping Center, Sumida Farm, Watercress
posted by Kala at Sunday, July 15, 2007
11 Comments:
I can't find a link to your Flickr page. I'd be interested to see the long view.
I love driving by there and had always wondered what exactly was grown there. Thanks for the history lesson. It is definitely a bright spot amidst traffic and buildings.
I would imagine the city fathers would pass something to tax his property for the value it would bring if condos were built on it and in that way force the owner to sell. THey do it around here all the time. A nursery had many acres in the country. All planted with trees, etc. The city kept raising his property taxes after rezoning the place and he was forced to sell most of it to keep something. I suspect he will be out of business soon and the land will sprout new homes.
I am grateful your Masaru family is managing to hang onto what they have.
oldmanlincoln
What a great story and photo too! Hmm watercress, my first thought, even though it doesn't look like it, was pineapple. Are there still pineapple farms there?
What a great David and Goliath story Kala, I hope the family continues to far there for many more generations.
South Shields Daily Photo
Oh I like the illustration that Curly made...a David and Goliath story. Perfect...I hope they can keep on and do their business instead of Big Business taking over.
Very interesting. Thanks Kala.
I hope nothing but success for this family. What a great inspirational story!!
Oh yes i remember this when i lived in Honolulu ! But i never knew what they were growing but now i know !
Runa
Felicia, there are definitely still pineapple farms here. I live in the middle of an old one. A good bit of the land around it is still being used to grow pineapples.
Oh my god that's totally my dad's farm :D WOOT
YAY ! i <3 watercress !! ^^
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