About Us
Who is Pahale Farms
About Us is really about so many of Us. Like so many, our family’s cast of colorful characters truly spanned the good, the bad, and the ugly. I believe this beginning is why we are here now and working so hard to make Pahale Farms a dream come true on the Big Island of Hawaii.
It has never been easy . . .
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Who Is Pahale Farms?
Pahale Farms is a small local family farm, consisting of a Brother (Thor) and Sister/Beekeeper (Donelle) and their Spouses (Jan and Dan). Thor and Donelle’s summers were spent in La Mision, Baja California, Mexico at their grandparents. Back then it was country, full of local friends, cousins, animals, the ocean and two incredible grandparents that made every day an adventure. After their passing, Donelle spent summers and vacations traveling to Maui, Oahu and Kauai, planting that same seed from their childhood and fostering a connection to the Hawaiian islands. It took some time but by 2008 they purchased the land that would become Pahale Farms.
Donelle’s drive to become a mindful beekeeper and coffee grower coupled with Jan’s business experience and contagious enthusiasm, the never-ending sacrifice and support of Dan and Thor has aided in growing the farm into what it is today…a small batch coffee and honey farm. Being small allows them the luxury of being extremely meticulous and hands on producing premium products for their customers.
To date, they have cultivated 2 acres of coffee, an acre of papaya’s as well as other fruit trees providing a wonderful nectar source for their bees. Pahale Farms is an off-grid farm who relies soley on sunshine, rain and their own ingenuity and is located on the slopes of Maunakea ….in Papaaloa…..above the Hamakua coast….
"Its all about achieving a standard that will only compromise to what Mother Nature presses upon us...She is who we listen to."
Learn more About our beekeeper
- Donelle Rodriguez -
I was raised in southern California, during my youth I would go down to Baja California, Mexico and visit my grandmother’s very rural home in La Mision. My grandparents lived without electricity and utilized a pila for water storage. I spent a lot of time on their neighbor’s farms building relationships with animals. This was a happy chapter in my life and one I sought to rebuild as an adult. It was my dream to live off- grid, make a living from the land and to find peace and joy in this simpler lifestyle. Growing up in Orange County, I was living in one of the richest parts of the country, but I was happiest four hours away in one of the poorest parts of the world. Working in the Bay Area, all my professional jobs were steppingstones to living and working in the country. Spending time in Hawaii during my youth, I always knew this was the place I was destined to be. Working on my farm, here I am fully content, complete, and joyous.
After moving here in 2006, I apprenticed for a world-renowned honey company that was producing a highly specialized Kiawe White Honey. A year and a half later my husband and I purchased 16 acres with very modest living conditions and basic off the grid utilities…and the rest is history and herstory.