Farm, Feast and Make Lei at Common Ground on Kaua‘i

Kaua‘i’s rainy North Shore is particularly verdant as I make my way to Common Ground in Kīlauea from my home on the south side. The 83-acre property, once home to the Kīlauea Sugar and Guava Kai plantations, has been repurposed as a community gathering place and a starting point for future agricultural projects.

The sun-soaked mountains and grazing cattle make for a postcard-worthy day up north as I check in for a regenerative farm and food tour, followed by lei making. Beyond the farm-to-table experience, Common Ground considers itself a creative campus and prides itself on being an incubator for a circular economy of food and beverage businesses. As such, it teaches regenerative farming practices, hosts events, and provides distribution channels for local products.

The clean yet culturally thoughtful aesthetic of the place strikes me immediately. Local art and murals, signs written in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language), and farm-picked flowers on natural wood set the scene. Once I check in, a friendly staff member guides me around a dedicated area that highlights local makers, featuring a variety of art, tea, skin care products, culinary syrups and more, available for purchase.

While I wait for the remaining members of my tour group to arrive at the bar within the check-in area, I chat with the bartender as she prepares a new signature drink, the Sugarloaf “tini,” the bar’s version of a pineapple martini. It’s made with Hanalei Okolehao (a spirit made from the root of the Hawaiian ti plant), sugarloaf pineapple juice, lemon, and Aloha Ginger Beer (one of my personal favorites), and served with a grilled pineapple and edible flowers. The bar is stocked with local beers; wines; and offerings from Hanalei Spirits, a local small-batch distillery located up the road.

Our tour guide, Ro Elgas, gathers our group of about 10 and greets us with a warm aloha, and after brief introductions, she takes us to the regenerative food forest. Iced tea made fresh from the farm is served at the start of the tour in reusable coconut cups, adding to the living-off-the-land vibe here.

Elgas is a former avocado farmer who also worked for a time with the USDA, touring and certifying organic farms. On the tour, she explains the benefits of cultivating regenerative food forests and the positive impact this method of farming can have on a community’s food security. Through strategic plant positioning, crops actually help each other flourish, rather than competing for resources. Elgas welcomes questions and gives an insightful overview of the property’s mission.

Being isolated in the Pacific, the more local resources Hawai‘i has, the better—and Common Ground is committed to building those resources. Research shows that more than 80% of Hawai‘i’s food is imported, and initiatives like regenerative food forests are working to reverse the numbers. Common Ground argues that with a climate and local food system as robust as Hawai‘i’s, there should be no need for the state to import as much as it does. Instead, it says, it should tap more deeply into local fare.

Coffee, coconuts, kava, māmaki, hearts of palm and ‘ulu are just some of the crops found on the grounds. The most fascinating part to me is the strategic planting: Certain crops used to repel insects are placed near other crops that are more prone to attract them. Here, farmers actively work with the ecosystem rather than disrupting it, and the results speak for themselves.

After the hourlong tour, we bid Elgas a hui hou. Now it’s time to learn about our farm-to-table dinner from chef Jabez Yohannes. Each course represents an exquisite and mindful mix of flavors that can only come from freshly harvested crops.   

Although the menu varies depending on when you visit, the four-course meals are always inspired by what’s in season. During my visit we begin with a summer harvest salad with farm-fresh greens, papaya, and pickled māmaki berries in a passion orange guava vinaigrette. A fact I find interesting: The māmaki berry has been used in Hawai‘i for centuries for medicinal purposes, including to help induce labor. For the second course, chef Yohannes has prepared a Spanish-style tortilla, a rustic egg dish with baked zucchini, basil, fennel, kabocha squash and chèvre goat cheese, finished with a roasted tomato crema. The peppery microgreens in this course complement the caramelization of the roasted vegetables perfectly. For the main course, Yohannes has prepared slow-cooked braised local beef with sage demi-glace, taro gnocchi, bok choy, carrots, and cherry tomatoes. Lastly, there’s a sugarloaf pineapple sorbet for dessert, topped with a vanilla-infused honey and fresh mango.

Stuffed to the gills, I head down to my next experience, lei making. As someone who has made lei before, I understand the effort involved in the prep: Gathering all the flowers and greenery can take hours. Thankfully, the lovely ladies leading our lei-making class have already collected everything we need from the property.

I sit down in the lei garden with the smell of plumeria, stephanotis and pua kenikeni filling the air. With raffia and palms already set out, Hi‘ilani Ventura and Auntie Elvrine Zeevat-Chow lead the group in creating lei po‘o, encouraging each maker to appreciate the meditative state of lei making as it was intended. Auntie Elvrine explains that as a person breathes in the flowers’ intoxicating scents, their cortisol levels naturally drop, and stress seems to drift away.

The Farm Experience, Dinner & Lei Workshop is offered weekly. 4900 Kuawa Road, Kīlauea, (808) 828-6368, commongroundkauai.com.

This story was originally published in our FALL/WINTER 2025 issue, which you can buy here. Better yet, subscribe and get HAWAIʻI Magazine delivered to right to your mailbox.

Allison Frascatore is a contributor to HAWAIʻI Magazine.