Makana Farms is named after our elder black tribe coat Aussie, Makana. It means gift and reward in Hawaiian. While the meaning of the name fits our sweet boy, it also is a true reflection of our farm. When we first purchased the land it was an empty field, a blank canvas. This little nook is special, truly a gift to be caring for. We wanted to create something that would be an enjoyable pursuit and nourish both our family and our community while giving back to the land. Our farm has rewarded us so much for all we have given to it, and we are just getting started!
What It
Means
About Makana Farms
We consider ourselves a fruit farm, growing apples, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and 600 wine grapes. In addition to our orchards and vineyard, we also grow a large Stiffneck Garlic Patch for both the bulbs and its scapes, a large amount of tropical plants, and some veggies such as carrots, three types of onions, six types of squash, artichokes, parsnips, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, sugar snap peas,
and greenbeans.
What We
Grow
At Makana Farms we follow organic growing practices, hügelkultur and cover crop methods. It is important for us to provide our community and ourselves with the highest quality of nutrients possible, and that starts with caring for our soil.
The nutrients that we give our soil each year is easy to see and even easier to taste. Our farm is an incredible gift to care for and a great reward to enjoy. While our little farm is a lot of work to maintain, we can't imagine a better way to live.
How We
Grow
Award winning grapes
Our Collaboration with
Mineral Hills Winery
In collaboration with Mineral Hills Winery our 2022 Petite Pearl Grape harvest, won the gold medal at The Eastern States Expo for the best grown & made red wine in Massachusetts and overall gold in New England.
We are incredibly proud of of this harvest, especially coming from a young 5 year old vineyard! Just like the wine, our vineyard just gets better with age.
OUR SUBTERANEAN GREENHOUSE
Our 30x50 subterranean greenhouse, custom designed and built by Pierre, sits 5 feet into the ground. It has an insulated concrete foundation that has air to ground geothermal air pumps that can cool and heat the greenhouse depending on the time of year. We also use a masonry heater during the coldest months of the year to give our tropical plants the needed heat to survive a New England winter.
Among the many tropical plants growing in our subterranean greenhouse you will find one of our signature crops that people wait all year to buy, our organic ginger. We grow two types, Organic Peruvian Ginger and Organic Kawaiian Ginger. In addition to our ginger, some of the other tropical plants you will find inside are turmeric, guava, papaya, pineapples, sugar cane, three types of banana trees, naval orange, coffee, and a colomondin tree.
This uniquely designed greenhouse, flourishing with tropical plants you wouldn't expect to find at a new england farm, is our own little topical paradise, especially during the cold winter months.
Vineyard
Our award winning vineyard has 600 grape vines in it! Half of them are our white Itasca grapes and the other half are our award winning red Petite Pearl Grapes. Our Petite Pearl took home gold for the best grown grape in Ma from our 2022 harvest. Larry, Sue, and Anna from Mineral Hills Winery took it a step further bringing home the gold for best red wine in New England! We are honored to sell our grapes to Mineral Hills Winery in Northampton, MA where we know it is in the hands of skilled local vintners. Head on over and try a bottle!
Our Orchards &
Award Winning Vineyard
Peach & Pear Orchard
You will find Majestic Peaches, Reliance Peaches, and Bradford Pears in the background of the farmstand. Makana Farms produces the most succulant of juicy peaches you will ever taste!
Semi Dwarf Apple Orchard
Our Semi Dwarf Apple Orchard is home to our honeybee hives as well as a wide variety of apples. Ranging from heirloom cider apple trees to your cortlands, macs, and honey crisp varieties! The very first orchard of any kind that we planted here at Makan Farms can be found on the east end of our farm.
Espalier Apple Orchard
Our Espalier Apple Orchard is the beautiful foreground for our farmstand and home to 40 cider trees. When the trees fully mature they need support to hold the weight of the apples hence the two dimensional trellis system.