Hawaii's Share Your Table

Agader and Medrano met working for Waialua Sugar Company, and when sugar production shut down, they were growing diversified crops for Dole, such as papayas, hay and flour. None of these crops turned a profit, but on weekends and nights, Agader and Medrano were planting asparagus on the side for the Hawaii Agricultural Research Center, which was doing research on asparagus and salinity. The outcome of the research? Asparagus thrived in Hawaii’s salty conditions and in Waialua with its mild weather, neither too rainy nor too dry. 

So by the time Dole phased out all their diversified crops and Agader and Medrano’s jobs, their one acre of asparagus had turned into 40, all ready to be harvested. Medrano says at the time, he thought about jumping into another trade, as a carpenter or mechanic, but why commute an hour to town when he could stay close to home and work in Waialua’s fields where it seemed like everything was falling into place? For Agader, leaving the fields never crossed his mind. “I just like working outdoors,” he says. “We’re familiar with this land.”

Farming isn’t just working the fields

Being familiar with the land, however, is just one step in a complex operation. Running a farm means not only farming, but also marketing and distribution.  “We have to grow quality,” Agader says. “It has to be consistent and we have to compete against the mainland products that come in.” But luckily, the asparagus sells itself. “Asparagus is so unique over here, people knock on our doors.” And against the imports, Agader says “we’re giving people better quality because it’s fresh.” Asparagus from Twin Bridge Farms arrives in stores within days of harvest.

Asparagus is so unique over here, people knock on our doors.”

Because asparagus grows so fast, shooting up 5 to 6 inches a day, Twin Bridge harvests daily, 7 days a week. Currently, Twin Bridge uses conventional farming practices, but they’re looking into controlling the weeds (their greatest challenge) without using chemicals and are considering compost as a fertilizer. They’ve put aside a piece of land for organic farming, and hopefully, as they get comfortable with it, they’ll expand, just like how their asparagus patch started, from one acre to its current 65 acres.  

Both Agader and Medrano are long-time farmers, and the few among many of the former sugar workers that are still farming. Says Medrano, “we’re still here. We’re still growing and we still got a lot of things to learn.”


Twin Bridge Farms’ Waialua asparagus is part of the Hawaii Seal of Quality program. For more information on Seal of Quality products, click on the logo.