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Sumida Watercress Farm

This week, we went on a field trip to Sumida Watercress Farm in Aiea.

Ben was not happy about going with us. He grumbled the entire way there about me waking him up early to "watch things grow".


Sumida Watercress Farm grows 75% of all the watercress produced in Hawaii. It has been run by the Sumida Family for three generations. One of the most interesting things about this farm is that the Pearlridge Mall was built around it because the Sumidas did not want to sell the land.



It's very cool to look at this little farm and then see the city buildings all around it.

One wall has the tails of marlins they have caught, each of which weighed over 600 pounds! One was even from an 800 pound fish!


Mr. Sumida brought out a giant bowl of crawfish which live in the water. He showed the kids how to pick one up and where to hold it so it couldn't pinch them. Katie picked one up and it promptly twisted itself into a backflip and pinched her finger.

We got to walk out through the farm, and Mr. Sumida showed us how they gather the watercress. There is no dirt on the farm. All the watercress grows on water alone. It takes eight weeks for the watercress to reach maturity and then they grow more by just throwing pieces of the plant back into the water.


He showed us how the workers use a very sharp sickle to cut off the roots. He chopped a large bundle of watercress in half with one quick swipe.

"I want one!" Ben said immediately.

I found a very informative video about the farm on YouTube.

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  1. Oahu MomDecember 20, 2010 at 6:09 PM

    I've always liked looking at that farm when I drive by. It's so unexpected right there by the mall and the road. Thanks for sharing - fun to learn more about it. I sure hope it continues there for generations to come.

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