Stanley Eugenio

Meet Stanley, a local landscaper, gardener, and ʻulu farmer and harvester from the Oʻokala, Hawaiʻi Island. He has been a part of the ʻUlu cooperative since 2018, primarily by helping both co-op members and non-member farmers harvest and deliver their ʻulu to the co-op’s ʻAlae Postharvest Facility in Hilo.

Stanley was born and raised on the island - his mom is Native Hawaiian, and his dad is a Filipino immigrant who spent many years working within the local plantations in the 50s and 60s. He grew up in a camp village with around five to six other families, and his father was always farming.

He remembers his father grew dozens of fruit trees and vegetable gardens, and he also leased a piece of land where he planted ʻulu trees and raised pigs and cattle. The fruit that would drop was the livestock’s principal food source along with the pasture grass. Almost everything the family ate was from the land, and they used medicinal plants like moringa and bittermelon to cure their ailments.

Growing up, Stanley says he was fortunate to have gardening as part of his elementary school curriculum. They had agriculture classes where the kids could farm a little plot of land together, and he remembers growing a lot of corn, radishes, carrots, beans, and Chinese peas.

As a fundamental part of his upbringing, living with and off the land was very important to him. Seeing his dad work so hard inspired him to continue with the lifestyle. He continues to do a lot of gardening himself and currently grows a lot of tomatoes, green onions, peppers, and a variety of spice herbs, which he shares with friends and family.

A Great Outdoorsman

Stanley has worked outside his whole life: landscaping, gardening, in golf courses, and various other jobs. He enjoys what he does; he thinks working is a privilege, not a chore, and he wants to leave his day feeling good about the interactions and positive impact he has made.

When he joined the ʻUlu cooperative in 2018, he saw the opportunity to start harvesting for co-op members who didn’t otherwise have time. He always found it to be such a shame seeing all the fruit from overloaded ʻulu trees at different jobs he worked at fall on the ground and go to waste.

With the cooperative's capacity to buy any fruit he brought in, he connected with more farmers. He provided the service of harvesting, loading, weighing, and dropping off the fruits at the cooperative's processing facilities.

Since 2021, Stanley has been working closely with two members in Pepeekeo whom he has helped plant and now harvest their trees where he can get over 2000 pounds a day during peak season.

Along with these sites, he has also helped a variety of other small homesteads and members that have been referred to him by word of mouth or the cooperative's CEO, Dana Shapiro. He usually works with people who are grateful to just have their ʻulus be harvested and not request anything in return, but sometimes they'll split the sales, and Stanley always likes to give his homemade ʻulu chips.

Stanley's ʻUlu Harvester

When he started harvesting, Stanley realized how inefficient most pickers were to use.

"It would be okay if the fruit just hung there with nothing around it, but I can build a better one," he said.

They were not designed for the specifications of ʻulu but for smaller tree fruit. Maneuvering the tool and completing a harvesting job would always take a lot of extra time.

After recognizing some of the essential alterations he could make, he started to design a tool of his own - something that would fit around the large size of the ʻulu and cut it without damaging the fruit. He worked through about five different models, and after three years of working on it, he created a version that allowed him to move very efficiently and significantly reduce the time it takes to complete a job.

Stanley appreciates the support he has gotten within the ʻUlu cooperative. He loves how it has been led and sees how fair they are with each of their members, noting, “they really listen and take into account the needs of each person they are working with.”

Stanley holding his customized ʻUlu harvester picker — click here to order it now.

Where is he now?

Stanley is now semi-retired but plans to continue harvesting with the ʻUlu cooperative and a select few long-term landscaping clients he had for over 30 years.

Stanley also owns a small residential lot and pasture land in Laupāhoehoe, where he hopes to farm in the future. Throughout his working life, his biggest challenge has been balancing time between work and his family, of which he has four children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. He aims to work more on his projects and spend more time with his family, passing on his love for unusual plants, nature, and quality food.

Despite his busy life, Stanley has always been a big foodie. He loves ʻulu and its diverse flavors. He enjoys each stage of the fruit, from when it's bland and tastes like a potato to when it ripens and can transform into dessert. He makes many different ‘ulu dishes: lots of ʻulu patties, steamed with garlic and butter or fried with bacon, as well as chips, ʻulu poi, and ʻulu poi dessert with coconut milk, honey, and tapioca balls. Stanley also makes a lot of smoked meat, Thai cuisine, and baked bread. He mixes traditional Hawaiian flavors and practices into his dishes.

“It is the love you put into your food that makes it taste good,” he says.

He is committed to transmitting the human spirit through everything he does. Stanley is dedicated to his family, his culture, and sustainable living on the beautiful Hawaiian islands.