Company description

Laulima Farm is a 13-acre organic agroforestry farm nestled in Kipahulu Valley of East Maui, along the Road to Hana — one of the most lush, remote, and biodiverse corners of Hawaiʻi. The farm started in 1996 and over the years we've grown a mature, highly productive food forest: hundreds of varieties of tropical fruits, coffee, cacao, herbs, spices, and vegetables, all grown together as an edible ecosystem. Walking around the farm you'll see large overstory trees like avocados protect our smaller shade-loving trees such as cacao and coffee. In between those, find shrubs of hot peppers for our hot sauce and root crops of ginger and turmeric, all tucked in together with our nitrogen-fixing ground cover of perennial peanut.

"Laulima" means many hands working together in Hawaiian — and that ethos is at the core of how we farm. A small, committed team lives and works on the land year-round. Most people who come stay for one to two years. We're open to someone becoming long-term farmily — but we know that's something that develops naturally, over time, through check-ins and honest conversation. What matters at the outset is that you're genuinely interested in at least 6 months, since training a new team member is a real investment of everyone's time and energy.

Our fruit, coffee, and farm products are sold directly at our roadside farm stand and café on the Hana Highway, where we get to share the story of regenerative agriculture and the delicious fruits of our labors with visitors and locals every single day.

Job description

The Position
This is a work-trade role with a clear path to additional paid work. It's both a farm field crew and farm shop & barista position. That said, we're open to applicants who aren't interested in working the shop — most of the crew does, but we typically have one or two people focused purely on farm work.

Work-trade schedule: Monday–Wednesday, 8:00 am–4:30 pm (15min break in morning, and hour lunch break, ~22 hours/week)

Core farm work may include (most positions will involve a few of these, not all):

• Hand-weeding our agroforestry orchards (our perennial peanut ground cover system means consistent, methodical weeding — this is a big part of the job and an excellent way to gain intimate knowledge of all the plants)
• Annual vegetable gardening
• Coffee berry picking during fall harvest season (1–2 days/week)
• Farm landscape maintenance and mowing
• Working shifts at our roadside farm stand and café

Work-trade team days are a mix of all-crew weeding sessions and independent project work after you're trained, or a shift at the fruit stand. We work rain or shine — this is the jungle, and it rains a lot.

Paid work opportunities (additional, beyond work-trade hours):

• An additional day at the farm stand (9:30 am–5:00 pm) — you run the stand solo, sell what we grow, and can make and sell your own organic baked goods, keeping 100% of the profits as well as tips.
• An independent work day on the land
• For hardworking, land-skilled people, there is generally no shortage of additional paid work available in our neighborhood as well (weeding, landscaping, tree work, house cleaning)

What We Provide:

• Your own private sleeping cabin on the farm
• Communal kitchen and dining area, bathhouse, laundry, shard with a farm crew of 3-5 people
• Your own large personal garden beds to grow what you like
• Extensive access to food from the farm— abundant fruit, salad greens, herbs, and vegetables throughout the year
• Delicious farm-to-table lunch on all work-trade days (Monday-Wednesday)
• Access to a wood-fired sauna
• High-speed WiFi in communal spaces
• Daily immersion in a mature, thriving agroforestry system

What We're Looking For:
We want someone who is genuinely interested in farming and community living. The right person for this role:

• Is passionate about plants, food, and regenerative agriculture
• Is interested in and suited for communal living — this is a close community, and interpersonal maturity matters
• Is self-directed and can work independently after training, without needing constant supervision
• Has physical stamina and a good attitude toward repetitive outdoor work, rain or shine
• Can accept constructive feedback and follow instructions well
• Wants to build real skills and deep knowledge of agroforestry, tropical food systems and off-grid living
• Prior farm experience is a plus, but what matters most is your character, work ethic, and genuine interest plants and growing food!

Commitment
Minimum 6 months required. Our ideal candidate is looking for a 1-2+ commitment. There is so much to learn here--just learning all of the different plants we grow on the farm takes at least a couple years!

Practical Notes
Cell service: Minimal to none in most areas of the farm, but as mentioned above, we have high-speed internet
Car: Not required, but helpful for getting to town. Carpooling and sharing errands is common on the farm. Hitch-hiking works well around here, too.
Location: Very remote — outside of Hana in East Maui. This position is for folks who are looking for a rural, nature-immersed lifestyle. If you need to be near stores/restaurants, we are not the right fit. Small rural Hana-town about 30min and Kahului (the airport and big store town) is 2+ hours.

Compensation

this position is: hourly, $20/hr +

Application instructions

If you are not registered, you'll be prompted to do so. Don't worry, it's free!

Deadline

no deadline