Farm-to-table cafe and community gathering place near Hilo
Hawaii
Our farm is 8 miles north of Hilo, where we operate Sweet Cane Cafe, a farm-to-table Cafe, which has become a sort-of community gathering place.“Ginger” John is an iconic figure in organic circles, known for his deep commitment to organic farming, years of experience, work ethic, and willingness to share his knowledge.We grow and juice sugarcane, a wonderful and delicious health drink, breadfruit, bananas, citrus, taro, and more. Woofers help with weeding, harvesting, etc. We keep a nice family vibe, no alcohol or cigarettes, and we welcome long stays. Check out our Facebook or Instagram or Sweet Cane Cafe.com. Contact Jackie at jacqueprell@hotmail.com. Or (808)938-5864.
Organic methods: Korean Natural Farming and traditional organic farming methods
Certifications: The farm supplies a lot of the food for our cafe, Sweet Cane Cafe, including fresh-pressed sugarcane juice, taro, breadfruit, cassava, citrus, bananas, and veggies and flowers.
Internet access available
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Methods or systems
Holistic management
Regenerative agriculture
Jackie
Member since 2014
Languages spoken:
English
Response rate: 29%
Response time: typically within 3 days
December 2025
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Open
Planned visit
Closed
Hawaii
Reviews
Sebastian
United States
•
December 2022
I highly recommend work-trading at this farm.
John, Jackie, Caleb, and Ipo are all very caring hosts. They always communicated well and made sure I had what I needed. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn from them.
The work-trader cabins are large, comfortable, and spaced for privacy. Bedsheets and blankets are readily available. There is access to a washing machine.
In the kitchen, there is a nice chest-style refrigerator for food storage. There are also some large buckets of staples like quinoa, oats, and chickpeas. Food from the cafe is occasionally brought back to the farm. The cafe has a creative vegetarian menu, very fun to explore. A refillable gift card was provided for if I wanted to treat myself at the cafe during my time off
Some other food highlights: John’s homemade paneer(!!!), fruits from the farm, and the opportunity to drink raw milk and raw sugarcane juice. Mixing raw milk and cane juice is a nutritious and delicious treat that I’ll never forget.
My visit was short but I was able to learn many new skills and perform a variety of tasks. Most days I (and other workers) would be started on a task then trusted to work without supervision. There were some days that I had the chance to work directly with John and/or the farm manager Caleb.
This farm is a special place in many ways - with daily rainbows to top it all off. The community growing around this farm is very welcoming and loving.
Much gratitude and love to all !
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Jeffrey
United States
•
May 2015
I would like to begin by saying that it is not my intent to either encourage or discourage folks from visiting this farm. I only wish to describe my experience, although it will undoubtedly sway future WWOOFers. Even though every moment was not the most enjoyable, overall I am glad for the experience and the people I met. The three months I spent here was a period of significant personal growth for me. John and Jackie (the hosts) are good people and I truly do wish them the best. The farm is located about 10 miles outside Hilo, HI. They do own another farm down in Kalapana, but there were no WWOOFers staying there during my time; we did drive down to work there on several occasions. This is definitely not your average WWOOF site. A good number of workers had been living here for periods ranging from six months to over two years. I use the term worker because for the most part that is how I felt we were treated, and not everyone found this farm via WWOOF. The situation lacks the structure to be considered an internship, in my opinion. I stayed in a room in the workshop/barn whereas more long-term workers were situated around the property in individual cabins. There was a period of adjustment, and the food provided was not always consistent, but I came to very much enjoy the farm fare; I had never before eaten so well. The cows provided an abundance of fresh milk for drinking and for producing ghee, yoghurt, and cottage cheese. Sugarcane juice provided a great way to stay hydrated and served as a valuable addition to smoothies made with the Vitamix. Although not always home-grown, there were a variety of fruits and vegetables on hand from local sources, plus rice, oats, cocao, honey, coconut oil, etc. Home-grown papaya with yoghurt came to be my favorite breakfast, and I'll probably never again have fresh noni, a fruit purported to have powerful medicinal properties. Meals were not particularly organized events, although breakfast and lunch followed a fairly regular schedule (7-8 and 12-1, respectively). Although my three months here was not very long relative to the time-scale in which farming occurs, I did not feel I performed a great variety of tasks. There is a nice garden on the property from which greens and herbs were harvested for the Café and home-use, but I was only assigned to work in there on one occasion. For the most part we were shown how to perform a task and then left to our own devices. John did attempt to provide instruction, education, and inspiration, but we did not work alongside him very much. John does have a lifetime of experience farming in Hawaii, and a great deal of knowledge regarding natural healthcare. During my time here I took to heart the idea that food is medicine. John believes in working hard and I came to value this as well, but sometimes I felt the work lacked purpose/organization. Well I suppose this description tends toward negativity, but unfortunately that was how the atmosphere on the farm frequently felt. This has a lot to do with who was living there at the time, and I know several others have left since I did 1.5 months ago. Your experience will not be mine.
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