OUR STORY

Native Hawaiian/Female-Owned Business

Māla Māmā Farm is a small-scale, regenerative urban farm owned and operated by Natasha Gourlay and Dorian Rivera. Māla Māmā Farm was created by Natasha in Fall 2020 and has consistently been present in local farmers markets and several retail stores. With a passion for healing, Natasha created Māla Māmā Farm with the intentions of providing her community locally resourced plants and herbs that contain highly-valued medicinal properties. Through the Hawaiian traditions of la'au lapa'au, ancient medicinal practices are the foundation of Māla Māmā Farm. It is a core belief of Māla Māmā Farm that the integration of traditional medicine and western medicine are methods the community can greatly benefit from.

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ABOUT MĀLA MĀMĀ FARM

Mala Mama Headquaters

The core of operations are conducted out of our home in Kailua, Oahu. This is where a lot of our production takes place. From labeling and packaging, to the growing of our māla, along with farmers market preparations.

Living Soil

Through the efforts of soil building and bioremediation we were able to turn our backyard into a small-scale food production garden/urban farm. Locally sourced compost, cinder, and native soil are mainly what our soil is composed of, along with the addition of numerous organic amendments. Mulch is also used on the top layer of our soil to retain water and reduce water usage. Mulching gives us the ability to add organic matter back to the 'āina, resulting in the sequestering of carbon and promoting the growth and presence of indigenous microorganisms. The idea is to create a biodiverse, self-sufficient living system in our māla that is beneficial to human health and the environment.

Aloha 'Āina

Shepherding the earth and being environmentally conscious are vital concepts that Māla Māmā Farm feels passionate about. We believe that food security is one of the most important topics, especially here in Hawai'i. And equally as important are the quality of the foods we are ingesting, and the methods of which they were grown. A sufficient agricultural model that puts the health of humans and the 'āina at the forefront is an idea that we support. In the future, it is our goal to upscale to an agricultural plot of greater size so that we have the ability to create a healthy biodiverse system that ultimately heals our 'āina and its people.

La'au Lapa'au

Hawaiian medicinal kahuna were herbal practitioners. This practice is known as laʻau lapaʻau. The use of a variety of plants, such as māmaki and ʻolena (turmeric) were formulated into healing remedies. These teachings and practices were essential to the survival and well being of our ancient Hawaiian ancestors.

These same teachings and practices are the core foundation of Māla Māmā Farm.

Māmaki

Māmaki is a native (endemic) plant with several species. Some of these species are limited to certain areas of several of the Hawaiian islands or to one island only.

A member of the nettle family, māmaki was found to have numerous uses along with being highly medicinal. From creating Kapa and cordage from the bark, to the use of the berries to treat thrush in babies, or tea made from fresh leaves to create a healing tonic, māmaki is truly an amazing plant.

Here at Māla Māmā Farm, māmaki is the main ingredient in each of our tea blends. It is our goal to help provide māmaki to those in our community and beyond, so that they can benefit from the ancient healing properties māmaki possess

Our Tea Blends

In the Māla

In our māla (garden) we grow a wide variety of plants, fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers. Majority of the ingredients used in our products are sourced directly from our garden. In addition to māmaki being one of our staple crops, ʻolena, lemongrass, and comfrey are medicinal plants we provide as other key ingredients within our products.

'Olena (turmeric)

'Olena is a member of the ginger family but is mainly referred to as turmeric. It was brought to Hawai'i by the Marqueasans, some of the earliest settlers. In ancient Hawai'i the rhizomes were an important source of dye for kapa, spiritual cleansing along with containing medicinal properties used to treat stuffy noses and sinus troubles. ʻOlena has high amount of curcumin which has anti-inflammatory properties that help to reduce pain, swelling & inflammation.

'Olena is used in our OG Blend and is a great addition to incorporate into your diet and daily health regimen.

Lemongrass

Lemongrass serves many purposes here at Māla Māmā Farm. A grass with long blades that has a citrus scent resembling that of lemons, the beneficial properties and uses are so diverse. It maybe used as a recipe in a favorite stew, as a medicinal herb in a tea, or even serve as beneficial plant in the māla by deterring pest. It also works great when used as mulch, providing ground cover and helping with water retention in our living soil beds.

Lemongrass also contains substances that are thought to relieve pain and swelling, reduce fever, improve levels of sugar and cholesterol in the blood, stimulate the uterus and menstrual flow, and contain antioxidant properties.

If you would like to add lemongrass into your daily health regimen, try our OG Blend today.

Comfrey

Comfrey is a shrub which the leaves and roots have been use for centuries to treat many ailments and healing wounds. A fast growing plant with a long tradition of medicinal usage, when extracted it has been used as a skin topical to treat wounds, rashes, scars, as well as reduce inflammations from bruises, sprains, and broken bones.

In the garden comfrey plays the role of an excellent beneficial plant. Its roots do a great job at retaining water in the rhizosphere, while the leaves serve as a source of nitrogen and mulch for ground cover.

Mala Mama Farm provides comfrey through our topical Comfrey Salve.