Remembering ʻUlu Farmer, Uncle Henry Cho Jr.

Uncle Henry was a dedicated and skilled farmer, delivering nearly 82,000 lbs of ʻulu to the Cooperative since joining as one of our first members in 2017. Having only 25 trees planted, he harvested 12,000 lbs just this past season in 2024, which is about 480 lbs per tree!

Besides his contribution to the Co-op and the revitalization of ʻulu in Hawaiʻi, Uncle Henry is also leaving behind a great legacy for his family and community that he loved. Coming from a farming family with a long history in Kona, Uncle Henry worked much of his life as a firefighter, loved fishing, paddling, and judo, and was known to swim in Honaunau Bay every morning for exercise.

After (hardly) retiring, he started farming more seriously, and even co-owned a poi mill with his brother at one point. Uncle Henry’s primary crop was coffee, and he got inspired to incorporate ʻulu as a secondary crop by neighbor farmer and fellow co-op member, Cindy Walsh, who helped to grow out ʻulu keiki for distribution under the Plant a Tree of Life – Grow Breadfruit project of the Breadfruit Institute around 2010. Uncle Henry sourced about 20 maʻafala trees from her and, with his incredibly green thumb, consistently ranked among the top 20 producers within the Cooperative.

On top of being known for his beautiful farm, fellow farmers and co-op staff remember him as being reliable, dedicated, knowledgeable, always smiling and laughing, and contagiously enthusiastic about ʻulu as an important kupuna crop in Hawaiʻi – especially within the historic Breadfruit Belt, or Kaluʻulu agroforestry region, of South Kona. He was a proponent of keeping it simple and treating his ʻulu trees just like his coffee, regularly applying the same “super coffee cherry” fertilizer on both crops.

For more little gems of manaʻo from Uncle Henry and other experienced Co-op members, click the photo below to watch a video from our Farmer-to-Farmer Knowledge Sharing Panel, hosted at our 2024 Annual Member Meeting.

Before his passing, Uncle Henry Jr. helped his son Henry “Bo” Cho III, plant out his farm with over 200 ʻulu trees – a big step from his own modest 25 trees. Uncle Henry generously mentored those in the younger generation, including his grandson, Kawai Cho, who often helped him harvest his bountiful ʻulu crop. This multi-generational knowledge sharing around food and agriculture exemplifies the traditions of both the Cho ʻohana and the Hawaiian culture of aloha ‘āina, love of that which feeds.

We’ll miss Uncle Henry, and cannot mahalo him enough for his support of the Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Co-op and our mission to get ʻulu back on every table in Hawaiʻi.

A hui hou a me ke aloha nui e Uncle Henry Cho Jr.