Healing the Land Takes a Big Vision: Andre and Jyoti Ulrych and Starseed Ranch in Kohala
By Cynthia Sweeney
This is the rugged and windswept coastline where King Kamehameha I rested after warfare. This raw and scenic countryside is also old, depleted sugarcane land, devoid of nutrients, with elevated levels of arsenic and unfit for growing much of anything.
This area, Kauhola Point, or Lighthouse—nicknamed for the Kauhola Lighthouse demolished in 2009—was also part of the Union Mill Plantation Company, the largest sugarcane mill in Kohala. Between about 1915 and 1970, sugar plantations throughout the islands exhausted the land with rigorous methods of clearing, burning and widespread use of arsenic-based herbicides.
After sugar production ceased here in 1973, the land was leased for cattle grazing and horse pasture. Wood and metal structures still remain, along with remnants of a riding arena, pipe fencing and wood posts, which still help define the landscape.
Today, an era of rejuvenation is underway.
“We can see an amazing corridor of nature. But it’s so dry and arid we’re thinking about planting trees to bring back the weather,” says Jessica Wieloh, a former teacher and one of the caretakers for this parcel of Kauhola land. “We are always going to be open to what the land will dictate. The land will attract the people and animals that it needs. I already see that happening.”
Enter Andre and Jyoti Ulrych.
About 15 years ago, Andre and Jyoti bought 115 acres at Lighthouse, intending to retire there. They envisioned a sort of eco-village, a low-profile, sustainable community with mostly farm-type dwellings.
In Kohala, however, the land inspires dreams and potential for a lot of things that could happen. And healing this land is a process that is going to take time. Andre and Jyoti subsequently bought 26 acres just down the road, near Pololū Valley, which they call Starseed Ranch.
Meanwhile, Jyoti has turned the Lighthouse project into a 501c3 non-profit, the Kukuiwaluhi Foundation, and is leasing the land to “young people” as she calls them, like Jessica.
Andre and Jyoti bring a rich history to the Big Island.
In the 1980s, GMO (genetically modified) food was on the rise, with the giant conglomerate Monsanto spearheading the crusade. In response, Andre and Jyoti co-founded Seeds of Change, with the intent to educate the population and stop the use of genetically modified seeds. Seeds of Change grew into an international business, and Starmesa, their 230-acre organic farm with headquarters in Aspen, Colorado, was host to international conferences and events.
Andre was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying; “Ninety-nine percent of the seeds on the market today are not organic. Many of them are hybrids that are routinely coated with pesticides. However, a growing number of people are avoiding eating industrial agricultural products.”
During this time, Andre and Jyoti also provided education, food and jobs for the community at their organic farm in La Rivera, Baja, Mexico: Rancho Rasayana Rosanna Retreat.
Funding for this revolutionary cause came from Andre’s Bar, the happening place in Aspen in the 1970s and ‘80s. Andre designed and built the establishment, Jyoti added the funky décor. When it snowed, the huge skylights would open and people on the dance floor “went crazy.” And with expensive food and drinks, on any given night celebrities like Lucille Ball, Sylvester Stallone, Buddy Hacket and Barbi Benton would trip the light fantastic.
“That was another whole world. I stay in the moment, but it’s fun to see where we were at,” Jyoti says looking back with fondness, also noting that they actually led a healthy, active lifestyle while running a nightclub.
Eventually they sold the bar with the intention: “We have to help people not do that,” Jyoti said.
Andre was an organic foods expert and macrobiotic chef, and Starmesa provided education in organic farming, cooking, yoga and a healthy lifestyle. He also designed and built their dream house, using sacred geometry, golden mean proportions. The Magic Mushroom Home has been published in several books and this year was mentioned on CNN. The home utilized 200 tons of rock. Andre collected stones and recycled materials, and also did the finish work.
“It was in sync with who we are,” Jyoti said. “That’s why we had never bought a home that was already built. This place was round, a logarithmic spiral, and resonated with who we were.”
The intrepid couple also climbed Mount Everest, on a job with Mutual of Omaha, to produce adventure movies. While Jyoti was taking care of supplies and equipment, Andre climbed to 20,000 feet, stopping within just 1,500 feet of the summit. What Jyoti recalls most vividly is the frequent avalanches and the worry that Andre had been swallowed up by one.
It was another catastrophe that seized Andre, however. The tremors began after a blow to the head while on a trip to Japan, and the removal of dental amalgams by an inexperienced dentist. The diagnosis was Parkinson’s Disease.
In the beginning, the dopamine-enhancing drugs prescribed by his doctors worked to control the tremors. After a year, however, the drugs had to be taken more frequently and worked less effectively. They were also very hard on his body.
It took nearly a year to get safely off of the prescription drugs while Andre and Jyoti looked for an alternative. They tried stem cell treatments in Germany and Mexico, but the most effective remedy for Andre proved to be mucuna pruriens, or velvet bean. Mucuna is grown in tropical climates and is used in ayurvetic medicine to treat Parkinson’s.
“The doctors don’t believe in it, yet they don’t have anything for us and tell us to keep doing what we’re doing,” Jyoti says.
The key, says Jyoti, who at 69 paddles three times a week with the Kupuna Kawaihae canoe club, is to keep moving.
“It’s a lifestyle. Keep moving, find things you are interested in and don’t eat dead food (in packages). Eat fresh, live food. We only get one body in a lifetime.”
Starseed Ranch is completely off the grid, with perhaps the only privately powered micro hydro-electric and solar system on the island, fruit trees, vegetable gardens, sheep, goats, cows, chickens and an eccentric home that blends into the landscape.
Andre and Jyoti bought the ranch from singer-musician Kenny Loggins in 2003, who they knew from Aspen. In Hawai‘i, Loggins invited them to experiment with permaculture.
At 500-feet elevation, a stream runs through both sides of the property, a covered walkway supported by ‘ōhi‘a beams leads to small living quarters and a large outdoor kitchen.
“We’re outside all the time,” Jyoti notes.
Distinctive building materials characterize the dwelling, such as redwood from old water tanks and delicate ironwood roof shingles from Bali. They also grow building-grade bamboo.
The two primary purposes of the ranch, Jyoti stresses, are the lo‘i (taro paddies) currently in development, and recycling the tail water from the hydro-electric system for irrigation.
“We’re not just sucking up energy here,” she states.
Jyoti and Andre’s vision for an eco-village at Lighthouse may be many years off.
Rejuvenating this land is a slow process beginning with beach cleanups, taking down old fences, and listening to the land. Jessica and company are rotating a small group of livestock animals to help take down invasive weeds, and are slowly planting native plant species to help add shade, condition the soil and produce green mulch. They are also experimenting with beneficial microbes and other organic solutions to add to the soils.
“The bigger calling is about repairing the land,” said Jessica. “It’s a huge movement in Kohala, and we are part of that larger picture. It’s a process that’s going to take time to heal the land, take down fencing, revitalize, rotate animals, and regenerate this resilient land.”
This movement to heal the land is attracting people and gaining momentum, attracting talented builders, farmers and grant writers who lend their skills, mostly in trade, and who are helping to propel the vision.
The Kohala community nonprofit Maika‘i Kamakani ‘O Kohala, Inc. recently purchased 27 acres of land next door, which will remain open space in perpetuity.
“We know we’re on a high-profile piece of land, with regards to neighbors, and under scrutiny (from the community) so we move in a cautious, pono way. There is a high bar to keep it low-profile,” Jessica said. “This is holy, very special sacred Kamehameha land. And I’m not hooky pooky at all, I’m elemental and very basic.”
Yet, she says, “There are rocks that might talk to you. There is history in this land and, as we step up as stewards, that’s a very big thing for us.” ❖
Contact writer Cynthia Sweeney: sweeneywrites@yahoo.com
Contact Jyoti Ulrych: 808.889.1083
