I fell in love with real vanilla ice cream. I remember my 

mother making it and us kids churning the old fashioned ice cream 

maker. It was such a lovely memory and it has stayed with me my entire life.  During a visit to Marathon Key, Florida to a large orchid nursery  

 my eyes were immediately drawn to a gigantic old tree covered with orchids. 

Some of the vines had beans that resembled string beans. They turned out to be vanilla 

beans, and that very day I decided to grow my own vanilla and my passion 

for vanilla had begun. 

In 1992 we visited a Buddhist temple and we shared with Lama Tensing the  

vanilla passion not realized in Florida for it was too cold to grow. 

Lama Tensing  gifted some cuttings and we began to grow vanilla. Weeks went 

into trying to get it to grow but  we were back to square one where 

most of it was not making it. We began to study and learn more and more 

about vanilla and through trial and error learned some 

invaluable lessons which resulted in the lovely Hawaiian vanilla beans 

we are able to see grown to perfection and share with all you all. 

Aloha 

Jeff and Terry