Page 3 - MidWeek Central - Nov 3, 2021

Multitalented Waialua Farmer Focuses On Rescuing Goats
NOVEMBER 3, 2021 3
BY MARIA KANAI
ing and how to grow organic produce in the state.
the ocean, waterfalls, turtles, sunsets and sunrises. (You can see his work at chasbea- sleyphotography.com.) Bea- sley also uses his talents for his farm business by taking pictures of his produce and posting it on his Instagram (@beasleyfarmswaialua). He relies on social media to get the word out.
wanted four goats since I had a farm,” Beasley says. “Now I have 29!”
Retired Coast Guard member, goat whisper- er and photographer Chas Beasley is a man of many talents. He lives out in Waia- lua on a farm with his fam- ily — a farm he built from the ground up with just two of his friends in 2016. His home is solar powered, and for Beasley, it’s a fantastic semi-retired life — almost 100% self-sustainable and the closest he’s ever been to living off the grid.
“The class was hard,” he says. “There were about eight other families and ev- eryone had to work as a team or work in pairs. You learned how to sell and grow vegeta- bles, propagate land and you needed to volunteer many hours.
“I document everything I do so customers can look it up and see when I planted certain vegetables,” he says.
Whenever someone pass- es away and leaves goats behind, or finds a goat wan- dering about, he’s the one to call. He’s sold and given away many goats, but there’s one he could never part from: Frankie.
Everything changed when Beasley and his wife discov- ered a year-long Go Farm Hawai‘i program at Univer- sity of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. The program was an accel- erated crash course on farm-
“Everyone there was motivated. They wanted to know how to grow organic — it wasn’t just about mak- ing money. It was nice to be part of something and feel like you were contributing,” he adds.
Chas Beasley gathers with a bunch of his goats at Beasley Farms Waialua.
PHOTO COURTESY CHAS BEASLEY
grow organic full-size toma- papayas and carrots. His toes. Most farms, he notes, other passion is photogra- grow cherry tomatoes or use phy. When he’s not tending pesticides. Along with to- to the farm or animals, he’s matoes, he also sells beets, out taking scenic pictures of
If interested in purchas- ing, people are also wel- come to contact him through social media. Throughout the farming journey, Beasley found himself becoming an unofficial goat rescuer.
“She’s the one I found during a supermoon in Feb- ruary out in the wild — she was only 2 days old. I fed her every three hours and raised her in a diaper,” he explains.
Through taking the course, Beasley shares he learned everything about farming. Now, they are the only ones on island who
“Four years ago, this wom- an called me and asked if I
“I think of farming as giv- ing back to the community. No one is getting rich farm- ing. You have to love doing it. For me and my wife, our farm is our hobby. This place is our life,” he shares.
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