Luxury Developments Dig Deep to Cater to Owners' Tastes

Kauai’s leading luxury resort, Kukui'ula on Kauai's picturesque South Shore, features an Upcountry Farm, a 50-acre community farm equipped with a staff of farmers who help residents and guests of the property harvest seasonal fruits and vegetables on site.

Community “locals” can tend the soil or pick from fields of red ginger, papaya, mango and more. Farmers teach guests gardening skills they can take home (based on their local climate, soil, etc.), while tasting seasonal produce at its freshest and cultivating an appreciation for the simple pleasures of sowing, growing and harvesting. Locals can also pick up fresh produce at the community’s gourmet farmers’ market on Wednesdays and participate in monthly farm-to-table dinners prepared by Chef Ben Takahashi.



An assortment of fruits and vegetables are grown seasonally, including bananas, papaya, chard, citrus, herbs, pineapple, arugula, breadfruit and more, as well as herbs and fresh tropical flowers. The Upcountry Farm is also home to a 20-acre lake where guests can canoe, picnic, and fish for Peacock Bass (the fishing is catch-and-release).

The Cliffs Broken Oak Organic Farm—in a mission to provide long-term (and delicious) resources for the wellness-based lifestyle of their members, The Cliffs, a collection of seven luxury mountain and lake communities set along the Blue Ridge Mountains, founded Broken Oak Organic Farm. The five-acre farm is complete with greenhouses and fields for year-round growing and specializes in utilizing organic growing practices (no GMOs—only natural pesticides and fertilizers). The produce from the farm has become prized among residents and popular restaurants in Greenville, SC, including Soby’s, The Lazy Goat, Stella’s Bistro and Nose Dive and Restaurant 17 at The Cliffs’ neighbor, Hotel Domestique. The Farm hosts a monthly farm stand at each of the clubs on a rotating basis, as well as "People to Farm" dinners al fresco, wine tastings, and educational classes, from container growing, to growing your own micro greens, to Organic Growing 101.

Costa Palmas, the new development opening on the East Cape of Cabo in 2018 featuring the first Four Seasons in the area, will have 18 acres of orchards and farms. The land is astonishingly generous at Costa Palmas—the working organic farms are more than an amenity or a garden, although they are both—they’re also thriving business that produce food for the hotel and opportunity for inhabitants of La Ribera. Fresh tomatoes, bananas, papaya and mysterious chili peppers from the farm show up in cocktails and meals start here, as do the best avocados and limes in the world. On this working farm, owners and guests will be able to plant and harvest food and flowers if they please, choose a few herbs for dinner or accompany the chefs and crew as they choose the day’s bounty.