Tasting Hawaii

They usher us to a pair of John Deere four-wheel-drive Gators, and we take off to see the farm. As we cruise, Hill waves over at different clusters of trees as she ticks off the various crops: mangoes, avocados, seedless limes, Meyer lemons, tangerines and lots of tropical fruit you would be forgiven for not knowing, including mango-steens, pulusan, soursop and litchis. "Anything that doesn't do as well, we replace. Pull it out, stick something else in," Hill says jovially. Lately the pair have been interested in spices, planting cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, among others. Hill and Crowell, both 56, estimate they've spent 20 percent of their life together trawling Southeast Asia seeking seeds for their farm, which they legally import through the USDA.