From Thai basil to avocados: Inside Oprah Winfrey’s sprawling garden where she grows more than 100 species in Hawaii

Oprah Winfrey is a renowned American media mogul, actress, executive producer, author and television personality, best known for The Oprah Winfrey Show. But beyond television and media, she has another passion that connects her to her childhood: growing food. From Thai basil and dragon beans to avocados and purple cauliflower, Oprah’s Maui property is home to a remarkably diverse garden where she grows more than 100 species.

Oprah Winfrey grows more than 100 species on her Maui farm

While celebrities are often associated with sprawling homes, luxury interiors and manicured gardens, Oprah Winfrey’s Maui property has a rather different focus. Her land includes a farm where a remarkable variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs are grown.

According to Architectural Digest, Oprah’s garden includes green vegetables and herbs such as Thai basil, lemon verbena, zucchini, peppers and dragon beans. The publication has also highlighted her interest in growing her own produce, giving a glimpse into the wide variety cultivated on her property.But that is only a fraction of what grows there.

From carrots and tomatoes to purple cauliflower

As per information on Oprah.com, the media mogul grows tomatoes, collard greens and carrots. Her produce list also includes potatoes, purple cauliflower, yellow peppers, fennel, broccoli and turnip greens. The variety does not stop with vegetables. Oprah’s garden also produces strawberries and avocados, along with figs, elephant-eared kale, artichokes and vine fava beans. Her Maui garden has previously been described as containing more than 100 species of fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Oprah has also showcased her harvests over the years. Oprah Daily highlighted produce including purple cabbage, corn, turmeric, beets, zucchini, kale, onions and cauliflower from her garden, while also noting her harvests of purple potatoes, carrots, dragon beans and lemon verbena.

Her love for farming goes back to childhood

For Oprah, growing food is not simply a celebrity hobby. Her connection to gardening can be traced back to her childhood in Mississippi. In a separate article on her own website, Oprah recalled being raised on a tiny farm in Mississippi, by her grandmother, who grew much of what the family ate. She remembered that they rarely went to town for food and tended their own garden, which provided most of their meals. That childhood experience appears to have stayed with her. Oprah has described her current lifestyle as a return to that way of living, where food from the garden becomes part of what she eats.

Why Oprah turned part of her Maui property into farmland

When Oprah bought her Maui property, she knew the land had once been farmland, but she initially did not imagine continuing that tradition. That changed after a conversation with her friend Bob Greene. According to Oprah's account, Greene asked what would happen if they could give back to the land while also giving back to Maui. The idea was particularly relevant to Hawaii, where around 90 per cent of food is flown or shipped in from outside the island. Oprah pointed out that this makes food expensive while also creating a carbon footprint through transportation. That led to a bigger idea: grow food locally and share it.

16 acres were designated for farming

Oprah and her team designated 16 acres of her property for farming. On a single acre, they planted more than 100 species of fruits, vegetables and herbs to see which crops would thrive in the environment. Some of the early performers included beets, leafy greens and beans. The decision to grow such a diverse range of crops was not accidental. Oprah explained that one reason was to discover which varieties would thrive, while another was the impact crop diversity could have on the soil. The greater diversity of crops, she noted, could contribute to a richer mix of nutrients in the soil.

The farm's scale and output have also attracted attention. Hawaii News Now reported that more than 100 species were growing there and that the farm's first acre was producing around 145 pounds of food each week.